88 Railroad Special

[cdtx_2011]

I made my first post over on the repair page so i guess i should post over here as well. Here’s a long winded write up on my 1988 4.0l 5spd 4x4
 

This truck belonged to a friend and mentor of mine who passed away about 10 years ago. A couple years ago another friend ended up with it and then needed to offload it. It appears he parked it about 20 years ago for unknown reasons as it was last registered in ‘05. Condition was unknown as my buddy had yet to do anything with it, but he was told it had transmission or transfer cases issues likely related to the crunch in the bed that came from moving a railroad baggage car 😂. So far i have found nothing to suggest any drivetrain problems other than me being a bit rusty driving a stick shift. 

 

So far i have done the following to it since i finally tore into it last month. Replaced battery, battery terminals, fuel, fuel pump, fuel filter, gas cap, all fuses, refreshed all grounds, cleaned C101 connector, cleaned distributor contacts (turned out to be basically new), spark plugs, all fuel rail o-rings (i took a gas bath when testing the new fuel pump…that was cool), fuel pressure regulator, water pump (see attached picture, the sound it made on first startup was…startling), idler pulley, serpentine belt, thermostat, coolant temp sensor, oil pressure sender, and god knows i have forgotten something. 
 

Known issues popping up are as follows, chime in with any tips if you care too

- Brakes are about 5% functional (test drives have been fun 🙃)

- Turn signals non-responsive

- Vent/heat fan very weak

- Back slider is missing

- I don’t trust the coolant temp reading even after changing the sender (See repair board thread)

- Resistance/popping in suspension/steering linkage during hard turns

- Windshield leaking….somewhere?

 

 

[89 MJ]

If the windshield is leaking, you should really make sure you get the carpet out otherwise you'll have a nasty rust surprise later. Other than that and the bed damage, it looks like a good, straight truck. Even the rear bumper is in good shape. 

[cdtx_2011]

Just now, 89 MJ said:

If the windshield is leaking, you should really make sure you get the carpet out otherwise you'll have a nasty rust surprise later. Other than that and the bed damage, it looks like a good, straight truck. Even the rear bumper is in good shape. 

 

It has a vinyl liner and pools so I'm not crazy worried about rust underneath but good point!!

[89 MJ]

Just now, cdtx_2011 said:

 

It has a vinyl liner and pools so I'm not crazy worried about rust underneath but good point!!

My truck had vinyl floors too and was a southern truck. Both floor pans needed replacing. The water gets behind it and soaks into the insulation and then never evaporates. Even if they look good from the bottom, they might not be. My build thread shows how bad they can be. 

[cdtx_2011]

Just now, 89 MJ said:

My truck had vinyl floors too and was a southern truck. Both floor pans needed replacing. The water gets behind it and soaks into the insulation and then never evaporates. Even if they look good from the bottom, they might not be. My build thread shows how bad they can be. 

 

 Ill check it out!

[89 MJ]

2 minutes ago, cdtx_2011 said:

 

 Ill check it out!

That said, I fully expect your truck to be much nicer than mine was. Mine was fairly rough and had issues for years before I got it. 

[WranglerMangler]

7 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

The water gets behind it and soaks into the insulation and then never evaporates. Even if they look good from the bottom, they might not be.

Fully agree with this! PNW Truck with vinyl floor had rusted through (not terribly) because of soaking wet insulation. It probably weighed 50 lbs when I removed it. 

[Pete M]

yeah, it's of the utmost importance to fix all the leaks before putting new floors and carpet in.  otherwise it'll happen again.  

 

these are the leaks I found on the 88 I'm helping with.  and this is just the pass side firewall.  rear window and windshield were also leaking.