Jolene - 1983 F-150 Rescue

Hey there!

I'm Jack, and I found you all while trying to make an '83 F-150 driveable and reliable. It's great to be here. There appears to be a wealth of resources available on this site - and good community - and I plan to dive in! I am almost totally new to the world of vehicle repair.

I bought my 4x4, automatic, 6-cylinder truck on a farm in Clatskanie, OR as a project for the OG Gambler 500. I got it for just $500! I traveled out there with a mechanic who very kindly went with me to assess the vehicle. It didn't run at all, but it turned over. The farmer let us leave it there for a week while we got a list of parts together. We got back a week later, installed this and that, and it ran well enough to drive back to Portland.

I now have a Chilton manual, and I'm working my way through one page at a time fixing things as I go along, or at least doing my best to understand each particular system.

General parts replaced -
- a lot of rubber. Fuel lines (it only has the front tank), transmission pressure gauge and hose, power steering lines.
- Brakes, e-brake, cables, and axle seals fully redone by a pro. Front lockouts broke during this job, and I had them replaced with new Warn lockouts.
- Various broken comfort items replaced like window parts, door and hood latch parts, and mirrors.
- Dash components.
- Fuel pump.
- All electrics except the distributor and the tube attached to the engine. I don't know what that is.
- Tailgate.
- Fluids and filters, including diff. fluids.

I also have a list of known problems. I wonder if you gents would help me prioritize them! I'm working on them one at a time, but it would be good to work on the most important ones first:

- Cylinder 5 is leaking at the spark plug. I can see it bubbling while the motor is running.
- I have three vacuum lines that lead nowhere and are plugged by screws. I want to route these properly, but my vacuum map has flaked off the front of the engine compartment. I have seen a selection of these maps on this forum. I just need to find out which is the correct one, find a "key" to the map, and get going.
- My 1-barrel carb is leaking fuel from its seals. I want to rebuild it instead of replacing it for the sake of gaining more knowledge. How do I determine which carburetor I have? I have heard there is an ID tag on the carb, but I can't find it.
- My gas line plugs every so often and it kills the motor. I have replaced the rubber gas lines from the tank to the pump. I did not replace the metal lines. Is it possible that the fuel tank is filled with gunk? Can I drop the tank and clean it out? I have to carry around a gas can and a spare fuel line so I can get gas to the motor again.
- More than once while starting the vehicle with the air cleaner off, a jet of fire has shot out of the top of the carb. What's going on with that? Timing, I assume.
- During the brake job, the mechanic found a broken bolt and wrote the following: "Remove third member cover to replace axle seals. Locking bolt was broken. Will need rebuild." He said the locking bolt was still doing its job and that it wasn't dangerous or damaging to drive.
- My coolant lines are visibly cracking. There is also copper-colored gunk in the radiator when I look in at the cap. I have not changed the coolant since I bought the truck.
- My engine compartment is filthy. What's the best way to clean an engine compartment?
- According to the DOT code, my tires were made in 2004. They're not cracking, but... that seems like a long time to run tires.
- The exhaust does not seem to be mounted at the engine. The truck is as loud as the second coming when you step on the gas.
- The shoes/boots that hold grease for the steering components are cracked and do not hold grease. Can I replace these?
- My gas gauge is flickering between working and not working.
- There's a squeaking coming from somewhere.

Upgrade wish list:

- A second gas tank! I already have provision for one on the truck. A second filler cap is present, and splitter lines are in place. I don't know how I would to hook one up yet.
- Lockers.
- Replacement suspension that will improve the ride quality. Mine is absolutely terrible.

General Question:
- I used to have a manual Toyota Tacoma, and I could switch from low to high gear while rolling. My Ford must be stopped and in Park or Neutral to shift properly. Is that a defect, or is it working as it's supposed to?

All in all, I am absolutely delighted with my purchase. True to the Gambler spirit, we get volunteers together and pick up street trash. Jolene has hauled many loads of trash that previously clogged the streets of Portland, and she hauled one bed load that weighed 2900 lbs! We have a storied history together, she and I. I sold her once, bought her back, and will never sell her again.

Thanks,

Jack Bartlett

I don't know why that carb photo posted upside down.

wasteland_jack wrote

I don't know why that carb photo posted upside down.

The forum software is not smart enough to put it right side up when pictures are posted from a phone.
It has to do with how you hold the phone when you took the picture.
Most of my pictures are hosted on my web site so I dont have that issue.

You have done a lot of work to the truck already and from what you posted you have a plan for a lot more LOL

Lets start with a clean engine bay. You will be getting dirty before it is clean
Do you have access to a pressure washer?
If not a water hose will work. I would try and scrape off the heavy dirt areas first using putty knives and flat blade screw drivers.

