An '84 BII that's in need of love.

[SenorNoob]

Blacksmith time?

 

[Hoosierman]

Here is the hole in the manifold I was speaking of, plus a peak at the vent line coming from it.

 

[JoshT]

Looks to me like it's just a heat shield rusted away. That's how those preheaters worked. It didn't pull exhaust gasses into the carburetor. There was a heat shield and it pulled heated air from between the heat shield and the manifold. The manifold itself is probably good.

Good luch with finding 2.8L headers. Probably either having them custom made or DIY.

 

[Hoosierman]

That's a little relieving to read.

I replaced the starter today, still nothing. I'm thinking solenoid may already be suspect. I have one on order, I guess meanwhile I'll start checking various ground points, refreshing them and the like. The original ground from battery to frame was shipped off and and the only place the battery was grounding to was on the bracket over the alternator.

 

[RobbieD]

Here is the hole in the manifold I was speaking of, plus a peak at the vent line coming from it.

This is what's rusted away:

That's how those preheaters worked. It didn't pull exhaust gasses into the carburetor. There was a heat shield and it pulled heated air from between the heat shield and the manifold. The manifold itself is probably good.

That's exactly what it is (or was; rust never sleeps). The flexible duct connected it to the air filter intake.

 

[JoshT]

@RobbieD

Excellent! Thanks for posting the picture. I was looking for one on google, but couldn't find a good example.

 

[RobbieD]

Excellent! Thanks for posting the picture. I was looking for one on google, but couldn't find a good example.

Something tells me that these 2.8 preheat stoves are probably hard to find these days.

Luckily mine was still in good shape.

Here it is broken down into its components when I restored it:

 

[Hoosierman]

This is the single biggest reason why forums are handy. I would have never known this is normal.

 

[JoshT]

I replaced the starter today, still nothing. I'm thinking solenoid may already be suspect.

Why? It was cranking over with the old starter. Maybe not well, but it was cranking over. Unless you were jumping the solenoid, that shows it was working. Jump your solenoid posts and see what happens.

You should have 4 posts on the solenoid, two large and two small. Large gauge wire from battery to the large input post, other large wire going to starter from the large output post. One of your small posts will be labeled with an S, that is the start signal wire from your ignition switch. The other small post is marked with an I, it may or may not be used depending on how your truck is wired. It's been so long since I had my 84 2.8L that I don't recall if it was used, and it was modified anyway.

Here are a few quick test you can perform for the solenoid. You're bypassing the ignition switch and all safeties so make sure it's in park/neutral first. Probably wouldn't hurt to pull the coil wire as well, you aren't trying to start the engine, just crank it over.

First jump across the two large posts, engine should crank. If it does not crank, your solenoid is not the problem at all. Assuming that the battery is good, either your new starter is bad, or you have a bad connection/ground in that circuit.

If it passes that, jump from the input post to the signal post.

• If the engine cranks, you solenoid is good. The problem is in your wiring between the ignition switch and solenoid, the ignition switch itself, or maybe a brake/neutral safety switch.
• If the engine does not crank, but the solenoid clicks, the solenoid probably isn't the problem.
• If it does not crank and does not click, you may have a bad solenoid.

A weak crank condition is unlikely to be cause by the solenoid. Number 1 cause is obviously a weak battery, buy I'd assume you've already take care of that. Possibly by a bad connection at the solenoid, but not likely the solenoid itself. More likely a bad connection at the battery, starter, or block ground. Incorrect timing can also cause hard start problems if it fires too early in the stroke.

 

[RobbieD]

. . . forums are handy. I would have never known this is normal.

"Normal"?

Some of us may be handy, but mental health professionals by far would not consider any of us here as "normal".


And as my momma used to tell me, "Son, you're much better off being handy, instead of being handsome".

 

[JoshT]

And as my momma used to tell me, "Son, you're much better off being handy, instead of being handsome".

I'm guessing that she had a crush on Red Green

 

[RobbieD]

I'm guessing that she had a crush on Red Green

That was a new one on me!

 

[Hoosierman]

Would a wire work okay or is that too questionable? The part is a little bit in the way of any long screwdriver working.

I replaced the starter because the truck came with a remanned one and it seemed like a logical step to take, I had similar symptoms on a '93 Grand Cherokee. I'm not out anything by replacing it except maybe an hour of my time.

 

[Hoosierman]

I should clarify something. The truck didn't always start even with starting fluid. As of today, I get the clicking from the starter solenoid, but I don't even hear the engine trying to crank. I just spent a few hours cleaning and refreshing grounding points.

 

[RobbieD]

Would a wire work okay or is that too questionable?

A wire would work OK on jumping the small terminal to the BAT terminal, but DON'T use a wire to jumper the two big terminals. The starter pulls a lot of amps; too small of a wire and it'll get hot enough to burn you.

My "go to" to jump a solenoid is a junk pair of pliers.

Your most recent post:
Have you fully charged the battery?