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  • Locked thread
Blaise
Sep 10, 2003
So somebody explain this. I was looking at the rear bumper closely last night, as I may be towing with the truck soon.

The bumper hitch ball says MAXIMUM TONGUE WEIGHT 900LB MAXIMUM TRAILER WEIGHT 9000LB. There's also a full 7 pin trailer plug.

:wtf:

So after a little head scratching, I realized that it's actually an aftermarket Luverne bumper with the hitch built into it. Is this normal? Seems like an astronomical rating for a hitch that doesn't look as beefy as your typical class III.

Either way don't worry, not towing over 5k with it :v:

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Siochain
May 24, 2005

"can they get rid of any humans who are fans of shitheads like Kanye West, 50 Cent, or any other piece of crap "artist" who thinks they're all that?

And also get rid of anyone who has posted retarded shit on the internet."


Blaise posted:

So somebody explain this. I was looking at the rear bumper closely last night, as I may be towing with the truck soon.

The bumper hitch ball says MAXIMUM TONGUE WEIGHT 900LB MAXIMUM TRAILER WEIGHT 9000LB. There's also a full 7 pin trailer plug.

:wtf:

So after a little head scratching, I realized that it's actually an aftermarket Luverne bumper with the hitch built into it. Is this normal? Seems like an astronomical rating for a hitch that doesn't look as beefy as your typical class III.

Either way don't worry, not towing over 5k with it :v:

Check the actual hitch, not the ball. Various balls have different ratings. The hitch itself, if its a built-in bumper-style one, ~may~ be significantly less.

Blaise
Sep 10, 2003

Siochain posted:

Check the actual hitch, not the ball. Various balls have different ratings. The hitch itself, if its a built-in bumper-style one, ~may~ be significantly less.

It's on the hitch/bumper, not the ball. Apparently this backs me up too (see attachment).

Crazy.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

Siochain
May 24, 2005

"can they get rid of any humans who are fans of shitheads like Kanye West, 50 Cent, or any other piece of crap "artist" who thinks they're all that?

And also get rid of anyone who has posted retarded shit on the internet."


Huh. Crazy. I'm assuming the bumper mounts are pretty substantial. Just not something I've run into before. Or have and just didn't know/pay attention (the most I've ever towed with a bumper-hitch was about 1000 pounds with maybe 100lb tongue weight, anything else was proper hitches for 10k pound or more loads)

Parts Kit
Jun 9, 2006

durr
i have a hole in my head
durr
I've got one of those bumper hitches on my B2000 but it's cocked a bit from some impact. I was thinking maybe I should replace it with a bolt-on-frame of some sort and just not use the bumper hitch. Would that be a good idea or just a waste of cash?

Before it gets much colder I need to do the following:
Drain coolant so I can replace all the hoses and thermostat so I actually have cabin heat and not degraded hoses.
Drop the oil pan and clean the gently caress out of it so I can redo the currently leaky gasket.
Replace all of the exhaust parts past the second catalytic converter since they're rusted out and not really connected to anything.

After that assuming the heater works and nothing acts funny I'll likely switch to it over my Civic for most driving for a while.

FlerpNerpin
Apr 17, 2006


Blaise,

This truck is for sale locally now ya?

I'm in the market and I may sacrifice my love of extended cabs for a known runner.

We should talk.

Blaise
Sep 10, 2003

Spiffness posted:

Blaise,

This truck is for sale locally now ya?

I'm in the market and I may sacrifice my love of extended cabs for a known runner.

We should talk.

Yes it is :( Bah. I'm actually selling everything. I'll explain soon :)

OBAMNA PHONE
Aug 7, 2002
did you get moved to BSC? wish i had an excuse to buy this truck from you

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

Blaise posted:

Yes it is :( Bah. I'm actually selling everything. I'll explain soon :)

I hope it's for a good reason dude, AI can't take any more sorrow.

Blaise
Sep 10, 2003

Rhyno posted:

I hope it's for a good reason dude, AI can't take any more sorrow.

It's for a great amazing reason. Stay tuned. :)

Jack B Nimble
Dec 25, 2007


Soiled Meat
So I needed a second vehicle and had never owned anything other than a daily driver that I didn't dare dig into too deeply, so decided to turn the necessity into an opportunity and buy an old truck to wrench on. I took out a 2,500 line of credit and jumped on craigslist. Being impatient I didn't wait for a 70's C10 to show up under priced the way my more experienced friends would have.

Instead I found the first truck that matched what I wanted:
  • white
  • full size
  • stick shift
  • old enough to not look, as Mr. Regular put it, 'like a bar of melted soap'.


