if there isn't enough of the valve left to grab with vise grips use a 1/16 or a 1/8 easyout to remove it, this tool is very cheap and tighten itself into the hole as you turn in to the left to remove the valve and if penetrant doesn't help use some kind of torcht to heat up the area around it (even a propane torch works just takes longer) good luck.
p.s good work on the fuel pump.

 

pull your tank and check your fuel pump.. even if you can take the pos and neg wires and touch it to a battery it should either make some noise or not..if it does...fill a small container with gas..put a line on one end and see if it draws gas through the pump or not..if not..then get a new pump

 

Thanksgiving Day Update - "Houston, we have brakes!" Fortunately I was able to get the twisted off bleeder valve out with Vise Grips and got a new one installed. Unfortunately, I only ordered one replacement bleeder valve and wouldn't you know it, the one on the driver's side twisted off too! Like the other one though, it broke loose with the Vise Grips. Despite that minor setback, I did manage to get enough air out of the system to reset all the warning lights and get a fairly firm pedal. The truck now stops by pressing the brake pedal instead of having to use the hand brake. I think all that's left to do with the brakes is re-bleed the system once I get the other new bleeder valve in and clean up the front disks. They have a lot of rust on them from almost 2 years of the truck sitting idle (outdoors). Thanks again for the help and advice. jh

 

Hello again. I've been driving the truck off road and just this week decided its time to get it inspected, registered and back on the road. No problem getting it re-registered but when I took it in for the inspection - no joy - it failed the low speed emissions test. The HC and CO levels are too high at idle speed. The high speed levels passed.

I had already replaced the plugs and PCV valve but for some reason never checked the timing. After the emmisions test failed the first thing I did check was the timing and I found it to be way advanced, beyond the last mark on the indicator. I reset it to 6 degrees BTDC as printed on the label on the hood. Could this have been the main reason for the low speed test failure? The other culprit that's been suggested is the catalytic converter but I was hoping to not have to spend money on a new one if possible. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Regards--Joe

 

Update: I replaced the plug wires, distributor cap and rotor, double-checked the timing then installed a new air filter and put in some stuff called "Guaranteed to Pass" in the fuel and drove the heck out of the truck for several days. Prior to having the emissions retested, I added some fresh fuel and drove the truck for about 30 minutes to get it good and warmed up and Hurray! it passed the retest with flying colors.

I've been driving it to work and it runs and grives well. The AC was cooling a little so I gave it a shot of "Freeze 12" last night and now its blowing plenty of cold air. It does smoke a bit in the morning when first cranked but it stops after a couple minutes. I suspect it needs valve guides and or seals but I'll let the next owner deal with that. Time to drive it for while then see if I can sell it and find a newer model.