LUVTruck.com

Hey guys, I be a newbie! From Utah no less.

Here's the story, I went out today and looked at an 80 longbed for sale, got there, started right up, but it's got a horrible "Tick", as apposed to a ting or a knock. I'm pretty sure it's from the vavle train as it seemed to be happening every other revolution. The price for the truck is pretty good, at $275, but I want to know what I can do to fix the problem, IE head swaps or whatever.

Now, I'm no stranger to GM, being as I drive an 89 S10 Blazer, so I know their habbit of sticking the same engine in several different cars and trucks, so I'm wondering what other car I might be able to pull the nessesary parts out of at the JY.


If I do get this truck, sometime down the line my S10 is getting a 350, so the LUV will likely end up with the 4.3 that's in the S10 now... Wont be a monster, but it should handle itself relatively well, right?

Anyways, thanks for the help guys, wish me luck on this one.

_________________
1989 S10 Blazer Sport
1965 VW Beetle

Could be as simple as a missadjusted valve clearence, a bad piston, or connecting rod or bearing.
Try this--take about a 2-3 ft piece of garden hose, put one end to your ear and move the other end around the engine block, head, valve cover and try and pinpoint it to an area.
If you get it down to one cylinder, pull the plug wire off to see if it changes or goes away. No change means probably valve adj problem. If it gets louder or goes away with that plug wire off it probably is engine internals, ie piston, rod, bearing.

Ohh, probably shoulda meantioned I pulled each wire in sequence starting from the rear going forward, no change other than it almost stalled when I got to the last (first?) cylinder (at the front). Of course, each unplug was accompanied by the usual drop in rpms, but the front most almost made it stall. I dont know if that tells anything that I'm missing though.

I'm not sure if it's valve adjustment, just basing off of the sounds from the 2.8 that was in my old 86 S10 when it's valves were missadjusted. But, we'll have to see.

I really really wish I could do more tests, but that would require actualy buying the truck and bringing it home. And as much as I have fallen in love with the truck, I cannot bring home another undrivable project unless I know for sure it's something I can fix reasonably easily, unlike the 65 Beetle currently spread around the garage.

_________________
1989 S10 Blazer Sport
1965 VW Beetle

Yahaha. I just thought of something else that might make a bit of difference. The outside temp was barely above freezing at the time of these tests... I'm thinking it was maybe 38-40 degrees.

On top of that, the engine was only run for approximately 5 minutes durring the short tests.

On top of all that, I have absolutely no clue what oil is in it, or how old it is, or when the last time the motor was fired before I had shown up.

_________________
1989 S10 Blazer Sport
1965 VW Beetle

my suggestion would be to take it for a test drive get it good and warmed up, could be something as easy as stuck lifter, or broken push rod, anyway sounds like a good deal to me, but i also have a complete parts truck so i got plenty of parts to fix.

i'd buy it if it was closer

_________________
zyanug
75 luv stepside... Work in progress
76 fleetside 350hp 1968 327cu
"No replacement for displacement!"
___/__l____
[_@l__l__@_]***

For $275 and it actually starts and runs sounds like a steal to me. Can't be picky at that price. Mines got the same sound for about 7000 miles, but its getting a valve job here shortly.

Trust me, it's a steal. The only rust I saw on the truck was the bed, the fenders were new, the cab was fixed up, the interior is actually rather clean... And yes, I really want the truck.

The problem is, it's not MY money that would be spent, it's my fiancee's (it would be her daily driver if bought).

So if it is a stuck lifter, how difficult is it on these motors to fix? Only experience I have with fixing valve train components is on my beetle's engine. If I do manage to talk her into getting this truck, the motor issue cant take me more than a week to fix at most.

And can anyone please tell me what cars and trucks came with this same motor, so I can keep my eyes out at our local JYs for parts?

Wait a tick.... These motors have push rods? I thought they were Overhead cam?

_________________
1989 S10 Blazer Sport
1965 VW Beetle

Overhead cam, no pushrods, no lifters,- just cam followers with adjustable valves.

sorry jus noting common tickin sources as youl see by my signature already have a v6, dont know much about 4 cyl, deal mostly in v8

_________________
zyanug
75 luv stepside... Work in progress
76 fleetside 350hp 1968 327cu
"No replacement for displacement!"
___/__l____
[_@l__l__@_]***

Lol, yeah, I know the feeling, I've got a 2.8 60 degree v6, the 4.3 90degree v6 and the 1.5l horizontally apposed 4 banger under my belt.

