Los_Control

I think it is the modern fuel .... the recipe has changed over the years, modern fuels boil at a lower temperature causing vapor lock. This would explain why you have the issue in 2024, but not 10 years ago. With today's fuel systems, electric fuel pumps and a return line ... modern cars are not affected by the changes. For many, adding a electric pump is enough to take care of the problem when it arises. .... Basically install the electric pump and call it a day. I wonder and have a plan to install a return line .... Some on youtube have installed a return line, and claim the fuel circulating through the lines never sit long enough to heat up and cause vapor lock. I like this idea because it is preventing the problem from happening in the first place. While the electric pump is a fix for after the problem occurs ..... choices.

So after changing the pcm, wife was driving to the store and the wipers quit working (linkage fell off) 🙄 I was surprised when I removed the resonator ... now the flow is perfect coming out of the muffler ... the resonator was plugged. .... Is a teensy bit louder with just a muffler and no tail pipe, barley noticeable. A google search showed it is not as common for a resonator to plug up as a cat .... but it does happen. No, it did not solve the main issue .... drive all day long at 50 mph, but 25 miles at 75mph and the engine acts up Only stored code is rich fuel mixture. I'm wondering now if maybe I have some vacuum lines crossed and want to spend time on them. Looked at it yesterday and the water pump took a dump 🙄 Wondering if it is time to bring in a demolition crew with dynamite.

Seems every vehicle is different, depending on condition of engine & carburetor. Back in the day when my flathead actually ran 🙄 It liked the choke to start it, once started it was a race to open it up before it choked itself out .... It did not need or like a choke to run and warm up. Seems like a automatic choke or a scisson choke has a tough row to hoe.

Several years ago I saw a cartoon of a driver in a vacant lot driving circles while the mechanic was bent over the fender adjusting the valves. Thats what I think about with adjusting the valves hot .... I'm with you and will leave them a little loose when cold.

Real men use to lean over the fender and adjust them while the driver would keep a steady pace down the road.

Sometimes it is good to just step away and take a break ... I did that and went back at it today. I had the new used PCM and thought I would install that before touching the exhaust. I did recheck codes first and had code EGR failed .... last time I checked it was rich fuel mixture. But it just keeps bouncing around between 02, EGR, rich fuel. May not look terrible ... compare to this photo. The pins for the transmission control module were corroded and kept putting it into limp mode. So when I look at the pins to the PCM, they are not as bad, they are getting corroded also and could cause weird issues. Possibly the pcm just needed the connections cleaned ... I dunno, I just swapped them out and cleaned the pins on the new/used one. .... I'm guessing the original one is fine, just needs cleaned. Did this fix my problem? .... NOOOO!!! It did act up again, I forced it to go further this time ... at one point I pulled over and held my hand over the tail pipe. I still feel the flow is weak, and when the car is acting up, I thought the exhaust was way hotter then it should be .... wanted to burn my hand holding it over the pipe at the rear bumper. I can only blame the heat on a plugged exhaust not passing through fast enough to cool off. I feel like the King of England .... Tomorrow it will be OFF WITH IT"S MUFFLER! Just slowly fighting my way through several small different issues .... hoping I will get it this time with removing muffler.

The pilothouse did not come out with turn signals, so all were put on by owners where they chose to put them. The throttle could be useful for a farmer to work the truck in the field and walk beside it to load or unload .... or 100 other purposes that would not pass OSHA rules today.

When I cut the cat loose and removed it from under the car, piles of loose crap poured out of the cat .... no question it was bad. I removed every last drop from the cat and can look through it, nothing but a metal shell left. There really is no improvement in flow at the tail pipe ... I never thought about the muffler being clogged also. With all the loose crap that poured out of the cat there is no surprise it is also plugged. I might try to make a video later .... I feel if others saw what I see ... they would agree the exhaust is plugged and there is no sense doing anything til after it is unplugged. ..... This will not be pretty 🤣 I'm already committed to a new exhaust. I will chop the tail pipe off behind the muffler and check flow there I think it will be bad, so I will cut the muffler out. Now I will have a straight pipe off the header and it has to be good flow .... engine has good strong compression. Hoping I can weld or mickey mouse the resonator and tail pipe to it, and have something that I can drive to see if it now fixes the problem. .... It is all junk anyways. Complete new exhaust cat, muffler, resonator is $250 and is 3 pieces to bolt together .... will do that after I fix the existing issue. This has been a rough month on the wallet already, bi-annual car insurance, wife birthday, spent $$ on the caravan & 49 Dodge ... Christmas is coming up .... MAKE IT STOP!!! 😭

Well that was fun ... think I might have to try it again 🙄 Cat is totally gutted and I managed to put it all back together and go for a drive. In a way it was actually worse because it started acting up sooner then it normally does .... it also acted up a little bit at 45mph on the back roads home, which it never did in the past. I still think the exhaust may be plugged though ... is it common for a cat to plug a muffler or resonator? Only test I have for this is the dollar bill trick. I fold a dollar bill in 1/2 lengthwise and hold one 1/2 on top of the tail pipe, with other 1/2 flopping over the end of pipe. With the engine running at idle, will blow the bill straight out. The idea is, if you have a burnt or leaking valve, the bill will flap back and forth as the exhaust sucks it in ... quick and dirty test when looking to buy a used car. ... the bill should be straight out all the time. So I'm a bit confused, on the Caravan, the bill only goes up less then 1/2 way of being straight out ... just no pressure to blow it. Every car I used the trick on blows the bill straight out ... my 49 Dodge blows the bill straight out. So I dunno, I got the PCM today ... not satisfied with exhaust though ... got to play some more. I'm thinking to disconnect cat from tail pipe and see if it blows out normal like it should. Then connect muffler with the resonator disconnected to see it blows straight out from there. ... I have a feeling the muffler is plugged.