I found a 1995 Ford (Bricknose?) with the 4.9 Straight six, 240,000 miles and asking 2,250. I went to see the man, the engine sounded good and it drove fine, the man said he put in new transmission and clutch a year ago and it did have a really smooth clutch. The owner smoked though and the cabin stunk, the tires are bad, and all in all I had to balance wanting a truck right then with this thing being at most average, no rare gem. I offered him 1500 and he asked for 1800. I said 1500 again and he asked for 1600. I politely told him I understood he wanted more and he could certainly keep my number and give me a call if couldn't sell it someone else; he took the 1500.



The Good

  • The body seems straight,though the front looks like it was in a minor bump.
  • The heater, AC, and power doors all work!
  • As I said, the transmission and clutch are new.

The Bad First Projects!
  • The front fuel tank doesn't seem to work, I switched it on and the truck died. My actual mechanic buddy says that's common.
  • The motor mounts are bad - you can feel it through the stick when you shift. Aforementioned mechanic buddy says if you don't fix the mounts on this straight six is bangs the manifold on the firewall and cracks it.
  • The latch for the tailgate doesn't work (it's rusted through) though you can still work the mechanism by hand.
  • The dash has a weird sort of fascia/front piece dash on it that's crumbling, broken, and generally poo poo. Both the fuel tank switch the aftermarket radio are 'punched out' of their spots and just sit behind/below the dash.
  • The spare tire is cracked and looks horrible.
  • There's a coolant leak somewhere, you can smell it. I drove it about 30 minutes home and the temperature gauge was steady pegged at about 55% the whole way. If there's a leak it's hardly catastrophic.

Because the truck has 240,000 one of my friends is telling me to just fix the bare minimum and drive it until it breaks, but since I bought the truck to be a rolling project I'm listening more to the mechanic buddy who says he just sold an f150 with the straight six that had 360,000 miles and ran like a top. I'm going to start by fixing things are simple and cheap and use this 240,000 engine as long as I can. Once I'm more settled in the truck I'll consider getting a rebuilt motor from a junkyard,another straight 6 since I intentionally went for that motor. Being slow doesn't bother me, I get more fun rowing through the gears and I have a weakness for any thing that is low performance but extreme reliability.

I bought it Saturday. Today I went to AutoZone and began the strange new world of actually having a vehicle I enjoy working on.




Deciding to start simple, I took care of all the new car essentials:
  • Oil and Filter. The guy said 'it's due to be changed' when asked how recently it was done, which I promptly ignored as a warning sign. I thought the oil pressure gauge was broken going home but nope! It was just about a quart or two low. With new oil the gauge works great!
  • Spark plugs, spark plug wires, cap and rotor. I don't know when this was last done and it's my truck now so weee. All the plugs and wires were seized and each plug was a new kind of horrible. Man I love old vehicles! I've changed now three plugs/wires/cap and rotor sets in my life and it's so easy, assuming you can reach the plugs. Whereas my 04 taurus is going into the care of my mechanic friend monday because it has 130k and I've never changed the spark plugs because screw transverse v6 engines.
  • I didn't change the coolant yet but it looks like it's running plain water right now. Hopefully the new coolant will make finding the leak easier.
  • I bought that oil filter wrench on a whim, realized it was hilariously under sized and, when I was dejectedly tossing it into the tool box, realized I already owned a much nicer pliers set.
  • I put the seafoam in the rear gas tank (the one that works). Why not (unless it dislodges some sludge and kills the truck heart attack style).

Working on the truck was a dream. When I was younger my dad would help me fix things on the cheap, and being an old shade tree mechanic from Mississippi he'd mostly cuss about the tiny imports I'd have. When I got older I started hanging out with automotive enthusiasts and wrenching on bikes. Now, with the truck, I find my dad is a lot more willing to help me. We spent the day crawling around the hood and generally enjoying ourselves. Once the afternoon was over I took the smoothly running truck out to a nearby undeveloped cul de sac and taught my mom and girlfriend how to drive stick. The both did fine, and I like hearing the truck because it sounds like a school bus every time it shifts. Once I get the tag I'm gonna take it over to my friend's house and teach him.

Easy to work on, charming, dirt cheap, and in it's own way immune to obsolescence or being out matched by any replacement, I can keep this truck forever and never find anything better. I'm in love.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Sweet truck! Bricknose was the previous generation. That's usually referred to as the "OBS" or Old Body Style.

Jack B Nimble
Dec 25, 2007


Soiled Meat
I finished up the rest of my initial maintenance by flushing the coolant (which was mostly water) and replacing with a proper 50/50 mix. I suffered through a (barely cold) Mississippi December bike ride to work today so that my dad could get the tag for the truck (and also get four new tires since at least one of the old ones was unraveling at the seam like a sweater with a loose thread).

