"mazda616" (mazda616)
12/23/2015 at 09:11 • Filed to: Truck Yeah
4
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"mazda616" (mazda616)
12/23/2015 at 09:11 • Filed to: Truck Yeah | 4
| 24 |
Proof that a Chevrolet will run badly longer than a lot of vehicles will run at all.
I drove it for the first time in about three weeks today. We are supposed to have a pretty intense severe weather outbreak here in the Ohio Valley and I didn’t feel like having my 2016 6 turned into a golf ball because of hail.
Got a pretty serious misfire. Enough that it’s kind of running on five cylinders and the “Service Engine Soon” light flashed for about ten seconds. I have ordered plugs and wires, since I don’t know the last time that was done. The previous owner only had it for a couple months. He buys and sells 3-4 trucks a month (surprised he hasn’t had to get a dealer’s license).
If plugs and wires doesn’t solve it, then I’ll replace the distributor cap and rotor. If that doesn’t solve it, I’ll have to cry (a lot) and tear into the stupid spider injector bullshit these mid-’90s 4.3s are known for.
The CD player also doesn’t work. It’s a crappy Alpine aftermarket unit that’s probably as old as the truck. I had brought my Miranda Lambert CD to save me from the local radio station’s onslaught of Christmas music. So much for that. I’d forgotten how terrible FM radio really is since I’m still enjoying my trial of SiriusXM in the car.
But, the heater works. And so does the four-wheel-drive. It truly is a “beater with a heater.”
CalzoneGolem
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 09:23 |
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That 4.3 is damn near unkillable. Body looks nice.
Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 09:35 |
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Nothing equiped with a 4.3 does anything in a hurry, be that accelerating or disintigrating. They live their lives at half speed and the length of those lives prove it.
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mazda616
> CalzoneGolem
12/23/2015 at 09:39 |
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It’s a decent motor, except for the spider injector setup that is truly dumb.
The truck is really in good shape for being a ‘95 with 169,000 miles. It has old truck stuff like faded paint, a torn driver’s seat, and a falling headliner, but the body is pretty much rust free. A couple little surface rust spots by the passenger door that I’m going to tackle come spring (since thanks to El Niño it isn’t going to snow this winter).
I sent my friend in Michigan some pictures of the undercarriage and he couldn’t believe it is in the shape it is in. There's surface rust, of course, but nothing even close to severe.
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mazda616
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
12/23/2015 at 09:40 |
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So true. Although, it wasn't too bad as far as speed goes until this misfire started happening. Now, it falls on its face after about 3,000 RPM.
TheRealBicycleBuck
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 09:48 |
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I see your Chevy and raise you a Mazda/Ford.
The A/C works fine when I recharge it (slow leak that I can’t find). There’s a slow leak in the master cylinder. It has no radio. The air intake has been patched together with some tape. Being downstream from the MAF, it runs terribly without the tape. It has a horrible squeal from the serpentine belt that goes away when a new one is put on, but comes back within 100 miles. It has a leak in the back window that I can’t seem to seal.
But it still runs and drives after 269,000 miles!
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mazda616
> TheRealBicycleBuck
12/23/2015 at 09:51 |
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I actually wanted one of those since having 3 Mazdas (my wife has a CX-5 and I have a 6) instead of two - even if the truck was really a Ford, would make me very happy. But I couldn’t find any close to me that were four-wheel-drive. :(
My S10 has the same A/C issue. I figure I will just recharge it once a year.
Your Ford/Mazda has exactly 100,000 miles more than my Chevy. It's just a baby, I guess. Haha!
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CalzoneGolem
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 09:55 |
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Beat the TBI that preceded it.
DoYouEvenShift
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 10:05 |
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Have you scanned it to see which cylinder is misfiring?
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TheRealBicycleBuck
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 10:16 |
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If you were really determined, you could do a 4wd swap. It’s not easy, but has been done.
If you could find a 3rd-gen (1998-2010), a 5.0l from an Explorer is almost a bolt-in . :)
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mazda616
> DoYouEvenShift
12/23/2015 at 10:35 |
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It's not OBD-II so I doubt it'd do much good. The light also went away after a few seconds.
