AMC Diplomat
Well-Known Member
Tomco 9081 is what I used for my choke thermostat replacement: Tomco Choke Thermostat
My first post and it's a doozy
- Thread starter 5thtimesthecharm
- Start date
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
Awesome, I found both the tomco 9081 AND a brand new numbers matching oem unit as well.
I'll just grab them both lol since my luck isn't too good apparently.
Found a small coolant seep, not sure where it's coming from. But it's collecting in that square area on top of the water pump. Can't tell if it's coming from the upper rad hose, bypass hose, intake or WP itself. I don't see any traces coming from the upper rad hose. But I can figure that out in time
I'll just grab them both lol since my luck isn't too good apparently.
Found a small coolant seep, not sure where it's coming from. But it's collecting in that square area on top of the water pump. Can't tell if it's coming from the upper rad hose, bypass hose, intake or WP itself. I don't see any traces coming from the upper rad hose. But I can figure that out in time
AMC Diplomat
Well-Known Member
One or more of the hoses is bad and is leaking.
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
Hoses and clamps are all new, cut to fit.
I think it is the upper hose, but not the hose itself. Rather where the outlet/gasket meets the intake. I've had a constant small seep from there and have tried multiple gaskets and seating the thermostat above/below the gasket, yet it continues to seep from the one spot. Next step will be new gasket and coolant specific rtv.
Or it's the bypass hose on the underside of the port, because I don't see a seep trace from the upper hose. I cleaned the whole top of the bypass inlet with wire brush and drill, but the underside is near impossible to get to without taking the intake off.
I think it is the upper hose, but not the hose itself. Rather where the outlet/gasket meets the intake. I've had a constant small seep from there and have tried multiple gaskets and seating the thermostat above/below the gasket, yet it continues to seep from the one spot. Next step will be new gasket and coolant specific rtv.
Or it's the bypass hose on the underside of the port, because I don't see a seep trace from the upper hose. I cleaned the whole top of the bypass inlet with wire brush and drill, but the underside is near impossible to get to without taking the intake off.
Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
Thermostat in the housing and gasket with gasket sealer on both sides should do it but could also easily be that thermostat housing is corroded through and has a leak.
Yay on the safety!
Yay on the safety!
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
Update-
So I'm currently waiting on the Insurance appraisal, once that comes back I bring that appraisal to insurance, then get insurance on the car, THEN I can bring the insurance paperwork and safety paperwork to our "service ontario" center and they will mark it as on the road, and then I buy plates. Slap on plates and I can legally drive it.
In the meantime while all this is happening since I'm at a standstill,
The current laundry list is-
Fix the coolant seep (Dorman 902-3012 ordered to hopefully do just that)
Retune and gasket the carb plus change the accel pump cup. I already did some adjusting, and yes some stuff was well out of wack especially the choke unloader. Also lowered it to 3 turns out on the A/f screws vs 3.5 they were at before. Also noticed gas seeping very slowly from one gasket. That's my fault for re-using the gaskets from the 6280.
And fix my steering wheel( it's off center from having to change the ignition cyl)
Once it is on the road list-
Timing chain, I will drive it up to my buddies where he has the tools to do it easier. I got a nice double roller cloyes.
Water pump at the same time.
Fluids/filter, I changed coolant and oil first thing when I got the car. But now that new stuff has all ran through the system for a bit I would like to drain and replace all the fluids with fresh. Hopefully clear out any gunk that might have built up from sitting.
I will be replacing plugs at this time as well, again replaced them when I first got the car, but with all the testing and diagnosis and whatnot, I'm sure it would benefit from a new set.
Sending unit, my sending unit isn't sending fuel level to gauge. I thought it may be fixed when I added a resistor, but now it just sits at the halfway mark instead of the empty mark. Not sure if the arm is just stuck or completely not functional. Gonna drop the tank, pull the unit and see what's up. Might add a few inches to the fuel neck and push the tank over a bit to accommodate dual exhaust down the line since I'll be down there anyways.
