Hey, if you dont mind me asking, the heater hose tube, that goes into the waterpump, is that just pressed in, and is there any sealer etc.?

 

Well, look at it this way. You will never seize up.

Try cleaning the throttle body first. Actually take it off, clean it thoroughly, reinstall with a new gasket. (last I checked they were like 3 bucks at advance.....) Reset the PCM, and see if that doesn't change anything.

@93 ragtop It's held in with a bolt thru a bracket. The tube is just pushed in there, and seals with an o-ring.

 

Like Hey you said, it just presses and is secured by one bolt on a bracket. Mine is definitely seeping from there and needs replaced.

So I drove the black Dak more today and now I'm not sure if it's actually idling at 1k (or maybe that was a cold high idle?), Or if it's just that my gauge cluster is super effed up. Ans I mean, the gauge cluster is definitely effed up. Today I noticed that with the lights off (usually when everything works), having the blinker on would make all the gauges flip in sync with the blinker. Tach would bounce from 1k to 2k and back along with the blinker, speedo does the same, all of them. Oil pressure was reading high, not pegged but fluctuating near the upper end of the safe limit of the gauge for most of the driving - and I'm not sure if that's a concern or just another gauge issue. Temps seemed to run like normal at first and then gravitate towards the upper range of safe when sitting idle, then go back to normal on highway. Odometer only works when the speedo isn't skitzing out, which is anytime the lights are on. Turn signal indicators are always half lit up, even when off. So many issues.

Would replacing the cluster help with this? Is my headlight switch bad? Are the LEDs (headlight/turn signals/rev/clearance/everything) messing with it? Is tapping my clearance lights into the blk/yll headlight switch wire (and grounded to roof/body) messing with it?

It's massively screwy and not knowing being able to trust the gauges bothers me.

 

Gotta be a bad ground somewhere.

 

This.

The instrument cluster ground wire, for most years, is to the cross brace inside the dash; at what, 24 years old, it's about time to start suffering from corrosion.

RwP

 

There's a ground to the left of the knee bolster, behind the dash and near the headlight switch, I cleaned that up. I had the dash cam grounded on the same screw, so I moved it. I redid the ground from battery to body in 10awg and checked the braided one to the block. I checked all the visible grounds on the engine side of the firewall, they don't look corroded but I guess I could still pull them off and sand them. I haven't had the cluster out to see where the ground comes off if it though. I'm going to try switching the turn signals back to regular bulbs will solve that part of it.

The two tone doesn't have any of these problems, but I also didn't drive the black Dak really at all before I changed a bunch of stuff, so it's hard to say what was pre-existing and what I messed up.

 

Speakers in the two tone sounded awful. Engine rpm whine, very fuzzy too. Opened up the door and found newer speakers...

But apparently crimp fittings or even wire nuts were not in PO's budget, just twisted together and taped. I put some heat shrink butt connectors on and voila, it sounds good again.

Wife is currently driving my black Dak while I have her bimmer in for maintenance and let's just say she does not share my enthusiasm for old trucks lol

 

You are doing a nice job on the Daks!

my first vehicle was a 2 wd 87 Dak and it was a super reliable vehicle! 20 years later, I’ve had 5 daks Mostly 4x4.

I noticed your name is “buick” so I must ask! What kind of Buick’s are you into? I’ve got 3 Buick’s, 70 Skylark drag car, 75 Regal Cruiser, and 04 v8 Buick Rainier.

keep up the gear work!

 

Thanks! Looks like we have some things in common then! My first truck was also a super reliable 2wd Dakota, albeit a '92. Still have it and I've had four Dakotas so far, losing one to an accident.

Buicks were the first cars I was enthusiastic about. My first car was a 1992 Regal, which I loved. Also had an 01 LeSabre that I loved. Had a 70 Cutlass that I wished was a Skylark. Still have my 1981 Electra Park Ave, but with the prices they've been fetching lately, it's getting listed on BaT shortly. My favorite Buicks would have to be the 70 GSX and the 87 GNX, neither of which I'll ever be able to afford, but I do want to 6.0 LS swap a 70-72 Skylark at some point.

Here's my 81 Buick, which is a cherry all original garage queen. I think the salt threat has passed this year, so I'll have to wake her up here shortly.

 

For that GNX, might want to investigate a Thunderbird SC.

The GNX was part of the inspiration for the SC's powerplant (a supercharged 3.8L V6), whereas BMW was one of the targets for ride and handling.

I like our Cougar (a 1991, alas, not supercharged, just a plain jane 5.0HO in it.)

RwP