Tweet
Originally posted by iranch
View Post
-
Thank you very much!Power Wagon Advertiser monthly magazine, editor & publisher.
Why is it that the inside of old truck cabs smell so good? -
Originally posted by tiffy's W150 View Post
Well,,,,That is a very difficult issue for someone to answer. I would try to do the repairs myself then have a private mechanic smog check it before letting Uncle Sam up my tailpipe again. If I was going to pay a mechanic to "fix" it, then I want it fixed, correctly, and it BETTER pass with a guarantee stating such. What I'm saying is that it is your choice and wallet.
PS; Ohio has an E-check program and if a vehicle fails and costs too much to repair then they waive it, but you have to prove the price of repairs. Check your laws. Good luck.Comment
-
what year truck?
some chrysler vehicles have an code blink system. not sure when they started but try this method and it may provide some info on whats causing you trouble. flip the ignition three times and watch the flashes of the odometer. when I say flip i mean from off position to just before start . dont go all the way to start. three flips and count the flashes. its tricky but if you do it a few times you will notice pauses between flashes. 2 quick flashes then a slight pause then 4 rapid flashes =24 . there is a decoder on the web that will help you interpret the flashcodes.Comment
-
found some info. 1983 has obd1
looks like you will have on board diagnostics. search the web for chrysler OBD1 codes. also youtube has a chrysler OBD1 video using a lebaron. I was wrong about the odometer flashing, the check engine light will blink out the codes.Comment
-
hello 74W300uteline.....
when we were replacing the speedo cable and didn't notice any OBD1 board under the dash. My truck was made in March 1983 and perhaps it didn't come with one ? I checked the youtube site under "chrysler OBD1 board diagnostics" and it was interesting but we didn't understand a word of what it was saying because we are hearing-impaired. Is there a place where can rent one of those things ? I think my husband and I can install 195 degree thermostat and O2 oxygen sensor. According to the GREEDY smog station and said those 2 items and wanted 342 dollars for parts and labor so i checked the autozone parts for the oxygen sensor is 45.99 for the "Bosch" brand and the GREEDY smog place wanted to charge us 76 dollars for it and 38.40 for labor to install the sensor, making me think that they WERE going to rip us off if we decided to pay for that but now we wont. The engine is running cold at 145 degrees as they say and that explains the red needle still at the "C" mark and after hour of driving and 10 dollars worth of gas,the needle move just a little bit. Guys do you think those 2 items will make it "PASS" the stupid smog ? We are willing to spend the money for the parts and other parts to really fix up the truck putting in new quality parts as it is in very good condition as money and time permits. This truck is worth saving it as there is no rust on the frame or signs of it being in a wreck or abuse after we spend a good day under the truck looking around. The other day we went to the junk yard and found only 4 dodge rams 1984,1986,1989 and 1992 but 15 fords and 13 chevy trucks there of the whole truck section !!!!!!!!!. We will put in good rebuild 318,727 transmission and transfercase when we are able to but it is hard to do that on fixed income. My husband really wants a 1981 to 1992 dodge ram truck 2 wheel drive, automatic and 6 cylinder, long bed not beaten up,does anyone have one for sale cheap ?
Tiffy's W150Comment
-
where is the oxygen sensor located on my 1983 W150 with 318
hello guys and gals.........
does anyone know where the oxygen sensor is located on my 1983 W150 with the 318 ? How many oxygen sensors does this truck have ? I am going to try to do the work ourselves rather to pay the greedy smog station 342 dollars !!! so i can get my baby passed !!!!!!!!
thanks guys.......
Tiffy's w150Comment
-
Tiffy,
Try the rockauto.com site for parts and prices. I do not always buy from them, but have learned a lot about the variety and various qualitys of different parts brands. They also show the part interchange with other vehicles, and now are building a library of instructional videos.
Does this engine have a carb, or is it fuel injected. It is my understanding that carb equipped engines do not have O2 sensors, and do not have the diagnostic OBD1 computer.
Did you check your air filter? If it is dirty, the engine will starve for air and the HC level will be high.