Valve covers, I want to replace the gaskets but the covers themselves are pretty rough, rusty, chipped paint ECT. So before gaskets I'm gonna see about picking up some nice new ones, maybe just some cheap black summit ones. But something a little nicer.
Muffler, the muffler seems restrictive and is sitting cockeyed underneath. Usually I wouldn't care but with how low these cars sit and the state of our roads, I'm concerned it's going to contact something and woop, there goes my exhaust (it's happened before, not joking)
I have a "cherry bomb" hanging around the garage so I'm just going to chop off the old and slap that in for now. It will give me at least 2" of extra ground clearance and yea it'll sound like crap but it'll do until I bring it to the muffler shop down here and get true duals done up.
And on the topic of exhaust, next time I am at the pick and pull yard I will be keeping an eye out for headers or at least manifolds without the built in catalytics, that is for down the line though. And also the air pump pipe plug that was on some models. So I can finish pulling the air pump piping.
Then assuming the motor/gauges/electrical is all working well, and we havnt hit winter yet-
Paint cleanup and correction, especially on the trunk. There is a weird textured whiteish surface on some parts of the trunk (eggshell white, almost looks like mold). I thought it was just paint that had lost all the clear coat and glazed over somehow. But it feels like the texture sits above the good paint? Idk I will attach a picture when I get a chance.
Interior. I will try to get pictures of this as well, the interior has lots of little holes, rips/tears/ sun fading/headliner falling ECT. I will try to color match to the red interior but if I cannot find a good match then everything will be going black. Nothing wrong with black on red, may not be original but damn will it look good lol
Parking brake cables. I changed the front most one as it stretched, and needed the front cable to pass safety. But didn't change the rest, so I'll go about that later as for now the intermediate and rear lines seem to be holding up.
Led swaps for interior lights
I've already done this for the outside electro lights and courtesy lights. Actually looks pretty damn nice, again I will upload a pic asap. But I am going to see about doing the rest down the line. At least anything that will be plug and play (not headlights or turn signals)
Steering wheel, matching woodgrain(as best I can). The airbag is already disconnected and will remain as such so this will be an easy swap as soon as I find everything I need. I just feel it would look nice and match the dash.
Going underneath and cleaning up any rough spots. It's not too bad under there but I want to cover my bases and make this thing last, after all the shitaki mushrooms it's put me through, I've kinda grown to love it.
So I will be taking a wire wheel to any rough spots, primer, clear coat, rocker guard. On that note, I will also be rocker guarding the sills, door jams, all the usual places that could collect moisture and be a rust problem. I have already started rockerguarding in the rear and some in the trunk. Once rocker guarded, and spots cleaned up I will bring it to get professionally undercoated. I don't intend to drive it in the winter unless necessary but life happens and I'll bet one day I'll have to drive it in snow.
Poly bushings in the front end and exhaust hangers/bushings
Take my rad out and have it redone, I can see some fins have a lot of corrosion at the bottom, and some are just rotted away. We have a place here that specializes and can completely redo and clean my rad. So I'm gonna see about having that done.
And finally, engine bay tidying, organizing, general cleanup, replacing the positive batt terminal as it's pretty rough. Anything else that may need to be done.
So I'm currently waiting on the Insurance appraisal, once that comes back I bring that appraisal to insurance, then get insurance on the car, THEN I can bring the insurance paperwork and safety paperwork to our "service ontario" center and they will mark it as on the road, and then I buy plates. Slap on plates and I can legally drive it.
In the meantime while all this is happening since I'm at a standstill,
The current laundry list is-
Fix the coolant seep (Dorman 902-3012 ordered to hopefully do just that)
Retune and gasket the carb plus change the accel pump cup. I already did some adjusting, and yes some stuff was well out of wack especially the choke unloader. Also lowered it to 3 turns out on the A/f screws vs 3.5 they were at before. Also noticed gas seeping very slowly from one gasket. That's my fault for re-using the gaskets from the 6280.