I pull the air filter and cover the carb opening with a baggie (or I just be careful not to get water down the carb) I dont worry about the dist. cap or wires as I do this at home and can use shop air to blow them dry.

I then fill one of them small gallon hand sprayers with Simple green and / or Awesome de-greaser.
Home Depot has Zep purple de-greaser that is really HD and you can cut that with water. I have used this in my parts washer.

I have also used oven cleaner but you have to watch as it will burn you if it gets on you and could hurt the paint but works great on the baked on grease & dirt.
I get the motor and transmission warm as it helps.
Spray everything you want clean with your mixture of de-greaser.
Using a parts cleaning brush work the de-greaser in keeping the ares wet as you work it in.

I then use the pressure washer or the water hose to wash it all away.
As they say rinse & repeat as needed till clean. It is a lot easier working on a clean motor.

As for that plug that bubbles. Could it be liquid in the plug hole and is boiling and not a loose plug?
If you have not done so I would do a complete tune up, plugs, wires cap & rotor, air / gas breather filters, PCV. Whenthe plugs are out do a compression test so you know the shape the motor is in.
With the tune up and compression test done you should be good for a year or 2 before the next tune up.

The carb is pretty easy to rebuild and rebuild kit are cheap, go for it.

As for the vacuum lines with screws in them do you need to pass under hood smog testing?
If not then I dont think I would worry about them to much.
You should have 1 from carb to dist for vacuum advance.
Power brake hose and PCV hose from intake to them.
And 1 for the HVAC if you have AC.

I think I saw the carb has a bowl vent hose going to the charcoal canisters (2 for dual tanks) under the battery. IIRC there is a vacuum line that tees into that line.
Depending how the truck was set up it has either solenoid for this or a vacuum valve.
Think the vacuum valve goes to the top of the PCV.

The air filter also has vacuum hose going to it. It can have 1 or 2 temp switches. The line goes to 1 and then to the snorkel valve or the other switch and then snorkel valve.
This valve lets warm air from the exh manifold in to the air filter when the motor is cold and then opens it to keep a steady temp going to the carb.

The rest of the vacuum stuff that would be on that sticker if you dont have smog is not needed so dont worry about it, I dont
Dave ----

ps replace them tires LOL

Oh yes that tank you are trying to run off of is junk just replace it.
Now if you want 2 tanks there is nothing wrong with replacing them with the same size for the rear or a larger on, you are stuck with the factory size for the front one.

Get 2 new senders when you replace the tanks to be safe.
Note the front & rear senders are different even if both are 19 gallons for a long bed truck.
You have a simple dual tank system as it uses a 3 port valve on the inside frame rail with 1 wire going to it.
It might be hard to find a new valve at local stores, think I got mine off ebay and I got a spare just in case.
By default the rear tank is used as the valve when no power is going to it switches to the rear tank.
When on the front tank you should have power to the valve / wire, if not check the fuse.

When you drop the tanks note there is a plastic hose inside the filler neck, this is the vent for when you fill the tanks to let air out.
This hose kinks, falls out of the holders top or bottom and comes apart and you cant fill the tanks at anything more then a dribble of gas going in.
Put this vent hose back the way the factory had it and pump as fast as you want!
Dave ----

Dave is right about pics.  The forum puts them on exactly the way you take them.  In other words, it isn't smart enough to read the metadata embedded in the file, like some places do, so if you hold the phone upside down when taking the pic it'll be upside down on the forum.

As for recommendations on other things, you got mine in the New Members Start Here folder.  But let's talk a bit more about the fuel system.  To me the Bullnose dual tank fuel systems are a pain, and from what I've seen the valves to tie the two tanks together are expensive and hard to find.  But if you have a bed with a single door then you are kind of stuck if you want more than 19 gallons.  That's because that is the biggest midship tank that I think is available.

So you might want to see how badly you really need more than 19 gallons.  I don't think it will be cheap nor easy.

Thanks, Gary. I'll skip the second tank for now. I have a two gas tank doors in the body, but I don't want to drop my spare tire at the moment or leave it in the bed, or even bother with the extra gas until the vehicle is reliable and running well.

Thanks also for your reply in the New Member's area. I took a picture of my #5 spark plug.



I attempted to get a picture of the cylinder head as well. It may be, Dave, that liquid was resting on top of the plug and boiling. A significant amount of water was pooled on #5 and #6 when I first saw the truck in the field. I cleaned it out, re-installed the plug and will check again later. Rust appears on the outside of the the plug, but not on the actual threads. Those are still silver.



