89 BII

McWillies · Sep 10, 2017

Something weird happened yesterday on my way home. I left where I was at and it was feeling sluggish like the past few days. Made it to the highway and I eventually made it up to 65. After that, I set the cruise control, then when I made it to a hill I had to floor it. Well for some reason (forget why, maybe passing someone), I turned off cruise control. I looked down and I was going 75mph. I thought that was weird because I could barely make it up to 65 before. So I slowed back down, decided to give some throttle and it felt good. Full throttle I was accelerating pretty quick even at 60-65mph. So I set my cruise control again so I wouldn't lose track of my speed. Made it over a few hills flawlessy with cruise control on (couldnt do that before). What I'm thinking is the bolt on my distributor loosened itself back up and let the distributor wiggle slightly. Well if it wiggled back into it's normal position then that would cause it to run fine again I assume.

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McWillies · Sep 11, 2017

Got it back from the dealership just now. He said the timing was off again and the distributor needed tightening. Said he didn't wanna risk replacing the bolt because it could snap off, then we'd be totally ****ed (the threads can stretch out over time supposedly). He said it's probably not gonna last much longer going on the highway and stuff. Said I need to look into getting a different vehicle to get me to school...

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bronco2fan · Sep 11, 2017

So I'm confused now. The distributor was loose and out of time and it ran well or better then it had been? And they re-timed it and it's running like crap? If so I'd put it back where it was and call it good. If you need a new distributor hold down bolt and bracket, check the salvage yards. I've never had a problem with mine, and I've loosened, tightened and replaced my distributor a few times.

McWillies · Sep 12, 2017

bronco2fan said:
So I'm confused now. The distributor was loose and out of time and it ran well or better then it had been? And they re-timed it and it's running like crap? If so I'd put it back where it was and call it good. If you need a new distributor hold down bolt and bracket, check the salvage yards. I've never had a problem with mine, and I've loosened, tightened and replaced my distributor a few times.

No my friend, you're completely confused. I was having issues with low power a while back so I did new plugs and wires. When doing that, I believe the distributor was already loose. So pulling and pushing on the cap jarred it more out of place than it already was. Took it to the shop and they tightened the bolt down and fixed the timing. Well, the distributor loosened itself again a few days ago, which is what made it run bad. They don't want to risk attempting to remove the bolt if the threads are stretched because it could break off in my engine block.

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fastpakr · Sep 12, 2017

Is the bolt not turning freely? That's a bizarre explanation unless I'm just misunderstanding something.

McWillies · Sep 12, 2017

fastpakr said:
Is the bolt not turning freely? That's a bizarre explanation unless I'm just misunderstanding something.

I'm probably saying it wrong, I'm not sure. Just repeating what they told me. They don't know if it turns freely, they haven't tried because of the possibility of it snapping. It's obviously turning freely a little bit if it loosening itself. If the bolt were to break off into the block then there would be no way to get to it.

Either way, he said it doesn't have much longer to live anyways.

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JerryC · Sep 12, 2017

Find a way to mark the position of the distributor. Next time you'll know if it really moved or not and how much.

If your BII will boogie down the hwy at 75 easily, it sounds pretty strong to me so I don't understand why you need a new engine soon. I've seen really beat up motors just keep going and going.

fastpakr · Sep 12, 2017

Honestly, the dealer's explanation sounds ridiculous IMO. Somebody else may have a better interpretation.

McWillies · Sep 13, 2017

JerryC said:
Find a way to mark the position of the distributor. Next time you'll know if it really moved or not and how much.

If your BII will boogie down the hwy at 75 easily, it sounds pretty strong to me so I don't understand why you need a new engine soon. I've seen really beat up motors just keep going and going.

I can get it up to 75 but I wouldn't be able to maintain it for very long lol. I don't know if he necessarily meant the engine won't last, but problems will just keep popping up. I'm driving A LOT for this old truck. About 80 miles a day, 5 days a week, to get to and from school. Gas mileage isn't very good either (good for a BII but not in general), which is really putting a void in my wallet.

As for the dealership explanation, I'm not really sure what to say. We are very good friends with the owner of the dealership and the head mechanic, so I know he's not bullshitting us.

I just want you all to know that I take all of your suggestions and advice seriously, but it's hard to take the word of someone who's never touched the engine over someone who has worked on it multiple times. And I'm not calling you all liars, so don't come to that conclusion lol. Appreciate the help!

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BlackBII · Sep 13, 2017

Did you ever check the compression on each cylinder?

