[DSUZU]

Doesn't necessarily mean that YOUR balancer has slipped. You should get #1 cylinder to TDC. You can remove the plug and use a pencil (long one) and rotate crank until it is sticking up as far as possible. Rock crank back and forth a few degrees to verify TDC (or close to it) and see if mark lines up with "0" or if it's a country mile off. Might save you a few bucks. Dennis

 

[andy_sykes]

Iunlikely unless it was at a point of failure already, or unless you ran it a really long time with a misfire) it's unlikely it will be damaged.

Actually the harmonic balancer on these is a well know failure point.

Good to know!

 

[szac]

Doesn't necessarily mean that YOUR balancer has slipped. You should get #1 cylinder to TDC. You can remove the plug and use a pencil (long one) and rotate crank until it is sticking up as far as possible. Rock crank back and forth a few degrees to verify TDC (or close to it) and see if mark lines up with "0" or if it's a country mile off. Might save you a few bucks. Dennis

I like saving bucks . I've got a new timing belt going in soon, but will check TDC before. The squeal is back but only when starting from cold. It builds for about 20 seconds and then quiets down and doesn't come back. Doesn't really sound like a belt to me, but I'm no expert.

Need to adjust valves and confirm timing before anything else. Still haven't made it to emissions testing - hopefully today or I might have to shell out another $1.00 for the 3-day restricted registration.

 

[DSUZU]

When you do the timing belt you will have to remove the balancer anyway. As I have suggested for many, if it's accurate, as long as it's off, paint a stripe that goes from the inner part to the outer part (like along the timing groove). This way, if it ever slips, you will know immediately because the lines will no longer be aligned. Dennis

 

[andy_sykes]

I've never heard of a harmonic balancer squealing. Is that a thing?

 

[DSUZU]

I should have mentioned this earlier too. Nor have I. On the 94 Trooper I had (3.2), the balancer got so bad that if you turned on the headlights and A/C, the outer part of the balancer would slow down to where it wouldn't charge (pulley was in the outer part of the balancer). It didn't squeal. (my cure was to remove the balancer, drill and tap 4 holes from outside to center and use Allen bolts to secure it to the center - money was tight. It never vibrated or slipped after that).
For Szac, the squeal COULD possibly be the timing belt idler pulley. I would suggest before running it too much, remove the regular belts and try running it for a few seconds to see if the squeal remains (this might be a problem with the alternator not turning) Dennis

 

[szac]

Now I'm convinced it's an idler lol! I'll be in there soon - hopefully tonight. Today I'm dropping the pan on our '05 2500 to replace an o-ring.

As DSUZU predicted the tach was off ~1000 revs. Using the instructions from this post I was able to find the tach potentiometer on the eBay V6 Rodeo cluster. Access hole drilled from the top and yesterday I got it synced up with a cheap Amazon tach (via the blue/red dotted calibration wire on the passenger fender). Now I just need to install the oil pressure sender and replace some bulbs and I think it's good to go. Here's some pics the access hole surgery:

 

[szac]

Saturday: spent all day dropping oil pan to change out pickkup tube o-ring on our 2500HD. Didn't fix everything the internet said it might fix, but did address the main problem.

Sunday: Back to the Pickup. Timing belt kit, water pump, and valves adjustment were top priority. Took me a long while to get everything disassembled and only ended up getting two out of three done.

Yes, didn't install the bottom timing belt cover before harmonic balancer.

The AC idler didn't show any signs of squealing, but the tensioner itself needs work. The timing belt tensioner did seem a little rough so hopefully that was the issue. I'm going to have to keep the AC belt off until I can pull the harmonic balancer and remove two broken bolts. One from me (wrong hardware), one from PO.

Looking ahead to the rest of new parts pile I have the oil pressure sender, shifter fork boot, speedo-cable (both from Jerry). Originally I was just going to pull the inner wire on the speedo, but that new assembly look too good. I'll probably regret this.

