Andy,
I'd be suspicious of one of the three items on your list. Cap, rotor, or
wires. Ticking sounds can be indicative of spark leaks. This happens more
with power ignitions and coils like the MSD setups but can also happen to
OEM stuff. Look inside your cap and see if you can see carbon trails. That
would indicate arcing inside the cap. Check your wires for weakening by
engine heat or cracks in the insulation. Check the tips and make sure there
are no breaks. If you're going to replace the wires anyway get some MSD 8.5
mm or equivalent. That's great insurance, even if you're not going to do HP
ignition parts. When you do the wires get some "Made 4 You" wire clamps and
holders to keep your wires up off your engine. Best caps and rotors are
Borg Warner ones with the brass connections. I hope this fixes your
problem. Good luck! :-)
Ron
00 PB SLT QC 4X2 5.9 46RE 3.92 LSD
For modifications see my DML Profile (URL follows)
http://www.twistedbits.net/WWWProfile/dakota/Kw9pV1EkFeOYY
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@BUFFNET.NET
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@BUFFNET.NET]On Behalf Of Andy Levy
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2001 8:16 PM
To: dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net
Subject: DML: Is my engine dying? (longish)
Hopefully that'll grab some attention. My engine has always had a
little bit of a ticking noise to it, but for the last month or so, it's
been worse. It's rhythmic with engine RPMs (as RPMs go up, the
frequency goes up). I normally run 87 octane, but Tuesday night filled
up with 89 and tonight I poured in a 20 oz. bottle of Techron. Doesn't
seem to be any better yet. I considered that it might be an exhaust
leak, but it seems to be coming from the engine area.
When I'm "coasting" I can't really hear it. Under load, I hear it loud
and clear. Typically accelerating on flats or holding speed uphill.
My gas mileage has also been poorer than I think it should be. I'm
getting 13 MPG *at best* in town, and am hard-pressed to get over 16.5
at 70-75 MPH. I used to be able to pull 17-18 at those highways speeds.
Last September (21,000 miles ago), when I was at the dealer for the
dreaded ping, they replaced the cap, rotors and wires with OEM parts.
They also re-indexed the distributor, as it was 5 degrees off, and
flashed the PCM. My Autolite 3923s are about 15 months old (July
2000). Yes, I'm sure they've been in there too long, though I pulled
one last summer and it looked good.
At Daktoberfest, Jim Knox thought he heard a misfire when I had it in
Neutral and got the revs up.
2 weeks ago, I pulled the TB and gave it a good cleaning. I did look
for oil inside the intake manifold, but didn't see a large quantity,
just a film, which I understand is normal.
So, here's my list of things I'm going to do/replace (hopefully this
weekend). What else should I put in here?
Cap
Rotor
Wires
Plugs (3923s again)
Clean air filter (K&N cone)
Would it be worth pulling and cleaning the fuel injectors? What's the
procedure for this, and do I need a special socket?
I really, really, really do not want to bend over and pay the dealer to
look at this. I'm well out of warranty at this point. I want to do as
much as I can myself before resorting to a dealer visit. Is it possible
that my belly pan gasket is only very slightly leaking, not enough for
oil to come in? Valve lifters?
-- -andy andylevy@yahoo.com Maintainer, DML FAQ - http://www.dakota-truck.net/faq/ http://home.twcny.rr.com/andylevy/dakota/ '99 CC 4x4 318 auto
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