And fix my steering wheel( it's off center from having to change the ignition cyl)
Once it is on the road list-
Timing chain, I will drive it up to my buddies where he has the tools to do it easier. I got a nice double roller cloyes.
Water pump at the same time.
Fluids/filter, I changed coolant and oil first thing when I got the car. But now that new stuff has all ran through the system for a bit I would like to drain and replace all the fluids with fresh. Hopefully clear out any gunk that might have built up from sitting.
I will be replacing plugs at this time as well, again replaced them when I first got the car, but with all the testing and diagnosis and whatnot, I'm sure it would benefit from a new set.
Sending unit, my sending unit isn't sending fuel level to gauge. I thought it may be fixed when I added a resistor, but now it just sits at the halfway mark instead of the empty mark. Not sure if the arm is just stuck or completely not functional. Gonna drop the tank, pull the unit and see what's up. Might add a few inches to the fuel neck and push the tank over a bit to accommodate dual exhaust down the line since I'll be down there anyways.
Valve covers, I want to replace the gaskets but the covers themselves are pretty rough, rusty, chipped paint ECT. So before gaskets I'm gonna see about picking up some nice new ones, maybe just some cheap black summit ones. But something a little nicer.
Muffler, the muffler seems restrictive and is sitting cockeyed underneath. Usually I wouldn't care but with how low these cars sit and the state of our roads, I'm concerned it's going to contact something and woop, there goes my exhaust (it's happened before, not joking)
I have a "cherry bomb" hanging around the garage so I'm just going to chop off the old and slap that in for now. It will give me at least 2" of extra ground clearance and yea it'll sound like crap but it'll do until I bring it to the muffler shop down here and get true duals done up.
And on the topic of exhaust, next time I am at the pick and pull yard I will be keeping an eye out for headers or at least manifolds without the built in catalytics, that is for down the line though. And also the air pump pipe plug that was on some models. So I can finish pulling the air pump piping.
Then assuming the motor/gauges/electrical is all working well, and we havnt hit winter yet-
Paint cleanup and correction, especially on the trunk. There is a weird textured whiteish surface on some parts of the trunk (eggshell white, almost looks like mold). I thought it was just paint that had lost all the clear coat and glazed over somehow. But it feels like the texture sits above the good paint? Idk I will attach a picture when I get a chance.
Interior. I will try to get pictures of this as well, the interior has lots of little holes, rips/tears/ sun fading/headliner falling ECT. I will try to color match to the red interior but if I cannot find a good match then everything will be going black. Nothing wrong with black on red, may not be original but damn will it look good lol
Parking brake cables. I changed the front most one as it stretched, and needed the front cable to pass safety. But didn't change the rest, so I'll go about that later as for now the intermediate and rear lines seem to be holding up.
Led swaps for interior lights
I've already done this for the outside electro lights and courtesy lights. Actually looks pretty damn nice, again I will upload a pic asap. But I am going to see about doing the rest down the line. At least anything that will be plug and play (not headlights or turn signals)
Steering wheel, matching woodgrain(as best I can). The airbag is already disconnected and will remain as such so this will be an easy swap as soon as I find everything I need. I just feel it would look nice and match the dash.
Going underneath and cleaning up any rough spots. It's not too bad under there but I want to cover my bases and make this thing last, after all the shitaki mushrooms it's put me through, I've kinda grown to love it.
So I will be taking a wire wheel to any rough spots, primer, clear coat, rocker guard. On that note, I will also be rocker guarding the sills, door jams, all the usual places that could collect moisture and be a rust problem. I have already started rockerguarding in the rear and some in the trunk. Once rocker guarded, and spots cleaned up I will bring it to get professionally undercoated. I don't intend to drive it in the winter unless necessary but life happens and I'll bet one day I'll have to drive it in snow.
