Ok Ill try to keep this as short as possible....
I bought my truck (97 1500 5.7) almost three months ago and its been a project ever since. Mainly the heating/coolant system amongst other things. When i bought it it blew semi-warm air. Not nearly warm enough to warm the truck. At first i thought thermostat and replaced it. Nope. I had a dealer test it and they said clogged core and leaking radiator. I replaced both and flushed and switched to reg green coolant and everything seemed to be fixed. About a week later and my water pump went. Replaced that and again everything seemed fine. Then a week after that i noticed it was blowing cool at red lights and when idling. It would blow hot when moving. After reading here I figured i didnt get all the air out of the system. I burped it good and made sure all the levels were good. Again everything seemed fine. After a couple runs with it i smell antifreeze but its not leaking anywhere. Also my level in the reserve tank is slowly going down. Im assuming its the manifold gasket.
The truck has 190,000 on the clock. The gaskets have already been replaced atleast once (prev owner left reciepts). I have no problems digging in and doing the job, but heres where I need guidance.... Im sure the truck hasnt been tuned up in a while so i was thinking id also change the cap, rotor, wires, plugs, pcv, and clean all the other sensors. Also my truck has been idling rough and sputtering only when in gear at red lights and Ive read it could be a number of things. The tune up could fix it, the manifold gasket could fix it, or they wont effect it and it could be a bunch of other stuff. Im planning on replacing the engine as soon as i have enough money to so should i really drop all this money into it now? I priced out new cap, rotor, wires, plugs, gasket set, heater quick disconnect, temp sensor, oil, antifreeze, valve cover gasket, new intake bolts, pcv valve, clean and or replace egr, and other minor things and im looking at like $300-$400 just for the tune up. If that doesnt solve the sputtering issues who knows how much more it will cost. I was also debating on swithching to the newer style CSFI to MPFI and thats another $300. I dont want to keep throwing money at the old engine. Id rather just do the minimum needed to keep it running mostly healthy. What are your guys thoughts and opinions?
I bought my truck (97 1500 5.7) almost three months ago and its been a project ever since. Mainly the heating/coolant system amongst other things. When i bought it it blew semi-warm air. Not nearly warm enough to warm the truck. At first i thought thermostat and replaced it. Nope. I had a dealer test it and they said clogged core and leaking radiator. I replaced both and flushed and switched to reg green coolant and everything seemed to be fixed. About a week later and my water pump went. Replaced that and again everything seemed fine. Then a week after that i noticed it was blowing cool at red lights and when idling. It would blow hot when moving. After reading here I figured i didnt get all the air out of the system. I burped it good and made sure all the levels were good. Again everything seemed fine. After a couple runs with it i smell antifreeze but its not leaking anywhere. Also my level in the reserve tank is slowly going down. Im assuming its the manifold gasket.
The truck has 190,000 on the clock. The gaskets have already been replaced atleast once (prev owner left reciepts). I have no problems digging in and doing the job, but heres where I need guidance.... Im sure the truck hasnt been tuned up in a while so i was thinking id also change the cap, rotor, wires, plugs, pcv, and clean all the other sensors. Also my truck has been idling rough and sputtering only when in gear at red lights and Ive read it could be a number of things. The tune up could fix it, the manifold gasket could fix it, or they wont effect it and it could be a bunch of other stuff. Im planning on replacing the engine as soon as i have enough money to so should i really drop all this money into it now? I priced out new cap, rotor, wires, plugs, gasket set, heater quick disconnect, temp sensor, oil, antifreeze, valve cover gasket, new intake bolts, pcv valve, clean and or replace egr, and other minor things and im looking at like $300-$400 just for the tune up. If that doesnt solve the sputtering issues who knows how much more it will cost. I was also debating on swithching to the newer style CSFI to MPFI and thats another $300. I dont want to keep throwing money at the old engine. Id rather just do the minimum needed to keep it running mostly healthy. What are your guys thoughts and opinions?
