This is my answer to Jeff's post about the Spirit. We shall go back and forth, trading stories of woe.

Well today I got the fuel pump replaced. Only took the removal of the bumper, trailer hitch (which required the sawzall on the last bolt) skid plate, tank straps and finally the tank. Then as I'm holding the clips for the feed and return lines to the pump, my father pulled the hoses. Full pressure (about 40 psi ??) right into my eyes. Yes, they still hurt. Dumped the fuel tank (not telling where) and cleaned out the tank with paper towels. You wouldn't believe how much shit was in there. Put the new assembly in the tank and put everything back together. Put a couple of gallons of gas in it, drove to the gas station and filled it up. Well after all that, it still won't run right.

Then we thought, hmmm this might be the cat. So I banged on it with a hammer and all sorts of shit flew out of the tailpipes. Minor improvement. I still think the timing is retarded like TIMMAAAAAAAY and I'll czech it with my timing light tomorrow when I pull the cat. Also I czeched the air cleaner and I think it's safe to assume nothing (not even air) was passing through it. However, running without the element showed little improvement. So in other words, today accomplished nothing. But I did break the oil sending unit while trying to loosen the distributer bolt. The distributor is being a cranky old whore and refuses to budge. Damnit.

So $300 later, the truck still wants to vibrate itself apart (violently I might add) under any acceleration.