Just be aware, if you got the lifters to move a smidge, but not the crank .... could be a spun bearing and why the engine was parked. Legend has it, Grandpa Ed got drunk one night and was out Hot Rodding his 1951 Plymouth suburban and spun a bearing and locked the engine up. .... It happens. If the crank wont turn, you might want to start pulling the bearings.

Good advice, will follow it tomorrow. I had to bury a dog this morning, was expecting it to come any day ... she was comfortable and passed away last night. Daisy was a big dog, about 120 pounds .... took a big hole. So I was 1/2 worn out by the time I got to the car at 2:00pm .... was on a one track path to separate the muffler. I did it on my truck not too long ago when I replaced the clutch. .... Caravan just not working out. I will get a sleeve and cut it tomorrow.

Famous last words .... "Oh this will be simple" On a good note, the exhaust is plugged ... I assume it is the cat. I held my hand in front of the tail pipe for 10 seconds and that was longer then I needed to know it is wrong. ..... I just never thought about a bad cat. I really have to thank @Dave72dt again for pointing me in the right direction. This would be a really simple job if I were going to replace the exhaust ... 2 cuts and pull it out. No way to get it out from under the car in 1 piece, so trying to get it loose at the muffler while trying to save the muffler is a tough job. .... I do want to put it back together and prove it is the real problem before spending $$ on it. I would prefer to wait til February .... Complete exhaust system is 3 pieces from RA. $120 for cat, $40 for muffler, $50 for resonator that includes tail pipe and just bolt it all together .... That's a simple job. Saving old mufflers is not

RD250 brings back memories .... I had one for awhile ... it was fun. Was painted white with flames on the tank and drag bars with a custom saddle .... kinda setup for racing. IIRC, bigger piston and carb. A friend of mine that I rode with kept laughing at the baby bike and was only a kids mini bike .... blah blah blah. I told him to take it for a spin ... Dumb arse started from the middle of the block and just nailed it ... He hit the end of the street so fast he could not stop. He only got it into 2nd gear and the little 2 stroke engine hit its power band and started to fly. He laid it down and slid it across a busy 4 lane road in Las Vegas .... amazing he never got ran over and cars stopped in time. The guy felt like such a idiot pushing it back home and all he could say ... OMG I never thought .... He never laughed at it again. Do not shoot the messenger, I was just showing what Jaguar has been up to the last few weeks. I just find it funny and say why now? A lot of companies have gone down the same road, Harley Davison, Tractor supply, Walmart .... and others. People started complaining and they backed off and decided to sell products not opinions. .... Sooo, while all of this is dying down and in the past, Jaguar jumps in feet first and starts it up again. As soon as they get the expected backlash ... they double down and blame it on the consumers .... A crazy way to sell a product. Either way it is just a phase they are going through in this time period ... it will pass, do what you want.

I was not really pleased with the process of installing them either. While I finish things up, I plan to prepare wiring and such, to lift the doghouse off with inner/outer fenders intact. I know they are designed to do that already .... I just want to make sure I keep it that way when adding things to the engine compartment. Just not sure what plug I will use for headlights.

Been awhile, seems it was the shocks/shock mounts .... could not get past them. Or it might have worked.

That commercial just came out a couple weeks ago .... several of us were laughing at it because a car company is advertising some pretty weird people ... and no car in the commercial .... Something strange going on there. A few days ago there was a leak of their concept cars .... scattered feelings about those. This was released after negative feedback on the commercial. Jaguar has simply been demanding to be noticed the past few weeks. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/11/jaguar-boss-doubles-down-horrible-woke-rebrand-blames/

No I tried and could not. I seen some or most cars you remove the wheel and then there is a panel to remove to gain access to adjust valves etc .... I just thought that was the way they were installed. Back to research and found out they slide in from the top on trucks. I tried for a few days and could not get them in from the side.

Join the jaguar club @Sniper ...

