Hey Folks! New member, and new-ish vehicle owner here. Trying to learn as much as I can and stumble through some DIY home repairs. I suppose I'll start with a brief history of my vehicle.
Bought my first vehicle, a 97 Jimmy, a little over a year ago now. Apparently I'm the 3rd owner. 210k km on it, ran just fine, gave it an oil change shortly after getting it. About 216k km the fuel pump went, replaced that and the filter. Finally gave it another oil change after damn near a year (BAAAD, I know. Dunno why I let it go so long, I know better.) Changed Distributor cap & rotor, wires, and spark plugs about 225k km because it was hesitating on start up, running rough, and fuel economy has dropped drastically. Regained a tiny bit of pep and fuel economy, but still not back to where it was when I got it.
Which is why I am writing. Still hesitates on start up, I have to crank for quite a while before she fires up. Sometimes I will stop cranking after 8-9 rotations (so as not to run the starter for too long) and the engine will slowly sputter to life a second or two later. Seems very strange.
When idling it sometimes has a real wicked bounce to it too, yet sometimes it isn't there at all. Quite random. I've also noticed right before coming to a stop I get a slight bounce, and same with just starting off, say, at an intersection. I do get a Check Engine Light when I'm in park and idling, but unfortunately don't have a scanner to get the code. It goes away and stays away for as long as I'm driving.
I've read that the rough start/idle can be caused by a clogged EGR valve. I got some carb cleaner and a new gasket, but when I took it off it was definitely dirty, but didn't look very clogged. The valve moved pretty well with little to no resistance, but I sprayed it down anyway and replaced the gasket. Still started rough when I tried it just now.
So I'm wondering if anyone can offer any other suggestions? I've seen the SeaFoam treatments mentioned quite a bit here, but I've also heard people say that engine cleaning treatments can also do more harm than good, wrecking gaskets and whatnot... Also, a couple more questions:
When my buddy was walking me through the tune up, he used Dielectric(sp?) Grease in place of Anti-Sieze compound. Good or Bad? I know a dab in the wires is good, just not sure about the threads of the plugs. I've also read that when doing engine work on the Jimmy you have to use a scanner to reset the distributor somehow? Is that only if you removed the distributor itself? Or should it have been done after changing the rotor, cap, plugs and wires?
Hope these aren't annoyingly stupid questions, and hope to hear from someone soon!
Bought my first vehicle, a 97 Jimmy, a little over a year ago now. Apparently I'm the 3rd owner. 210k km on it, ran just fine, gave it an oil change shortly after getting it. About 216k km the fuel pump went, replaced that and the filter. Finally gave it another oil change after damn near a year (BAAAD, I know. Dunno why I let it go so long, I know better.) Changed Distributor cap & rotor, wires, and spark plugs about 225k km because it was hesitating on start up, running rough, and fuel economy has dropped drastically. Regained a tiny bit of pep and fuel economy, but still not back to where it was when I got it.
Which is why I am writing. Still hesitates on start up, I have to crank for quite a while before she fires up. Sometimes I will stop cranking after 8-9 rotations (so as not to run the starter for too long) and the engine will slowly sputter to life a second or two later. Seems very strange.
When idling it sometimes has a real wicked bounce to it too, yet sometimes it isn't there at all. Quite random. I've also noticed right before coming to a stop I get a slight bounce, and same with just starting off, say, at an intersection. I do get a Check Engine Light when I'm in park and idling, but unfortunately don't have a scanner to get the code. It goes away and stays away for as long as I'm driving.
I've read that the rough start/idle can be caused by a clogged EGR valve. I got some carb cleaner and a new gasket, but when I took it off it was definitely dirty, but didn't look very clogged. The valve moved pretty well with little to no resistance, but I sprayed it down anyway and replaced the gasket. Still started rough when I tried it just now.
So I'm wondering if anyone can offer any other suggestions? I've seen the SeaFoam treatments mentioned quite a bit here, but I've also heard people say that engine cleaning treatments can also do more harm than good, wrecking gaskets and whatnot... Also, a couple more questions:
When my buddy was walking me through the tune up, he used Dielectric(sp?) Grease in place of Anti-Sieze compound. Good or Bad? I know a dab in the wires is good, just not sure about the threads of the plugs. I've also read that when doing engine work on the Jimmy you have to use a scanner to reset the distributor somehow? Is that only if you removed the distributor itself? Or should it have been done after changing the rotor, cap, plugs and wires?
Hope these aren't annoyingly stupid questions, and hope to hear from someone soon!
