Greetings! New here, lots going on

PearlCommander · #1 02-11-2016, 07:09 PM

Hello all,

I decided to join the community, as my 1998 3L V6 has been running me crazy lately.

With me going back home from college every once in a while, that's 300 miles round trip. Took about 4 trips or so last semester.

Well things have been getting busy with my truck:

The 4WD has been out a while now. More than one area of line has deteriorated, and it was previously locked in 4WD until my brother fixed one of the lines. Now I'm no longer stuck in in-operable 4 wheel, but there isn't enough vacuum in the line as we believe to lock into 4 wheel. We're curious, what is the correct amount of pressure the gauge should be reading? We believe one of the lines that is broken runs underneath the washer/radiator fluid box. Problems don't end here my friends....

I went home last weekend and got out of my Dr appointment and the truck acted like it wanted to stall out. Got home to find the AC compressor had locked up...

....Then it gets crazier! The brakes started getting rough about 5 miles out from my house. We were gonna take a test drive when the front passenger wheel locked up. Turned out the bolts to caliper fell out COMPLETELY, pinching a brake line in the process. We got that sorted out.

It had been real noisy lately, which we initially thought was the 4 WD. My brother did some of that fancy hand-testing to the fan and found the clutch about had it. We replaced that; boy was the old one fun getting off!

....now with the truck running significantly quieter...

...The bad bearing in the now detached AC compressor was making a lot of noise. We bypassed it, removed it completely, and put a shorter belt on it.

Just today, in 20 degree weather, me and my roommate replaced the tensioner and idler pulley due to chirping under the hood. No luck. I sprayed some water on the belt and with the chirp momentarily stopping, determined the shorter belt is the problem.

Thing is, the belt my brother got is not long enough to run under the idler pulley, but rather on top of it. IDK what the proper size non-ac belt is, but with my overage and a possible job flipping burgers, I'm looking to soon purchase a new AC compressor, likely from Rock auto as my experience there has been good.

Thing is, we replaced the condenser and evaporator core last summer, as those both leaked. I know at bare minimum we're gonna have to flush the system. Hopefully the compressor didn't send a crap ton of debris into the rest of the system.

In the process we also replaced the radiator that was only a little over a year old. Still under warranty and my brother works at Oreilly and pulled some strings and got a new one, no cost.

.............See my dilemma here though? I'm just a poor college student trying to keep the vehicle in good shape. I figure my attention to the small details puts me a step ahead of the average vehicle owner who pays little attention to what their car/truck is trying to tell them

Your 2 cents and experiences are very much welcome and appreciated. I know I'm a wordy guy, but the past week has been nuts with this thing. Man is that belt chirp annnnnoying! Hence why I plan on getting the new compressor in at least once spring break rolls around.

Welcome Bot · #2 02-11-2016, 07:21 PM

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Jimmyspy · #3 02-11-2016, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PearlCommander

Hello all, I decided to join the community, as my 1998 3L V6 has been running me crazy lately. With me going back home from college every once in a while, that's 300 miles round trip. Took about 4 trips or so last semester. Well things have been getting busy with my truck: The 4WD has been out a while now. More than one area of line has deteriorated, and it was previously locked in 4WD until my brother fixed one of the lines. Now I'm no longer stuck in in-operable 4 wheel, but there isn't enough vacuum in the line as we believe to lock into 4 wheel. We're curious, what is the correct amount of pressure the gauge should be reading? We believe one of the lines that is broken runs underneath the washer/radiator fluid box. Problems don't end here my friends.... I went home last weekend and got out of my Dr appointment and the truck acted like it wanted to stall out. Got home to find the AC compressor had locked up... ....Then it gets crazier! The brakes started getting rough about 5 miles out from my house. We were gonna take a test drive when the front passenger wheel locked up. Turned out the bolts to caliper fell out COMPLETELY, pinching a brake line in the process. We got that sorted out. It had been real noisy lately, which we initially thought was the 4 WD. My brother did some of that fancy hand-testing to the fan and found the clutch about had it. We replaced that; boy was the old one fun getting off!

....now with the truck running significantly quieter... ...The bad bearing in the now detached AC compressor was making a lot of noise. We bypassed it, removed it completely, and put a shorter belt on it. Just today, in 20 degree weather, me and my roommate replaced the tensioner and idler pulley due to chirping under the hood. No luck. I sprayed some water on the belt and with the chirp momentarily stopping, determined the shorter belt is the problem. Thing is, the belt my brother got is not long enough to run under the idler pulley, but rather on top of it. IDK what the proper size non-ac belt is, but with my overage and a possible job flipping burgers, I'm looking to soon purchase a new AC compressor, likely from Rock auto as my experience there has been good. Thing is, we replaced the condenser and evaporator core last summer, as those both leaked. I know at bare minimum we're gonna have to flush the system. Hopefully the compressor didn't send a crap ton of debris into the rest of the system. In the process we also replaced the radiator that was only a little over a year old. Still under warranty and my brother works at Oreilly and pulled some strings and got a new one, no cost. .............See my dilemma here though? I'm just a poor college student trying to keep the vehicle in good shape. I figure my attention to the small details puts me a step ahead of the average vehicle owner who pays little attention to what their car/truck is trying to tell them Your 2 cents and experiences are very much welcome and appreciated. I know I'm a wordy guy, but the past week has been nuts with this thing. Man is that belt chirp annnnnoying! Hence why I plan on getting the new compressor in at least once spring break rolls around.

Welcome to this site!

Sorry to hear about all the issues with the truck. I know how you feel though; all the little things start to add up. Hopefully you get it all sorted out. Feel free to ask any questions you have! There's some pretty knowledgable guys on here.

----------

Side note: I see you're from litchfield.
I CO-OPd last fall in north ridgeville and drove through litchfield quite a few times on my way to 71. Really nice area.

Mike69 · #4 02-12-2016, 01:07 AM

Jason, welcome to FRF.

STL · #5 02-12-2016, 10:16 AM

Welcome to FRF

NoPower · #6 02-13-2016, 05:34 AM

Welcome Jason, Glad you found us, and OUCH!! thats a list you don't need. Don't give up. Have fun and enjoy FRF.
From Don
Grove City, Ohio

PearlCommander · #7 02-13-2016, 01:04 PM

Thanks for the welcome party guys. Haha. I appreciate it.

Gonna find a proper place now for the factory alarm. Dang thing keeps going off when I've locked it and walked away. Very intermittent. Gotta be angering my neighbors.

One thing to the next with my girl. Lol. I am being patient, it's kind of a requirement with a 17-18 year old vehicle with this many miles.