My 86 and 88 Dodge W250's with 360 engines have Rochester carbs, dual airpumps (smog pumps), no converters, no O2 sensors, and no computers. I know the smog regulations differed for the 150 series truck, and California trucks were even more smog controlled than ours were, so I do not know what your truck really has. We used to have to annually test our cars and trucks, but that now has been eliminated. Check to see if CA rules exempt vehicles 25 to 30 years old from the smog test. Your truck may be a 1983, but check the sticker on the driver's door post to determine the build date. It was probably built in 1982.
On our Ford vehicles, fuel injection, O2 sensors, computer controlled engine functions did not happen until 1987.
I suspect that your 318 is a carb engine, and your carb is running rich. If this gets straightened out, you will get better gas mileage. There was a series of Dodge engines which were equipped with Carter ThermoQuad carbs. The TQ carb has enricher needles which may be stuck in the rich position. It also has a black plastic base that is known to crack and leak gas into the engine (thus burns rich). It has been many years since I worked on a TQ carb, so my memory and knowledge is pretty sketchy. But I do remember having the same trouble with them and working on them to get better gas mileage. We had no smog testing in the late 70's, and early 80's when I was running those engines.
Tell us more, maybe we can help. If I was near Chico, I'd tell you to bring it over and we'd have at it. But I am west of Minneapolis MN.
You can change a thermostat! Drain down about 2 gallons of antifreeze from the bottom of the radiator first into clean containers so you can reuse it. The thermostat housing (elbow shape) is made of cast aluminum, and might be broken by tightening up the bolt on one side too much. Tighten up the 2 bolts evenly. But if you do break it, no big deal. Most parts stores have it and it is not over $10 (maybe more by today's prices). Running at the 195 temp will improve the HCs. I seem to have to replace thermostats more often now than 20 years ago. I do not think they are made as well. Some of our diesel engines have 2 thermostats, and the price has gone nuts, near or over $100 for a thermostat. Yours should be in the $10 range.
If you have questions, ask.... but we give better answers if you can post a picture or 2 of the part or area in question.
Best Wishes.
Paul in MNComment
-
hello Paul in MN........
my truck build date says March 1983 as per door sticker and its a 318 2bbl. We were planing to install 195 degree thermostat which is like 12 dollars and oxygen sensor is 45.99. I believe the truck is a cailfornia model as it has its original blue lic. plates. We installed a new air filter before the test but the carb looks dirty from the inside the barrels. We think we saw one oxygen sensor attached to the left side of the engine exhaust mainifold on the bottom near the powersteering pump but not sure if that what it is. I do not understand why this state is trying very hard to keep it from passing as there are many of us who cannot afford to buy new dodge ram after seeing the prices of the truck lately.
Tiffy's w150Comment
-
Tiffy,
I have never seen an engine with a carb and an O2 sensor. But then again, I have not seen many CA vehicles in this part of the country. As to placement of O2 sensors, I'd expect to find them located on the exhaust pipe, not on the exhaust manifold, and definitely not toward the front of the engine. Do your exhaust pipes drop down from the center of each exhaust manifold, or towards the rear of the manifold near the firewall? I have seen many V-8 engines with 2 O2 sensors, one on each exhaust pipe between the manifolds and before the catalytic converter. My guess is that your truck has a catalytic converter, and may have 1 O2 sensor just forward of the converter. The shop estimate suggested 1 O2 sensor.
Another thought or two.... Do "antique vehicles" or "collector vehicles" require smog testing? I would guess not, as they could not have passed even when they were new. Can you get this truck relicensed as a "collector vehicle"? I think it is old enough. Are the CA rules about the driving of "collector vehicles" way too restrictive for the way you want to use your 150?? We have solved some of our regulation problems in MN with the collector plate. And here, you buy it once and do not need to pay an annual renewal fee. But I do not know the California rules.
If the inside of your carb is black dirty, that suggests that your engine has a bad EGR valve OR your exhaust cross-over going under the carb (a passage through the inside of the intake manifold) is plugged with carbon (a common problem with 318 engines). If this is plugged, the intake manifold does not get hot enough to completely vaporize the gasoline, and your HC output will be high. The carbon build up happens much faster when the thermostat is not bringing the engine up to 180* or higher.