Over the weekend I bought everything I think I'd need to play at fixing the surface rust: 80, 120, 200, and 400 grit sand paper, bondo and spreaders, rustoleum spray primer and rustoleum white paint with the finest paint roller walmart sells. As far as I can tell there's only one piece, near the rear passenger corner, that would need a patch panel, the rest I'll just sand down and touch up with the paint. I've never done any body work or painting but the 1500 dollar truck is certainly the one to try it on.

I also bought a Mexican seat cover from Walmart. Maybe they're considered tacky in the south west but compared to the Mossy Oak patterns it seems conservative; anyway it's something to try for now, I still think I'd rather have some replacement bucket seats, but if I was going to do that I'd probably want to take the opportunity to replace the carpeting as well, so it's definitely something for another day.

In terms of real progress my Dad had something taking up space in his shed for years; he'd gotten them for free but he didn't have a full size truck to mount them on.



The rails look cool which is their most important attribute but they're a trade off in functionality: sure I can tie down loads there but now I don't see how I can mount a tool box which is a must. I'm thinking If I buy a tool box meant for a small sized truck It can fit in the bed without needing to sit on the edge, I thought I'd lift it up with some wooden blocks for spacers so it's still the right height and I can fix boards and things under it.

As a final note I'm unaccustomed to driving something so large. I really think I need to spend an afternoon driving close to/bumping into an empty plastic trash can or something. I know it's all in my head and there's plenty of room on the road for this truck (which isn't even as large as current f150s god those things are huge) but until I get some practice in I'll never really understand where this truck begins and ends and I'd rather not practice on random mailboxes/parked cars.

Fender Anarchist
May 20, 2009

Fender Anarchist

The nice thing about those trucks and the Bricknoses is that... well, the nose is shaped like a brick. The bumper sticks out at most like an inch past the front end of the hood, which you can see just fine, so you can use that as a guide for how close you are on the front end.

BrokenKnucklez
Apr 22, 2008

by zen death robot
The Ford 300 6 is pretty indestructible. Its like the jeep 4.0, hard to kill, decent power, and will run for ever with minimal work.

Though you can add some power. A set of split headers and a few other things can help, but your be surprised that you can wring out pretty decent mpgs for a truck.

Boaz MacPhereson
Jul 11, 2006

Day 12045 Ht10hands 180lbs
No Name
No lumps No Bumps Full life Clean
Two good eyes No Busted Limbs
Piss OK Genitals intact
Multiple scars Heals fast
O NEGATIVE HI OCTANE
UNIVERSAL DONOR
Lone Road Warrior Rundown
on the Powder Lakes V8
No guzzoline No supplies
ISOLATE PSYCHOTIC
Keep muzzled...
I'd say lose the rails. If you really want a toolbox, you're only going to piss yourself off by sacrificing space so it will fit inside the bed. Bigger boxes = better boxes. Also, Mexican seat covers > any other seat covers.

Feed that engine whatever it wants and it will run forever. You got one of the last ones in that '95 so cherish it.

Parts Kit
Jun 9, 2006

durr
i have a hole in my head
durr
I like your Ford, Jack.

On my beater B2000 as I've mentioned in other threads I've been working on getting the oil pan resealed only to get stuck. Turns out there is a second thing between the block and oil pan and it's seal was likely what was leaking since it the rear end end of it came off without me actually trying. So I gotta figure out how to remove that poo poo and redo it too.

But more importantly I trashed 4 ball joints in this process while trying to get the center link off so the oil pan would drop in the first place so now I've got to order those! But there's 2 versions dependent on when the chassis was made and sure enough the number is hidden in a spot you've got to get under the truck to see.

Today is the first day where I really have time to do anything, even at least finding out the chassis #, and sure enough it's raining. :ughh:

But once all that poo poo is done and I get the heater core cleaned out and new hoses put in, AND get the exhaust fixed it should be fine for driving. Then I can work on some more fun things like building a little dash mounted computer for it with built in GPS, nightvision on the front bumper, and other poo poo that'll likely never be really useful, but fun as gently caress, put in.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Hey, those ball joints probably needed to be replaced anyway. You did them a favour.

Jack B Nimble
Dec 25, 2007


Soiled Meat
So today was the first day driving the truck to work. About a mile from my destination I shifted to fifth and the clutch sunk straight to the fire wall. I put on my hazards and went through the few remaining stop signs at thirty miles an hour - thank god for empty roads. I coasted into a parking space and let the truck stall out.

After that I called an automotive friend and quickly learned that my weekend of fluid checking and changing had ignored the clutch. After some cavalier advice about putting in a 'regular' amount of fluid and driving it home more or less without a clutch I instead called a second friend, the one with the shop and the tow truck.

