Hey all, My names Austin but I go by Dakotaboy87. I recently had been working on/Restoring my previous 85 Chevrolet c10. But I sold it and bought this Dakota yesterday for $400 lol Runs and drives great. Just figured I would join this forum so I can ask questions as they come up. So far the last two days I've replaced the following:
So far I've Replaced these parts:
Rear breaks
Rear break hardware
Plugs
Plug wires
Distributor Cap
Distributor Rotor
Ignition Coil
Tranny fluid and filter
(Tomorrow)
So far that adds up to around $150

Plan on replacing these:
Front brakes
Brake rotors
Brake Caliper
Oil and Oil filter

That should take care pretty much take care of the mechanical side of the truck.
Maybe a sub and amp if I have some money left over.

Anyways, Thanks for looking guys!!! God bless all!

 

Welcome my brother...You have joined one of the best places to get your questions answered when they come up (and they always do) there are a bunch of good hearted guys here that will be more than happy to help a brother out when needed....

 

Thanks man!! I do have a couple questions actually. One is the previous owner told me it need vacuum lines replaced, Now with being said. It does have a high idle. Could the vacuum line be a problem that would cause, if so which one? Second question is when I first brought home, around 25-30 mph it would hesitate and then pick back up and continue on, im stumped on this one. I haven't test drive since I put all the above mentioned parts on.

 

yea, vacuum leaks will make it do that for sure...the way to find out where its leaking, is to take a can of WD40 and spray around where the hose connectors, intake manifold, etc are and listen for idle change on the engine, if idle changes, then you found the leak...(spray small areas at a time so you know when you hit it.)
On the other issue, kind of sounds like maybe an Idle air control valve/switch possibly bad or in need of cleaning... but then again Im not sure what year or engine yours is?? 3.9L?? 4.7L? 5.2L??
Get back to us on that....

 

It's a 3.9 carb v-6, I've researched a lil bit and it may be the throttle position sensor. Ill prob buy that tomorrow. Alon with front brakes and calapers and oil and oil filter.

 

Cool, Keep us posted...

 

Also it likes to shake a little when turning off, just enough to notice it. Quite a bit actually. Any ideas?

 

Well changed the oil today and bled the back breaks and replaced one head light. Gotta get another one and replace it tomorrow. Also gonna replace a brake hose, and change the tranny fluid and filter also while I'm at it. Also I have another question. I bled the breaks today (well atleast the back ones). They are stiff as heck and and don't really stop the truck. I mean the brakes work fine and I'm sure I got the air out of the lines. Does not bleeding the fronts cause this? Any ideas?

 

Hey Dakotaboy87, When you say "it shakes a little when turning off" I guess your referring to the engine? Is the engine idling smooth? If it is, what I would look at first is #1. Is the idle set to high? as this could cause that symptom because it takes longer for the crank (engine rotation) to stop...#2. I would check your motor mounts, week motor mounts will cause excessive engine movement while rotating to a stop when killed......Now if the engine is idling rough...then that could also cause the engine shaking while rotating to a stop after turning off, which could be related to that TPS sensor being bad possibly....

Now on the brakes...Someone else might chime in here with other ideas. But If I remember right, if you had air in the lines after bleeding them, they would be spongy and gradually bleed to the floor while pressing on the brake, causing you to have to pump them repeatedly while braking...... I do know all braking systems are set up with 2 separate systems, just in case one or the other of them fail, you still have the other (front or back) to be able to stop the truck.( so you bleeding the rear system should not have effected the front system in any way) I also know that the front brake system applies more stopping power to the front than the rear ( maybe like 65% to front & 45% to the rear. just as an example)
so Im not sure what would cause the brakes to feel hard at the peddle...could just be normal (correct) now, and you had a little air in the rear system before! and you were just used to it being like that, so now that you got all the air out of the system, its correct (hard) now??
Someone else here might have another idea on that though?? and chime in here??

 

welcome to the forum! as far as the hard pedal, i have the same problem with my 89 f250. i was told the booster needed to be replaced and i was also told that flushing the system and putting new fluid would solve that. i know its not really a solution but suggestions might help.