Jolene - 1983 F-150 Rescue

When I filled my fresh built 300, radiator, and everything else from completely empty it took about 3-1/2 gallons, so that is in line with what Gary said. Sorry, I didnt consider that your engine and cooling system wouldnt be completely bone dry!

Hi, all.

Someone tried to steal my truck! I disengage or remove my battery whenever I'm gone from the truck, so he/she didn't get away with it.

It appears that the person rotated the ignition cover forward without turning the actual ignition. The cover now no longer aligns with the ignition, and I can't fit the key in without driving it in with a hammer and yanking it out with a wrench. I wouldn't normally have done that; I had to go somewhere today and this truck is my transportation. The ignition cover will not return to align with the ignition slot no matter how I fiddle with it.

I've read the available literature on this site and in my Chilton manual, but I can't figure out how to get the ignition cover off or rotate it back to its original position. Are there any tips from this group?

Best,

Jack

ETA: But you were able to knock the key in and start the truck?
If that's the case removing the cylinder from the run position is a straightforward operation.

1) disconnect the battery
2) remove the three screws holding the lower plastic cowl to the steering column
3) with the ignition in the RUN position use a 1/8" pin punch or drill bit to push up on the cylinder retaining pin (in a hole on the bottom of the lock cylinder area of the column)
4) remove the entire assembly, straight out (don't turn anything because you will get the actuator rack out of time)
5) with the key inserted push the new cylinder straight in. It should click into place.


Do you have a new lock cylinder already? (under $20 at any parts store or online)

Removing the cylinder without the key is not difficult (but it IS a destructive operation!)
Perhaps not best to discuss how to defeat the steering lock and ignition on an open forum....

I do believe I gave instructions to another of the admins a couple of years back.

Hello, All.

I'm excited to say that I made two long trips without the truck breaking down! I've been nearly 150 miles without having to coast into a ditch for any reason.

The current issue I'm having that threatens a vehicle stoppage is that my motor dies when going up steep hills for any prolonged period of time. It seems that fuel doesn't make it to my engine. I got a vacuum gauge and plan to Y it into my fuel line to check the pressure on the flat ground and see if the pressure decreases on the uphills. I got a new fuel pump, but it did not solve the problem. It runs fine again when I get to flat ground again.

What could be the problem?

Next on the list:
- Timing;
- Carb rebuild;
- Vacuum hose routing;
- New exhaust;
- New gas tank.

I suspect you have a bad fuel line.  There are several pieces of rubber line in the fuel system and that rubber wasn't designed for ethanol.  I've seen the hoses leak fuel when the truck was sitting still and leak air when the truck is running.

So I'd get a roll of fuel line from the parts store, making sure it says on it that it is good for ethanol, and replace all of the hoses.  There should be one from the tank to the hard line, hard line to switching valve if you have dual tanks, switching valve to the hard line, hard line to pump.

Gary Lewis wrote

I suspect you have a bad fuel line.  There are several pieces of rubber line in the fuel system and that rubber wasn't designed for ethanol.  I've seen the hoses leak fuel when the truck was sitting still and leak air when the truck is running.

So I'd get a roll of fuel line from the parts store, making sure it says on it that it is good for ethanol, and replace all of the hoses.  There should be one from the tank to the hard line, hard line to switching valve if you have dual tanks, switching valve to the hard line, hard line to pump.

I had a car many years ago that the rubber line from tank to hard line did not leak but did suck air and would only "run out of gas" when getting on the high way and you had to climb a good size hill and it did not have a long "get up to speed" lane.

Like you because you are using a lot of fuel / throttle to getup the hill is when this will show up.
Like Gary said I would do the rubber lines first and see what happens. if it still happens then Iwould drop the tank and see what that looks like along with the fuel pick up sock.
Dave ----

my first guess would also be a rusty pickup tube in the tank. this model should have a simple steel tube with a hard cylindrical screen on the end about the size of a "c" size battery. neglected and abandoned ones can easily get perforated but also it is very easy for the cylinder screen to get gummed up and restrict the fuel to the point of starving the diaphragm type pump too. if you find this is the case then replacing the tank and sender as a set is the only recommendation I can make. it will cost about the same as one good tow.

Thanks for the responses, Gary, Dave, and Matt.

I dropped the tank onto some stands. Fortunately I only had a few gallons of fuel left in it! I replaced the rubber fuel lines from the tank to the carb. The lines were extremely corroded, but it did not fully solve the problem. I made it farther up the hill before the issue arose, however! I looked at where the line joins the tank. It appears that there is not a cap there that I can remove. Is it possible to get into the tank to take a look at the internal lines? I would imagine it would be since I see that there are fuel sending units for sale as separate units.

As for the switching valve, the lines to the other tank - the one not currently installed - are also terribly corroded and the end is plugged with a piece of wire jammed in there with electrical tape wrapped around the whole shibang. When I replaced the lines, I just skipped the valve and went straight from the tank to the hard lines. Would that be a problem?

I also just did my timing. The light showed that at idle, I estimate the mark was running at about +50 degrees. It was night by this point and I only had 10 minutes left, so I just did it by ear. I laid a cinderblock on the gas pedal until I believed it to be at 2,500-3,000 rpm, and I turned the distributor until it sounded like it was running smoothly. There was no timing mark in sight at this time. When I brought it back down to idle after timing it, the mark was running at 10-15 degrees before TDC. I notice a clear gain in power and performance. I don't know if the balancer shifted, but the instructional resources I consulted said two things: the balancer may shift, so find TDC by pulling a plug, inserting an implement, turning the motor by hand, and marking the balancer yourself with a white marker; second, make sure that you're on the correct stroke of the engine so you don't have a "180 out" situation. I didn't have enough time to do either of those things, but it sounds like she's running well now.

