84 sedan project (beginners luck)

[Murdoc1905]

In putting the carb back on the engine I realized my memory on where the electrical connections go has faded a lot lol. Luckily I recorded me removing it, so I'll have to review the tapes. Still waiting on the gaskets to ship, but I can at least get it mostly set up. Drained the power steering res as much as I could. I think my ac system is completely empty, which is convenient because I need to convert it to 134a anyway. I just have to buy the vacuum pump, refrigerant, vacuum gauges, and a new ac dryer, and hope that there are no leaks.

[Murdoc1905]

So I was looking at the headlamp wiring diagram, according to this the outer headlamps are wired for both high and low beams. Is this true? Or only for the 88 models? I did notice the outer headlamp plugs were 3 prong.

[Eagleearl]

All Eagles were wired for high and low headlights on the outside and high only on the inside. I believe all 4 headlight systems had this setup.

[vangremlin]

If I remember correctly, when you turn on the high beams, the "low beam" filaments turn off.

[Murdoc1905]

I see, I did test the high low beams when I got it I guess I didn't notice the outer lights brightness changing. Well that will make my ideas for daytime running lights markedly easier. I kept trying to look online and see if anyone had taken seperate high/low beams and combined them electronically to no avail. Turns out amc did all the work for me lol.

[Murdoc1905]

Ok, so I've found a vacuum leak coming from the yellow vacuum switch that I had pictured earlier, according to the diagram it's supposed to come back and "T" off between the cto/purge and the carb but it looks like the cto and carb are hard lined to each other and the purge and carb are also hard lined thru a seperate outlet.
Here is the tube coming from the vac switch (tube with blue tape)

Here is the cto to carb line

If all of this is confusing here is the modified vacuum diagram


Is this a normal modification? or just an inexperienced mechanic seeing a problem and plugging it up however he can.

[DAVE]

if I remember correctly you would want the purge signal for the evap canister to run through the cto so it doesn't purge until the engine warms up

[Murdoc1905]

So I got it all back together and started up, she runs clean and smoothly, idles a little low as apparent when I put it in gear and try to move forwards and it dies, but easily fixed I imagine. Drives nice as well, a little slop in the steering, still smokes from the central exhaust ports, so more than likely it is an exhaust gasket issue. I know the clearances are tight, but is it possible to remove the exhaust manifold enough to remove the old gasket and replace it? Or do I have to remove both intake and exhaust completely. Have another slight issue when I turn on the headlights, the right arrow light stays illuminated. I believe this could be an indication of a bad bulb? Also when in 2wd any throttle on gravel causes the rear left tire to spin, could this be a lack of dif fluid or watery dif fluid? Or is this normal.

[DAVE]

for the right tire spin in gravel I would check the rear brake adjustments the left brakes could be dragging excessively

[Murdoc1905]

Ok, I didn't think about that actually. I did notice a slight scraping noise when I was spinning the rear tires on the jack stands.

[Murdoc1905]

So I took her for an extended drive to the nearest car wash, Im hearing a weird metallic noise, almost like a chain dragging on asphalt. Sounds like a washer is rattling on a bolt or something, that will be fun to try to find. Still stalls in gear at low idle, so I'll have to figure out what screw controls that and tweak it a bit. Oddly enough after that drive the right drum brake was ~160f and the left drum brake was only ~95f so I'm not sure if that's the reason the right wheel spins in 2wd.


Is this cap supposed to be off? I know I need to update it to r134a but I think all the refrigerant is gone because there is no check valve that I can see inside the fitting.

[DAVE]

yes it should that is one of the service ports for the AC will need adapters to convert to R134A they usually come with the kits
the metallic sound could be worn out brakes

[Murdoc1905]

Alright, yeah I bought some adapters but they seemed to have disappeared lol. I'll find em some day. Not like it's July or anything. I'll check the brakes I really do need to replace them anyway, I suppose I'm just procrastinating.

[mudkicker715]

The idle set screw is easy. Look for the accelerator cable than there is a set screw on the bottom of that assembly. So when under the hood with air cleaner off just rotate the throttle, you should than see the set screw as a bump stop. July lol just live next to a large inland lake like me and stay close to it lol. Air conditioning is than not necessary.

[Murdoc1905]

So it looks like all the screws are all bottomed out. Should I remove some of the spring?


I also believe I found what the metal noise was. I don't have a gasket that separates the air filter housing from the carb.