Poly bushings in the front end and exhaust hangers/bushings
Take my rad out and have it redone, I can see some fins have a lot of corrosion at the bottom, and some are just rotted away. We have a place here that specializes and can completely redo and clean my rad. So I'm gonna see about having that done.
And finally, engine bay tidying, organizing, general cleanup, replacing the positive batt terminal as it's pretty rough. Anything else that may need to be done.
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Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
Sounds like a fun project.
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
For sure, I will upload pics and updates as things progress.
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
Lights all done up, I think they compliment the interior nicely
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
Unfortunately it's raining so this picture isn't great. This is the trunk paint, I'm unsure if it's paint that's discolored, or it's the primer underneath, or something else. The weird eggshell white textured stuff.
kkritsilas
Well-Known Member
If it has been exposed to a lot of sun, it is probably primer. The paint, in areas that are very bright and the car sits outside, will eventually get burned off (what I call sunburned). I think it varies with the angle of the sun (horiziontal surfaces tend to burn faster than vertical), the ambient air pollution, and the paint thickness (which will vary all over the car). Are there any other surfaces that are looking rough, especially, the hood and roof? If so, they are on their way to having the paint burn off.
If its been indoors all of its live, it could be just paint failure, or if it is a clear coated paint, possible that the clear coat has failed, and the colour coat is now failing below it. Colour coats beneath clear coats don't seem to last very long after the clear coat is gone.
If its been indoors all of its live, it could be just paint failure, or if it is a clear coated paint, possible that the clear coat has failed, and the colour coat is now failing below it. Colour coats beneath clear coats don't seem to last very long after the clear coat is gone.
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
So surprisingly no, this is the only area that is this bad, higher on the trunk lid is perfectly fine, and the roof is damn near untouched.
The hood on the other hand, some spots (about 1.5ft both sides and a little in the middle) the clear coat has clearly worn off a bit, cloudy marks. But nowhere near as bad as the trunk, still mostly the proper color.
As for storage it was stored outside in a lean-to(makeshift wooden tent basically with a tin roof) for around 10 years and then I got it, it has been stored in a garage since until recently.
I only saw pictures, but I think that the rear end was exposed a little from the back of the lean-to. So what action should I take to try to correct the paint?
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
It looks like the roof of my '96 Dakota. The clear is baked and deteriorated. There isn't much you can do at that point other than sand it down to an intact substrate (primer, or even all the way to bare metal) and repaint.
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
Good to know, thank you.
In better news the car is officially on the road and I have been driving it fairly often the last few days, good highway trips and whatnot
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
Small update-
Had my fuel tank blow gas out the top on the way to a car show this weekend passed, that was fun.
Dropped the tank today and not only fixed that but fixed the fuel level issue as well, so yay I have a functioning fuel gauge. No idea how accurate it is but based on how much gas I had when I dropped the tank at least I know that I do still have gas when it reads near empty. That said I also lost near 50$ worth of gas on my way home while it spilled out so that's fun aha
I adjusted my carb entirely, went back and redid all possible adjustments mostly focusing on the choke and thermostat stuff, she definatly runs much nicer on those morning starts and not as much rolling before start either. Set to 2.75 turns
Before I say what I am about to, I want to make it clear I do understand that most carbed motors have a hard time in cold weather, or cold starts before they warm up a bit. But I've never had one have this kind of issue.
It will still stall out, now I'm not trying to leave right after it's started or anything, I still wait a minute or so. Again once it's warm it's happy, at least the 1st line of the heat gauge.
I am also having an issue with idle, I have it set to about 660(vs 630 the hood sticker calls for)
At stop lights or anytime I stop in drive/reverse, assuming my rpm gauge is reading correctly(rpm on the gauge matches rpm on my fancy timing light so I'm assuming it's right)
I will watch my rpm drop to under 500, now it doesn't FEEL like it's going to stall. But I can feel a little jolt every second or so from the motor. I wish I could get a digital reading to have an exact number but...stop signs lol
Now if I were to slap it Into park the idle goes up to the 660rpm as normal.
