How many miles are on your bottom end? Did you just do heads, or did you do cam or anything else while you were in there? Did you choose 1.92's or 2.02's? Did you retain OE spec compression or did you lower the deck? What differences are you noticing?

sorry for the bombardment of questions.. Hope you don't mind.

 

No I don't mind.

Motor has about 20k on it, new bottom end last year and heads, This time in I replaced cam (one better suited to 1.7s, R/T +10 cam was just to much with the 1.7s), lifters, pushrods, valve springs retainers, keepers, seals. 1.92 valves were left in place, motor is already over 10:1 but yes the heads were cut. I have only run the truck a few times since this has been done. I am picking up new SVO 24lbs injectors today to test on the truck. It's just to early for me to comment yet.

Feel free to pm me for more info, I don't think I should mess up this thread.

 

Ifound Odessa on ebay last night, Seems pretty fair for a couple heads and return shipping for of the old heads for $470. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-D...item255abdc65d

With 140K miles I was also thinking timing chain while I'm in there. What else would you guys recommend? Can you recommend a good gasket kit?

I'll also be doing the heater core..... Started smelling the antifreeze in the heat last week. When it rains it pours.

So let's see:
Transmission at 19K warranty replacement
Rearend at 112K
Radiator at 120K
Plenum at 120K
2 heads, heater core and timing chain at 140K

What's next?

 

Be careful what questions you ask, you might get answers.

Just get a good fel-pro gasket set at your local parts store. Timing chain would be a VERY good plan.

 

Ok, I spent the last 2 days replacing new heads, double roller timing chain, new water pump, all new gaskets and bolts, and a new heater core. Not in a rush, everything torqued to spec and the job really went off without a hitch.

Fired it up and I have the same rough running problem. I am absolutely beside myself on this one. After replacing the plugs, TPS, Coil and then finally taking it to the dealer to tell me the heads were cracked I thought I finally knew what the problem was. $1000 later and I'm right back where I started. Except the heater works well!

I haven't rechecked the compression yet, although I was impressed that the cylinders still had the original hone marks from the factory and looked good.

Can anyone help guide me to figuring this out? I'm really frustrated here....

 

you may need to start looking at fuel delivery real close like..

can you get a OBDII to USB cable? most of them come with an application suitable enough to monitor short term fuel trim as reported by your o2's.. I'm thinking fuel pressure or gunked up injectors or fuel rail..

if you're ambitious, you can pull that rascal and flush it.. (the rail).. and there are procedures for cleaning the injectors that involve solvent and jewelry cleaners (the ultrasonic kind).. or, you can simply mail them away for cleaning and flow checking..

CMK, who hasn't been around in a while, had an interesting tale about tracking down a misfire/rough idle that ended up being based on his fuel rail being clogged by particles from a failing fuel line.. he was/is just OCD to track it that far, and knowledgeable enough to figure it out..

thinking of which, I think I gotta go contribute that to Aim4... it may be something he needs to look into..

 

I do have an obd2 tester. I actually just hooked it up to see if there were any old codes in there. I saw that the O2 sensors were functioning fine. On thing I noticed is that when I looked and the timing it was bouncing all around. When I revved it up it went to 38 degrees and stayed there. Is that correct?

I think my plan of attack tomorrow is to make sure the distributor is not loose, look again for a vacuum leak and retest the compression. I have been reading a lot about the crank position sensor. Time permitting I may pull that and ohm it out to see if I find and open circuit.

I have already run seafoam and injector cleaner through the system before tear down. At this moment I'm rulling the injectors out.

 

IT'S FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went back to do a compression test on the engine just to see where the cylinders were at with new heads. I pulled out plug number 7 and guess what I found..... The tip was touching the electrode, thus resulting in no spark in that cylinder. I was so excited I gap it, put them back in and fired it up. To my surprise it purrs like a kitten. I mean smooth as silk. I can't remember it running this smooth since the day I drove it off the showroom floor.

So there you go, when idleing rough it could be a shorted plug. Sometimes when you're working on your vehicle you can be your own worst enemy. I must have bumped that plug on install.

I'll report back in a week on mileage and such.

 

Awesome! I love it when it's an easy fix.