He said my slave cylinder is probably bad which on this truck involves dropping the transmission. Deciding that the problem has moved beyong me since this is my daily driver I told him to come pick it up. It's my lunch break now so once I'm done tediously thumbing all this I'll stroll outside and see if the truck is still there.

Parts Kit
Jun 9, 2006

durr
i have a hole in my head
durr

Seat Safety Switch posted:

Hey, those ball joints probably needed to be replaced anyway. You did them a favour.
Yeah, every ball joint I've found on the thing has a dryrotted, torn boot. Already got uppers and lowers waiting to be installed, but now I need pitmann arms and idler arms too. :ughh:

Powershift
Nov 23, 2009


$600 trucks are expensive.

I got all my fuckered batteries together and tried bringing them back. Got 1 of the 2 out of the f-250 back to usable state and threw it in the lincoln, and 2 of the 4 i pulled out of the mack into a useable state. got terminal adapters, but they're JUST BARELY too big to fit in the factory positions in the f-250. big empty fuckin engine bay and i would have to cut and weld poo poo to get the batteries in there.

On the flip side, who doesn't want 2200cca in a pickup.

Jack B Nimble
Dec 25, 2007


Soiled Meat

Powershift posted:

$600 trucks are expensive.

Fortunately my issue was a simple fix. I was on the clock at the time so I didn't have time to properly digest what my mechanic friend said, but apparently whoever assembled my clutch didn't properly assemble/install my slave cylinder. My mechanic buddy showed up with a tow truck, realized the problem was fairly simple, got the necessary parts, and fixed it right there in the parking lot. He'll be getting a major premium for that :)

It sucks to hear you're struggling with room in the engine bay, that's a pet peeve of mine and an expectation (that has been generally fulfilled) of an easy engine bay is one reason I was drawn to the $600 dollar truck.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Jack B Nimble posted:

[*]Oil and Filter. The guy said 'it's due to be changed' when asked how recently it was done, which I promptly ignored as a warning sign. I thought the oil pressure gauge was broken going home but nope! It was just about a quart or two low. With new oil the gauge works great!

Uh, the oil pressure gauge on those is fake. They have two positions - zero and middle. It's essentially an idiot light, unless the previous owner swapped the sender for an actual sender from a heavy duty truck instead of the on/off style. If it moves with engine RPM, it's working as an actual gauge. If it doesn't move with engine RPM, it's just showing that there's some form of oil pressure. If it was sitting on 0 going home, the engine actually had little to no oil pressure at all. Had that been anything besides the inline 6, it'd be letting the knocks out. It sounds like it's leaking/burning oil (which is no surprise with that many miles). Check the oil every time you put gas in it.

Also, temp sitting at 55% is a little on the warm side. It should sit a little below half, IIRC.

My stepdad's 92 (F-150 XLT, same generation, though he had the extended cab) had the same side rails. I always thought they looked pretty good. The headache rack on it looked redneck as poo poo though. His was the 351/automatic, he finally sold it around 250-275k. it was on its second transmission, second starter, and second alternator (plus who knows how many batteries), and one of my old stereos + CD changers replaced the factory one. Still ran great, plenty of power, typical loose front end you see on them, the only hint of the miles (besides the loose steering) is it would blow a little blue smoke on a cold start. Interior was even in good shape, no rips or tears anywhere. The a/c would freeze the balls off of someone who was raised in Siberia too.

Stepdad's also would stall if you tried to use the front tank. The pump went out about a year after he got it (at 180k), and he never replaced it.

He replaced it with a 2001 F-150 XLT Lariat that he still has today, sitting around 130k. It's needed a fuel pump (couple of years ago) and a new intake manifold (:argh: WHY PLASTIC FORD, WHY?!?!), but other than a couple of batteries, it's been reliable. The interior hasn't aged nearly as well as the 92's did though, and one of the back doors won't open anymore (top latch has something going on with the cable, common problem).

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Dec 3, 2014

Jack B Nimble
Dec 25, 2007


Soiled Meat

some texas redneck posted:

Very Useful Info

Thanks for the heads up, I figured since it wasn't an oil pressure light but a gauge it would have some sort of increments to it but I guess they just turn the idiot light into a gauge because, what, people expect trucks to have gauges? I think it's great they gave me a fake oil pressure gauge and no tach, I choose to blame Eddie Bauer.

I agree on the temperature gauge being too high but at least it's steady. Still, summers can get hot here so I need to figure out why it's not cooling properly. After this weekend when my buddies Quonset hut garage is put together maybe I can pull the serpentine belt and examine things like water pump shaft movement? I need to find that coolant leak anyway. I'm used to checking oil since my previous car, a Taurus with the Vulcan v6, burned a bit of oil.

