Argggg, where do I begin....I bought this truck in '99. It had a bald right rear tire and the fuel gage didn't work. I replaced the sending unit twice, then the wireing connectors for the pump. This works now.
The truck now seems like the power dies when driving it. At highway speeds you can feel it buck every once and awhile. Sometimes when you pull up to a light it will stall.
The drivetrain sounds like it belongs in a large panel truck. When you turn left or right its alot worse. When you apply gas its alot worse.\
The A/C has been another propblem. I replaced the evaporator coil, then two weeks later the compressor took a dive (bearings). I replaced that with a junk yard compressor and all worked ok for a bit. Now the blower seems to have died. At first a couple of good kicks under the passenger dash fixed it but not anymore.
I have replaced the wiper motor 5 times since '99.
The stereo doesn't work and when I tried to plug in another one it lit up for 1 second then died. I did have to replace the ground strap (dash) when I first got the truck to get the horn to work.
Sometimes it will start. My mechanic says its a bad starter. I tested it at Autozone, when it seemed to be working ok, they said all was ok, must be a bad connection. I replaced the battery teminals which seemed to help....for a few days.
Oh yea the kid who had it before me took the caddiletic converter (sp) out.
Questions:
Does having the cadiletic converter out cause the oxygen sensor to send bad codes causing the computer to run the truck in default mode?
Is there a typical wireing problem in the dash that could be causing the stereo, a/c blower probs?
What could be causing the intermitant idle dropping to zero at the light problems? and could anypossible idle control sensor problems be caused by the same electrical gremlins as the a/c blower and radio?
The rear end has been making noise since I bought it...350000 miles....it has 850000 miles now. Should I just drive it 'till it explodes or by a junk yard one? Is it true that most likely a junk yard rear end will have similar issues?
What is the best way to have the truck "catch on fire" without it looking like fraud? I tried driving back and forth on this one road where they added a stop sign waiting for someone to run it, t-bone the truck, totalling it, but my lawyer told me wearing the motorcycle helmet gave away the plot lol!
Oh yea I've put at least 6 EGR valves in the thing. They help for a week or so.

 

1 down and many more to go:
The a/c blower resistor needed attention. One of the spades wasn't making contact (the conector is damaged). I cleaned the rust off the spade and used my needlenoses to get the spade over the connector and low and behold, I have blower....
Thanks forum, saved me from having my mechanic do the same thing, but charge me for a junk yard blower and installation.
On a side note, I hurt my big toe kicking the blower assembley. It takes a hard kick under the dash to fix a bad connection at the firewall.

 

I've never had that many issues with mine, nor did I know anyone with any major problems. More than likely, with 850,000 miles on it, it just wants to go in the big junkyard in the sky. It could've always been taken poor care of and now it's all showing on you, or it was a lemon to begin with.. but, if those are the miles.. I'd drive it till it dies.. why waste more money? They're a good truck, heck, you can get another '95 with 80,000 miles for 3k.

 

Unfortunately, I can only answer a couple questions.
Yes, without a catalytic converter one of you O2 sensors will get bad readings and will try to adjust for them.
and When replacing your EGR valve, try cleaning out the carbon buildup in the passages. Carbon will always build up in thise passages and choke out your EGR valve and will throw a code.

With a list like this, I am glad that I always take any vehicle I plan on buying to a trusted mechanic before buying. They have steered me away from buying vehicles that will have a lot of problems in the forseeable future.

 

First step to buying a truck
LOOK AT IT!
first rule of Owning a truck
KICKING WILL NOT FIX IT!
how would you like it if I kicked your face because you blinked wrong?

learn yourself somethin'
next time you buy a vehicle, inspect it yourself or, if you don't know what that means, take a test drive to a mechanic
I wouldn't reccomend trying to total your truck thats just mean
show some goddamn respect, trucks are meant to be used, not abused
You have NO right to drive a truck if you are gonna treat it like ****
I drive mine like a maniac, but i NEVER beat it,
I hope you get T-Boned by a train.
________
HEAD SHOP

 

Sorry typo; bought in '99 with 35,000 it now has 85,000

 

I would just rip the A/C out period, save you all the trouble and some gas mileage from using it. As for the electrical issue, I would take the whole dash apart and check all the wires and make sure they all look good. The truck most likely needs a tune-up. I would get another rear end from a junkyard due to the fact if you got it with a bald right tire, and the rear end is making noise.. the previous owner did silly burnouts or always tried to brake torque. I would replace all the u-joints and replace the rearend (make sure it's a 3.21 ratio) you don't need more and that's probably what's in it now.