91 4.0 running horrible

[Dannyboy]

91 4.0 running bad, leaking gas!!!

As most know, my truck has not been driven in 6 months. The dash has been completely stripped away for aftermarket gauges. I tried to start it up and the battery was dead after I had it running last week and also I get nothing when I push on the gas after it is running, it actually bogs down.

I also have replaced the gasket on the throttle body and popped the throttle cable off and reinstalled it during this process. I have also just added a new intake tube.

While the truck is running, I step on the gas and it does nothing. I removed the harness on the back of the MAF and it now revs up, but still runs lousy.

I also don't know if my alternator is charging anything or if my 7 month old battery is just bad.

I dropped the truck at the exhaust shop for the new bent up tailpipe and I am nervous I might have a big issue on my hands before Moab.

Since I have no battery light or Check engine light on my new dash can someone tell me if I can just throw a meter on the alternator and if it reads over 13 I'm good? I also think I just need to clean the MAF. Any reason those two items won't fix it? Does disconnecting my factory gauge cluster throw the vehicle into a safety mode?

I did just get a XP240 scan tool so I may be able to search any codes from that.

Just looking to see what I can get away with bypassing to get this truck up and running.

 

[Rosscup]

try cleaning your MAF your IAC and see what your TPS voltage is. you also might try unpluging the vaccum tube to your EGR valve. i did that and turns out my EGR valve was stuck open and it missed and bogged like crazy. it runs just fine now besides the fact i lost a couple mpg

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

Definitely try to get the codes from it, either with a scan tool or the voltmeter/paperclip trick. You might need to jerry-rig a check engine light.

Here's another thing to try: If you unplugged the MAF and performance changed, buy a new MAF from Autozone. If it's not the problem, return it.

Alternator should put out around 14 volts. It would be good to check amps as well, if you can get a clamp-on ammeter.

 

[Dannyboy]

Thanks guys, I've got the gauges going in this weekend, but I did just get this PM from Jamie

Your alternator is not charging because your voltage regulator inside the alternator is not getting powered

This is the battery light wire inyour dash, if its not hooked up your alternator will put out 0 volts

I learned this the hard way! you need to hook that wire up to a + feed I believe (dont take my word for it, it may be -, do some research)

I also drove the truck to work today, dead battery when I got here, and got new exhaust yesterday but can't decide if I got a headache from fumes still coming through the shock holes in the floor.

To be safe (my roommate and another good friend died in college from CO poisoning) I'm going to plug in my CO detector to an inverter and monitor levels in the cabin. I don't know if I was sucking down fumes or just didn't get the best night sleep or if it was a ****tail or 4 last night, but I want to be safe and monitor those levels for some time.

 

[Dannyboy]

solved all problems, dirty MAF, streched throttle cable or something and pulling dash caused issue with alternator.

Coming soon, one fantastic writeup on installing aftermarket gauges.

 

[Dannyboy]

Okay, so now I'm stumped, yesterday I started the truck as it was sitting in my sloped driveway (front higher than rear) it was leaking what I'm 99% sure was fuel at a fairly steady drip right at the engine meeting the bellhousing. Needing to get to work, I parked the truck and was ready to survey the damage last night.

Last night I started to truck, let it sit at idle for 15 minutes with no sign whatsoever of fuel leaking. There was a slight smell of fuel while the truck was running but I think it was normal plus I know it was leaking earlier and may have had fuel on the block. I traced each of the fuel lines and saw no frays or issues anywhere.

The fuel pump does seem to be making more noise but this too could be just my observation that my truck no longer has carpet or insulation so I am hearing more noises.

In other related news, I broke a key off in the ignition and had to turn it by hand to start the truck. I think there may have been a chance that the ignition might have been stuck in start and feeding additional fuel??? I don't know just a guess, I had not put it in gear yet so the starter wouldn't have been grinding. It had to come from somewhere. I'm going to continue to daily drive the truck to make sure the kinks work out before Moab and if it appears faulty I will take it to the mechanic, I just find it strange that there is no sign of leak at all.