LUVTruck.com

I am new to this LUV forum but I used to visit and post regularly on the one on yahoo when I lived down in oregon. I have owned the same LUV pickup since 1999 it is now at 260,000 miles. I am currently having a problem with it that I cannot track down, I know its electrical system intimately, its drive train and exhaust are now second nature to me, but there is something wrong now with the engine which is driving me nuts, I cannot seem to fix it. I can get the thing to run but it is too weak to move the vehicle I figure it might be a problem in the carb, valves, or the timing but I can't narrow it down beyond that it will run but it wont move fast enough to take off from a stand still without potentially killing my engine.

Everything in this truck is stock, and has been reliable up to this point for the last six years with the acception of replacing a clutch, starter, alternator, and some fancy tricks with the wiring. Should I just shoot the poor boy and lay it to rest or does anyone have any insight that might get me another few miles?

Points, points, points! My dads old luv used to run but wouldn't go because the points failed. That's my insight but i'm only 15 so take it for what it's worth.

I already did the points on the thing its still too weak to do anything more than creep, I change those out as my auto books specify me to do. for an old rig it has an excellent service recod

maybe your fuel line's are clogged? or your plug wires need to be replaced?

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-Old ride-82 Luv diesel 5spd with some upgrades
-Past rides-82 Sierra, 78 Coupe De'Ville, 91 2dr Blazer, 86 RX7, 86 Porsche 944T (rear-ended and totaled)
-Curr. rides- 1970 Ford LTD 4dr, 390 4Bbl, 2nd owner! With a few Extras 00' Civic beater...

the plug wires couldn't be to awful bad of the car wouldn't fire same thing with the fuel lines.

Does it die in neutral when you rev it hard if so it's something in your fuel system.

I've had problems where the little carbon button inside the distributer cap wears down. I then doesn't make good contact with the rotor, resulting in a weak spark.

First thing is to figure out if it's spark or fuel. Pull a wire off a spark plug, stick a screwdriver in the end, and hold it near the block. Crank the motor. If you get a solid 1/2" spark that's bluish, then the spark is probably good. If you can only get a 1/16" yellow spark, then the spark is bad. If you have a bad spark at the plug, then run the same test on the coil wire. If they're both bad, your problem is before the coil wire; ie. coil, resistor, points or condensor. If the coil's making a hot spark but it's not getting to the plug, then the problem is the rotor, cap, or wires.

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You went there in that?!?!

How about a little more info. How did the problem come on? Has it been loosing power over a period of time, or did you start it up one day and it did not want to go? Did you do any recent work?
You say you "can get the thing to run" . So does it run poorly at idle or possibly not idle at all?
My thought is to check for major vacuum leaks, a dropped cylinder, or the timing chain jumped a tooth. First thing check for spark on ALL cylinders. Pull all the spark plugs and see what they look like. What ever you do, don't shoot it! It can be fixed.
Good luck,
Johnny

See if the catalytic converter is plugged up. Assuming it has one.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

On my family farm we have a 86 full size GMC pickup that was having the same trouble. My grandfather took it to the shop and they rebuilt the carb and now it is back to its oldself

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1980 Chevrolet LUV stock 1.8L longbed
1980 Chevrolet LUV parts truck shortbed
1983 Suzuki Gs550 Sportsman
1989 Nissan King cab P/u <totalled> 4/1/06
1986 Full size Chevy P/U
1993 Volvo 850 GTL

I didn't see it mentioned above but its almost always a factor on a LUV that isn't running right: vacuum leaks Look for ports with no hose attached. Spray some carb cleaner around the carb base and where the manifold meets the head and listen for a change in idle speed. wd-40 will also work in a pinch.

It may also be needing the valves adjusted. That can really kill power as well. If you have the book and a feeler gauge it isn't too bad of a process. If you don't have a service book on it, the Haynes manual available at most parts stores is really pretty good for the LUV. Some of their books are a bit iffy when they cover too many models, but the LUV Haynes follows the factory manual very well.

If someone has worked on it, especially if they've done work to the head, you may want to double check the timing chain alignment. You line up the timing mark on the crank pulley at 0 degrees, look for the cam mark and/or pin to be straight up and down, then pull the distributor and look down the hole. If everything is lined up right the slot that the disti shaft fits into in the bottom of the hole will be straight lined up front to back.

If you haven't run a a compression check, make sure you don't have a dead cylinder or two. You can also pinpoint troule by pulling plug wires one at a time with it running. If you find one or more where the idle doesn't change when you pull the wire then you know which cylinders aren't firing.

As mentioned by a few people above, if all else fails suspect the carb. They are known for not being too reliable or easy to tune. Every time I've had one worked on it came back worse than it started and I had to spend hours tweaking it back to running right.

My rule when working on a LUV that is new to me, always look for the parts someone else has worked on. If it has been opened, unhooked, cleaned, or messed with in any way that is usually where I find my problems.