Ok I have not been on in a while, But I am very pissed at my 99 jimmy. I bought it and i love it, but it has only 75k on it and i bought it at 70k, I changed the oil evry 3k. It was fine when i bought it but here is what is going wrong now, first the engine tick/knocks when it is cold and it is a very loud tick,and while it is ticking the engine runs very ruff and will sometimes throw a code which i am assuming is a misfire. Also the voltage surges beetween 13 and 14.5 constantly making my lights dim. and know the key wont come out of the ignition unless you beat on the steering colum, I twill turn back but now to the off position. I have only had it for three months it is falling apart. I had big plans for it but if it is going to be like this forever i am getting rid of it. Can any one help me fix these problems?

 

pretty much...lol

 

great........

 

Change your oil to castrol cold start. It'll take care of the lifters ticking when it's cold out. I ran it for one oil change and my lifters haven't ticked in another 20k miles.

Get the code checked. It might not be a misfire, could be something very simple.

When does the voltmeter surge?

For taking the key out, try turning the steering wheel a bit to take the pressure off of the lock.

These are all pretty simple problems... they're all part of owning a vehicle.

 

Any vehicle will "fall apart" without maintenance.
You might check the belt tensioner for wear also. If the belt is loose, that can affect your charging system.

 

it has a brand new belt tensioner and belt. the key wont come out if you move the wheel rock the vehicle or any thing. you have to pound on the steering colum for is to come out. The voltometer surges all the time, at idle or at throttle. The ticking I thought was just something to do with the oil

 

Can you get it scanned and let us know what the code is?
If the spark is weak in a cylinder you could experience a missfire and a ticking or knocking noise.

I would recommend checking the connections at the battery and the alternater and any other grounds that you can see.

As for the key problem...do you have a floor or cloumn shift?
this could be caused by the brake transmission shift interlock out of adjustment or the shift linkage out of adjustment.