Is it still stock programming? Does it also do that if you unplug the O2 sensors? What brand are the O2 sensors??

If your scanner will read live data, plug in when engine is cold, start it up, verify its in open loop, see if the funky running problems starting coincide with the PCM going into closed loop.

 

Roger that! Stock programming but had the computer reprogrammed. I will unplug the 02 sensors in the am before I start it. Would the fact I live in Alaska and dont require emmisions testing so I had the catalytic converter removed when i put headers and new exhaust on it, be a factor? Thanks HeyYou!

 

Cat shouldn't matter, should be two O2 sensor, one for each bank, but, they are both 'sensor 1', you don't have any post-cat sensors, the PCM simply doesn't care if it's there or not.

 

So I crawled under the teuck this morning and unhooked both 02 sensors and the truck seems to run as perfect as a 96 truck can run! Thanks for the tip HeyYou! Can i run it like this? or should I replace the 02 sensors before something else happens? i believe i replaced the passenger side a few years ago?

 

I would replace the sensors. Both of them. NTK or denso sensors only please.

These trucks need all the help they can get when it comes to fuel efficiency.......

 

Roger that, HeyYou! Fuel mileage is brutal and with rising gas prices the ole truck needs all the help it can get! I ordered a set on Denso's from Rockauto today. 52$ with shipping! This town wants 58$ just for 1 of them. No brainer! Gas is over 3.50$ here! I havent checked my fuel mileage since the new engine. I doubt its over 10 mpg!? Thank you again for the mechanical advice!

 

Here in Nevada we don't drop the tank, we lift the bed. Needed to figure out how to change a pump on the side of the road without draining the fuel tank.
Left the back two bolts in for a hinge.

 

Another good tip! I used my cutoff wheel and made an inspection hole. Super easy access! Stare n down on top of the fuel tank. Made it simple to shop vac all the old gas and water and dirt out of the tank.

 

I would be REAL careful about using a shop vac with a flammable liquid..... That could get REALLY exciting, very quickly.

 

In the early 80's NAPA used to publish a monthly magazine, one of the 'don't try this at home stories' was a young mechanic who used a shop vac to pull the fuel from a tank, the sparks from the motor brushes lit the vapors.....Another was a kid who used starting fluid instead of maybe WD 40 to dry inside a wet distributor cap, making a small grenade.......Old mechanic I worked for in Bozeman when I was a greenhorn said he had a fella working for him in the 50's that decided a flooded winter engine needed more oxygen to get started. He put the cutting torch in the carburetor, oxygen only on. After waiting the appropriate time, the resulting crankcase explosion when he tried to start it bulged out the oil pan and lifted/split one of the rocker covers, blew the filler caps off. All fun when it's not happening to you.