After all carb adjustments, I redid my timing. It's set to 8°, had my father rev it to 2500-3000 as suggested and if I remember right it advanced up to 33°. My father has a slightly weak foot, he is getting old. But he held it as best he could, so it did jump a tiny bit back and fourth as he lost it and brought it back but I never saw it go stupid high or low.
At idle it sits pretty at that 8° and hardly moves, if it does it's 1mm at best.
I'm not feeding it more timing as it seems happy at that, at least not until timing chain gets done
I mention the in gear low idle, and the still stalling while warming up as I figure the two things are likely related.
I'm guessing that it's still something to do with the carb, but any other ideas throw them my way please.
Had my fuel tank blow gas out the top on the way to a car show this weekend passed, that was fun.
Dropped the tank today and not only fixed that but fixed the fuel level issue as well, so yay I have a functioning fuel gauge. No idea how accurate it is but based on how much gas I had when I dropped the tank at least I know that I do still have gas when it reads near empty. That said I also lost near 50$ worth of gas on my way home while it spilled out so that's fun aha
I adjusted my carb entirely, went back and redid all possible adjustments mostly focusing on the choke and thermostat stuff, she definatly runs much nicer on those morning starts and not as much rolling before start either. Set to 2.75 turns
Before I say what I am about to, I want to make it clear I do understand that most carbed motors have a hard time in cold weather, or cold starts before they warm up a bit. But I've never had one have this kind of issue.
It will still stall out, now I'm not trying to leave right after it's started or anything, I still wait a minute or so. Again once it's warm it's happy, at least the 1st line of the heat gauge.
I am also having an issue with idle, I have it set to about 660(vs 630 the hood sticker calls for)
At stop lights or anytime I stop in drive/reverse, assuming my rpm gauge is reading correctly(rpm on the gauge matches rpm on my fancy timing light so I'm assuming it's right)
I will watch my rpm drop to under 500, now it doesn't FEEL like it's going to stall. But I can feel a little jolt every second or so from the motor. I wish I could get a digital reading to have an exact number but...stop signs lol
Now if I were to slap it Into park the idle goes up to the 660rpm as normal.
After all carb adjustments, I redid my timing. It's set to 8°, had my father rev it to 2500-3000 as suggested and if I remember right it advanced up to 33°. My father has a slightly weak foot, he is getting old. But he held it as best he could, so it did jump a tiny bit back and fourth as he lost it and brought it back but I never saw it go stupid high or low.
At idle it sits pretty at that 8° and hardly moves, if it does it's 1mm at best.
I'm not feeding it more timing as it seems happy at that, at least not until timing chain gets done
I mention the in gear low idle, and the still stalling while warming up as I figure the two things are likely related.
I'm guessing that it's still something to do with the carb, but any other ideas throw them my way please.
Mikes5thAve
Well-Known Member
Progress is always good!
It does sound like carb issues still. What it came off of can also have a bit of an effect, how it was jetted etc.
It does sound like carb issues still. What it came off of can also have a bit of an effect, how it was jetted etc.
5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
I didn't even think of that
It was off an 80s ram charger 318, it had no idle stop solenoid or anything electronic attached to it.
Also I'll attach a pic, I have been following the 1986-87 passenger car specs to adjust my carb, as they seem to match closely to my hood sticker and vehicle year.
Oh being a truck I wonder if it was jetted bigger, putting to much go go juice in with the 2.75 turns.
Oh and just to rule stuff out I replaced my main vac lines (the fancy red ones) with blue rubber ones. So no collapsing even remotely possible.
Hopefully the pic is legible
There is a steering issue Im confused about as well, but that's for a little later
It was off an 80s ram charger 318, it had no idle stop solenoid or anything electronic attached to it.
