Check Engine Light

 

If you don't have an O2 socket a wrench works too

 

haha CEL should have figured that one out lol no my light is not on... i called the mechanic that doing my axle housing for my front right 4 wheel drive and they didnt have any familiararity with the plenum issue. wondering if i should just do it myself. im wondering is it possible that the throttle cable is not set right thats why my acceleration is only decent when slowly gradually adding pressure to the gas peddle. or a torque converter. along with the need for a plenum. im hoping my coolant is a freeze plug

 

ok so lunch has passed and i did three things in that half hour. I checked my plenum haha its horrible even the plates that open for air have black all over them the walls are filthy and the bottom has a thin layer of oil some residue some still wet so plenum is going to be done..
next i looked for the O2 sensor i took a picture of what i believed to be the sensor is this it? stupid work computer wont let me up load photo ill do it when i get home.. the third thing i checked was the anti freeze leak. I hope its just a seal.... so i got under the truck and fallowed it where the majority was.. If you look behind the bottom pulley theres a screw to take off the pulley than right behind that screw theres another bolt that looks as if it hold everything to the engine block well where the engine block meets the front end assembly it seems to be seeping from there. I pulled of an excess pc and it was like alluminum or a really old seal is there supposed to be a seal there or is my engine block cracked some how. I took pictures of the area but my flashlight was dimpy. Ill get better pics any advice till those pics get posted would trulyu be apprectiated. Thank guys

 

Ok as for the O2 sensor I searched on line and found that what i thought was the sensor is indeed the sensor, now my next question is... If im checking my cat by removing the sensor do i have to disconnect both ends? or can i just remove it from the Cat and take it for a drive that way

 

Just unscrew it from the pipe. You'll be twisting the wires but who cares. It needs replace anyway.

 

ok guys... i whent outside and made my attempt at removing the O2 sensor it was irritating i was working with a monkey wrench and a lighter mean while my 18 month old daughter was stomping around in the bed making all types of noise. CT gets dark really early and the adj wrench i have doesnt go big enough to do the job. i didnt get to unscrew it all the way however it was unscrewed about qrtr to half inch. I took it for a drive and i surely felt a difference. when i put pressure on the gas it put me back into the seat from the force of lurching forward its never done that always been a slow starter it gets up to 100 miles an hr just takes a sec. So i am convinced my cat is clogged. Tomorrow im going to unscrew the O2 sensor all the way and check it again. My next question is this.. right now i have a couple problem with my truck the cat the plenum and an anti freeze leak theres also the leaky transfer case. I am wondering which is most serious. and what i should take care of first i plan on doing a whole new exaust come january or febuary (when i get my taxes)(hi flow cat, one intake to two out take muffler and a set of smoke stacks out my bed. can my clogged cat wait till than? can i drive with the O2 sensor out? my truck is going to the shop for an axle housing monday so i can have 4wheel drive before winter starts we already had a bad snow storm in october. knowing im having these problems which should i take care of first???? some of the problems i plan on doing myself (well with all your help lol)

 

Clogged cat can cause head to crack I hear. But leaking coolant can get catastrophic in a hurry. Hard to decide which is more critical. Ans replacing cat with plenum jacked is wasting another cat. Gotta flip a coin or something. You got several problems that all need attention.

Did you say you had a transfer case leak? How bad is leak and where is it leaking from?

 

haha yea i have problems and i just bought the damn thing three months ago. Its my first pick up really my first truck i had a durango before this but it was only 2 wheel drive. I spent 10 yrs in prison from when i was 16 till 26 im 28 now and have a full time job,a family an apt and my truck. im slowly trying to gain tools and knowledge about mechanical work because in my spare time i like to work on my truck (Modifying/improving it) this is all new to me... any ways as for the transfer case it leaks in two spots one is the backside where the back half of the transfer gets bolted to the front half of the transfer case. you can see gasket all along except at this one spot where one of the bolts are you cant see gasket and thats where it leaks. the other is where the transfer case meets the transmision theres a circle pattern that the bolts keep like a cap on the front of the transfer case and where one of the bolts goes in theres a small chip missing its leaking from there as well.... as for the other issues what if i (i know this is doing work twice) but what if i dissasemble the manifold and clean it and just put a new gasket from like autozone in there that way the leak is fixed and i can buy the time for a plenum kit. i looked on amazon and ebay but didnt find a kit. Than in a month or two i can get a plenum kit and do it again like i said i know its double work but it buys me time and besides ill get the practice of working on my truck and if im not at work or working on my truck im just going to have to help the wife do house work anyways so the time isnt really an issue on the week ends. as far as the cat is concerned can i cut the cat off and straight pipe it to the muffler? we have laws in CT but im good with emissions testing for now and when i get my taxes i plan on a whole new exaust anyways in two to three months. as far as the anti freeze im looking into it to see if maybe my water pump whent if so than when i do the plenum gasket i can change the water pump if not than ill just have the shop fix the anti freeze leak when they fix my axle housing on monday.... does this make any sense? anybody have any ideas? im open for suggestions....

 

You can replace the plenum gasket and use the original pan and it will last for some time. Get a good gasket - FlePro. About $22 I think. Try Rock Auto. There is a posting by Zman for a 5%dicsount coupon. Not a lot, but it will help some. Make sure you clean bolt holes out real well. These bolts need to be torqued - do not overtighten or it will blow out again very quickly.

Keep fluid in transfer case full, and that should hold until you can get to it.

If you can get by without a cat until you do exhaust - if you don't have emission testing and you can cut it out for now, that may also work to buy time until you get whole exhaust done. But bad cat can create serious problems. When you do exhaust, I would suggest replacing both O2 sensors as well.