When the engine is warmed up, do you see a blue/gray color in the exhaust smoke? If so, this indicates the HC level is coming from burning oil from bad rings or worn valve guides. = Engine rebuild time. (But the Dodge engines seem to have less of this kind of wear than GM engines).
When the engine is warmed up, do you see a blackish color in the exhaust smoke? If so, this indicates excessive gasoline going into the engine usually by something being wrong with the carb. And this is fixable.
When the engine is warmed up, and you see no color to the exhaust gasses, the engine is in pretty usable shape, and should be able to pass the smog tests with some adjustments to the carb.
Good Luck in solving this problem.
Paul in MNComment
-
hello guys and gals........(up date-March 15, 2012)
We replaced the old worn out parts with new parts such as fuel filter,fuel pump,195 degree thermostat and rebuilt the carb, set the timing and 2 cans of "sea foam" with least 5 gallons of gas. The truck ran much better than before, but still failed the smog for second time March 12 2012 (the truck was fully warmed up before the smog test) and had to pay 57.75 for the retest. We asked him WHY we have to pay again and more money, he told us "because we did the repairs ourselves" but we didnt know as no one told us.
The readings are at CO% 4.10, MAX is 2.00 @ 1,033 RPMs and CO% 2.80, MAX is 2.00 @ 2334 RPMs. We were told by scott and he said the computer (small one that is attached to the side of the air cleaner) is malfunctioning (the old "lean burn" system that dodge uses in the 1980's). We looked at AUTOZONE parts web site and they have replacement computers from 99.00 to 138.99 and have about 12 different kinds for this truck all with different OEM # numbers on it and the one on my truck has a missing label on the top but NO OEM NUMBER on it so we don't know which one to buy ? Please guys help us as we have already spent 300 dollars for the parts and failed the test second time and we are out of money !!!!!!!! and we are very frustrating about this whole thing.
The tags are due in 31st. of march 2012. The smart guy that works there told me twice to "sell the truck to the state". We said "NO" twice, and he is a mopar hotrodder has nice Red Cuda and his daughter has a Blue 340 challenger but seems to NOT be interesting in helping us solve the stupid smog problem as he told us that he has a friend to help us with this and i have called him 3 times this week to find out what his so called "friend" has to say about how to help with the repairs but 3 times he keep saying "i been trying to get hold of him" and we don't know if he's truthful with us or not.
We used the free relay service to call him because we are hearing-impaired and i guess he has a problem with that or something. We are planning to move to Wyoming next summer 2013 and looking forward to LEAVE the NAZI state once for all. I am sorry for the LOOOONG Rant but had to VENT. We are "at of our wits end", If someone can help with this, we will be VERY VERY APPRECIATED.
Tiffy's W150Comment
-
hello guys and gals....... (another up-date March 15,2012)
I called again today and he seems to be LITTLE bit interesting in helping solve this smog problem. He said he still waiting for his friend to call him back and that he explained to me about something about computer and his friend can fix it and he's trying to find a way to make it less expensive to repair.
Guys, why is that the smog stations trying hard to fail older cars and trucks in good condition, is it because they get a bonus money or something from the nazi state ? I know that the state is trying to get 800,000 old cars off the hwys and in starting Jan 1, 2013 there are new smog laws going into effect. Have any of you heard about this ?
Tiffy's W150Comment
-
hello Guys and Gals.......
can somebody please help ?
Tiffy's W150Comment
-
I'm sorry about your luck, I really am because I've been there. I am not familiar at all with Lean-Burn systems. You could try asking the tech guy Rick at Mopar Action magazine. Their website has a link to e-mail him and he is very knowledgeable, he is SAE certified and a serious Mopar nut, that's all he works on. I understand your dilema with your hearing imparment, my sister is deaf and has other issues. Good luck though. PS: I was stationed in Southern California and hated it. That state should split into North and South and let them live separately because the Northern part is beautiful.Comment
-
See what other shops there may be in a 50-75 mile radius that could be more helpful and more sympathetic to the plight of the average person. There may be a shop that deals with things like street rods or antiques.Power Wagon Advertiser monthly magazine, editor & publisher.