I drove the truck home after my buddy did whatever he did and had a blast. Now that it has 4 new tires the feel in the steering wheel is a lot better but I'd bet it still needs every wear item in the suspension changed.

Also, I need to drive the truck more and/or have my friends drive it more because I feel like things aren't quite right in the shifter. I've never driving something with such long throws but I feel like finding the various gears is hard and some shifts (2 to 3, 3 to 4) seem harsh to me when I wouldn't expect anything but smoothness after first.

I haven't driven a stick shift car in years and that was a late 90's Sentra and a fairly new BMW so maybe I'm just not used to shifting in a truck with a stick as long as my arm. I'm going to keep trying to improve the shifting, pay attention to the clutch and revs, and try to see if this a problem with me, a problem with the truck, or just how things should be.

briefcasefullof
Sep 25, 2004
[This Space for Rent]
I love that style of Ford (and the earlier ones). My brother-in-law managed to kill an '84 F150 with the L6, and I'm not sure how. It blew up on the highway and has sat for a couple of years, slowly rusting. Before it died, he claimed he could get nearly 20mpg; I have nothing to verify that, though :v:

That size truck in 4wd makes for a fun time offroad, too.

CornHolio
May 20, 2001

Toilet Rascal
My $800 truck is still truckin'. The exhaust has become rattly and it sounds like it's banging on the frame somewhere, but I'm gonna worry about that in the spring.

Also the aftermarket CD has been threatening to eat my Judas Priest CDs. I always get them back, but last time it look 20 minutes of begging.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Jack B Nimble posted:

Thanks for the heads up, I figured since it wasn't an oil pressure light but a gauge it would have some sort of increments to it but I guess they just turn the idiot light into a gauge because, what, people expect trucks to have gauges? I think it's great they gave me a fake oil pressure gauge and no tach, I choose to blame Eddie Bauer.

I agree on the temperature gauge being too high but at least it's steady. Still, summers can get hot here so I need to figure out why it's not cooling properly. After this weekend when my buddies Quonset hut garage is put together maybe I can pull the serpentine belt and examine things like water pump shaft movement? I need to find that coolant leak anyway. I'm used to checking oil since my previous car, a Taurus with the Vulcan v6, burned a bit of oil.

IIRC my stepdad's 92 didn't have a tach either - which was odd since it had most other options. But they did that to more than just trucks - many Ford cars had oil pressure "gauges" too. I know it's the same on stepdad's current 2001 F-150, so I assume that ran that fake oil pressure gauge poo poo into the ground until at least 2002 or 2003. Basically if you notice it drop to 0, pull over ASAP and shut off the engine (not in that order if you're comfortable with manual steering and brakes).

If the temp gauge is steady, it's possible it has the wrong thermostat. Anything else and I would think the temp would be all over the place depending on outside temp and how you drive. And honestly, you were planning on a cooling system refresh anyway, right? Buy a thermostat in the OEM temp (likely 185), toss it in a pot of boiling water, make sure it opens quickly. If it does, install it. IIRC it's pretty easy to get at on that engine, and you won't lose much coolant.

It's been long enough since I drove an OBS that I can't honestly remember where the temp gauge sat. Hell I haven't driven the 2001 in long enough that I don't remember either, but I know it was similar to the 92. I'll have to try driving it sometime this week and see where the temp gauge likes to sit.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
When I hear, 'I smell coolant,' in an old Ford I think bad heater core.

Jack B Nimble
Dec 25, 2007


Soiled Meat
Today is cloudy with a chance of rain but tomorrow should be clear so I set out to Autozone for my next weekend project's worth of purchases.
  • Thermostat, gasket, sealant
  • Valve cover gasket and sealant
  • Motormounts
  • Wire Brush Set and 'Old Ford Blue' Engine paint (because, as DrPain says, 'Clean parts go on cars. Clean parts go on cars!!!')

However, when I was thankfully only a few blocks from my house the clutch pedal got tuckered and had nap nap time on the fire wall. I fought the truck into an appropriate gear, made a wild merge using a dirt lot, and limped home.



This is the same thing that happened last time; the linkage is apparently under more strain than normal because of the poor job the knuckle dragger before me did putting it together, and that brand new plastic snap grommet thing went kaput, just like the one one had. The mechanic who fixed it last time said it's not a big deal, since we're going to be hanging out tomorrow he'll help me secure the linkage in some much more, well, secure manner. He said I'd need pliers to take it apart after this but I don't see how that's in any way a problem.

Still, unless the previous owner changed these out very frequently surely he wasn't having this problem. I'm bad at stick and sometimes buck the engine, that must be what's shaking it loose. All in all I'm not worried, the problem is easy to understand and the solution seems to be to just clamp the thing down tighter. My optimism, however unfounded, remains strong.

