john in KY

The body work you did looks very good. Enjoyed the photos.

That was my first thought. Could have lost a diode in the alternator and now battery current is back flowing.

Checked fuel pressure 22 when running but goes to 10 when shut off. 22 lbs seems low to me but I would think whatever the fuel pressure is, it should not drop when the engine is shut off. If I am correct, what is causing the pressure drop? Problem may be as simple as the engine is being flooded when you shut it off.

Just a guess but you probably used the wrong timing mark. There are postings that show which mark to use and which not to use.

If this was my problem, I would just keep on trucking until I got back home.

Fuel won't flow at the tank. Just disconnect the fuel line at the underhood filter. I would at least check the timing belts. An idler pulley could have failed.

The fluctuating oil pressure could indicate the oil pump gasket is failing. I'd at least plumb in an oil pressure gauge to verify if I have or have not oil pressure. Oil leaks will be the lest of your problems when the engine locks up from lack of oil.

Just a wag but maybe the O2 sensor has failed and now the engine is running in that closed loop mode. Edit: Forgot to also suggest the coolant temperature sensor.

I suspect what you have is a wheel with 2 different 4-bolt patterns. 8-lug wheels are only used on 3/4 ton and up trucks.

Speed sensor?

One of my nephews a few years ago returned from a 200 mile trip. Later stated the car was "running rough". Parked the car inside the garage and went to bed. An hour later fled the house because it was on fire. House was a total lose. Fire marshal determined an overheated CAT started the fire.

WARNING. If whatever seats you end up with have YELLOW wires in the harness, these are for the airbags so don't apply power to them just to be on the safe side.

"Fan" belt?

Someone on another forum had almost the same problem with his XT6. After replacing a ton of stuff, turned out the problem was caused by a failing O2 sensor. Just something to consider especially if the sensor hasn't been replaced in years.

Not normal. Converted to mpg you are getting around 12 miles per gallon which is really bad. My guess is this model should get at least 30 miles gallon.

Find a photo of a 98 headlight and it will show the location of the mounting tabs. Ebay will work for photos. I think the grill does need removed.

Backfiring suggests to me the distributor timing is off and maybe 2 of the spark plug wires are on the wrong plugs.

Pump is easy to change but my money is on a failing rack which isn't that difficult to change in this model.

Remove the cover plate, count both the number of pinion and ring gear teeth and then divide the ring gear number by the pinion number. Because the differential was just removed/installed, at least you will not have to fight rusted bolts.

The starter circuit, as far as I know, doesn't use a relay. Take 987687's advice and that should solve the problem.

Auto or manual?

Took your advice and just pulled the cabin filter in my 08 and it was nasty. Could have been the factory original. Thanks for the tip.

My 95 LS had the same problem. Finally said screw it, pulled the engine, replaced that plate and the oil pan gasket and no more oil leaks. Took part of a day and about $100. The plan is to get to 300K before finally retiring it.

Wish I could help but why not go to the local dealer and have how to operate the radio shown to you? I did goggle PDY but the explanation left me confused.

If you have an automatic, remove the cover around the shifter. Just to the left of the shifter you will see the mechanism that locks/unlocks the shifter. When I had this problem, I just disabled that solenoid. Also there should be a plug in the upper right corner of the shifter cover. You can remove it, insert a screwdriver or whatever and release the lock. Stop wasting money on new brake light switches.