1988 Chevy pick-up running bad.HELP
TheHawk
carpenter,LOL.My 1988 chevy pick-up is running bad,its stalling frequent
until it gets warmed up good.I just had the plugs,wires,rotor,cap,and
starter replaced.The guy also tuned up the carb and timed it.It ran great
for 2 weeks then started to go down hill,to day i pulled 2 plugs 1 was
covered in carbon and the other was also covered with carbon but was also
wet with gas,and i have not started the truck in over 24 hours and still a
wet plug???Any Info. would be great I think its just something small, or
maybe i hope it is,LOL.
Thank You, TheHawk
Jonathan
Yes, it may very well be something small - time to replace your mechanic.
I owned an '88 C1500 so I am speaking for the type of truck that I owned. I
cannot vouch for what may have been the older style still produced in that
year, or a truck with any other motor configuration that what I owned (5.7L
V-8 TBI). However, the 1988 vintage trucks that I am familiar with didn't
use carburators, they used throttle body fuel injection (TBI) and electronic
timing. There is nothing to "tune up/adjust" in a throttle body short of
cleaning and/or replacing the components, and you couldn't adjust the timing
on my truck because it was controlled by the ECM.
Your motor may be different (I believe that there were some carb models
offered in a few pick-ups), but it sounds like your are running rich based
on your description of the plugs. If you do indeed have a carb, then I'd
take it to someone else with experience and let them check the mixture and
jeting, as well as the automatic choke and a few other things, and get it
dialed in a little better.
Good luck - Jonathan
"TheHawk" <treyme...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4a17b6672888b20c...@localhost.talkaboutautos.com...
Jon Pickens
tuned up as part of scheduled maintenance or was this the reason you
took it to him to begin with?
Are you sure it's carbureted? An '88 should be TBI (throttle body
injection) which does sorta look like a carb.
Concerning the wet plug...I suppose the area in the cylinder/head will
be tight enough to keep any gas liquid in there. I wouldn't think a
somewhat sealed off area would allow it to quickly evaporate, probably
leftover from when you last ran the truck.
If it is TBI as I suspect, it should have an O2 sensor. Maybe someone
can correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, the ECM (computer)
will run the engine rich until the exhaust gases get hot enough for the
O2 sensor to work. Then the ECM will adjust the fuel/air mix based on
what the O2 sensor is telling it. If the O2 sensor is bad or
disconnected, it's possible that the ECM thinks the engine is still
cold and therefore keeping it rich--in other words, as far as the
computer is concerned your engine isn't warmed up yet.
This is just a possibility...based on the year your truck was produced.
It should be TBI unless someone swapped the fuel injection setup for a
carb setup. And TBI isn't tuned with adjustment screws and/or rods and
jets like a carb is.
Does it smoke a lot when idling or driving?
~jp
Jon Pickens
Jon Pickens
working...
Was the truck doing this before you had it tuned up? Was the tune up
scheduled maintenance or were you trying to correct a problem?
If it's an '88, it should have TBI (throttle body injection) instead of
a carb, although at first glance (and to the inexperienced eye) the TBI
unit looks a lot like a carb.
If it's TBI, it should have an O2 sensor. When the engine is cold, the
ECM (computer) runs the engine rich until the O2 sensor heats up to
operating temperature so that the oxygen content of the exhaust can be
properly measured. If it's disconnected, damaged, or just plain bad,
it could be causing the ECM to believe that the engine isn't fully
warmed up, and therefore keep the mixture too rich. Could be the ECM
itself...
Hopefully someone with more experience can chime in to answer this more
in depth than I.
Does it smoke a lot when you start it? How about when you drive it?
~jp
Charles Bendig
Jon:
Remember that the old 87 and older bodies stayed until 1990/1991 under
the R/V instead of C/K chassis codes. I can be wrong, But i believe 88
R/V 3500's, Cab & Chassis, as well as 454 Suburbans could be had with a
Carb.
I do know that TBI was available in 1986 and 1987 on the old body
trucks with 305's & 350's. Yet the 4.3 V6 in 86 came only with a carb.
So it can get a bit confusing for a few years what parts a truck might
have.
Charles
TheHawk
it is a carb or a TBI, I'm a carpenter,LOL.the engine does give off a
little white smoke when first started but stops shortly after.I had a
Nissan pick-up a few years back and the O2 sensor went bad on it, and it
ran real bad in 1st and 2nd gears till i got up to speed.My truck now runs
ok in 1st and gets rough as i get into 2nd and 3rd gears ???Thank You
every1 who has posted. TheHawk
TheSnoMan
TheHawk
Jon Pickens
didn't see anything specific to indicate whether his truck was a full
size or S-series... So I suppose we don't even know which engine we're
dealing with here.
Maybe more info would be helpful from Mr. Hawk.
Either way, good info Charles. I'll file it away in the memory banks.
~jp
Jon Pickens
~jp
TheHawk
1500 or a 2500 the fix should be the same,right.The title od my truck says
88 chevy and thats it,i have no markings on the truck its self.Well sorry
for posting on a subject I know nothing about,but thats kinda what these
forums are for.Ive been getting people telling me its my timing, anyone
else think this could be it???? Thanks Every1, TheHawk
Jon Pickens
Troubleshooting the symptoms you describe on a fuel injected engine
would be much different than on a carbureted engine.
And an '88 S-series wouldn't have come with a V8, it would've been a
V6. So we're not even sure which engine you have, and therefore can
only give slightly vague advice.
Do this...Pop the hood, and find the distributor. Count how many wires
are coming off the top of it and let us know.
~jp
dirtdude
Sunshine&Lollipops
TheHawk wrote:
> Does it matter what truck the engine is in if the symtoms are the
> same in a 1500 or a 2500 the fix should be the same,right.
That's kinda a snide remark for a guy who had someone else who also doesn't
know what they are doing tune up their truck. I'd tell you stop having the
guy who services your air nailers (If you have them) work on your truck.
>The title
> od my truck says 88 chevy and thats it,i have no markings on the
> truck its self.
Ugh, just post the VIN# of the truck and one of us will reply back with what
you have.
>Well sorry for posting on a subject I know nothing
> about,but thats kinda what these forums are for.
Ok lets pretend this is alt.carpentry.hawk
Hawk I need a blade for my saw, what one should I get?
Now you guess is it a reciprocating saw, a circular saw, a bandsaw, a table
saw, a jig saw.
I bet you can write 3 pages for us just on one type of saw blade.
>Ive been getting
> people telling me its my timing, anyone else think this could be
> it???? Thanks Every1, TheHawk
We could all guess if you like and later after you spend hundreds on parts
your truck might run right.
Better just post the VIN# to be sure.
;)
Sunshine&Lollipops
This still won't tell anyone if it's carb or TBI jp.
Hint: post the VIN# or count the plug wires and take the top of the air
cleaner off and tell us is you see wires right on top.
This is a TBI V8 http://chevythunder.com/tbi_top_view.jpg
Close up of TBI http://www.montremblant.com/~siffleu/tbiconv/dscf0539.jpg
Jon Pickens
information we have now other than it was made in '88 and it's a truck.
I also suggested counting plug wires.
And as was mentioned earlier in the thead, different engine were
available with different models even within the full sized range of
trucks. Hence my question regarding it's towing weight (1500, 2500,
3500).
~jp