Unload My Head
Oct 2, 2013
That is a real common problem in that era of Ford trucks. The hole in the pushrod going into the master cylinder gets wallowed out and starts eating bushings.

Some later years actually had a plastic pushrod on the master cylinder and you can imagine how well that worked.

The proper way to fix it is to pull the pushrod off of the master (or just replace the master on the later ones). You can temp it back together with zipties, but it will fail again. When I had mine I considered pulling the clutch pedal and drilling the pin for a through-bolt, but that seemed like more work than it was worth.

Parts Kit
Jun 9, 2006

durr
i have a hole in my head
durr
I ordered another $200 in parts for my $1,000 truck yesterday so hopefully soon I will actually be able to drive it again! Assuming I don't break something else.

While underneath it a few weeks back I noticed the muffler was worse off than I thought, looks like something actually caused it to burst. :lol:

The exhaust pipe is shot too just like I thought, but in a more entertaining manner. It has some kind of guard on the underside and I guess that let water or some poo poo stay in contact with the bottom of the pipe because there is a long line at 6 o'clock running down the length of the tailpipe that is rusted through. I'm thinking I'm not going to put that back on.

Elephanthead
Sep 11, 2008


Toilet Rascal
I have been abusing the hell out of the $50 off $125 advance auto coupon for my "$600" truck. The store guys have the stuff ready before I can drive there. Cheaper then rockauto. Soon I will have a new 2000 chevy.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.

Parts Kit posted:

I ordered another $200 in parts for my $1,000 truck yesterday so hopefully soon I will actually be able to drive it again! Assuming I don't break something else.

While underneath it a few weeks back I noticed the muffler was worse off than I thought, looks like something actually caused it to burst. :lol:

The exhaust pipe is shot too just like I thought, but in a more entertaining manner. It has some kind of guard on the underside and I guess that let water or some poo poo stay in contact with the bottom of the pipe because there is a long line at 6 o'clock running down the length of the tailpipe that is rusted through. I'm thinking I'm not going to put that back on.

That's probably the seam where the tubing was resistance welded together. It changes the metallurgy of the tubing there slightly in the process and depending on the base metal and how well the welding was done, it either rusts out faster, or slower than the surrounding metal. For example jeep exhaust typically rusts apart at the seams, while Subaru exhaust rusts out immediately around the seams - i.e. the weld will be in perfect condition but the two pieces it joined will rust away to nothing.

Jack B Nimble
Dec 25, 2007


Soiled Meat
Back again, I didn't post anything last weekend so I've got a couple weeks worth to share.

Regarding the clutch issue, tape and zip ties were exactly the short term solution I'd considered as well:



I wrapped some electrical tape around the two arms, places one akward zip tie (the shape is such that any zip tie can slip off) and then held the zip tie in place with another layer of tape. Works great! And good thing, because that has to do until I can drill the clutch half of the linkage for a bolt - apparently the pushrod is brand new and it took about a week to destroy the grommet (again, the clutch was apparently not put together well).

With that the clutch back up I drove the truck around hassle free for another week. I've gotten smoother on both letting the clutch out and finding changing gears. I'm still very slow to change gear, I'm really not sure how I'd ever launch the truck in a hurry - on a motorcycle I would just give it a lot of throttle and let the clutch out faster than normal (not a good explanation but what can I say I'd just 'do it faster') but for when I try it with the truck I just stall. I must be doing it wrong. Not that I really mind, driving slowly and smoothly is more satisfying than trying to flog my 140ish hp straight six.

I'm still concerned with the cooling of the truck. I believe I said earlier that the temperature gauge held steady at about 55% and the oil pressure gauge barely worked until I changed the oil. Looking at the gauges now I think perhaps I was confusing the coolant temperature with the oil pressure. Here's how the gauges are now:



The bottom gauge is coolant/engine temperature and is exactly over the 'N' of 'Normal'. This is after a 15-20 minute drive at about 50-55 mph. It reached that point very quickly, within the first 5 or 10 minutes of travel, and then never moved from that spot. The heater works very very well which makes me think the engine isn't being over cooled - the way the heater works and the lack of engine explodey makes me think the truck's temperature is exactly what it needs to be, but I'm concerned the gauge isn't work right.

I decided to change the thermostat since it's an easy place to start. I was very hopeful I'd found the solution when, sure enough, the previous owner had installed the thermostat backwards. Taking Texas's advice I popped the new thermostat in a pot of water which I then boiled and verified it worked before installing it into my newly painted housing:



I will make this engine pretty piece by piece :3: . I suppose it will one day involve pulling the whole thing out so I can clean and paint both the block and the bay, but that's a task that will wait until this isn't my daily driver.

