the ugly truck

So after selling all 3 of the family trucks i realized quickly that we cant survive without one! I spent 2 months trying too track down my unicorn 78 f150 i6/auto. after alot of craigslist dissapointments and a weekend chasing down trucks i gave up. Just around the corner from my house there was an 89 f150 ext cab 2wd for sale. went and looked at it and test drove it. some of the normal rust, tires didnt come with it. i managed too miss the trucks biggest issue but we settled on 800 for it. drove it home and parked it.

The next day i took it into work to look it over better. its a tow package truck complete with rear sway bar, 351/c6 combo. coil spring mounts and shackles were as solid as they looked in the cold, but the front tank was leaking and the previous owner had no clue if the rear even worked! Ordered a tank, trans filter kit, front pads and a lugstud with plans too start on it wensday. well all i managed to get done was rip off the running boards that i cant stand.

tank came in thursday so tomorrow after work im pulling the bed to replace it, and hopefully fix the gauge on the working rear tank! Ill try to get some pictures but i worked 12 hours today so i may forget everything tomorrow!

The plan is make it a solid DD/tow rig. traded the beater blazer for 8 tires im picking up tomorrow night!

Nice score. Really liked that era Ford so much I owned two 90's, 4X4's though. Damn good trucks. Burgundy and silver, great color combo, think Ford just called it Medium Red. Had to replace one fuel tank too. Went chasing around suspension bushings for a clunk and found the frame mount for the radius arm was rusted egg-shaped, little MIG work/ new bushings and rode great. 2wd should be similar. Hated that bed rust but they all did that.

Good luck w/ the project.

will add pictures tomorrow, lets just say the only thing that did get done today was the gas tank and it kicked my ass at several points. im not sure who advance auto gets there tanks from but what a peice of E36 M3.

Short bed extended cab, nice combo. I've been passively looking for a short bed, extended cab, 4x4, 300 six, 5-speed for a while. I'll probably keep looking for a looooong time.

I've also been looking for a 40 mpg commuter and/or a 3/4 ton Suburban.

Yeah, all over the map.

Hope you get the running issue sorted.

Is it an idle problem or a part-throttle problem?...or some other sort of thing?

Spent a lot of time in a late 80's I6 truck of a friend in college. It was a fantastic truck.
Yours is genuinely ugly, no argument there, but once sorted should be perfect.

the good ol' 351, power of a 302 with the mpg of a 460. The are great trucks though and it will more then likely last forever, and cant beat that price.

The_Jed wrote: Short bed extended cab, nice combo. I've been passively looking for a short bed, extended cab, 4x4, 300 six, 5-speed for a while. I'll probably keep looking for a looooong time. I've also been looking for a 40 mpg commuter and/or a 3/4 ton Suburban. Yeah, all over the map. Hope you get the running issue sorted. Is it an idle problem or a part-throttle problem?...or some other sort of thing?

It hesitates on throttle tip in and surges on anything below 5% throttle. Its not throwing any codes and idle fuel pressure checks out. Tps checks out via voltmeter.

Only happens once off high idle. If its cold it runs fine. A friend thinks it might be the temp sensor that runs too the eec.

It actually died on me during decel today.

I snagged one... actually two of these since the first didn't work:

http://www.autozone.com/test-scan-and-specialty-tools/code-reader/innova-ford-obd1-code-reader/273350_0_0/?checkfit=true#tab-reviews

I was at my wits end with a similar issue with my Lincoln, also OBD 1, speed density controlled injection.

I basically just threw everything at it; IAC, TPS, both temp sensors, cleaned the EGR, blocked off the EGR inlet, new distributor and a new TFI module. It now runs great again but the IAC has stopped working so it doesn't have a cold high idle. I just feather it like it has a carb.

I think I changed the MAP sensor and the intake air charge temp sensor as well.

Im trying too avoid just changing everything but it died again this morning.

I started out trying to find out what the issue was with mine but, eventually I just bought everything and stopped caring about finding the cause, I just wanted it fixed.

Hopefully yours is simpler and cheaper to eliminate.

I've been thinking of changing the o2 sensors as well since the mileage is shockingly terrible. lol

Im going to double check fuel pressure, egr function and likely change the tps today after work.

