Is my Truck okay?
 

I'm not a mechanic. I'm looking for somebody to tell me if what I'm seeing is typical and and not a big issue with this old 87 C10. I'd like to invest some money on rims and an exhaust and would like to know if I'm might be looking at rebuilds of the engine, tranny and brake systems.

I purchased this 87 C10 about 4 months ago.. test drove the truck .. From what I could tell, it drove great and the body appeared to be in great shape. The truck does not smoke or leak any oil and always starts. The engine is original with 97k miles and a Edelbrok performance intake. It drives stong but I have 3 questions/concerns.

- When I push the engine hard sometimes it pings a little bit, not much, but a little bit? Is this normal and generally what does this mean?
- I took the carpet out and now I can hear a light grinding noise in the engine. With exception of one single time when I felt the transmission slip, the transmission has always been solid.
- Sometimes after a long drive, the brakes stiffen up for a few minutes really bad, but then goes back to normal. It's kinda scary what does this mean?

here's a video (note the pinging at first, the sound of the transmission and when it appears its going to stall at the end in that order)



Thanks for any help or infomation.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

the pinging is probably pre ignition and is either because the timing is a tad too advanced or there is a vacuum issue or cheap cas
i cant hear much from the video but im betting you do have a vaccum issue with the brakes and if you have a th350 trans the vacuum line on there to the modulator.
tell you what tho looks like a real nice truck how about some pics?

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

[QUOTE=tell you what tho looks like a real nice truck how about some pics?[/QUOTE]

Thanks .. I wish I had local mechanic I could trust be fair and honest.

CyberPine's C10 Pictures

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

Bob, I thought pre ingnition was different than detonation?. I think pre ingition will hand grenade that motor in a couple seconds or at least bend some rods. Might be detonation try running some higher octane gas and see if the pinging continue's

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

If the ping continues, follow the rest of bobs advice.....good luck

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

Question, there is a air line from the Carb to the oil. it's loose and has some duct tape. What is that? BTW, my 87 is CI. I probaby need a tune up and new air filter anyways.. what can I expect to pay for that? Thanks guys!

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

If you hear pining in tha motor then I would definitley think this would b a timing issue as well. does it feel like u have lost any power? is there any hesitation? if so then have someone that knows wut they are doing check and set ur timing. but just my $0.02 im not a mechanic ethier but in tha past ive had tha same thing happen 2 me a few times and its been tha timing both times. so good luck and I like ur truck it has a lot of potential!!!

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

Can you explain this a little? Carb to oil?

First of all, an '87 should be fuel injected....and I see by your pics that it still is, so my first thought is "trouble codes" does it show anything like that? A bad O2 sensor could be leaning you out, which would cause pinging. The intake manifold has obviously been changed, that could get you into a timing problem.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

The EGR system also fights off pre-ignition. by passing exhaust gases into the intake at part throttle lowering cylinder temps. Its not just a emissions device!

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

I agree with clinebarger. On carb'd models, if the EGR system is inop, it will ping more than with it. If the brakes get hard, you may be losing your booster, or have a vacuum leak. There is also a possibility that the brake rod to the master cylinder is binding the piston, or it's sticking in the master cylinder and not clearing the relief port. IF the brakes drag, it could cause pinging. When the brakes ger "hard" see if the truck rolls easily. If it stops by itself the brakes could be dragging.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

It's at 1:26 of the video.

Also in this picture

http://picasaweb.google.com/cyberpin...16636363387106

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

there should be a PCV valve at the end of the hose. and it is suppose to be going to the carb. you do have a miss in the motor. what it might cost you is, about $18 for plugs and around $30-40 for wires, air filter is under $10 cap and rotter for dizy is $20-30. how are your fluid levels on the trans? go through the vacuum lines very closely for cracks.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

Carb to Oil means nothing......It is a throttle body fuel injection system and a "valve cover".