Questions: What is the thickness of the engine hook that bolts to the head? It's missing. I'm thinking about an 1/8"? If the arrow is pointing up, is that TDC on the intake stroke?

 

[mudoilngears]

The hook is about the same thickness as the alternator adjustment bracket as I recall. I'd say it's around 3/16, definitely more than an 1/8th.

 

[JoeIsuzu]

As DSUZU predicted the tach was off ~1000 revs.

Tons of respect for Dennis, but I'm not so sure the tach could have been off by "1000 revs". I think it depends on the RPM -- because it's probably off by a percentage. For example, at an actual 1.000, the V6 tach would indicate 667 RPM (although it obviously doesn't have that level of precision).

Now, whether the potentiometer adjustment can correct that, I wouldn't know. I did the same tach swap on my Amigo, but I did my adjustment by guesstimate. I adjusted it at idle so that the tach indicated the expected idle RPM. But when I revved the engine, the tach always seemed off (low). I never bothered to check it, though.

You may want to compare it at different RPMs if you're concerned about accuracy.

Jack

 

[szac]

As DSUZU predicted the tach was off ~1000 revs.

Tons of respect for Dennis, but I'm not so sure the tach could have been off by "1000 revs". I think it depends on the RPM -- because it's probably off by a percentage. For example, at an actual 1.000, the V6 tach would indicate 667 RPM (although it obviously doesn't have that level of precision).

Now, whether the potentiometer adjustment can correct that, I wouldn't know. I did the same tach swap on my Amigo, but I did my adjustment by guesstimate. I adjusted it at idle so that the tach indicated the expected idle RPM. But when I revved the engine, the tach always seemed off (low). I never bothered to check it, though.

You may want to compare it at different RPMs if you're concerned about accuracy.

Jack

I'm not too concerned about the accuracy. The "~1000 revs" number was verified when I had the calibration tach up to 3k. The cluster tach read 2k. I held it at 2500 revs on the calibration tach and then adjusted the pot until they match. After that the two tachs were synced as I revved the motor. The truck idles at about 1100 on start, then slows to a light 1000 once warm.

My primary goal was to replace the janky a-pillar gauges that came with the truck with OEM gauges. I'm going to keep the mechanical oil pressure gauge installed and compare with OEM gauge once I install the sender. Hopefully they're close

 

[JoeIsuzu]

As DSUZU predicted the tach was off ~1000 revs.

Tons of respect for Dennis, but I'm not so sure the tach could have been off by "1000 revs". I think it depends on the RPM -- because it's probably off by a percentage. For example, at an actual 1.000, the V6 tach would indicate 667 RPM (although it obviously doesn't have that level of precision).

Now, whether the potentiometer adjustment can correct that, I wouldn't know. I did the same tach swap on my Amigo, but I did my adjustment by guesstimate. I adjusted it at idle so that the tach indicated the expected idle RPM. But when I revved the engine, the tach always seemed off (low). I never bothered to check it, though.

You may want to compare it at different RPMs if you're concerned about accuracy.

Jack

I'm not too concerned about the accuracy. The "~1000 revs" number was verified when I had the calibration tach up to 3k. The cluster tach read 2k. I held it at 2500 revs on the calibration tach and then adjusted the pot until they match. After that the two tachs were synced as I revved the motor. The truck idles at about 1100 on start, then slows to a light 1000 once warm.

My primary goal was to replace the janky a-pillar gauges that came with the truck with OEM gauges. I'm going to keep the mechanical oil pressure gauge installed and compare with OEM gauge once I install the sender. Hopefully they're close

That matches my formula exactly -- the cluster tach indicated 2/3 the actual RPM. And after you synced them, they stayed in sync as you revved the motor. That's good to know.

Jack

 

[szac]

That matches my formula exactly -- the cluster tach indicated 2/3 the actual RPM. And after you synced them, they stayed in sync as you revved the motor. That's good to know.