TPS is new, temp sensor works exactly as it should. Giving it more thought. It is easy to unbolt it from the header .... had it on and off a few times. The rest is just held on by those thick rubber bands going to the mounts .... easy to remove. I can just lower it down and rod it out ... leaving all the trash inside the exhaust. If I can snake it out from over the rear axle .... possible, I can stand it on end and shake all the trash out of it. So a simple unbolt, remove .... get er did and replace .... zero $$ spent Rainy and 40 degrees today, sunshine and 70 tomorrow ... Good day to watch old cowboy movies

Here you go This has been done by others and I'm just following what they have done in the past. I think we need to use a OEM or old used distributor for the swap. New ones are available but the way the top shaft mounts is different and not good for the conversion. I'm using the search term on carpart.com for a 1979 Dodge truck with a 225 /6 .... they will show the years that interchange. My first blunder was I bought a lean burn distributor instead of a normal one. They are available in those years. The difference is they have no vacuum advance and dual pick ups like dual points on a older car .... also controlled by a computer so no vacuum advance needed ..... just watch out you do not get one of those. So far I think the most difficult part is turning the /6 housing down to fit into the flathead block. The howto they clamped the body in a vice and with sand paper worked it down ... need to remove about .030 material ... not a lot. @sniper just did a article that I can no longer find He used a 7/16" bolt and then chucked it up into his drill press. I do not have a drill press so I did it this way .... kinda, but you get the idea. I actually ended up using a different drill that would turn slower, I put a long piece of 110 grit emmory cloth in the vice holding one end, left hand holding the other and the right hand holding the drill ... easy work, stand there and pull the trigger and measure often. Others had a problem removing the pin out of the collar on the flathead distributor. I also had problems. I first drilled a teeny tiny pilot hole into the center of the pin. Then I filed the pin flat .... they peened the edges over to hold it in ... such a tight fit that the pin disappears when edges filed away .... thats why I had the pilot hole so I could still locate it .... and it punched out pretty easy at this point. I could have polished mine to look nice ... I think the black paint makes it look old and possibly original. Shiny aluminum looks out of place to me. This is as far as I have got, will work on it more as time comes available.

@thats just it @Dave72dt ... I'm getting so many different codes I'm thinking the pcm is bad and giving out bad data. So I ordered a used one just to see if it makes a difference. I had a brand new 02 sensor in it and a code for bad 02 .... I change it and reset the pcm and code goes away .... then it comes back later. I had a used EGR, I bench tested it and is good, so I install it and both 02, EGR codes keep coming back, now have a rich fuel code .... just driving me nuts .... I'm going to remove this cat and try it .... when it stops raining. Tomorrow will be a nice day and the wife birthday .... working on her car should be allowed.

Good advice @Sniper I have been thinking about that .... just because of it's age and the fact the exhaust sounds different this time around. Just not sure how I will do it yet .... we have no emission inspections .... my truck the cat was removed and replaced with a pipe. pretty sure I will need to cut the exhaust unless I'm lucky the cat bolts in ... I think it is welded. Well not to bad if I buy a new one for $120 Will bolt right to the header pipe, then to the muffler. .... For the $$, replacing it seems like the best choice. Still would want to cut it out of there and micky mouse a straight pipe in and see what happens. If the problem goes away. If the cat is bad, seems plausible it is messing with the MAF and sending bad data to the PCM? Besides, everything else is new .... I would love to spend my $$ on a shiny new converter 🤣🤣🤣

I want to say In my defense, I always claimed I was repairing my truck not restoring it .... simply making it safe and fun to drive. That included replacing the missing paint. So when faced with pulling the heater or putting a scratch on the paint ??? It will get a lot more scratches on it down at the hardware store or in parking lots. Once you get the first scratches out of the way, the rest are easier

Thanks @Dave72dt Thats really a interesting thought .... I have no idea what symptoms a bad cat would show. I will have to research it once I get a cup of coffee in me. A clue is it always takes about 20-25 miles before it acts up ... use to be 30-40 miles ... is getting worse. That might be the time it takes for a cat to heat up? The car sounds different, not really loud ... just different. I have never done exhaust work to it but do not see/hear any leaks. Is possible original with 188K on the cat. The first used engine that only lasted 50 miles .... Had a lot of condensation in it and puked steam out for 45 min before the engine was fully warmed up and the exhaust cleared up. Huge amounts of steam clouds creating a wall of steam behind the car. Something new is when stopped at a light and foot on the brakes, the engine runs a little rough ... foot off the brake and goes away ... I'm blaming power brake booster for that .... or plugged cat? Ok I looked up symptoms. I think it is very possible the cat is going bad and needs removed ... A few symptoms along with age and mileage suggest that. About poor performance though ... it is a soccer mom mini van, no Hot Rod. It jumps right out and zero issues keeping up with traffic or getting to 90mph by the end of the freeway on ramp. You barely breathe on the gas pedal to maintain 80mph and it always creeps up to 85-90. It has the expected performance. The main issue when it acts up is it acts like it is running out of gas and the motor starts jerking. Or it is misfiring and the cylinders are getting fire at the wrong time. Hard to tell which it is at 75mph ... either way you take your foot off the gas and slow down and it goes away. Wonder if the cat would cause that?

Without seeing what you are seeing ... I said early on to put them in as early as possible. They are a tight fit. With my paint job, just fight and slam them in. You can see where I scraped off the new paint on the firewall. In this corner. There is more damaged paint in other areas from installing them .... they will get touch up when finished. Not only would I remove the hose on yours, probably the heater also ... the metal lines from the heater stick out a few inches and my heater bolts are really long and would possibly interfere. ... with your nice paint ... I would remove the heater to get the best chance I could to avoid scratches.