Is my Truck okay?

[cyberpine]

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)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg4cCLDsFtY

Thanks for any help or infomation.

[old Rusty C10]

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?

[cyberpine]

[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

[BigE77']

Originally Posted by old Rusty C10

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?

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

[BigE77']

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

[cyberpine]

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!

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by cyberpine

Question, there is a air line from the Carb to the oil. it's loose and has some duct tape.

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.

[clinebarger]

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!

[billnorman]

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.

[cyberpine]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

Can you explain this a little? Carb to oil?

It's at 1:26 of the video.

Also in this picture

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

[79gmcc15]

Originally Posted by cyberpine

It's at 1:26 of the video.

Also in this picture

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

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.

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by cyberpine

It's at 1:26 of the video.

Also in this picture

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

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.

[Mr.Scary]

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!!!

[billnorman]

When you talk about that "filter", I hope you are not referring to the one way vacuum valve in-line with the vacuum source. Without that valve, if the engine stalls, you have no brake boost. Be cautious.

[cyberpine]

Originally Posted by billnorman

When you talk about that "filter", I hope you are not referring to the one way vacuum valve in-line with the vacuum source. Without that valve, if the engine stalls, you have no brake boost. Be cautious.

I just went to the autopart, according to the part number it's a filter. I took it out and am able to blow and suck from either direction. What you described was happening to me though, but I suspect because there was a break in the line.

http://www.rmsautoparts.com/proddetail.php?prod=179-983

I took that nipple out, it appears to be a 1/2 inch thread which is perfect, but my local autozone did not have a fitting for it. What might be a good source for this?

[billnorman]

Any builder supply store such as Loew's or Home Depot has fittings usually as well as hardware stores. The test of a brake booster used to be, with engine off, pump the brakes slowly 6 or 7 times. You should have a hard high pedal. Hold the pedal down. Then start the engine the pedal should fall. All talk aside, there must be a one way valve somewhere in that line, maybe at the booster to hold vacuum if the engine fails. All the above is freely given advice and not guaranteed as for your safety, just blather. i.e. if you kill yourself or someone else, don't sue me.

[cableguy0]

the plastic valve that is attatched to the brake booster is the one way valve. that black piece near the throttle body is a filter. the one way valve is available in the help section at any auto parts store. i would bet autozone has the fitting the problem is going to be finding someone that works there that actually knows where they are. advance auto also will have them.

[cyberpine]

I found the 3/8 Brass fitting at home depot and am thinking of dropping that filter since I can only wonder what good it's doing and it's $25 to replace it.

My problem now is finding a rubber plug for the port I was using before. No sign of it at AutoZone, Pepboys or HomeDepot.

Sorry about all the play by play. I only have about 30 minutes a day to muck with the truck and I spend the rest of the day thinking about the next step. I suspect one day all this detail will help somebody else. Or perhaps it will only serve to sort number one to anybody who might happen to search for "is my truck okay" in google which is actually how i've been finding the entry.

Thank again.

[cableguy0]

Help section is your friend. pep boys and autozone both have them just dont ask the guys at the counter. The help stuff is in a red package and you should be able to get an assortment of vaccum caps. also there will be a section with vaccum tees/nipples etc near the Help section.Also autozone should have a section with chrome/performance junk there will be vaccum nipples in there too.. heres the link for the vac caps http://www.autozone.com/autozone/cat...brandName=Help they have them hanging on the shelf

[Benelli]

Do not run Open headers. Some guys will tell you that it'll burn up your valves, now I'm not sure if it will or not but your head will hurt for days, and your neighbors will hate you. Also, a few old dirt-track guys mentioned if you idle it long enough it'll heat up your automatic transmission, and from the sounds yours is either going out or could use a fluid and filter replacement. Another thing with opens, is that it's illegal, you could get a "fix it" ticket. And yet another, all of that CO2 is going under the truck, and possibly into the cab. If you're looking for loud, my suggestion is short glass-packs with 3 or 4 inch exhaust tips.

It looks to be a pretty good truck, good luck with it. If you have anymore questions don't be afraid to post 'em!

[cableguy0]

Open headers wont hurt the motor but you will literally lose a couple levels of your hearing. i have a good bit more motor than what your running but im running headers with about 30 inches of pipe into flowmaster 40 series to a 45 degree elbow dumping right in front of the rear wheel on an angle. its loud enough that people wont sit next to me with there windows down and it will set off an alarm 50 feet away.

[cyberpine]

Probably right. Looking for reasonable economic option. My truck is just a 305 (87 R10 (c10) TBI), but I see potential for a nice sound. would you recommend headers directly to a flowmaster 40 or super 40 with no Cat?

I don't need anything too fancy for the headers.. how's this only $89.




30055 - JEGS Tubular Headers

directly out to two seperate flowmaster super 40s. The flowmasters are 90 a pop.. any other cheaper alternative.

What can I expect labor on installing this setup cost me. I'd do the headers myself, suspect most muflter shop don't not do that right?

Cable, you got video your truck with that set up?

Thanks.

[cableguy0]

it will be cheaper if you hang the headers yourself and drive it over to the muffler shop. there are some knock off flowmasters that run less than half. they are actually made by flowmaster but are 2nds or blems meaning a weld isnt perfect or something similar. call the local exhaust shops and get quotes. tell em what you wanna do and they can throw prices at you. they might be able to sell your mufflers and pipe for a good price. as far as headers go. cheaper isnt always better. cheaper headers have thing flanges and are prone to leaking. heddmans with the ball flange seem to seal really good. your best bet is to call the local muffler shop and get quotes for running it different ways. out the back or in front of the rear wheel and also behind the rear wheel. get prices with and without mufflers. you could run the regular flowmaster 40 series and will be just fine they are cheaper than the super 40's

[cyberpine]

Sorry had another thread already open on the Manifold / headers question. Now considering summit products for the headers and mulflers. Anybody got any experiece with those products.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...27#post3575627

[chevymotocross]

Nice truck. Looks like you have some nice mods on that TBI. Looks to be performance intake manifold and Ultimate TBI mods.

I would not run open headers on a TBI truck... it will sound horrible.

Also, with long tube headers and TBI, you will probably have to get a 3-wire O2 sensor since the stock TBI o2 sensors won't work correctly in headers since they don't heat up good enough for o2 readings.