Also I'll attach a pic, I have been following the 1986-87 passenger car specs to adjust my carb, as they seem to match closely to my hood sticker and vehicle year.
Oh being a truck I wonder if it was jetted bigger, putting to much go go juice in with the 2.75 turns.
Oh and just to rule stuff out I replaced my main vac lines (the fancy red ones) with blue rubber ones. So no collapsing even remotely possible.
Hopefully the pic is legible
There is a steering issue Im confused about as well, but that's for a little later
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5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
OH YEA I learned something the other day.
So for our American friends, I don't know if you have something similar, but in Canada(or at least Ontario) we have a MANDATORY purchase you have to make when registering a vehicle in your name called a "Used vehicle package".
These packages basically state all the information on a vehicle color/model/cylinders/vin/odometer ECT ECT.
But what it also includes is the full list of the owners including dealerships who registered the vehicle and in most cases, the kms when it was registered.
Took a deeper look at mine and strangely there were no odometer readings up until the most recent owner before myself.
Anyways, there were 6 owners (3 dealers) before myself.
The third owner, smack dab in the middle was a dealership a few hours away. I started researching, and there is still a dealership there under a different name. Gave them a call, threw the person for a loop but they were able to provide a little info on it. No service records sadly, but it has 23,000kms on it in 1992 when it was there.
From there it went to a dealership in my immediate area. Not sure why, and they didn't have an answer either.
Unfortunately the dealership it went to is long since gone. It was a private dealership and from my understanding most of the owners/operators have long since passed so I'm doubtful I could get any other information on it.
That said, the owner who bought it from the dealership is the one right before me. From what I've been told, the man didn't drive much. Mostly groceries and church. So from 1992-2008 he drove it.
As of 2008 I don't know if he stopped driving or something happened, but it shows that it was re-registered in 2008. I'm assuming he let something expire, but I don't know.
Anyways, this all leads up to there being a very real chance that this car only has 63,000kms on it, or...what roughly 40,000 miles I think.
Just some fun history of car stuff, I was amazed I could find anything at all lol
So for our American friends, I don't know if you have something similar, but in Canada(or at least Ontario) we have a MANDATORY purchase you have to make when registering a vehicle in your name called a "Used vehicle package".
These packages basically state all the information on a vehicle color/model/cylinders/vin/odometer ECT ECT.
But what it also includes is the full list of the owners including dealerships who registered the vehicle and in most cases, the kms when it was registered.
Took a deeper look at mine and strangely there were no odometer readings up until the most recent owner before myself.
Anyways, there were 6 owners (3 dealers) before myself.
The third owner, smack dab in the middle was a dealership a few hours away. I started researching, and there is still a dealership there under a different name. Gave them a call, threw the person for a loop but they were able to provide a little info on it. No service records sadly, but it has 23,000kms on it in 1992 when it was there.
From there it went to a dealership in my immediate area. Not sure why, and they didn't have an answer either.
Unfortunately the dealership it went to is long since gone. It was a private dealership and from my understanding most of the owners/operators have long since passed so I'm doubtful I could get any other information on it.
That said, the owner who bought it from the dealership is the one right before me. From what I've been told, the man didn't drive much. Mostly groceries and church. So from 1992-2008 he drove it.
As of 2008 I don't know if he stopped driving or something happened, but it shows that it was re-registered in 2008. I'm assuming he let something expire, but I don't know.
Anyways, this all leads up to there being a very real chance that this car only has 63,000kms on it, or...what roughly 40,000 miles I think.
Just some fun history of car stuff, I was amazed I could find anything at all lol
Aspen500
Well-Known Member
No, we have nothing like that here. Plus, once a vehicle is over 10 years old, it's exempt from odometer disclosure for title transfer. (At least here in Wisconsin anyway).
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5thtimesthecharm
Well-Known Member
Wow, I figured it wouldn't be the same but nothing at all is crazy. Must really have to do your due diligence before buying anything then