Unfortunately the temperature gauge situation hasn't changed at all - the truck's heater tells me I have plenty of hot air but the gauge stays pegged at the same pot. I mostly drive about 20 minutes at a time but at least once I went about twice that distance without the needle bumping a hair past the 'N' of 'Normal'. Either the gauge isn't accurate or the truck is running at 25% of it's possible range.

I also addressed the second most serious instance of rust I can see (while being too lazy to lay down and look under the truck): the tail gate. While the truck is scuffed in lots of places on the bed most of it doesn't go through the OEM primer, but the tail gate was worn through to bare metal and I wanted to clean it up with some stop gap painting to tide me over till (if) I repaint the truck properly. Some quick sanding, some tape, and a little white primer later and the truck has a tailgate that is white and is not rusty. This, along with avoiding over spray, was about all I was going for with my first foray into body work.




That takes us through all of last week, aside from one instance of my dashboard going dark while messing with the aftermarket radio. I'd never had the radio on for more than 10 seconds before this ride and once I was done I couldn't get the radio clock to turn off. I ended up yanking off the face plate and when I woke up the next morning the truck still started. That day on my lunch break I drove to a gas station, bought a tiny fuse kit, and sure enough the one for the dash light was blown. It specified a 4(amp?) fuse but the lowest the kit had was 10. Works fine now, gently caress it, what's the worst that happens, the over powered circuit causes a fire? The radio mess will wait till my professional car stereo buddy helps me put something nice in the truck, I have a smart phone with a blu tooth head set, the radio is only for when I have a passenger.

So this morning I got to work changing the valve cover gasket. This requires removing the intake manifold which is where I'm running into some trouble. The steps listed in this process are:

  • Disconnect the electrical connectors from the intake manifold and throttle body. (It doesn't list them or show them but I think I got them all).
  • Detach accelerator cable and cruise control cable (done).
  • Mark and detach vacuum hoses from vacuum tree (done, though I immediately snapped one hose because they were petrified with age. I bought 6 feet of replacement hose and will fix them after removing the manifold since they route in between the manifold and the head).
  • Disconnect the PCV system hose from the fitting on the upper manifold (this is where things get confusing for me. I'm not sure from the pictures in the book what that is.
  • Detach air cleaner to throttle body tubes from throttle body (I don't know what this is either, but I don't see anything on the throttle body that would stop it from moving with the manifold. Oh what duh these are the big plastic hoses that go from the air box right? Yeah I go those. I forgot that I already puzzled out this step earlier).
  • Remove the two canister purge fittings on the throttle body if equipped (???).
  • Unscrew the tube nut and detach the tube from the EGR valve (I'm not sure if I've done this, but I think I found the EGR and I think I disconnected it. I removed a hose just under the vacuum tree that I thought was it, but it doesn't really look like the picture.
  • Remove the bolts, separate the manifold, scrape off the gasket, etc.

The last part is where I'm stuck. The upper manifold separates from the bottom by about a quarter of an inch but stops there. It seems to be stuck in the back of the engine, against the firewall. Here's what I think is keeping it there:



That thing is attached to the throttle body and the pipe attached to it goes down behind the manifold into some place I can't see, presumably the head. I've tried crawling around and under the truck but the frame and the exhaust pipe keep from getting a good look at what's going on back there. I'm going to try it again tomorrow and can always bribe one of my actually-a-mechanic friends to come by and drink my beer while offering advice but in case I'm missing something stupid I'll finish with three general pictures showing the manifold.







Oh, and as a final note, I thought the rubber hose you can see the in the last picture, the one that goes from the valve cover and is just barely obscured by that reservoir, was my PCV valve. It's a rubber hose that goes from the valve cover to the air box, which sounds like something designed to vent my burned fumes back into the air intake to burn it all again.

Fake Edit - those final three pictures are sort of poo poo, I can get some better ones tomorrow.

Edit - you know, looking at the picture of the temperature gauge again (which is from before the thermostat change) it seems like the needle isn't even to the 'N', which is definitely where it stays now that that the thermostat has been changed. So perhaps I did fix the issue and I'm worried over nothing.

Jack B Nimble fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Dec 14, 2014

clam ache
Sep 6, 2009

Jack B Nimble posted:



The last part is where I'm stuck. The upper manifold separates from the bottom by about a quarter of an inch but stops there. It seems to be stuck in the back of the engine, against the firewall. Here's what I think is keeping it there:



That thing is attached to the throttle body and the pipe attached to it goes down behind the manifold into some place I can't see, presumably the head. I've tried crawling around and under the truck but the frame and the exhaust pipe keep from getting a good look at what's going on back there. I'm going to try it again tomorrow and can always bribe one of my actually-a-mechanic friends to come by and drink my beer while offering advice but in case I'm missing something stupid I'll finish with three general pictures showing the manifold.


