Originally Posted by double b26

its a 1995 xlt, teal colored, single cab, short bed, 2wd, 5spd, 2.3L... with a little less than 150K on the clock. some local farmer owned it, and had recently traded it and another full-sized flatbed truck in on something at that car lot. all in all, its in good shape, but you can tell that it sat in the grass/field a lot. the undercarriage has some rust on it, but its not rusted out, by any means.

but naturally, the first things to go when you have rust like this are the brake lines. i have one leaking on the driver's rear. both sides look pretty bad though. i noticed that the lines are wrapped with some sort of coiled wire looking stuff. im wondering if i can even splice a new section in with typical compression fittings, or if im looking at replacing the entire line. any tips?

secondly, im suddenly having a starting issue, since the 85*+ days have hit. when you turn the key, everything lights up like it should, but when you key it, it just goes "click", and no start. if i just keep keying it repeatedly (3-5 times typically) it will catch eventually. so im thinking that its probably the starter solenoid going bad. i was looking on the advance auto web site for a price to compare with autozone, and they also list a relay along with the solenoid itself. so basically, im wondering if there's any way i can test these two things and see which, if either, is bad. i dont want to spend more than i have to on parts.

and finally, the dome light says on some times when you shut both doors. also, the key switch is kind of messed up, and you can pull the key out w/ engine running. as long as you dont turn the key completely off (hit lever, turn to lock position), you dont even need the key to turn it on and off. the key cylinder also has play in it... about 1/8" or so of in-out movement. the two issues seem related, because sometimes when the light stays on, ill have to fiddle with the switch, or even start the truck and turn it back off, in order to get the dome light to go out when i close the door. now, my first thought was that the door ajar button must be bad, but then i looked and saw that there isnt one to began with! so, how does the truck know when the door is open? is it built into the handle/latch assembly? is the key switch involved? or am i totally off-track with the way these things work? any idea's on where to start on the dome light issue?

so thanks for reading. other than that, it seems like it'll be a good little truck. although i've never owned one personally, i've known many people that have had them (and mazda clones), and they've always been reliable, tough, trucks. there are a few other things with it i would like to look into, but for now, ^those^ three things will be a good place to start.