Last, my exhaust manifold has expanded and contracted so many times that it looks like a medium-altitude drone shot of an arctic glacier. I suppose it needs to be replaced.

Sorry that it didn't completely fix the problem.  But you fixed A problem.  We just need to keep peeling the onion to get the rest of them.

First, is there a vent line on your tank?  You should have a small line going to a wye with a line coming from the other tank, and then going to the right side frame rail and up it to the charcoal canister below the battery.  You need a vent, so if that line is capped off you'll have problems.

Next, you can pull the sending unit out of the tank to look inside by using a brass drift to tap the tapered ring that holds it counterclockwise.  But there aren't really any lines inside.  There's a metal tube with a filter sock on the end of it, through which gas enters the system.  And if that tube has rusted off and isn't reaching the bottom of the tank you could be running out of fuel.  Or if the sock is clogged.

As for he valve, it isn't a problem that you bypassed it.  One less thing to cause a problem right now.

On the timing, did you pull and plug the vacuum advance to the distributor to set the timing?  You need to do that to set base timing.  But even then the +50 degrees of advance was too much.  So I'd pull & plug it now to see what your timing at idle is.  However, it is possible the damper slipped, so if setting the timing with the vacuum disconnected doesn't work then it is time to find TDC.

And the exhaust manifold does have some cracks, but if it isn't leaking I wouldn't worry about it.  They are pretty thick.

that is truly an old school timing method! roadkill even! but it does work with the operational dynamics of an internal combustion engine. well enough to get you home anyway. but please do verify and set it by the book. a buddy of mine is always setting his by ear and he has rebuilt his engine three times in as many years. I cannot say it connected but it is a coincidence at least .

Hi, Gary.

I was under the impression that you set total timing at higher RPMs and then your timing is set. I would appreciate if you could do me the huge favor of giving me the timing 101 from start to finish, or a link to a place where I can find a good guide. Is that possible? The timing guides I find online all have different directions or are for different motors.

Best,

Jack

Jack - The best instructions I know of for ignition timing are from Crane.  We have them on the site at Documentation/Electrical/Ignition and then the Instructions tab and then the Crane Cams Instructions tab.  Read the overview up top on what the various components of advance do, and then skip down to Step 22.

In your case you probably aren't going to play with the advance springs, so you instead of that you could dial in a bit more initial advance - assuming the engine doesn't kick back on starting and you don't experience knock.

Anyway, take a gander at that and then see if you have more questions.

Hi, Gary. The 1983 Owner's Manual link in the Manuals and Literature table gives me a 404 Not Found when I click on it. Do you have this owner's manual for a 1983 F-150?

Best,

Jack

I just went back to Ford, but they only carry owner's manuals back to 1996!

I'm not sure why the address was wrong, but I think it is fixed now.  Please give it a try and let me know what you find.

Hello, all. Long time no see! I've been out all summer driving around my reliable, do-all truck. Thank you all for your help in getting there!

Today, however, it just started running terribly. It is idling roughly and won't rev without misfiring, even after warming up for 10 minutes. There were no apparent changes in timing or vacuum hoses, which I have checked. The only change I could think of is that it got very cold.

What else could be the problem? Sorry for the open-ended question here.

Jack

Glad it has been running so well.  But a change like that should be easy to find.  Have you checked the bolts that hold the carb to the intake?  Or the carb body to the throttle plate?  They tend to come loose on the 300 and cause quite a leak.

Gary Lewis wrote

Glad it has been running so well.  But a change like that should be easy to find.  Have you checked the bolts that hold the carb to the intake?  Or the carb body to the throttle plate?  They tend to come loose on the 300 and cause quite a leak.

That is a good place to start, but if I had to guess look at the choke not opening all the way.
As the RPM goes up and more air is being pushed in it can get push the choke closed.
Because it is colder the choke may not be opening all the way.

I kind of had this happen on my truck.
Truck run fine but the temp dropped to the low 20'sF and the choke never came off the fast idle step even after a 45+ min drive on the high way to work.
This was over a few days but when it got warmer for the ride home each day it was fine, fast idle cam came off.

I am running EFI exh manifolds and factory Carter v1 carb, read electric with hot air asst.
I have copper tubing wrapped around the manifold for heat but when that cold the air in the engine bay was pushing cold air over the tubing and cooling the hot air.

My fix was to make sure the tubing was tight to the manifold and use header wrap  around the tubing & manifold. This was what it needed as I have not had any other issues. Just the other day it was 24*f and the choke worked as it should.

So dont over look the choke closing
Dave ----

i just had this exact thing happen to bubba. it was as earlier commented. the throttle plat to carb screws were loose. this causes a vacuum leak through the carb itself and leans out the mixture and lowers the vacuum. then the choke does not even work correctly. its quite common on this particular engine/carb.

Thank you, gentlemen. I believe I've been able to solve this problem. I couldn't figure it out at first and just decided to re-time the engine to make a quick trip, but I knew that wasn't a permanent solution.

I really need to re-do all the vacuum lines. I still have two that go nowhere and are plugged with a screw.

What if I just remove all of this smog equipment? I already can't pass DEQ and just run around Portland with no plates because they don't pull you over here anyway. What are my chances that my smog output will improve after removing what is probably 50% non-functioning dead weight?

Jack