1990 D150 engine surging when idle or driving (part of the time)

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crazzywolfie

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summit only has free shipping on orders over $100. i just find most of the time rock auto can be a few $ cheaper and there shipping is not too bad if you can order everything from 1 location. you just have to watch for there truck icons that mean the other stuff ships from the same warehouse.
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Deblackmon3

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All right. I drove to school and back today, and after that I'm getting my dad to deregister it and take it off the road. My mom believes that we should keep it tagged, "in case of an emergency." That won't really work if the engine isn't in there for a few months, hehe :p
 

dodge dude94

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Pull the insurance. You don't really need to pull the registration as long as you're not paying for it every month.

Just insurance savings alone will help you save up for the engine re-work.

Well, that is unless of course your insurance actually GOES UP when you pull it like ours did when we put me on the 76. :D
 
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Deblackmon3

Deblackmon3

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Pull the insurance. You don't really need to pull the registration as long as you're not paying for it every month.

Just insurance savings alone will help you save up for the engine re-work.

Well, that is unless of course your insurance actually GOES UP when you pull it like ours did when we put me on the 76. :D

The truck is the cheapest one to insure that we have. I was thinking of pulling registration along with the insurance so we don't have to pay taxes for the truck, save even more money ;P

We actually only have two other cars, so I wouldn't have any car to drive myself. That's the sucky part, being a senior and having to be dropped off by your parents :/
 

dodge dude94

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The truck is the cheapest one to insure that we have. I was thinking of pulling registration along with the insurance so we don't have to pay taxes for the truck, save even more money ;P

We actually only have two other cars, so I wouldn't have any car to drive myself. That's the sucky part, being a senior and having to be dropped off by your parents :/

Well, I know that with our insurance, by having the 76 on it, and with me on it rather than on my Ram the family insurance drops. That's what I was getting at, but since y'all only have a total of 3 vehicles that kind of negates that option. Is your registration paid every year? Because we just pay our reg. and taxes and stuff yearly.
 

crazzywolfie

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i think it really depends on how much registration, insurance and taxes is? i personally would not pull my truck off the road over a small overheating issue unless you can't afford to fix it. i think you could get a new water pump cheap and since most of you cooling system is full of water it would be a good time to pull hoses and rinse it out.
 
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Deblackmon3

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Well, I know that with our insurance, by having the 76 on it, and with me on it rather than on my Ram the family insurance drops. That's what I was getting at, but since y'all only have a total of 3 vehicles that kind of negates that option. Is your registration paid every year? Because we just pay our reg. and taxes and stuff yearly.

The tags on my plate become invalid in October, so I didn't want to have to pay to get another year haha
 

dodge dude94

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The tags on my plate become invalid in October, so I didn't want to have to pay to get another year haha

Unless it renews automatically you have nothing to worry about IMO.

And crazzy is right, just fix it. You're likely looking at a weekends worth of work.
 
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Deblackmon3

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i think it really depends on how much registration, insurance and taxes is? i personally would not pull my truck off the road over a small overheating issue unless you can't afford to fix it. i think you could get a new water pump cheap and since most of you cooling system is full of water it would be a good time to pull hoses and rinse it out.

Well, it isn't a small overheating issue, that's the thing. If I keep driving it that engine will die, it overheats every time I drive. I'm just going to pull it out and rebuild. While I'm doing that I can do body work and suspension.
 

crazzywolfie

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i am pretty sure it would only take me a day to flush the cooling system and replace the water pump. you may also want to try rinsing the heater core both ways to make sure you get nice hot heat in the winter.
 
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Deblackmon3

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i am pretty sure it would only take me a day to flush the cooling system and replace the water pump. you may also want to try rinsing the heater core both ways to make sure you get nice hot heat in the winter.

Again, I've been saving money up for a complete engine rebuild and rebore. The overheating issue just pushed me to start now instead of pushing it off.
 

crazzywolfie

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if the engine runs good other than the overheating and surging then i would not spend the money rebuilding it. i would possibly do a compression or leak down test and see what that says. if you got 150psi or more compression across all the cylinders then there is really no need for a rebuild unless the engine is making other noises to suggest that there is other issues.
 
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Deblackmon3

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Final Update, unfortunately.

Installed the new waterpump and temp gauge, everything was working fine. I was testing this morning, going at various RPMs to test for any leaks at different pressures. I got up to what I'm assuming to be around 3000 rpm, and all of a sudden the engine starting shaking. Turned the car off immediately, called up a buddy who works on engines and has been helping me to come check it out.

Well, it turns out a threw a rod bearing out. I should've thought of that possibly happening as soon as I changed my oil last, because of how much gunk was just in there. The gunk in the engine, combined with high temperatures from the coolant leak ultimately sealed it. I can't afford to repair the engine right now, and I need a daily driver to get to and from school.
 

dodge dude94

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I would be pulling the pan to see what damage there is.
 
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Deblackmon3

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I would be pulling the pan to see what damage there is.

I'll pull the pan when I get the time to. Until then, I have my brother's wedding that I have to help put together and attend this Saturday, which is being held at my house (my aunt was married here too, it's a beautiful house, so don't knock it :p). Yard work has to be done, inside needs to be spotless, we're getting the driveway repaved right this minute, and along with school work and other responsibilities I don't have time to do anything with cars unless it's at school in class.
 
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