Great to hear you got the truck running!

If your putting SeaFoam in the tank, you may have to change your plugs again really soon as it can foul the plugs from the debris that is cleaned out.

If your only worried about low octane old gas, I would just fill it with the high grade fuel from the gas station and add some octane booster if need be.

Check your wiring but I doubt you melted it, you most likely would have smelled something.

 

Went and got some fresh gas and it seems to have helped. It was hard to start and showing the check engine light briefly. Now with the fresh gas it is not doing that. I'll add the SeaFoam some other time as I don't want to deal with new sparkplugs right now.

If I could ask one more question... how much tension do I put on the belts (the two running to the alternator and the other two)

 

Not too sure on that. I dont have a manual for your year. From what I remember on the older vehicals, you should be able to tighten up the belts and half something like a half inch of flex when you push down on the belt. I could be wrong, thats just going off of memory.

Also the belts will expand shortly after there set if they are new. So you may have to re tighten them later on.

 

Cool, I'll look in to it further, still trying to find that section in the Haynes manual. Thanks again for all the help, very glad to have it back on the road.

 

Happy to help. When Im in need I turn to you guys so Im just giving back what I can. Maybe someone else can help you with the belt tension?

 

Sorry to dredge this up again, but thought I'd give an update. Even after the fresh gas the truck was still stumbling and dieing, usually OK at idle though. i finally broke down and took it down to the repair shop (actually pushed it there.. they are mostly downhill from the house).

They found out that the ground wire for the ECU was loose, so once they tightend that up it is running great! It was a well spent $95. So I drove it to work for a few weeks and it has been going strong. Back to my regular car as a daily driver though, gas it too expensive. Next project is stripping and painting the dakota. I don't want it to rust out.

 

Nice. The ground wire can attach anywhere on the engine or head, so as long as it does not interfere with other acessories. The stock location should be a front bolt at the bottom of the block on the driver side. The belt tension should equate to about an inch of slack pressing medium firm on the belts. There is an exact poundage, but most people go with the 1 inch thing and retighten if there is belt squeak. Overtightening them will put extra stress on the bearings of your acessory pulleys.

 

Thank you! I'll check the belt tension on the dakota, no squeaking though so should be OK. My Subaru is squeaking though, maybe need to adjust it.

Any recommendations on paint/instructions? Planning on cleaning out the garage, covering everything with plastic and painting there. I bought a decent (by the reviews) HVLP spray gun at harbor freight.

 

As far as painting, there is no replacement for proper execution of all the prep work. Take the paint off and expose the metal, then cut/fill until you think it is done, then prime it, then repeat as necessary. I find holding a 100w light to the side and above panels will show any flaw in the metal and prep work. If you have to use your garage, you will want to cover your floors too just before spraying to prevent kick up of particles and dirt. If you have never painted before then you will need lots of sand paper to smooth out your flaws and orange peel before clearcoating, and may need to shoot extra paint coats on for deep coverage. Paint is 1% science 9% art and 90% prep work, but if you take your time and verify everything before moving to the next step, it will make it worth it in the end.