"Rough Idle after head install"- Its contagious I guess

mixwell · Jan 15, 2009

I am now having the same issue as the other poster on the "Rough idle after head install".. Installed a head that I purchased BUT my truck ran very smooth for 2 days. Yesterday I turn the heater on in the morning and BAM !! starts running like the other thread posters symptoms had mentioned. Rough @ idle but goes away at higher RPM.. The engine also seems to run really sluggish and sounds almost like there could be an exhaust leak.

These symptoms were happening before the head change which is when I took it for a dyog test indicated low compression. Well I have a rebuild head now and ran a compression test and I confirmed I do have compressing. It was running fine after the install and I even turned the heater on and still was ok. For some reason though when I turned it on yesterday it started running like crap again.. I am clueless.. Anyone have a grenade I can borrow to put the SOB outta her misery ?? :annoyed:

Thanks.

4x4fun · Jan 15, 2009

one no grenade but i can tell you some home stuff that will work just as well :headbang:

does it go away after it gets warm.... thinking it might be a clearance issue but it fixes it self when it gets warmer.

Ranger44 · Jan 15, 2009

That's a little weird.

Did you torque the head properly? or did you have the head checked for straigntness, or the block?

Another thing to consider, when replacing a head for being cracked, it's always a good idea to replace the oxygen sensors. They get ruined by the coolan in the exhaust. A nice white fuzz is always a good sign.

mixwell · Jan 16, 2009

Found out the problem was a bad spark plug.. I still find it odd that it would take a crap right when I turned the heater on the other day.. Anyways I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no more odd issues come up for a while..

fixizin · Jan 20, 2009

Really, a bad plug, and it didn't throw a code and light the CEL? Bad PCM, bad, bad... no donut.

fleck · Jan 20, 2009

fixizin said:
Really, a bad plug, and it didn't throw a code and light the CEL? Bad PCM, bad, bad... no donut.

code? what the hell is a code?! i've had my truck do all these things and more and i'd see a check engine light every once in a blue moon. it was running with black plugs with a gap of like 75 though. how the hell do these engines keep running in these conditions?! they even seem like they're perfectly ok most of the time but then they get all bitchy out of nowhere sometimes.

Wicked_Sludge · Jan 20, 2009

i drove mine 15 miles down the highway with a bent exhaust valve, dumping raw fuel into the exhaust and it never tripped the CEL. mine is EEC-IV though, which can be a little...eh...slow.

mixwell · Jan 20, 2009

fleck said:
they even seem like they're perfectly ok most of the time but then they get all bitchy out of nowhere sometimes.

Haha its like my truck was saying "Hey asshole I take care of you and get you places so its time to pay some attention to me and my needs !!" :icon_rofl:

fixizin · Jan 20, 2009

Bummer about the EEC-IV, but the OP has an '01 which is -V, eh?

I started running a tad rough one day, and the -V code was "misfire, cylinder 2"... and sure enough, the electrode on the "high quality" OEM platinum plug came right out with the #2 boot, lol. I should probably replace the other 5 plugs one of these days... or not.

"Rough Idle after head install"- Its contagious I guess

mixwell

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4x4fun

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Ranger44

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mixwell

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fixizin

FoMoCo is forcing me to buy a 'yota

fleck

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Wicked_Sludge

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mixwell

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fixizin

FoMoCo is forcing me to buy a 'yota

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