Robert

I just replaced the entire a/c system on my 1990 GMC S15. When I say everything, I mean evap, accumulator, orifice, compressor, lines, and condenser; the entire system. I pulled a vacuum on it for a couple hours and it held it overnight. I charged it up today with R134a and the proper amount and type of oil and when I went in, vent temps were the same as outside: 85. I put my hand on the accumulator and it's not even cold. I currently don't have a way to check the high side, but the low side is right around 30psi. It also seems like the compressor is a little on the loud sounding full of rocks side, but then again, it is the little R4, and it was a new not reman unit. Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be wrong? I have the new, not reman, compressor and everything else is new as well, but I will say that I bought the cheapest orifice tube I could find. Do you think I should've bought the $20 variable orifice instead of the $2 fixed? Thanks for any and all help.

Recently I picked up a bunch of trimmers, edgers, hedge clippers, etc that are all 2-cycle with the really small Walbro and Zama carburetors. Most I've gotten to run with no problem, others I'm having issues with. I take the carburetor apart, push a piece of wire through every opening, blow it out with carb cleaner and use a gasket set to put it back together. Most have responded well and run great, others run only slightly better or still not at all. I will say that on a couple I couldn't get the carburetor kit, but the few of those that I've reused gaskets on run okay, and others still don't run, only idle, or just barely run or not run at all. Are there any tips/trick I could do other than what I've been doing? Thanks for any and all help.

First off, this truck was originally a 305 truck and is now a 350 and recently I replaced the passenger side head gasket on this truck and now the fuse for the instrument cluster keeps blowing out. Normally, I can put in a new fuse, turn the key on and everything works, but the moment the engine starts the fuse blows. After that I can't put a new fuse in with the engine off for a few hours. As far as I know, everything under the hood is where it belongs. The only wires I moved were the ones for the oil pressure sensor, distributor, temperature sensor, and what I believe is an oil temperature sensor that is on the same line as the pressure sensor. There were two ground wires and a ground strap that were connected to the back of the head which I did put back. I also ended up having to replace the alternator and HEI ignition coil because they were bad. To me it sounds like everything is correct. I tested the oil pressure sensor in another truck and it worked fine. I haven't tested the other two sensors yet, but I don't believe they could've gone bad with the truck sitting for just a week. I will say that the oil pressure gauge never really did anything but show a constant pressure. The temp gauge doesn't work at all, it just always reads 150. The alt gauge doesn't work either, it's always on 8 volts even though I tested the output as 14 at the battery. The clock constantly runs, and the fuel gauge always worked, but now with the fuse constantly blowing out, it doesn't and the fuel is the only one I really care about. So, any and all help as to what may be causing the fuse to blow is appreciated. Thank you.

I recently replaced the passenger side head gasket on my 1985 GMC 1500 with the 350 and it doesn't run like it should. I know I did the job right and everything is torqued down to the specs in the Haynes manual. Before I did the job, it would get about 10-15 mpg with a hesitation at take off and it was burning coolant and trading compression between two cylinders. After the job, the hesitation is much worse, and the mileage appears to be about 1-2 mpg, but it does idle much better and is much better once at speed and still starts up as easily as before. I thought that maybe it had something to do with me leaning out the carburetor a bit, even though I wouldn't think that would do this, and it's still the same. It does appear to get worse as it warms up. The engine is about 3 years old with maybe 10,000 miles on it; carburetor, intake, fuel pump, distributor, and valve covers were taken from previous engine and they were new on it because that was a replacement engine, so those things are about 10 years old. Distributor has had a new coil, cap, rotor, control module, plug wires and plugs and the engine got an oil change after I did the head gasket. Really the only thing I appear to have solved was the coolant burning, compression trading, and run on with the engine. I checked for puddles of gas and couldn't find any signs of leaking, but I could smell gas all through the house when I never did before. Any ideas as to why the mileage is so incredibly poor and why on take off it has to decide if it wants to go? Thank you for any and all help.

Back sometime before Christmas, I was out on my gas-assisted bicycle and a guy pulled out in front of me and I ran into the side of his car. First off, the bike has a 25cc engine and cannot go faster than 25mph so it does not need any registration or insurance. Second, no police were ever called about this and the gentleman was nice enough to give me a ride home and a little money for a new front wheel for my bike. Recently I got a call saying that I have to pay for the damage to his vehicle. Is it right that I have to pay for something that he caused? I was going straight and the light was green for me, he was turning left through the intersection because the road was empty and he didn't see me. Being I was looking behind to make sure no one was coming because I was merging onto the road, I didn't see him until the last second. So, being it was his fault that he pulled out in front of me, do I have to pay for the repair to the dent on his car? I have no insurance being I don't have a car and I have just about no money because I don't have a job. I live with my grandmother and I am not on her insurance. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I recently went on a trip that took a couple hours and had the heat on the whole time. Because of this, the temp gauge hung around 180 the whole time. This truck has a 195 thermostat in it which I have replaced due to age. Normally, I get about 20mpg no matter what. On this trip with it at 180, I was pushing 28mpg. So I figured that since it liked running at 180 I would put a 180 thermostat in it. I did and now my mileage is a bit worse than it was. Any ideas why this would've happened? It liked that temperature the one day and it's not any colder out than usual but now it doesn't want to run properly at that temperature. I also noticed that the small miss that its always had is now a lot more noticeable. Do you think I should put the 195 back in or drill a small hole in the 195 and then put it in? Thanks for any and all help.

