Huge_Crank_Hank

Hi all, new to this forum. I don't have photos of the truck on my PC so I'll upload a few from my phone later.

I inherited the truck from my grandfather who passed away July 2016. The truck sat several months when his health diminished, and as a result some of the electrical became victim to rat infestation. Several wires to the ignition and injectors were chewed up, along with another adapter/plug near the power steering pump (I believe this is the OBD-I port). Two weeks ago I managed to rewire the ignition to get the truck running.

This past weekend I used the truck to help my mother-in-law move. This was the first time I used the truck since rewiring, and figured I'd start making a list of issues that need to be addressed.

-ABS light is on (brakes feel really weak as well, pedal has a lot of travel before any stopping power is noticed. Not sure if there's air in the brake lines or low brake fluid)
-ATF leak (I checked all of the fluids once I got the truck running. I had to add about 3qts of ATF. I've looked under the truck and the trans is covered in fluid. I cannot tell where the leak is yet, might be the pan but could be converter as well. After two days of driving I now hear a grinding noise when the truck is in Park or Neutral.)
-Hard shifting from 1-2 (Almost feels like the truck has a shift kit)
-Low RPM Knocking/Ticking sound (Sounds very similar to a diesel engine. Not sure if this is in the valvetrain or not, I've looked at the exhaust and don't see any leaks.)
-Speedo bouncing between 45-55mph (I haven't been above 50mph atleast based on my estimates, anything above 45mph causes the speedometer to bounce everywhere)
-Temperature gauge not working (gauge moves from C to the N in NORMAL when running, but that does not seem correct).
-Gear indicator is off the mark (when the truck is in park, the indicator shows N, and when the truck is in drive the indicator below the 1. I dont know if there is an adjustment for this. The transmission was swapped about a year ago, and i assume it came from the swap.)
-AC doesn't work (typical of a vehicle this old.)
-Airbag light is on
-Cruise control does not work (I'm hoping the speedo issue fixes the cruise control)
-Passenger window motor/regulator (Passenger window goes down, but will not go up without assistance. When using the switch there's a clicking noise, but the window doesn't go up without pulling it by hand.)

I plan on addressing all of these issue over the next few months. If I can get everything corrected at a reasonable cost I'll look at doing a more in-depth restore on the truck. I'll be spending the next week or so researching these issues but if you guys have any pointers on where to start with some of these issues it'd be helpful. I've got some mechanical experience (I installed performance heads, cam, and exhaust on my Charger SRT8 and replaced clutch on my Challenger SRT8 myself) but I'm not an expert by any means.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

She's a beauty !

If somebody gave me that puppy I'd do it to it big-time. All new everything. It's worth it.

IMHO

Huge_Crank_Hank

Thanks Chris. If I can fix the engine ticking/knocking, ATF leak, and ABS issue I'd feel better about investing some money in the truck. The engineer in me would like to meticulously go through everything end repair/rebuild. However, I'm realistic enough to know I don't have the time or money to do that right now.

I'd like repaint the truck and replace the interior trim pieces that are broken/cracked. Surprisingly the dash is in very good shape, only the bezel around the instrument cluster is cracked. The trim pieces around the ceiling did not fair as well.

Is there a good source for aftermarket interior trim pieces? I assume OEM parts are no longer available given the age of the vehicle.

Also, here are some of photos of the rat's handiwork. Is there an OBD plug replacement available with pigtails? I've already rewired the ignition wires that were chewed up.

BLDTruth

Welcome to the forum! That is a sharp looking truck and a great color combo. I agree with Chris she is definitely worth fixing up.

Get to know rockauto.com. It will become your best friend for EVERYTHING.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/....0l+v8,1122286

Your best bet for interior (and frankly everything original) is going to be a junkyard, or in a worse case scenario, ebay. That OBD connector is $40 - you could probably get an entire wiring harness out of an engine for $40 from a yard.

Huge_Crank_Hank

Thanks for the link. I plan on hitting a few salvage yards this weekend to look for a few parts. I might add this OBD harness to the list.

Rod Wise

Nice OBS! Well worth the effort in slowly putting in the work into. You can also look at LMC Truck for getting replacement parts and trim and Amazon for repair parts. Rock Auto is usually cheaper.

Huge_Crank_Hank

Thanks for the reference. I ordered a catalog from those guys. looks like a good source for interior and misc components. Definitely missed this one during my web searches

Huge_Crank_Hank

So i crawled around the truck today just to get a good overview on obvious items that need attention. Look at the attached photos, this sensor is just laying out in the open air inside the engine bay. Not sure what it is, i assume its a temp sensor of some kind, almost looks like an O2 sensor, so i dont know what it is.

Any ideas?

Huge_Crank_Hank

ok, on the passenger side against the firewall. There is an actuator of some kind. Its disconnected, not sure what this is either. I moved it by hand but it's very stiff and doesnt sound well.

Huge_Crank_Hank

last set of pictures...this connector is hanging under the truck. it looks like it should plug into the tailshaft of the trans, but it's capped off and i cannot see any open connectors on the trans. Any ideas?