?'s about a 1986 D100

hi, im a noob to this forum. I decited to join cause my mom has a 1986 d100 with a inline 6 that im going to be using for a daily driver. Im posting cause i have a couple of questions. Truck has been siting for around 4 years and i need some help.

First my mom tells that the rings on the truck are going bad. so i did a compresion check and it came out to: 135, 145, 140, 140, 145, 145 psi. starting from the back piston to the front. i have no idea if this is were its supost to be at but the rings seem fine to me. the other problem is that when i took out the plugs they were really black. these usally means that its burning really lean right? dont know if this has anything to do with that but it idles kind of rough. how would i go about fixing this?

I was thinking about doing a major overhaul on the engine. riping it out, cleaning and machining the head, new valves, seals, all of that stuff. would you guys recomend this or should i just get a new engine for the truck. im not sure how many miles are on the truck right now cause the odometer only has five slots for the miles and right now it reads at 42,780 and my mom says thats its rooled over twice. thats means it has 242778 miles on it right? she has not done any major work on it so im pretty sure it needs some work. Anyways thanks for your guys help. hopefully the truck will be running soon and i can turn it into a project truck.

What you have is the 225cid "slant" six..so called because the engine leans. Those compression numbers are excellent for an engine of that mileage. Pulling the engine to freshen up the gaskets is a good idea, but an overhaul isn't needed. You may want to have new valve seals installed in the head, but that's all I would do. Then you can give the engine a fresh paint job an stick her back in. Oh and put a new oil pump on while your at it....nothing fancy, just a stock replacement.

Black spark plugs are usually a sign of running too RICH. I would just buy a remanufactured carburetor and be done with it since it has that many miles on it.

A few other things you can do is flush the cooling system, change the transmission fluid, and change the rear differential lube.

except for pulling the engine thats exaclty what ive done with mine.
but deff go with the reman'd carb, way less hastle. it comes pre-set, exaclty where it need to be.
as for your compression its WAY! better then mine.
the minimus is 100psi with a max difference of 25psi between pistons.
mine are around 90 all the way.

OH. i have a question for u there RRRG, if u look strait down at ur powersteering pump, is it inline with the harmonic ballencer, or back a little bit?? Thanx

thanks for the help you guys. I thought those numbers were good too but i thought id asked, so that answered my question. as for the carb i will buy one my next pay check. hopefully that will fix that too rick problem. And another question: what would be a good price for getting the head cleaned and putting all new seals on it. just want to know a good price so i don't get riped off.

once again thanks for your guys help. oh, and i will check on that harmonic balancer tomorrow.

I had the new seals and the valves lapped on my 360 heads and it cost me roughly $120. If the shop doesn't see any problems with your head, I wouldn't expect you to pay any more than that.

well i checked on that power steering thing for you ram_225, and if by a little you mean like two or three centimeters then ya its a little back. why do you ask? Is that a problem or is that how its suppose to be?

anyways thanks for that price range i will find out how much it will cost exactly once i pull of the head.

okay i ran into a problem taking off the head to the truck today. I took off all the head bolts and every thing that is connected to the head but it still wont come off, do i have to hit the head really hard to pry it loose? i don't know but i think that these two things are bolts:
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do you guys know if that thing is a bolt. their is two off them. I tried taking them off but they are really on their. thats why i don't know if they are bolts. any suggestions?

Can't tell if it's a bolt or not, the valve spring is kinda in the way.

Did you remove or cut the by-pass hose that runs from the water pump to the head? This will keep the head from coming off.

Sometimes it takes a little persuasion from a rubber mallet or prybar to get the head to pop loose. You might want to ask for help lifting the head off...it's very heavy.

i wasn't sure if the pully was soposed to be recessed or not. on mine it is. and i have the infernal powersteering squeel. i thoight it might be bent, or wasn't installed right the last time it was off.

Compression good, plugs black= running rich or oil. Oil rings could be gone and still have good compression. But my bet would be, The carbs on these trucks suck. I personaly went through 5 carbs including 2 rebuilts and 1 new one before i got one that worked. They had major problems so I would start there .

Those are not bolts, they are plugs to the head water jacket. There are 14 head bolts.

If your spark plugs are still installed, you can turn the engine over to pop the head loose, but if not, you can pry it loose as long as you are careful where you pry.

When you get to the point of re-installing your manifolds, get a factory manual and do it precisely like it says, or else you will have leaks and you could break your exhaust manifold.

An over-rich problem could be nothing more than a choke adjustment, so I would try adjusting before buying a new carb. Properly rebuilt carbs are hard to find and you are better off rebuilding it yourself...it's not that difficult, if you are careful and can follow instructions.

any pics of the truck??? the body and such??? any way i know what you mean about the carbs i have a 318 but my shop teacher says they are junk. so i am looking for a rebuilt 4barell out of a junk yard and i will rebuild it myself

Alright I'm getting my head back tomorrow. i bought all new valves and valve springs because a couple of them were out of spec, so i just bought them all new, instead of a couple of them, for them to put in. i was going to ask you guys about the torquing and every thing else but i guess i should just get a manual. do you guys know were i could get a good one, would the ones they sell at auto zone be good?

any ways ill see about getting some pics up of the truck and a couple of before and afters of the engine, if a put it back together tomorrow.

I would recommend the Factory Service Manual. The Haynes and Chilton books are crap.

Ebay is a good place to check first.

I'm going to be short on cash so i wont be able to buy the manual until later. So ill just ask. do you guys know what is the torquing procedure for the head?

Here's some scans on the procedure. Follow them to a T.

thanks allot. i don't know what i would do with out you guys.

well I'm almost finished. I got the head in the truck now all i have to do is put everything back together. i was just wondering about the vacuum lines that are in there, the ones that go to the carb and all the other stuff. They are made of plastic and i broke some of them while i was taking them off. is it possible for me to replace them with rubber hoses. i don't like the way the plastic ones look.

and also, i got a couple of pictures of the truck. i just took them right now so its kind of dark...




as you can see she needs some work done on her but its all good for right now. ill get some day time pics once I'm all done with her.

Yeah rubber hoses will be okay. I can't help with vacuum hose routings...every vehicle seems to be different in that respect. You may be able to find a diagram under the hood somewhere...sometimes that's where they are.

almost done with her. i had a couple of delays cause some of the parts that came with the gasket set did not match and they had to order new ones. i have another question. What kind of a spark plugs should i use? i don't want anything to fancy but i also don't want anything cheap. what would you guys recommend?