That looks like an EGR valve. and in true ford fashion it probably has a crazy bend and is ready to snap. Not sure if your in the rust belt or not. But just unbolt the two bolts holding it in and the manifold will more then likely move more so you can see where else it is attached. also get a new gasket for it. There super cheap and common at any parts store.

Jack B Nimble
Dec 25, 2007


Soiled Meat

SouthsideSaint posted:

That looks like an EGR valve. and in true ford fashion it probably has a crazy bend and is ready to snap. Not sure if your in the rust belt or not. But just unbolt the two bolts holding it in and the manifold will more then likely move more so you can see where else it is attached. also get a new gasket for it. There super cheap and common at any parts store.

Can do, and I'm far from the rust belt so it should be fine - the manifold studs came out without a struggle, just a touch of a liquid wrench an hour's soak. I think I'll need to put them back in before I try to undo the EGR bolts though, I tried my hand at removing it once I was stuck and with the manifold unbolted the whole thing moves.

clam ache
Sep 6, 2009
Yeah it usually is attaches the intake manifold to the exhaust to recirculate exhaust gasses. ford in the mid ninteys and on are notorious for snapping...explorer ranger..4.0 derrivitives

T-Square
May 14, 2009

Bringin' this thread back from the dead. The time in my life has come to purchase a $600 truck (probably closer to $1,500) and like most of you, I'm leaning towards the older body style F150's. In a perfect world, I'd like the straight six and a manual transmission, but it looks like most of them for sale locally are all V8's and automatics. Which is fine for me (especially after seeing Jack B Nimble dicking around with his slave linkage). I just want to know, is there anything particularly unreliable that combo? I know the I6 manual is pretty bullet-proof, but what about the V8's and automatics of that era?

Not Wolverine
Jul 1, 2007
In my experience, Ford gauges of that vintage are essentially idiot lights, they will never move until something bad happens. For example, compare the oil pressure gauge to a chevy, gm oil pressure gauges will vary with the RPM reflecting true oil pressure but a Ford gauge will just sit at about R regardless of engine speed. Similarly, GM temp gauges will slowly increase to about 40% where as a Ford temp gauge just stays in one position. I think Chrysler also uses real gauges, at least the temp gauge carried a lot on my caliber but it didn't have an oil pressure gauge. The Internationals at work use real gauges (still tremendous pieces of shut) but I haven't driven one of the new Freightliners at work (I'm sure they suck too).

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randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

At least for the 2001 MY, and 1992 MY, Ford did use a semi-real temp gauge, but it does sit around... 35-40%? once warm. Definitely at the lower end of the scale, but higher than what you're seeing. It's possible your thermostat may be opening early - boiling water is generally 212F (depending on elevation), so any thermostat should be wide open by then. Could be the previous owner threw in the wrong thermostat too - one that opens at, say, 175, instead of 185 (numbers off the top of my head, not entirely sure which one your engine uses, but it's likely 180-190). Generally, when you're buying a thermostat, you'll get a few options - a cooler one (usually 175), normal (usually 185), and a hot one (195 - for cold climates). You may have grabbed the 175, or the gauge is just being a dick.

My GM's temp gauge is essentially useless. It has 4 positions - stone cold, 1/4, a hair below half, and a hair above half. Watching OBD2 data shows that 1/4 is anywhere from 120-150, 1/2 is 150-190, a hair above half is 220. It seems like it's designed to sit just under half, as it has a 180 degree thermostat (stock), and it keeps throwing codes related to the thermostat opening too soon (it sits at 1/4 on colder days, a hair under 1/2 if it's above 50 outside, and gets a hair above half if it's idling without the a/c on - turn on the a/c and it drops to 1/4 pretty quick since the radiator fan comes on at the same time). :iiam:

I'm too lazy/broke to replace the thermostat in my car right now, so I've just been covering half to 2/3 of the radiator with cardboard to get it to warm up fully on cold days. And the thermostat is expensive enough that I can't do the Motronic suggestion of "buy 3, toss them all in boiling water, return the 2 that don't work" ($20/ea cartridge that bolts to the back of the water pump).

Jack B Nimble posted:

I decided to change the thermostat since it's an easy place to start. I was very hopeful I'd found the solution when, sure enough, the previous owner had installed the thermostat backwards. Taking Texas's advice I popped the new thermostat in a pot of water which I then boiled and verified it worked before installing it into my newly painted housing:

You can blame Motronic for my knowledge of that trick.

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 11:14 on Dec 18, 2014

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