Upon further investigation of all plugs, #3 was also wobbling around in its seat. I don't have a torque wrench, so I tightened it with the ole' right-arm estimate for the time being until I save up for one.

I don't know how to do compression testing. That's something I'll need to learn along with adjusting timing.

Exhaust: I do indeed need to pass DEQ in Oregon. I have a great many tiny rust holes in my exhaust pipe, so I bet I'll need a new one of those. I'll get the biscuit at the same time.

This entire project is on a rolling budget of $2700. I work and earn money with the truck, and that money goes towards repairs, gas, and insurance. If I break the budget, I have to sell the truck. My brakes ended up being $1870 with a bit of extra work that had to be done, so that hit my budget pretty hard. I'm working it back down again. I end up doing most of these repairs myself if I have time to learn how to do them.

The plug looks pretty good, including the threads.  So I get from your post that #5 & #3 were loose?  That would certainly give you problems.  I'll bet snugging them up fixes it.

If you have two fuel doors then the truck originally had two tanks and you should have the switch on the HVAC control panel and a valve on the frame under the driver.  If so it should be fairly easy to add the 2nd tank later - assuming the wiring and fuel line is still there and the valve is good.

But, as said, those valves are prone to failure and are expensive - if you can find one.  However, if you get lucky that it all works then it would be a case of installing a new 19 gallon tank in the rear and hooking it up.

Anyway, if you replace the tank you have with a clean one I think you'll enjoy not having things plug up.

As for the exhaust, if you have holes in it you'll obviously need to replace that part and can do the biscuit at the same time.  But start treating the bolts with something like PB Blaster now so you can get it apart when the time comes.

This is an awesome project!

You might consider getting one of tge clear plastic fuel filters (like the ones off a lawn mower) and installing it just before the fuel pump. That may help a good bit with your fuel problems. A new tank is the best long term solution though  

Careful when using your "calibrated elbow", most things call for significantly less torque than people think. Spark plugs dont take a huge amount of torque. The side cover on the block next to the distributor basically needs the smallest amount of torque you can put on its six bolts without the cover leaking.

An autoparts store can probably put the right carb rebuild kit in your hands for less than $20, and they will probably know which one you need based on model info for the truck.

Cracked and old water lines are cheap, and a high risk for leaving you stranded. I might elect to put those near the top of the list.

Your timing is probably fine so I wouldnt worry too much, but the only right way to do it is with a timing light. Save up for the tool before attempting that job.

A compression check is an easy job that can tell you a lot about an engines condition. The tools run about $50. The compression check data would be good to have so you can compare results later to help diagnose a problem you may eventually have. For now, it cant tell you much other than how worn out (or like new!) Your engine is. I would consider it to be med-low priority.

The orange/copper stuff in the radiator may be evidence that a past owner tried to use some kind of stop leak product to fix a coolant leak. Its a good thing to keep in the back of your mind, but probably not something you have to do anything about now.

If you decide to replace the coolant, buy the concentrate instead of the pre mix stuff. Its much cheaper. Mix it with distilled water instead of tap/hose water. Two gallons of concentrate and two gallons of water will be plenty.

If your exhaust is not installed to the engine, Id want to address that pretty quick.

Hope all of that helps somehow!

Great project!

Where in OR are you? I am in Bend and I have an F350 I picked up recently. My friends what to help fix it up and do Gambler next year with me!!

So... cough cough... uh... cough cough... I got a grease gun stuck on one of my drive shaft zerks.

How the heck do I get this thing off? I've tried prying it off with screwdrivers, but it's in the joint connecting the shaft with the rear axle, and I can only get one screwdriver in at a time because of its position.

I just removed the connector from the grease gun hose and left it on the zerk.

Always Be Gambling, my friend. ABG. I'm surely doing the Gambler next year, and I'll definitely meet up with you. I hope we can meet sooner somewhere between you and Portland. I enjoy browsing through the White River Unit near Dufur; there are a lot of great roads over there. Contact me at jack@jebartlett.com and we'll set something up.

I live just off Rosa Parks and Interstate in Portland. Let me know if you're ever in town!

Jack

Carburetor - I bought a rebuild kit,@straightsix. You were pretty close on price! Made in the USA, too. The directions seem like they were thrice scanned through a 90s-era fax machine and are barely legible, but I can still make them out. I'll try the rebuild this weekend.

Coolant - I bought the appropriate hoses and concentrated coolant, and I now must learn the proper procedure for replacing the hoses. They didn't have any heather hoses.