McWillies · Sep 13, 2017

BlackBII said:
Did you ever check the compression on each cylinder?

Nope, just never found the time for it. Had limited time each day and I could only seem to get half the plugs out at a time. Then I had to leave it at the dealership for multiple days because of the timing issue. Didn't want to keep the tester out for too long (rented it), the guy told me not to keep it over a week.
I'm scared to even touch the thing, I've been having so many issues lately :dunno:

Edit: The way I see it, if the compression is low on any cylinders, I can't really do anything about it...

RayInStl · Sep 30, 2017

It's more so that you know what you have than anything else. You don't want to keep throwing parts and money at a motor if it has a dead cylinder. If the compression is good in all cylinders, you can be relatively certain that the engine itself is in good health and worth your time.

I definitely understand not wanting to touch a vehicle because it's having lots of issues. I have a 99 Dodge Ram. It's the big 2500 with the v10 and 4 wheel drive. I bought it as my tow vehicle and it's worked well for that. But this year it started having lots of typical old car problems. One of the front calipers started dragging and ate the rotor. I had to buy a hydraulic press because the rotors are pressed into the wheel hub assembly! Then, right after that was fixed, I started getting random air bag lights and my A/C started working intermittently. I've already put a water pump and fan clutch on it this year. It seems to never stop. But the way I look at it, if I bought a new truck without these problems, it'd cost me $30-50K. This truck was $5K and I've put another $k in it so far. So I still have at least 24K to go before buying new would pay off!

McWillies · Oct 1, 2017

RayInStl said:
It's more so that you know what you have than anything else. You don't want to keep throwing parts and money at a motor if it has a dead cylinder. If the compression is good in all cylinders, you can be relatively certain that the engine itself is in good health and worth your time.

I definitely understand not wanting to touch a vehicle because it's having lots of issues. I have a 99 Dodge Ram. It's the big 2500 with the v10 and 4 wheel drive. I bought it as my tow vehicle and it's worked well for that. But this year it started having lots of typical old car problems. One of the front calipers started dragging and ate the rotor. I had to buy a hydraulic press because the rotors are pressed into the wheel hub assembly! Then, right after that was fixed, I started getting random air bag lights and my A/C started working intermittently. I've already put a water pump and fan clutch on it this year. It seems to never stop. But the way I look at it, if I bought a new truck without these problems, it'd cost me $30-50K. This truck was $5K and I've put another $k in it so far. So I still have at least 24K to go before buying new would pay off!

Yeah, I see what you're saying. Been thinking a lot about what I'm gonna do.

On another note, the BII feels like it's been gradually going out of time due to that bolt being loose. Might be my brain playing tricks, but it feels slower than what it did when the timing got fixed both times, but not as slow as before I got it fixed (hope that makes sense). Gonna have some free time to finish pulling parts off the junked 86 to put on the 87 (she's been on hold for a while, since I started college). If I can get that done fairly quickly then I wanna take a look at some things on the 89. What are some basic things that would need to be checked on a BII? (ex; o2 sensors, IAC, throttle body, stuff like that).

Finished typing that and realized that I forgot that I have ton of homework to do..... I'll see if I can find time for the BIIs. The question still stands.

Edit: has anyone ever used flex seal or another silicone rubber substance to fix a crack in their filler neck?

McWillies · Oct 4, 2017

So... I think I have a misfire at idle. Not having any experience hearing or feeling a misfire, I can't really be sure that's what it is. For the past two weeks or so, every time I start the BII, the idle is rough and fast. Sorta like it's pulsing rather than a smooth idle. When driving down the driveway it stays the same. When I get out of the driveway and start accelerating on the road, it breaks up a little bit then starts running normally. At first I was thinking it was my oil level (had a similar issue before, checked my oil and it was low so I added some and the issue stopped). After having an oil change yesterday, the problem still persists. I can't really tell a difference in power, don't go above 15mph when going down my gravel driveway. The "misfire" always goes away after accelerating to about 25mph, then runs normal. If I start it up later to leave school (4 hours or so) it does it again. Have no idea what the issue is. Appreciate any help.

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JerryC · Oct 4, 2017

Mine has a little idle hiccup about 30-45 seconds after a cold start. It will run rough for about 10-15 seconds and then smooths out. If I start it and drive off immediately it acts like yours does.
The only thing I haven't replaced that I think would cause that is the O2 sensor, because I can't get it loose. It's worse in cooler/cold weather.

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