Long Post, Sorry.
This is a call-out to everyone who knows anything about the 3.0. I have a 1993 Warrior that won't start. Here's the story, with as much info that I can give:
I bought this last year for what I thought was cheap money, because it wasn't running. The guy I bought it from was going to fix it and flip it for a lot more money, but he gave up trying to get it to run. Had it flatbed towed to a mechanic, who pecked away at it and finally got it running. It was frozen with mouse urine and poop; the only good thing is there is no evidence of mice in the coach, they just went for the engine, apparently. I drove home on secondary roads, so i never needed to get any speed. After a few days of cleaning and assessing what I had, I took the dogs and my wife for a ride (actually she drove the first half of our little spin, because we share the driving). We took the dogs to get them acclimated, because they are one reason I love the set up so much. Anyway, my wife said she had piss poor power, we could only get to 50 MPH downhill. I took over for the drive back(we only went about 5 miles total). Coming back was uphill, and I had my foot to the floor and could only get about 40 MPH. I was really pushing, I wanted to show her that it could do it, that I had made a good buy, I want her to like it as much as I do. Suddenly I felt the power just go out of it. No big bangs, just felt nothing under my foot, and the roaring died down to eventual silence. I coasted to the side of the road, and that was that. We let it sit for a bit, and I tried to start it, no go. It would turn over, but not start. I had it towed(flatbed) the next day. It was way too much to have it towed back to the first mechanic, so it went to the tow place, where they also do repairs, lift kits, etc. They cant get it to start, they think it needs an ECU. So that's the background; I will list all the pertinent stuff I can think of below.
Did I mention our 2.5 mile walk back home, in the dark, no streetlights, with 2 dogs using bungee cords as leashes, because it was a spur of the moment ride, neither one of us brought our phones - my wife didn't even bring her purse!
Mechanic A did the following to get it running: Radiator, timing belt(s), water pump, intake plenum, New fuel injectors, new fuel filter.
Took gas tank (which was all corroded inside and we couldn't find an exact replacement), sent it out to be "boiled", lined the inside with some coating agent, and then reinstalled after letting it cure for several days.
"Freed up" and lubricated sending unit in gas tank, which was not working.
Now, this mechanic got it running, but never got the vacuum hoses right. It kept idling up and down, and he ended up leaving at least one hose disconnected. He also had a phantom electrical draw that he could never trace, so he put a quick disconnect on the battery post, so if it was going to sit for a few days, the battery would not drain. I was foolishly ok with this; I was happy that he had gotten it running; I didn't know then that disconnecting battery cleared any check engine light. So when I picked it up, no CEL until I was 1/2 way home. Now, since it won't start, it can't run long enough for the CEL to come on, so they can't check for codes.
Other points to mention:
As I said, terrible pick up, no HP.
I had to step on it just to get any movement at all, and it would hit passing gear very quickly each time I tried to get more power.
The engine was ROARING when we drove it, and I don't mean just with the pedal to the floor. It was loud! I don't mean the exhaust, I mean the sound from the engine compartment was so loud when we drove it, we had to yell to talk. When it was idling, it was whisper quiet.
I am on the verge of telling them to do an engine swap. I am disgusted, and don't want to just keep throwing parts at it. But if a new ECU will get it running, we can check the codes and fix the vacuum lines and power draw, I'm thinking it could be a good engine again. After all the work that was done, and it DID run, however briefly and weakly, I have some little bit of hope. What should I do? Keep trying or scrap it?
Any ideas out there? Why did it die and why won't it start? Could it be that "freed up" fuel sending unit? Could the power draw have back-fed and fried the ECU? Why was it so loud and low power?
I would appreciate any thoughts, I will share them with Mechanic B.
Thanks for reading🙂
Pat O
Rare