Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Darren94
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Hey everyone, new B2500 owner here with some questions. First off, I am not a "newbie", as i am 29 years old and have owned over 25 vehicles since age 16 but, i am new to this forum and line of trucks. Long story short, i have wanted a 4cyl, 2wd, manual, Ranger/Mazda for a really long time and up until now, i had not come across one with the right price in the right condition. However, i just picked up a 1998 with 176K in amazingly good shape for $1500. No rust, "dealer maintained" up until 120k miles, near perfect paint and spotless interior. Really good find and fits the bill perfectly for my wants of a good daily driver that is reliable and can transport smaller items. Also, i am a Jeep and Subaru fanatic and currently own a 2011 WRX STi, 2010 4DR Rubicon wrangler but, i am still excited about my B2500 as my daily runner!
A little back ground
The owner before me (he was the second owner) really did not do much maintenance during his ownership (first owner however took it to the dealer every 3k). So, i have been playing catch up on the maintenance that he skipped. When i purchased the truck, i noticed that it had a pretty rough idle, slight hesitation, major pre-detonation "pinging" under load and was a bit sluggish. So, last weekend i replaced:
-The oil and filter with fresh 10w-30
-New fuel filter
-New air filter
-New plugs and wires (all 8)
-Changed all fluids (rear diff, manual trans, coolant, brake and power steering)
-Cleaned the mass air flow, added seafoam treatment to a full tank of fuel and used seafoam spray directly into the engine.
All of which really made it run much better. No more pinging, and really smoothed it out. However, i have some questions.
1) The top end has some valve train noise which is not too loud but, is noticeable. The previous owner added lucas and it stopped the noise but, i don't use many additives. Is slight valve train noise normal? Ive had cars in the past that made tons of noise but, never hurt anything.
2) It still idles really rough but, once you increase the rpm's it runs great. Warm or cold like clockwork it idles rough. Almost shakes the truck side to side. Any ideas? (going to clean the IAC and EGR tonight to see if it helps)
3) I cant tell if the timing belt, tensioner , and accessory belt have been replaced. Any tricks or hints to see if its ever been replaced?
4) I just noticed the the truck has 2 leaks. One where the dip stick tube meets the block and one where the actual dip stick enters the tube. Are there replacement seals for this?
Sorry for the lengthy post but, thanks in advance!!
A little back ground
The owner before me (he was the second owner) really did not do much maintenance during his ownership (first owner however took it to the dealer every 3k). So, i have been playing catch up on the maintenance that he skipped. When i purchased the truck, i noticed that it had a pretty rough idle, slight hesitation, major pre-detonation "pinging" under load and was a bit sluggish. So, last weekend i replaced:
-The oil and filter with fresh 10w-30
-New fuel filter
-New air filter
-New plugs and wires (all 8)
-Changed all fluids (rear diff, manual trans, coolant, brake and power steering)
-Cleaned the mass air flow, added seafoam treatment to a full tank of fuel and used seafoam spray directly into the engine.
All of which really made it run much better. No more pinging, and really smoothed it out. However, i have some questions.
1) The top end has some valve train noise which is not too loud but, is noticeable. The previous owner added lucas and it stopped the noise but, i don't use many additives. Is slight valve train noise normal? Ive had cars in the past that made tons of noise but, never hurt anything.
2) It still idles really rough but, once you increase the rpm's it runs great. Warm or cold like clockwork it idles rough. Almost shakes the truck side to side. Any ideas? (going to clean the IAC and EGR tonight to see if it helps)
3) I cant tell if the timing belt, tensioner , and accessory belt have been replaced. Any tricks or hints to see if its ever been replaced?
4) I just noticed the the truck has 2 leaks. One where the dip stick tube meets the block and one where the actual dip stick enters the tube. Are there replacement seals for this?
Sorry for the lengthy post but, thanks in advance!!