I've been noticing that I've been losing coolant, but I'm unable to find where it's going. The engine is about 12 years old with 57,000 miles on it. Last year, I was having some issues with it running hot so I replaced the thermostat, the housing gasket, and the upper radiator hose. That solved that issue, but I've been adding about a gallon of coolant between the radiator and the overflow every 3 or 4 months and both have new caps on them. I'm not finding a single sign of it leaking from anywhere inside the cab or under the hood. The only spot it leaves in the driveway is oil, but I know what that is. I checked my oil and transmission and I don't see any signs of coolant in them nor do I see any oil or transmission fluid in the radiator. (Rad, oil cooler and trans cooler are all in one). It's not smoking so I don't think it's burning it, but I also haven't checked the plugs since I replaced them in December. It started doing this before then and the ones that came out looked perfect, so I really don't think it's burning it. Any ideas on this one? Thanks for any and all help.

Today while stopped at a light, the check gages (actually spelled that way on the dash) light on my truck started flashing. It had absolutely no pattern to the flash. I took it out of gear and gave it a little gas and it stopped, but came right back at idle. All the gauges were fine. Oil was at about 10lbs, volts at about 13, fuel was at half, and because it was sitting temp was at 210 instead of 190. Once I started moving, it stopped and then came back when I stopped again. I also noticed that it flashed briefly when I turned the radio on or off. I tried to make it come on when I got home, but it wouldn't. I checked the computer for codes and it didn't have any codes stored in it. Any ideas as to why this would happen? Thanks for any and all help.

I was wondering if I could use whatever power is coming out of the kill switch lead on my small engine to keep up a small 12v 7AH battery that would be running lights and a horn. Both are on a bicycle. It's a standard magneto on a 2hp Briggs & Stratton engine, it looks like this: http://www.discountonlineparts.com/images/lawnmowe... Thanks for any and all help.

The computer in my truck has stopped working. I was wondering if it was possible to take a computer from a same year truck with the TBI 2.8 liter and automatic, plug it in, and have it work with my TBI 4.3 liter with the automatic. I'm only asking because I have a computer for a 2.8 hanging around and I don't want to pull it all apart, put it together and then it not work. Thanks for the help.

I've have a '90 S15 with a newer, 2001 TBI 4.3 and the original 4-spd automatic. Do any of you know what would cause the mileage to suddenly drop? This truck had been driven once a week for 6 years having only 6,000 miles put on it by the second owner. I've put over 20,000 miles in one year on it. At first it was getting about 22 mpg and recently it's getting about 8. I've replaced all the filters, oil change, plugs, cap, wires, rotor, fuel regulator, injectors, TBI base gasket, PCV valve, EGR valve, and O2 sensor. After all that, it did go back up for about two days, but now it's back down to 8 mpg. The engine only has about 54K miles on it. The computer is not throwing any codes for anything. I do run the A/C all the time, but last year with running it the way I do, it was getting decent mileage. I have a good feeling it's burning it all because I never see any marks in the driveway and it has a black ring around the end of the tailpipe as well as a very rich smell to the exhaust. Any ideas as to what could be wrong with it? Thanks for any help.

I recently acquired a 4hp Tecumseh engine that didn't run. I rebuilt the whole engine and the carburetor and it ran perfect; I let it run for about 10-15 minutes. I also didn't use any new parts in the rebuild. I just cleaned up what was there. I didn't even take out the valves. Now today, this engine won't run. It fires a couple times on starting fluid, but it won't run. I tried the carburetor on a different engine and it worked perfect. I put it back on this one and it didn't do anything. It has gas, ignition, compression, and the timing is spot on. Any ideas as to why it doesn't want to run anymore?

My truck recently started losing oil. In about a months time it's lost 1 quart; normally it goes through less than half a quart between oil changes. It's not smoking so I don't think it's burning it, I'm not finding it in the driveway and the engine is clean all around and I'm not seeing any signs of dripping on the frame or anything else. I'm also not finding it in the coolant or the transmission fluid. It's a 1990 GMC S15 truck with the 4.3L and automatic transmission. The engine has around 51,000 miles on it and has been in it since 2001. The transmission is original with about 154,000 miles on it if that means anything. Thanks for any and all help.