Snuze: Needs another Swede
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 10:37 |
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My dad had a 1999 GMC Savana 3500 van with the 5.7L L31 V8 (old school, not LS derived) which also had the stupid fuel spider. It started doing the same thing you’re describing a couple years ago, so we did cap, rotor, wires, plugs and it didn’t get any better. The van was pretty beat and had like 275k miles on it, so he said screw it, and just decided to drive it until it died. When it finally gave up for good, it was only running on 5 cylinders and could barely make it up the hill on our street.
He was mad because it had 298k on the clock and he was hoping to hit 300.
G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 11:38 |
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Have you tried seeing if the paperclip trick works?
Xyl0c41n3
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 11:40 |
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I had a 2002 cavalier. That car put up with way more abuse than any car should an it still ran perfectly until the last 2-3 months of its life. People knock cavaliers, but that little car was an Energizer Bunny beast. It just kept going.
MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> CalzoneGolem
12/23/2015 at 12:14 |
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FALSE
the 4.3L TBI engine was the coolest god damn fuel injection system of all time. If only because watching it spray in fuel was the coolest.
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MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
12/23/2015 at 12:14 |
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Not if I build it.
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CalzoneGolem
> MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
12/23/2015 at 12:17 |
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Ok, but besides that it is better.
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
12/23/2015 at 12:22 |
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When I was looking for a truck I was pretty settled on an s10. I spent a lot of time of the forums looking for ways to get more power out of the 4.3 since I knew it had a reputation for being a bit of a lump. The consensus seemed to be: While it is possible to extract much more power from a 4.3, it takes a LOT of care and effort. Better just to swap in a V8.
The 4.3 does one thing really well, and that thing is managing to keep running while others die. It even seems to have a built in safety feature to prevent disintigration due to modification for power gains by simply refusing to answer to most attempts at generating some.
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
12/23/2015 at 12:27 |
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Was the TBI the early 160hp version?
I tested an ‘85 s10 with the 4.3, it made an unbelievable racket and moved ridiculously slowly (though I could have just been changing gears too soon because it was so noisy). And yet I still sometimes regret passing it up.
One thing it definitely needed was a set of electric fans. I don't think this particular example even had a fan clutch (or if it did it was siezed).
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> mazda616
12/23/2015 at 12:30 |
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http://www.instructables.com/id/Poor-Mans-R…
Maybe this will help
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MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> CalzoneGolem
12/23/2015 at 13:40 |
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No, everything else is ignored because of the cool factor.
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MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
12/23/2015 at 13:47 |
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a V8 swap is easier lol.
We built the HELL out of my first 4.3L. We got the truck for 500 bucks with a blown motor. bored it 60 over (no over heating issues ever) ported the heads, upgraded everything, valves, roller rockers, it was awesome. Ripped the tires anywhere I wanted.
It was also my first truck so I’m mildly biased.
Best was after the build I talked about more power adders. My dad and I built the whole thing up for when i got my license btw, he’s a mechanic we did it at his shop. So he says, if I knew you wanted more power, we could have just dropped in a 350 instead of rebuilding the 4.3L. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? OF COURSE I WOULD HAVE WANTED A 350! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!
I had another 4.3L, a vortec engine from 2004. Was also solid, the only problem was the rest of the truck. the engine itself was great, but sensor after sensor, heater core problems, etc. Wouldn’t have kept up with the old 88 build though.
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MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
12/23/2015 at 13:48 |
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Yeah I don’t know them in stock form, you’ll see my other post about what I built haha
You CAN do a lot with them though.
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
12/23/2015 at 13:52 |
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Don’t get me wrong, I think I would have tried to do up the 4.3 as well instead of doing a swap (unicorn points). I’m just saying that the majority of people who have tried seem to agree it’s more worthwhile to just swap it.
Of course if it was “worthwhile” I was interested in, I’d have bought a Civic.
And nice truck btw.
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MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
12/23/2015 at 14:04 |
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Thanks, it’s my ONE true regret in life, selling that truck.
It had 131k on the clock, but it was really only about 20-25k on the engine. Wish I could get it back. Had some rust issues though so it’s probably toast by now.
It’s definitely EASIER to swap a 350. Definitely. You can do a 383 (bored 350) without any questions in these trucks. They make awesome/wild dragsters too btw