Vacuum leaks, ujoints, brakes and an engine that wont quit firing
 

Hey guys, i have a Dodge D100 1986. A few problems. I need to drive this truck from Kansas City to Phoenix AZ on febuary 13th.

1: I have a bunch of vacuum leaks, which i think are causing it to idle high. When its idling high if i turn the truck off it keeps firing in a bad way and sometimes i have to pop the clutch to kill it. What i have been doing until i can figure it out is put it in third, slowly release the clutch to slow the engine then turn it off. Any advice other than fix the vacuum leaks?

2: There is a clunking that does not corospond with the engine being in gear, heard when i am slowing to a stop. Felt through the truck, actually. I checked the drive shaft and the u-joint is shaky but still working. It definitely has some give though. Could that be my clunk and if so, is it a need-to-repair-before-roadtrip type job?

3:Brakes are squealing, bad, and in different pitches and ways. The emergency brake got stuck on one day. I was told it did not work at all from the seller, who now is saying it BARELY works. Shortly after, i heard grinding from the front end. I changed the bearings and brake pads on the front and everything was fine except a small brake squeal. But a month later i have started hearing bad squealing and of a different kind. It feels like my brakes are compressing and making my truck lose power. and the squeal will happen off and on, but mainly when my brakes are pressed, which still work just fine btw.

Any advice for any of these things would be wonderful. i am trying to get this thing running well enough to go 2000 miles but we will see.

1) Repair the vacuum leaks. It sounds like the timing is advanced to far for the fuel that you're using. Try a higher octane fuel or retard the timing a little bit and that should help it shut off.

2) Replace that U-joint! Yes, it is the clunk!

3) Did you use anti-sqeal on the brake pads? It is kind of a glue that bonds the pad(s) to the caliper plunger(s). If not... it works.

4) Check and adjust your rear brakes and adjust that emergency brake!

5) Good luck on your trip!

for the dieseling, fix the vac leaks, then adjust the carb. Maybe even rebuild it, it could be leaking into the intake.

Make sure timing is dead on and idle speed is good.

Also, if you're losing power while on the brakes, check the booster, check valve, and the vac line from the booster to the intake (check valve is in that line).

It should allow air to be blown through one way but not the other.

If you get into your truck and start it up with foot on brake pedal, does the pedal sink about a 1/4"? If yes, your booster works properly.

You are kidding yourself if you think that pickup is NOT going to leave you stranded in a very expensive way somewhere between Kansas and Arizona

Frankly, you don't sound like a very competent mechanic, and it sound to me like driving that vehicle AT ALL is shaky at best.

Consider Flying, the bus, or some other alternative

Driveshafts should have ZERO play in the joints, and YOU CAN NOT diagnose U joint problems by shaking the driveshaft. YOU MUST REMOVE the driveshaft. This is bacause joints often get rusted up badly and "seem tight.

YOU MUST remove the shaft, get right up to the joint with your eyes and ears, and gently work the joints on their bearings. Feel for ROUGHNESS, GRINDING or other signs of dryness (no grease) or rust, or looseness. Remove the two caps on the end which can be removed.

Vacuum leaks, man you can't drive a rig like that. (By the way, posted above, RETARDING the timing NEVER is the cure for "afterrun" or dieseling.)

Get yourself most any spray, including water or WD-40. With the engine idling as slow as possible, squirt the liquid around areas of the intake and hoses The idle speed will change as you get near the problem.

How about simple things? Have you looked over the "fast idle" cam on the choke? How about the throttle cable, is it holding the idle high? Brake booster bad? Cracked/ loose hoses?

Vacuum leaks are a fairly BASIC problem. They simply require thought and common sense.

You have a shop manual?

Brakes NOISE is troubling. It MIGHT be pad squeal, which even though annoying is not unsafe, or it COULD be something more serious, like bearing troubles

Did you have the rotors turned?

Did the caliper pistons seem free? (You had to compress them when installing the new pads, right?)

How did you grease / and adjust the wheel bearings?

PADS that must put up with UNTRUED rotors will be noisy and MAY NOT stop very well. When a new pad is applied to a used, untrued rotor, the pad does NOT seat "flat" across the face of the rotor. There are ridges on the inner/ outer pad rub area, and these "jack up" the edges of the pad, so it must "wear down" to the lower face of the rotor. If there are uneven wear areas on the face of the rotor, the pad won't "seat" completely, and is forced to brake the truck on the "high spots" of the uneven rotor until the pad material gets "worn in." This wearing on these "high spots" GLAZES THE PAD MATERIAL on these high spots, and REDUCES the effective good braking surface area of the pad/ rotor, and they NEVER will be as effective as they should

Same is true of your rear drums. Running with the emergency brake caused severe heating of the brake shoes and drums and has GLAZED the lining.

The only possible CORRECT fix is to REPLACE the shoes, have the drums turned if they are not already too worn, or replace the drums.

FROM YOUR OWN description, this sounds like an UNSAFE vehicle to drive, to me.

440roadrunner;


You always come in with excellent info!:clap:

Wow.