Why is it that the inside of old truck cabs smell so good?Comment
-
Tiffy,
I wish I could help you, but with what you have said about this 150, I am totally out of ideas. It seems to me (big guess!) that with the improvements you have seen, that your engine is good enough to pass the tests, and just needs some tuning. I can't believe that the state test station charges for a retest. Is this station a private contractor for CA? If so, are there any others that you can go to?
I would still look into the "collector plate" availability, but maybe you have already done that.
Another possibility is to google up the ATHS (American Truck historical Society), and find a group near you. Somebody close to you knows these Dodges, and with a lot of retired members of that group, someone may be willing to help you and your husband out. I belong to such a group here, and I know there are "willing helpers". Also one of our local auto repair shops does "free work" for people who are trying to work and balance a very slim budget. They have a few retired volunteer mechanics who work about 1/2 day per week gratis. Another fellow I know does this kind of work as requested by his church's pastor. He has taken on some pretty big jobs, no charge for labor, and someone from the church donates the $$ for the needed parts. He sees this as part of his "personal mission". Do you have some support person who might be able to make these contacts for you?
If all else fails, then you probably need to get some kind of beater car that has passed the smog test, and leave the 150 parked off street until you move to Wyoming. At that time, I'd just drive it with expired plates and risk the ticket for expired plates.
Another thing about carbs is that the 3 internal circuits are additive. First is the idle circuit. The 2 bbl carb has 2 brass screws at the base of the carb just above the manifold. I would screw those in 1/4 turn at a time until the engine is just getting a rough idle (low RPM). This is known as a lean idle. The second circuit is the main driving gasoline circuit that allows gas to go through the 2 main barrels. You can lean out the mix with smaller main jets (you probably do not want to change these by yourself), or by lowering the float level so there is less gasoline in the carb's float bowl. And 3rd circuit is the "enricher circuit" which lets more gas go through the carb when you have low vacuum (engine is pulling hard). Have someone check the vacuum at the carb, you may have a slight vacuum leak due to a cracked small rubber hose (especially where the hose goes onto a metal or plastic fitting). If your vacuum is low, the carb thinks you need extra gas all the time and the enricher valve is providing that gas. Sometimes this vacuum leak is in the power break booster, but much more often the leak is in one of the old rubber lines or a failed vacuum "motor" or switch (maybe in the heater control on the dashboard).
I have never seen a computer located on the air cleaner, but it is common to find a vacuum valve that controls a door in the intake snout making the engine suck warm air heated by the exhaust manifold when the engine is cold. And so a rubber vacuum line (hose) goes to that vacuum switch. Be sure it is connected to the correct place on the engine so you aren't losing vacuum at an open connector.
Before you spend any more $$, post your plan on this forum, and we will try to see if it makes any sense. No one here wants to rip you off, and no one here wants to see this truck put out of service because of this smog problem. I wish I could do more for you. If that truck were near my shop, I'd find some way to make it pass the dang test, even if I had to run it on a few gallons of 85% ethanol just for the test. The high ethanol will be destructive to rubber parts in your fuel pump and the carb, so don't leave it in there for more than a day or two. Dillute it out with lots of regular gas as soon as it passes the test.
Check for vacuum leaks first, advance the timing a few more degrees (just before the engine "pings"), lean out the carb, put some E85 in the gas, use a heavy weight motor oil (diesel 15-40 or 20-50 to lessen the amount of oil passing the rings and valve stems), pull the air cleaner filter out (allows more oxygen into the carb), put a new EGR filter inside the air cleaner housing (small white foam... get rid of the old oily one). There are a few more tricks known by MoPar fans, but these are what comes to mind.
Don't spend a bunch of money on it. Post back with your plans before spending $$$$.
Wishing you some good luck pretty soon!
Paul in MNComment
Comment