Running after 3 years sitting from blown HG, new issues

[1peterlight]

My 96 is running again, but there have been some things coming up that I'm asking what will take precedence, and how serious, and any other info.

-Had to tap starter a few times to start, also twice has just shut down while driving, had to put in park and start up. (Brand new battery in)

-Check engine light shows O2 sensor bank 1 and knock sensor.

What needs to be taken care of first and how serious, also how hard a job?

I am really enjoying driving again, but paranoid about every thing that could go wrong after sitting out in the elements 3 years.

 

[1peterlight]

Oh yeah, the speedometer's not working either

 

[120mm]

Check your engine ground.

The knock sensor may just have had the line bumped off. If it's broken it's $50-80, but will make car run bad.

 

[1peterlight]

Is that easy to spot and repair? It runs okay up until 50-55, then it has no get up and go

 

[120mm]

It's right next to the PHH. It's pretty common to jar it loose if you do a PHH or other thing under the intake manifold.

It helps to remove your driver's side wheel, and it should be staring at you, just left of the PHH.

And yeah, it will make your rig poop out around 55 mph, or so.

 

[1peterlight]

I am a girl btw. I dont know much (at all) about the mechanics of, except that when my husband and brother in law were replacing head, I was the one ordering the parts and getting on here researching every day each issue we encountered and relaying the solutions back to them, so I have learned a little along the way about my 80. Just forgive my ignorance please when asking what may be dumb questions.

 

[120mm]

I am a girl btw. I dont know much (at all) about the mechanics of, except that when my husband and brother in law were replacing head, I was the one ordering the parts and getting on here researching every day each issue we encountered and relaying the solutions back to them, so I have learned a little along the way about my 80. Just forgive my ignorance please when asking what may be dumb questions.

I LOL'd when you posted this, but not for why you might think.

Both my best friends are "girls", though I wouldn't call them girls to their faces. Am married to a girl as well.

The best thing about dealing with females who express an interest in maintenance, is that I don't have to fight with a male ego in the process.

I've coached females to Olympic 3 position rifle championships and served in combat zones with female partners. I'm currently trying to set up a mechanic school for women in Africa.

So, yeah. Ignorance is a real, yet temporary condition that every single one of us experience, and there is no such thing as a dumb question. Being female is not a handicap, imo.

I bet if they did a head gasket, they may have a. forgotten to hook up the knock sensor, b. knocked it off in the process of doing something else, or c. sheared it off in the process of working on it. Someone needs to get the driver's side wheel off and shine a good light in there, and find the wire that is supposed to hook up and see what's what.

The O2 sensor may or may not be bad. Reset the code and see if it comes back. If so, it might need to be replaced and by a Denso unit. If someone put a Bosch or other aftermarket sensor in there, it probably is bad. Failure rate on non-Denso O2 sensors is pretty much 100%.

Be sure the starter is hooked up correctly and it is grounded well.

Other than that, it's fix one thing at a time.

 

[bajaphile]

Might want to check the internal fuel filter in the tank too. Sometimes problems at higher revs/speed are fuel related.

 

[1peterlight]

Having a heck of a time finding those knock sensors, I see where they are on the diagram in manual, We did find a little wire with a brass clip at the end that we can't place. If anyone has some good photos of the knock sensors all hooked up that'd be swell

 

[1peterlight]

Could a bad knock or o2 sensor cause it to just shut down when driving? I am bummed yesterday was the first day it started right up everytime without having to wait a sec and try again or tap the starter. But then all the sudden for the first time in 4 days of driving, it just shut down twice in a 20 minute period. It fired right back up, just wondering what's going on now. Be nice if I could kill two birds with one or two stones with those sensors.

 

[ralphy1997]

That wire you described sounds like a ground wire. If not connected, it could be the source of the intermittent dying engine. Did you ever reconnect it?

 

[Azca]

This should help.

 

[1peterlight]

No I will try to get a picture of it and get on here. My brother in law tried touching the clip to head when car was running, no noise or anything visibly different

 

[1peterlight]

This should help.

View attachment 1229552

awesome! Now the wires I'm looking for, that may have been bumped, will it be coming from or connecting to these sensors?

 

[jeffro109]

awesome! Now the wires I'm looking for, that may have been bumped, will it be coming from or connecting to these sensors?

Yes, not easy to find with the engine still in the truck, but a really bright flash light can help find them.

 

[1peterlight]

Some good news, one less thing I have to worry about! Don't know what happened..started her up today and it was working

 

[1peterlight]

Okay so I think I found sensor 1, diagonal down or almost under the green thing, to the right of the oil filter? I know these are crummy pics but can anyone tell if it looks to be connected or not?

 

[1peterlight]

One more picture of that disconnected line with the brass clip on the end, it's right above the red dipstick. Any idears?

 

[Darne]

It "looks" like the front knock sensor is connected. Both knock sensors are the same. The wire connectors are the same. I don't know what the wire is in the last pic, but that is not a knock sensor connector. It looks like a fusible link connector. If so, it's three feet from where it's supposed to be.

 

[sbman]

One more picture of that disconnected line with the brass clip on the end, it's right above the red dipstick. Any idears? View attachment 1229594

That's a big wire to be not connected. Looks like it might be a ground strap, and those are critical to good running of the engine. Really will need to find out where this wire is supposed to be hooked up to. You will need to trace it and find out where it goes. If you can find some other connectors that it is bundled with that would help identify it. The factory wiring diagram manual (EWD) will show where it goes once you know what harness it comes off of. if you can trace up that wire and find any connector that is plugged into anything and determine what that anything is, it can be traced down that way.