Jack

Nice! I was totally winging it.. here's a really bad animated gif showing them in sync. The the "skipping" on the crappy, amazon $20 calibration tach was present in the tach itself and not from the low framerate of this image.

 

[szac]

With (presumably) a soon-to-be driven backcountry rig, I'm looking ahead to some camping and recovery mods. I have a receiver hitch carrier for my winch. I'll be adding a front and rear receiver to the Pickup and am thinking of fabbing up a bed mount like I've started mocking up here. Keeping it as close to the cab as possible. I don't think those jerry cans resized to actual scale.

 

[Lightning]

Awesome progress you have there. I'm a fan of those 4x4 pickups but have never seen a straight one for sale in Phoenix, at least when I've looked. Where the heck did you find that one. Good catch there! I would like to buy one for a project some day. However I just bought a 95 Rodeo out of Phoenix and took it North since I live in Flagstaff. I've got to change out a dead injector too, not sure on the quality of the other 5 but at least they work at all! Its been a real treat driving the I-17 twice now on 5 cyliders. haha.

Could be fun to meet up for a trail run come summer time. Keep up the great work!
-Andrew

 

[szac]

Awesome progress you have there. I'm a fan of those 4x4 pickups but have never seen a straight one for sale in Phoenix, at least when I've looked. Where the heck did you find that one. Good catch there! I would like to buy one for a project some day. However I just bought a 95 Rodeo out of Phoenix and took it North since I live in Flagstaff. I've got to change out a dead injector too, not sure on the quality of the other 5 but at least they work at all! Its been a real treat driving the I-17 twice now on 5 cyliders. haha.

Could be fun to meet up for a trail run come summer time. Keep up the great work!
-Andrew

Thanks man! About to head out to the garage right now and (hopefully) get it all back together. I found the pickup on CL Tucson. The PO had it listed as a "4cyl 4x4 5spd" - I saw it back in June or July, then it popped up again last November right when I started looking for a project.

Jim from the Injector Repair place was great to deal with and sent me tons of info and a couple of phone calls. Pretty good for $17 per injector. He only charges if it's able to reused.

Hell yea on a trail run! Good luck and looking forward to seeing more of your '95!

 

[szac]

FINALLY made some good progress. It's been a slough.

Here's a run-down:

• New timing belt and tensioner Done[/*]
• New radiator and upper/lower hoses Done[/*]
• New thermostat/gaskets (lower housing had to come off when I broke a bolt removing upper) Done[/*]
• New Water pump Done[/*]
• Adjust valves Done[/*]
• To do: all fluids, filters[/*]
• To do: install oil pressure sending unit[/*]
• To do: fix AC tensioner [/*]
• To do: replace some cluster bulbs[/*]
• To do: fix hand brake light[/*]
• To do: fix power steering leak [/*]
• To do: replace leaf springs, shocks [/*]
• To do: backcountry trails (can I fast forward to here?)[/*]

 

[Tentin]

Oh man that looks disgusting. Hope you were able to flush it all out

edit: not sure why I can't say d*sgusting

 

[szac]

Oh man that looks disgusting. Hope you were able to flush it all out

Welllll that's where I'm at today. I didn't flush anything out but all of the water that drained looked like brand new coolant. I clean out the block outlet and the thermostat housing as best I could but some of those "chunks" are cemented. I think I missed my chance to run some kind of flush solution through because now it might just clogged up my new radiator. So my plan was just hope that the cemented chunks stay that way. I realize this is dumb.

Is there a different way I can flush and not pump through my new radiator?

 

[andy_sykes]

Is there a different way I can flush and not pump through my new radiator?

Well you could just drain it and then disconnect your radiator. Then run a hose through the inlet with the thermostat removed.

Be prepared to get a lot of water splashed back in your face though. (- this is a truly ******* way of flushing it out, so don't judge me to harshly :lol: )