Isn't there a troubleshooting chart of voltages for pretty much all of the sensors? Kind of a serious pain, but probably cheaper than throwing parts at it. Also, and this is repeated so often, check the grounds. And all of the electrical connections for that matter. Pretty much all of the older cars that I've 'fixed' in the past couple of years have had all of their weird problems go away after I spend a day removing, polishing, greasing, and reassembling everything I can find that has electrons flowing through it. Grounds, fuses, connectors, the whole lot.

mazdeuce wrote: Isn't there a troubleshooting chart of voltages for pretty much all of the sensors? Kind of a serious pain, but probably cheaper than throwing parts at it. Also, and this is repeated so often, check the grounds. And all of the electrical connections for that matter. Pretty much all of the older cars that I've 'fixed' in the past couple of years have had all of their weird problems go away after I spend a day removing, polishing, greasing, and reassembling everything I can find that has electrons flowing through it. Grounds, fuses, connectors, the whole lot.

Yeah thankfully its a common enough issue that the tests for voltage on most of the sensors is easy to find. Even a method for checking egr etc. Truck doesnt fit in my garage so ive been trying to limp it along until i could get it in work after work.

I will check the grounds, already cleaned and tiggtened the battery terminals.

Tps was way out of range after a proper check. Changed that and no change. Used the unplug vacuum line method to double check egr. No vacuum signal too the egr... traced the lines and found a previous repair that was leaking. Fixed it and got vacuum signal as far as the canister. Turns out it leaks.

So unplugged the selenoid and it runs great! Back too chasing vacuum signal tomorrow.

Short lived victory. Randomly died twice today after getting the tires changed...

No flat spot and it restarts fine after it dies.

Short of buying an obd1 scanner im open too ideas.

May or my not be relevant, but those sound like the symptoms my 91 Chevy 1500 displays when my MAP sensor is dying. The aftermarket ones aren't the greatest, can't imagine the aftermarket parts situation is much different for Ford. Check ignition module too if it has one.. Those are my WAG's for today..

i fully support wild ass guessing. Just wish i could get a fuel pressure gauge on it while its doing it.

So today i was out at work, i was talking too my boss and covering the issues. During this we seemed to pin point the random stall didnt start until i replaced the front tank.

We double checked the lines arent pinched and found the plug on top the sending unit was loose. Going to see if snapping it in place cures it. If it dies again going to try driving it on the rear tank.

Shoot me an email at Don Hooligan1 at yahoo dot com. If I work a decent deal and purchase the car this tuesday that I've been looking at, I'll send you my OBD1 scanner for the cost of shipping, if you want it. I assume it would be around $10, possibly less. I will no longer need it.

If you don't want it that's fine too. I know a guy who rebuilds carbs and sell them pretty cheap, if you decide to go that route.

I considered that myself...it would have been cheaper and left more room for tinkering.

so some pictures finally, i really need to use the camera and not my cell phone!

the leaky rusty tank

the gas leaking out onto the floor after strap removal

old tank out, new one ready to go in

the very dumb throttle body design that needs removed to change tps

and finally tires, that was a fiasco with wal mart, not being able to get a 245/75/15 to bead on a 7 inch rim. a friends dad just aquired an old coats 4040 for ten dollars. it beaded them fine.

im 75% percent confident that my stalling problem was my own fault. its been 6 days since its last random death. exhaust leaks fixed and a trans service are next, right after i fix the p/s on my wagon.

well since its running mostly well (still need to fix the exhaust ive been slacking) my wife made me clean off the porch full of old dressers.

I hauled some scrap, went to help a friend move some fire wood and almost ended up stuck. now the trucks coated in mud and im regretting not going with a more aggresive tire... so i picked these up to mount on a spare set of wheels for when i know im going dumb places in a 2wd. There load range E like the tires on the truck but shorter and there M/T's. Off to the junkyard in the near future for 2 rims!

This ones on craigslist now. As much as i dislike new vehicles and gm products my father in law offered me a deal too good to pass up on his old truck.

In 2 weeks i go pick up his old truck. 99 1500 chevy. 5.3 4x4. He bought it new and it has every bit of maintnence history including a rebuilt trans, new front suspension and tires.