I've pretty much made up my mind. I want the truck, now all I have to do is convince my fiancee that she want's the truck too...

Might end up having to sell off one of my 10 guitars to help fund it though

_________________
1989 S10 Blazer Sport
1965 VW Beetle

The LUV has a 1.8 liter Isuzu motor. The 1972-1975's had one generation, and the 1976-1982's had the second generation. I don't know of any other vehicles that had the exact same motor. There are several Isuzus out there that had similar ones.

Well, we are trying to get the truck, but our bank decided to leave us a little on the screwed side... Decided to charge us $110 in overdraft fees.

We checked our balance right as we were leaving for walmart, had $35 or so in the account, not 20 minutes later we've made our purchases. Little did we know that her insurance had stepped in in those 20 minutes and taken out 40, cause it, and the 2 wallmart purchases (we forgot fuses ) to go OD....

What we're hoping is we can give the guy selling a down payment and pay him the rest next payday. Heather (my fiancee) seems to have fallen in as much LUV with this LUV as I have .

_________________
1989 S10 Blazer Sport
1965 VW Beetle

Not to rain on your parade, but these trucks are old and don't expect for $275 to have a daily runner without problems. LUV ownership requires someone with dedication and can handle the frustrations you will run into when things go wrong. Part of owning one is the challange of getting them to operate and learning the ins and outs of the truck. An owner who does not care about getting your hands dirty and invest the time and energy needed to keep it running. This site is a great help and I personally have learned a lot. You don't need to be an ASE mechaninc to fix it. But sometimes things are going to go wrong with it and you'll have to get past the frustration and willing to invest money in new parts. I would have to say most if not all LUVS that are parked and up for sale are owners who have run out of money or just gave up. I drive mine about 40 miles a day back and forth to work. But it has taken a great deal of investment in time and money to do that. And it has been frustrating to the point I have to leave it alone for a few days. But I love this truck, my Dad had one when they where new, and facts are here are not many 4cyl 4 wheel drive trucks that can do what this truck can do. But mine has a long way to go to be perfect considering it was pulled out of a field, not running, and on 4 different tires for $350.

Trust me, I'm no stranger to having to do work to keep a vehicle running. Notice my signature, not a single car under 20 years old. I actually enjoy working on vehicles, and fully expect that things can and will go wrong with the LUV, generally when they are the least helpful. Hell, my S10 decided to throw it's fan through the radiator as I was about ready to go up and appear in court for a traffic ticket. Almost ended up getting 30 days in jail....

And seriously. You think a LUV can be ANY more problematic than a 40 someodd year old Beetle? HA!... If I wanted super reliability I'd save up the cash and get some new toyota or something, but of coarse, you just cannot by any stretch of the imagination, get a new car with ANY sort of style or spirit. I love being the person who people laugh at, saying "You drive a WHAT?" as they cruise around in their obnoxiously loud super riced out Civic or their super bland white Ford Exploder... err... Explorer...

You should have seen the reaction when I told some of my friends that I was planning on buying this LUV. They were all like "You want to buy a what? What is a LUV?"

When I say I'm looking for something that I can put a minimum of work into to get a semi reliable daily driver, I mean, something that doesn't have me tearing down the engine to it's very last nut and bolt and rebuilding. Thank's I've already got one of those (the Beetle). I just want something where at most I have to pull the head off and play with the valves to get reliable. And from looking at this truck, I believe I may have a winner. I just wish parts trucks were alot more prevalent then what they are. Kinda like my S10... The junkyards around here have hundreds of them just sitting around. Ohh well. I think I'm still getting the truck At least I can lead myself to believe that it's been relatively well maintained, with how incredibly clean the engine compartment is... And the Electric company logo on the side

_________________
1989 S10 Blazer Sport
1965 VW Beetle

Was not trying to offend you or question your ability. Just was letting you know the facts before you spent money hoping it is something its not going to be at that price. And the problem it has knocking will be only one of the many things that will need attention and money in time. Consider $275 an initial investment and I pray your fiance is understanding. Personally I'd save my own money and avoid the conflict. Good luck.

Well, I guess I dont have to worry much. The money situation didn't line up and the truck has been sold to someone else...

Ohh well, maybe someday further down the line, when I can afford to rebuild motors and whatnot...

_________________
1989 S10 Blazer Sport
1965 VW Beetle