Striping Done, Odd New Issue

[Long_Voyager94]

My local guy over at Two Rivers Signs got my new pinstripes all cut and ready for me yesterday. https://www.facebook.com/TwoRiversSigns/

So I went home and got them installed before the storm rolled in:
Even got the ones on the dash redone while I was at it:

Now I need to figure out my new issue it's developed recently which is getting progressively worse. The van "loads up" something fierce when driving nicely, cruising, or idling.
If I'm romping it the whole drive it's fine, but if I'm cruising steady on slower roads, or idling at too many stop lights, or leave it sit and idle while I do something, it loads up to the point it will start idling/running rough.
If I stand on it, I get a giant sooty cloud of black out the rear, then it clears up and goes back to running normal.

I got no idea where to start on this as I have no cel and have lost my way to plug in and read the sensors live....

[SilentbutnotreallyDeadly]

@Long_Voyager94
Black smoke is too much fuel, is it not? Worn or damaged injectors?

[pip bip]

@Long_Voyager94 my first thought would be injectors too or too high fuel pressure?

[Old Busted Hotness]

@pip-bip That was my thought, too. Fuel pressure regulator? O2 sensor maybe?

[Long_Voyager94]

@SilentbutnotreallyDeadly @pip-bip @Old-Busted-Hotness Regulator leaking down was one of my thoughts as it would allow too much fuel if the seals had failed.

Then again, the regulator was replaced when I fixed the rail a year ago. All the injectors were replaced as well, so I was kinda ruling them out (stupid me).

Guess I'll do the quick check and pull the vacuum line off the regulator and see if there's fuel in it.

[pip bip]

@Old-Busted-Hotness regulator would be my guess.

[Long_Voyager94]

@pip-bip @Old-Busted-Hotness Wow, Regulator wins.
Popped the vacuum line and there is gas in the vacuum line, so my regulator is blown.

Guess I'll get a new one on order and get it on.

[Shop-Teacher]

@Long_Voyager94 said in Striping Done, Odd New Issue:

@pip-bip @Old-Busted-Hotness Wow, Regulator wins.
Popped the vacuum line and there is gas in the vacuum line, so my regulator is blown.

Guess I'll get a new one on order and get it on.

Another bad new part

[Long_Voyager94]

@Shop-Teacher Not surprising in the least, I swear it's a ploy to get old vehicles off the road.

I found an NOS Mopar unit, so I ordered that, hopefully that will be good.

[SilentbutnotreallyDeadly]

@Shop-Teacher
Let me tell you a story about new Japanese made (apparently) driveshafts in 2022 for two decade old Subarus. It has just taken us 2 months and three new front driveshaft assemblies to get one that isn't rooted...

[HoustonRunner]

@Long_Voyager94 No gonna lie, I read the title as "stripping" and thought maybe you took a side job....

[Long_Voyager94]

@SilentbutnotreallyDeadly New CV shafts for my old vans are something I stay far away from.
Not only did they reduce the shaft diameter on the new axles which makes them more prone to shearing, but they also made them longer "to compensate for mount wear", which causes them to bind and vibrate on a well cared vehicle.
I only go for remans and even then I have to measure and inspect every single one before I accept it.

Same goes for hub assemblies. Have to inspect them to ensure they're not junk out of the box, then I have to inspect the splines and ensure they're correct, then I have to check the bolt pattern to ensure that's correct.

Replacement parts these days are a joke. Not to throw around conspiracy, but FFS it's like they're purposely making garbage parts to get people sick of working on their vehicles to push them into new stuff.

[Long_Voyager94]

@HoustonRunner You were hoping

[Albino Kangaroo]

@Long_Voyager94 I love a good conspiracy theory but I'm thinking this more has to do with whatever die or standard they're working against has worn a bit and as the models get old and older there's less need for the parts, so the cost to make good parts is probably not justified by what they sell. I'm amazed at some of the stuff that is still available and even made new for some older vehicles.

This is especially true for my Volvo 1800 which had almost every part available except for a couple of unobtainium items such as steering box parts and Smith's gauges.
Specifically the model specific and somewhat unique water temp/oil temp combo gauge. This is probably because Smith's stopped making gauges sometime in the late '60s early '70s.

I should make a post about this at some point but the temp gauge had this interesting design where it had two of these in one housing. The Bourdon Tube would put pressure on that big c looking copper piece, that would pull a lever, that would turn a gear, that pulled a little piece of yellow tape through the viewing glass on the front to show the temperature reading. The tubes were originally made out of steel and they always crack and leak due to metal fatigue from normal engine vibration.

Here's a link to a company that used to repair them but they stopped many years ago. It's a fun read if you're interested in old gauges.
http://www.volvosolutions.com/1800inst_DTG_61-69.html

[SilentbutnotreallyDeadly]

@Long_Voyager94
I think @Albino-Kangaroo has the right idea. The problem we had with both of the failed new assemblies was in the CV joints themselves. They were either binding or clicking straight out of the box. We suspect that they were a smidge out of tolerance due to wear in the manufacturing tooling and dies for these parts. In addition, given the boots were in place, we couldn't cut the retaining bands off to check the amount of grease applied during assembly because that would likely void a potential warranty claim on the failed part...

If I had a preference in the future, I would do what we have to do with the VW which is build the driveshaft assemblies in the shop. The seperate CV joints seem to date from the era before the rise of the affordable assembly (which also saves shop time) when the manufacturing tolerances were much better.

[Long_Voyager94]

@SilentbutnotreallyDeadly I would agree, except many of the parts that are junk out of the box aren't vehicle specific and cover many vehicles much newer.
Sold to the lowest bidder just like modern vehicle parts would be a more likely scenario, but it doesn't make it any less questioning that once quality manufacturers now make more crap than good.

[Old Busted Hotness]

@Long_Voyager94 Your FP regulator also fits my Crown Vic. It was quite fun to change without pulling the upper intake and fuel rail. Fun Fact: The regulator is also the final fuel filter.

[Long_Voyager94]

@Old-Busted-Hotness Interesting.
Thankfully it's a breeze to change on the 3.3/3.8. Remove the vacuum line, remove the 10mm bolt, lift it out.