few questions for a 1983 D150

Katze · Feb 22, 2012

okay so first bought this truck about 2 weeks ago with 163,000 miles,almost no problems except that the gas gauge doesnt work and the speedometer makes a whirring noise after 45mph and the needle fluctuates between actual miles and 10 above, then most of the time it starts up within a half second and other times it turns over really slowly. i know what i have to do for the gas gauge but anyone have any suggestions for the speedometer and the weird start?

also heres a video of the truck 1983 D150 Royal SE - YouTube

wermbang · Feb 22, 2012

loose connections of cables?

LBC970 · Feb 22, 2012

wermbang said:
loose connections of cables?

I second that. Check the speed o cable at both ends, make sure it's tight, and seated correctly.

And second on the cables for the weird start. Make sure your battery cables are tight, both ends. Corrosion on the terminals is a sure sign of a loose connection...

WhiteExpress · Feb 22, 2012

You will likely need to disassemble the speedometer and clean it out. Chances of doing this without screwing it up further... VERY SLIM! I had a '76 Ramcharger with a possessed speedometer doing a very similar thing. When I started taking it apart, it was filthy inside, I sprayed some carb cleaner into the mechanism to try and free everything up.
Worked for about a week, then ppddBOING! something broke and never worked again. I ended up with all VDO gauges. (also fixed my gas gauge issue)
As for the hard starting... Does the truck always run good? I'm wondering if you distributor is properly tightened. If the timing gets far enough off from a loose distr, it could be very slow to start. (unless it's cranking slow)?!

Katze · Feb 22, 2012

yeah, it'll crank slow, but it doesnt do it all the time, and it runs fine once it starts up. It might have something to do with the distributor... he had it sitting between 4-6 years.

LBC970 · Feb 22, 2012

Slow crank is very likely a weak battery or loose battery cables. 9.5 times out of 10 it's what I see when going to a jump start call.

Katze · Feb 22, 2012

its not the battery, i thought thats what it was when it first did it, but when i had someone give me a jumpstart it still did it, im thinking its the starter

few questions for a 1983 D150

Katze

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wermbang

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LBC970

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WhiteExpress

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Katze

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LBC970

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Katze

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