Tires - I'm chasing down a few CL leads. I saw some amazing 35s, but I do like knowing exactly what speed I'm going. If I buy them I'll have to do speed tests and mark my speedo with a white paint marker.

Well, Jack,

I lived on 12th and Ainsworth for 5 years (2011 - 2016). I was just at Breakside last Wednesday as I was passing through.

Will definitely ping you.

Can you get a small wrench on the zerk and take it out?  Probably not, in which case you need to pull straight back on the connector.  For some reason they don't like to let go if there's any angle on them.

As a last resort you can probably break the zerk off by hitting the connector with a hammer and then replace both the zerk and the connector.

On the tire/speedo thing, you can replace the speedometer's driven gear to dial the speedo in.  You can read up on that on the page at Documentation/Driveline/SPEEDOMETER GEARS, CABLES, & SENSORS.

And on replacing hoses and coolant, the first step is to drain the coolant.  That is typically done via a petcock on the radiator.  But that won't get all of it, so when you pull the lower radiator hose be prepared to have more coolant come out.

When replacing the hoses I like to put the clamp where it is just forward of the bulge/ring on the radiator's fitting.  That is so the hose is pressed into the bulge/ring and a good seal is created.  I'm not saying put the clamp on/over the bulge/ring, but just forward of it.

Then as you refill you'll think you have it full, only to find that minutes later it isn't.  The best way to ensure it is as full as you can get it is to pull a heater hose off the heater's fitting as that is the highest point in the system and you just fill it until some comes out there.  However if you aren't replacing the heater hoses, and I think you should if you don't know how old they are, then I wouldn't pull the hose off as you are surely going to have a hard time getting it off and may ruin the existing hose.

So if you aren't taking the highest connection loose you'll have some air in the system.  After you start the engine the level in the radiator will go down, so you can fill it up as much as you can there.  But in a bit things start expanding as they heat and you'll have coolant coming out of the radiator if you don't put the cap on.  Do so and warm the engine up and then let it cool down completely, like over night.  Then check again and add until it is full.  Top up the coolant recovery reservoir to about 1/4 full and then drive the truck.  Over the next few days you may find it a bit low as you are getting rid of the last of the air, but keep bringing the reservoir up to a certain point and soon it'll be full.

Hey, Gary.

I have seen a number of people flush their coolant systems with a hose. Do I need to do this in your opinion?

Jack

It depends on how dirty the coolant looks.  If it isn't bad I wouldn't flush it.  But if it is really dirty I would.

Now the reason for not flushing is that sometimes there is some core sand in the block from the casting, and if you knock it loose it can damage the water pump.  I've not had it happen, and I used to flush the system religiously, but I've heard of it happening.  And now that the coolants are better and everyone is supposed to run coolant the systems don't normally get too dirty.  But back in my day we just ran water and they really got grungy.

I worked on the coolant tonight. I noticed there is a little reverse-threaded wingnut on the lower driver's side of the radiator. I assume this is a drain plug. Mine was clogged, so I got a crescent wrench and removed the whole valve assembly. The fluid was nasty, but I could tell that it once was green, so I didn't flush the radiator or motor.

You were right, by the way. I got the heater hose off and it was like uncorking a bottle. Tons more fluid came out of the drain plug after I opened the top of the system. You were also correct about the lower hose containing more fluid. It was a challenge to stay clean while removing it!

I do have two questions:

1. I removed both heater hoses at once, and then I realized that I don't know which direction the flow is supposed to go into the heater. They're not labeled. I know which is output and input on the motor side; does it matter which is which on the heater side? I can't find any diagrams of this.

2. Upon refill, the radiator only took two gallons of fluid. I did one of water and one of concentrated antifreeze. One commenter above suggested four gallons. I see varying total coolant capacities on the web, but I haven't found anything from Ford on the subject.

I did not remove any antifreeze from the motor. Is this possible? It seems like there would be quite a bit in there.  

Unlike a radiator there is no 'flow direction' to the heater core. A decade ago I cut one clean in half to prove this on FTE. (no dip tube, both necks in the upper header tank)

System capacity depends on the block and radiator. Trucks with factory AC generally came with bigger radiators.
I don't think any of the gas engines had block drains.

Jim is right.  In fact, Ford even says in some of the documentation that it doesn't matter the direction of flow on the heater hoses.

The owner's manual says your whole system holds 14 quarts, which is 3 1/2 gallons.  But the engine holds a lot, so it is reasonable to think the radiator and heater core only hold 2 gallons together.  And if you finished the fill through one of the heater hoses with the other connected you had to have gotten the system full.

Thanks, Jim and Gary.