There should be a PCV valve on the end of that hose. It appears that the duct tape is just making the hose fit into the hole, but if there is nothing else in there, that is a problem. That would be a huge vacuum "leak".....I have no idea if the injection could compensate for that? Might be your miss? and could potentially be causing the pinging too.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

a vac leak will definately the surging at idle because it will completely throw the map sensor out of wack. unplug the map sensor and see if the idle straightens out. your brakes getting hard is more than like that long overgrown contraption thats running to the brake booster coupled with the giant vaccum leak caused by not having a pcv the booster is simply running out of vac and is causing the pedal to get hard because you dont have any assist. the tbi injection system is sensitive to vac leaks in all phases of running it screws up the air fuel mixture because the map sensor is getting false readings

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

heavy_chevy_396,

Are you a member of this site? If not please contact me at cyberpine(at)gmail(dot)com

Thank you.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

Duct tape or so called "electrical tape" will dissolve into a gooey mess anywhere near a motor, or oil vapor. Try to find a better solution to using it, especially in contact with oil in a valve cover. If your brakes get "scary", it's your brain talking to you. Listen.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

map sensor ? ff14 below?
long overgrown contraption? where? with the lid? mm53
Brake Booster ? uu52 = Round thing on the right near the firewall?
pcv = ll37? where the duct tape is now? Where can I get that or the part number?

sorry.. I need autorepair for Dummies.


http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Lf7i4POM-J4/St...neGrid.gif.jpg


http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Lf7i4POM-J4/Sm...0/CIMG1753.JPG


http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Lf7i4POM-J4/Sm...0/CIMG1776.JPG

Really do appreaciate the help and information!


BTW, not sure if it's been done or exist, but it would be a huge and valuable service to have a picture (online) of the Chevy Small block with every component labeled. If I knew enough, I would do it.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

ahhh better pics. ok the line that goes to the brake booster from off the front of the throttle body is in the wrong port. it needs to be hooks to a big port bc the small port will not supply enough vaccum. the pcv looks ok in these pics forget about those comments. please take a closer picture of the throttle body. pull the air cleaner off. the map sensor will be mounted to a bracket and have a vaccum line and wires running to it make sure its hooked up. heres a pic of the map sensor http://www.thor-racing.co.uk/images/gm_3bar.jpg

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

Unplug the coolant temp sensor on the thermostat houseing and see what it does, TBis are real sensitive to bad temp sending units, also , if you ever install a new one, do not use thread tape, use the paste, the Tape will not let the sender ground to the engine and will make the computer think its not plugged in. make sure you unhook the wire for setting the timing, other wise the computer will compensate for you just moving the distributor. And yes you need to remove the plug under the brake vac line and put a nipple there and run the hose to that.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

ll37 is not a pcv its just a breather. to bring fresh air into the motor. the pcv is in front. kk15 is the map sensor it has the green plug hooked to it. your correct on the booster. that vaccum line thats going to it is too small where it hooks to the throttle body. your running out of vaccum it needs to say the same size all the way. in the third picture theres a wire tie on a harness plug i guess half@ssed holding it on that could also cause your idle issue. that is the idle air control motor. its responsible for keeping the right air fuel mixture at idle. if its not working the truck will surge exactly like yours is.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

Is that the line that's going from bb35 to qq46.. and you are saying to connect it just below to kk46?

Thanks.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

thats the right line but it needs to be hooked to a large sized vaccum port like what the pcv valve has. the pcv is located at ff12 and the hose runs to ff25. there should be another port that size somewhere on the throttle body.

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

thank you.

Sorry, where exactly is the PCV?

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Lf7i4POM-J4/St...neGrid.gif.jpg

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

i answered your ? before you asked look up ^^^

Re: Is my Truck okay?
 

sorry just noticed you did answer the PCV location.

On the break line .. to be clear, you are talking about this being way too busy? I suspect this work was done when the performance intake was added.

But isn't what's circled a PCV that would need to remain? the connect for it (on the left) seem tiny though.

Is the hose gauge itself good enough?

I'll take off the air filter tonight take a picture and sum up what you guys are saying to see if I'm understanding

Thanks a million for the valuable info!

Thanks!



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