Recently repaired the A/C on my truck. Everything is new due to the old compressor had failed the the evaporator and condenser had pinhole leaks. I pulled a vacuum on it for a couple hours and then charged it up. It has what look like correct pressures. Static of 97psi, high side running is 245 and low side running is 40 at idle speed. When the compressor kicks in it jumps up to 245 in about a second. The low side lines get condensation on them and they get quite cold. Inside the temperature at the vent only gets down to 72*. It could sit idling with the compressor constantly engaged or driving down the road with it kicking on and off and it never gets much colder. It will sometimes get down to 61 but it's rare that it does. Also, if I stop and turn it off for a few minutes, it will not get cold when I turn it back on. Any ideas as to what's wrong? When the factory system was working a few years ago with R12 it got down to about 50 on a hot summer day in there, I would expect all new parts with R134a to be similar. I also know that this system was put together and charged properly. Thanks for any and all help.

I was recently given a 1978 F250 and most of the gauges did not work. After replacing them all, the fuel gauge was the last one that didn't work. I checked the gauge and the sender and they're both good so I ran a new wire from the sender to the gauge and from the gauge to the ignition switch. It reads about 3/4 and I've put maybe 20 miles on it and it's still the same. It also moves up towards full when I step on the gas pedal. The sender is grounded at the tank, the wire runs up and connects to one post on the gauge, the other post has a wire going straight into a switched 12v lead. Is this the proper way of wiring or is there something in between that I missed/don't know about? I would take gas out but have nothing to do so with and nothing to put it in and I can't afford any more gas for it at the moment so I can't test it that way. Thanks for the help.

This truck has the original 300 Inline 6 with about 70K miles on it. Yesterday after driving it I turned it off and then turned the key to on to check something. I never turned the key to start but the engine fired a couple of times at an attempt to run but didn't stay running. I had the hood open at the time and looking from the back of the engine, the fan turned clockwise; when I turned the key to start, it turned the other way and fired right up. The old thing starts better than any fuel injected truck I've driven. It was switched off for maybe 2 seconds before I turned the key back to on. I've never seen anything like this before, but is this something common that happens to these engine when they get this old? Thanks for the help.

I recently acquired a 1978 Ford F250 with the 300 inline 6, 4-spd. When I opened the hood there is some kind of a gel under the ignition control module. It starts and drives just fine. Should I get a new one soon or would this gel belong to something else? It's been sitting for about 2 years. Also, the engine seems to have no power. I was in fourth gear doing 40 and wanted to get up to 50, I went to give it gas and I discovered it was already floored. Now, even though I'm not a schooled mechanic, I highly doubt that 40 should be its top speed. Finally, the brakes don't really do anything until my foot is about 1 inch from the floor. The reservoir is full so I'm wondering if I just need to bleed the lines being it's been sitting for so long. Thanks for any and all help.

I have a 1990 S15 with the 4.3L engine and it needs a new base gasket for the throttle body. My question is is it self-explanatory and easy to remove the throttle body, or are there certain things and special tools I need to remove it? I looked down into it and there are three bolts that appear to hold it to the manifold. If I remove those, does everything that connects to it have enough flex to just move it out of the way or do I have to remove everything including the two injectors? Thanks for any and all help.

Does anyone know why a '90 S15 long box with the 4.3L and 4-spd auto would be getting as little as 5-12 mpg in the city and 17-20 highway? The engine is roughly 11 years with close to 50K on it and the transmission is original with close to 150K on it. I recently changed the oil, all filters, spark plugs, rotor, distributor cap, and pcv valve. The mileage went up a little bit, but then dropped back down; same with its rough idle, it went away for a bit but came back. It has no problem with acceleration or power, I've moved eight railroad ties with it and it didn't really notice and was just fine accelerating through all the gears. I was wondering if this might be caused by a stuck egr valve. If so, is it possible to fix one of those or do I have to get a new one? As far as I know, it's had a rough idle for years. I don't know about mileage because the previous owner only drove it 15 miles twice a week for six years. The owner before him put most of the miles on it, and I've put close to 12K in eight months. The last thing is the transmission. Should it shift into second at 7mph, third at 20, and 4th at about 40? These shift speeds seem kinda odd to me. It's the factory 700R4 or 4L60, whatever you want to call it, with 3.73 gears. I don't know if it's the computer controlled version. Thanks for any and all help.

I was at the junkyard today and found the door of a safe in the trunk of a car. It says "World Monetary Exchange Reserve" on it, pinstriping is in very nice condition, the locking mech is mostly gone, and it looks like someone had tried to drill through the combination dial at one point. It's not very big, maybe 1' x 2' x 1/4" quite heavy, still has the dial, handle, and the lock bolts attached to the handle. I was wondering if it might be worth something.