few simple replacement parts to hopefully +mpg

[daniel3507]

sorry, I'm a newb at all of this... what do you mean by ignition wires? The wires that are going from my coil to my distributor and distributor to the spark plugs?
yep.

how tough is replacing the fuel filter on an 88 2.9L?
If it is anything like my 93, very easy. Takes all of five minutes.

daniel

 

[baxtej44]

any good reliable sites to buy the ignition wires and vacuum lines from? on the vacuum lines do i need the like "boots" to connect anything? how many are there about?

 

[Epixstar]

any local parts store for the wires would be fine. They also sell vaccum lines buy the foot, but first start off with the wires and maybe a cap and rotor depending on there age on the truck. how does the truck run? What are you getting right now for gas mileage?

 

[tempforce]

when you buy the o2 sensor, try to get the wide band sensor. it will help the computer adjust for the higher alcohal content in the fuel. (up to e-30)....

 

[JohnnyO]

It wouldn't hurt to change the O2 sensors on a 20 year old truck, OTOH if the Check Engine Light isn't on they're probably okay. New plugs and wires would help, coil I doubt would make any difference. A high output coil works this way...a more powerful spark allows you to run a wider plug gap for a bigger spark, like 0.40 to 0.45, that will give you an infinitesimal increase in hp and mpg at best. Lubes in the axles, t-case, transmission, can get thicker over time so changing them can help. A few months ago I had the axle lube changed in my daughter's Wrangler and lo and behold, the transmission upshifted sooner. I conclude that the ancient lube in the axles was causing extra drag.

Air and fuel filters, I'd be a leery of running full synthetic oil in an engine that old which wasn't really designed to use it. Max Life would be good for you application. Plugs and wires, just Motorcraft or Autolite will be fine, don't use multiple electrode plugs like Bosch. Plain ol' NAPA wires, cap, and rotor are fine.

Due to the age of your truck I would advise doing a compression check on each cylinder. A low cylinder will hurt mpg.

 

[baxtej44]

any local parts store for the wires would be fine. They also sell vaccum lines buy the foot, but first start off with the wires and maybe a cap and rotor depending on there age on the truck. how does the truck run? What are you getting right now for gas mileage?

well as of this morning, something's up with the front end... my uncle thinks it's a "knuckle" not sure if that's the proper term haha.... but he said something about my u-joints and the turnouts for my 4x4... so gonna have him take a closer look soon.

before that the engine ran fine, it sometimes took a second to shift from park to reverse or to drive, etc to get going (but from what i what i hear, that's common in rangers?) and it can sometimes shudder a little bit while idling. i'm getting around 10-13 mpg, and now you have to remember we haven't had any weather above 30 degrees before a week or so ago.

when you buy the o2 sensor, try to get the wide band sensor. it will help the computer adjust for the higher alcohal content in the fuel. (up to e-30)....

nice tip, thanks.

It wouldn't hurt to change the O2 sensors on a 20 year old truck, OTOH if the Check Engine Light isn't on they're probably okay. New plugs and wires would help, coil I doubt would make any difference. A high output coil works this way...a more powerful spark allows you to run a wider plug gap for a bigger spark, like 0.40 to 0.45, that will give you an infinitesimal increase in hp and mpg at best. Lubes in the axles, t-case, transmission, can get thicker over time so changing them can help. A few months ago I had the axle lube changed in my daughter's Wrangler and lo and behold, the transmission upshifted sooner. I conclude that the ancient lube in the axles was causing extra drag.

Air and fuel filters, I'd be a leery of running full synthetic oil in an engine that old which wasn't really designed to use it. Max Life would be good for you application. Plugs and wires, just Motorcraft or Autolite will be fine, don't use multiple electrode plugs like Bosch. Plain ol' NAPA wires, cap, and rotor are fine.

Due to the age of your truck I would advise doing a compression check on each cylinder. A low cylinder will hurt mpg.

a lot of great info... how much is a compression check?

 

[baxtej44]

quick update: uncle thinks that it's possibly my u-joints or that the manual locking hubs (this is drivers side only, the sound is only coming from that one side) are not locking either which way completely... the drivers side (side in question) manual hub wasn't clicking into the full unlock position (they were both locked for winter), so with a little help with channel locks it's clicking now, but when they are unlocked (i keep them both in the same "mode") there is a clicking noise when i drive at low speeds, a very repetitive "click click click click click".

friend at work thinks i need to replace my "knuckle", says they are really cheap, and while i'm doing the drivers side i might as well do the passenger side, should take 1.5-3 hours for both, and less than $100?