UPDATE: Fix one thing, another breaks... STORY TIME!

[Gas Pumper]

Jeff, might finally take you up at that meet and greet to try the coil. (First a trans, then I thought the motor died, now this... like you say, welcome to the land of empty pockets and unfinished projects! haha).

J300Zack, I checked all the lines and didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

The cat has come up several times, might just remove it (gotta love the republican state of AZ! No emmissions up here!)

Mark Wilde, when I replaced the water pump I nearly filled a 5 GAL bucket with coolant. Don't think I lost coolant and overheated, but I could be wrong (Been known to happen, very rarely though ).

[jeeper54]

I think the coil is worth a try. I had a similar problem with my car and it turned out to be a weak coil, fouled plugs. Upgraded to a slightly hotter coil and cleaned the plugs. Problem went away. My 86 waggy has bad bearings in the water pump and I'm dreading putting this new one on along with the rest of the hoses so my hat is off to you for saying it was easy. Also, don't need to rub it in about emissions since we're still stuck with it in the valley.

[Sian09]

You never know and since its easy to check...have you checked timing? Just a thought!

[Gas Pumper]

Jeeper54, water pump isn't too bad. Take your time and clean everything. Also a good time to replace hoses, thermostat and fan clutch.

70FSJ, ignition keeps coming up so it looks like that's worth a try. Didn't think about that box on the fender.

Sian09, timing looks good, thanks for the suggestion.

[Gas Pumper]

UPDATE: Replaced the coil and at first, It wasn't any better. The idle was ok, but soon as I put it into gear, it started stumbling and died. I tinkered with the basics, like adjusting idle speeds, checking firing order, checking plug wires, cap and rotor. I ever tried twisting the dist. a little each way and it didn't help.

Then I started checking electrical again. And boy o boy, the PO sure hacked this thing up. Tracing wires is almost impossible due to the 2 to 3 different colors found in one wire, not to mention the half *** splices that were made.

I gave up chasing wires and said "to hell with it," and I took it for a drive anyways. I floored it for a good 1/4 mile thinking maybe all it needs is to spread its wings.

Well, it worked... sort of. It purrs now (with the occasional "blip" in the idle, prob another undiscovered vacuum leak). The only think wrong now is it occasionally backfires out the carb. Not a "major backfire", its just enough to startle you while sitting in the cab parked. Any ideas on this one? Probably timing, eh?

So like the title of the thread states...

[SierraNVGrandWag]

I have problems like that right now. In my 88 GW. Although I do need an altitude tune she was making some friend engine noise ticking. Turns out its a lifter. I was Losing power like you described.

BTW how many miles on yours?

[Gas Pumper]

Unknown. Odometer is off. PO swapped in a different dash. If I was to go off mechanical condition only, I would say ~125k.