Gary Lewis

I agree with you that Ford's implementation of the aux batter left a lot to be desired. As you said, running the radio, like at a car show, could easily drain both batteries if you have an upgraded sound system. And, you are right that the Cole Hersee smart isolator wouldn't do that. As for the fuse links, I'm hoping to make this fairly straightforward. The '96 harness has, as I remember it, a large feed that crosses the radiator support and goes to the PDC. So I'm planning to pull the feeds you listed and take them to that PDC, using maxifuse positions stuffed with slow-blow fuses to provide the power. However, there will have to be something on the passenger's fender to hold the megafuse that takes the alternator's output. And, I'm thinking that having a heavy-duty relay on that fender to be the starter relay would be good to keep the wiring from having to run over to the other side. So, maybe a small PDC there to hold both the megafuse and starter relay. Also, I'm hoping to use a relay in the heater circuit to take the load off the switch. Plus, I want headlight relays. And since all of those things are on the passenger's side it would be easiest to do that if the relays are on that side. Concerning the fuse links, they feed either the fuse box under the dash or go to things on the firewall on the driver's side. So it should be easy to pull those wires out of the harness and take them to the PDC. Having said all that, it will be interesting as I start laying out the wiring harnesses and see how they match up. And, thanks for the suggestions.

Ahhh! I see what you meant. I thought we were talking about alternators. But you are right, the F450's water pump pulley fits on that pump and Huck's pulley doesn't. The difference is the shaft size and the hole spacing. But otherwise the pulleys are the same size. As for the other info, we can upgrade the info. I copied the text instead of a pic of the text, so it is easily edited. Given that, if you figure out what the text should say then I can edit it.

I don't think it is an "engine" thing as much as it is a "front dress" thing. Big Blue's new engine is sporting the HD water pump and the front dress from the F450 you sent me, which was a '95 IIRC. And the alternator you sent me, which is indeed a 7" unit, is a perfect fit. I know when Scotty was figuring out what gaskets and water pump to send he asked several times if I had the later serpentine/polygroove setup as there are supposedly differences in the water pump. But the only difference I've noted is that the flange on the water pump has a larger diameter bolt pattern - which means I have to buy a new fan clutch. The brackets between Huck and the F450 were the same, both for the alternator/smoke grinder and the A/C compressor/power steering pump. Oh, and the alternator "arm" which it clamps to. I checked them over very thoroughly to make sure they were all the same and the ID #'s even matched. So that tells me that the new info isn't correct. Right? But, what are you saying about pulleys? I didn't understand that bit.

That is a holy grail right there. That's what I've been trying to find with no luck. Thank you! Yes, that's a good find. I've added that info to the bottom of the Choosing An Alternator tab here: Documentation/Electrical/3G Swap. I think we (I?) need to clean that tab up, but wanted to see what y'all thought about it first. As you'll see, it appears to me that there are only three alternators in that list that are appropriate for our swaps. So I only added those to our page. Thoughts?

Yes, those two recesses. I don't think they match the recesses in that plastic headliner, so....

That's a good approach as it lets you keep your fuel level sender.

I know you’ve talked about several approaches on the engine, which is why I mentioned tuning a carb. That can be time consuming and is best done with an expensive AFR meter. How many times do you want to do that? FI is more expensive but a good one self-tunes. Without needing the AFR meter.

Are always going to run a stock, and potentially worn, engine? Or are you going to have it built up, now or later? And will you have the time and tools with which to properly jet/tune a carb - now or later? I ask because if the engine is going to change at some point the fuel system may need to change as well. So if you go with a carb you are probably going to have to tune it initially and you may need to change it or at least it’s jetting if the engine changes later. But if you are going with EFI it will learn and accommodate, both initially as well as later.

I'm sure you know this, but sound deadening works best in the middle of an unsupported panel. In other words, it won't do much if applied to a stiff piece like where there's a crease as that part isn't going to flex. And, if I remember correctly, there are creases and recesses in the inner panels of the roof. So I'd target the middle of those recesses. But, I don't think the roof recesses match up with the recesses on that insert. (I'm too lazy to go look at Big Blue to see as he's in the shop and I'm snug and warm in the house.) I'd compare the two to see for sure, but I think you can lay mat into the recesses with abandon w/o causing any fitment problems with the insert.

TheScatch - While for the most part I agree with what you've said, I do have a concern with this plan: "When the key is in run/start the batteries are linked so the aux can also add to cranking if needed, and both batteries then share load when the engine is running and both are being charged by the alternator in this state." The way Ford's auxiliary battery setup works, as shown below, is that the aux battery only comes in during Run, not Start. I believe that is so you can run that battery completely down and still start the vehicle. Otherwise the Start battery would be trying to charge the Aux battery at the same time as starting the vehicle. And this is one reason I like the Cole Hersee Smart Isolator. It won't parallel the batteries automatically until one is up to 13.2v, meaning the vehicle is running. But, there's a manual feature where you can force-parallel the batteries by pushing a button. So if you know the Aux battery is charged and want a boost you can do that.

Scott - Sorry, I missed this. On the chargers, most battery maintainers, which I think is what you want, will take a 12v battery to something around 14v to get it fully charged, and then go into "maintenance" mode and keep the batttery at around 13.0v. Battery Tender has a good, but quite lengthy, discussion of the battery charging "algorithm" on the Battery Charging Algorithm Fundamentals" tab here: http://www.batterytender.com/Battery-Basics. If you want the battery(s) maintained at full charge w/o boiling them dry I'd recommend that you get something like a Battery Tender, or the HF equivalent, to do the job. If I remember correctly, Battery Tenders come in dual versions so you could have one of those permanently mounted and just plug the truck in when the time comes.

That is beautiful! I'll bet the whole truck looks like that. Yes, a heated shop is great. But years ago I bought a used house furnace and installed it in my garage. It was a downdraft and I set it on a box that had it then blow across the floor, right under the vehicles. And it drew from the ceiling. Worked a treat, but you had to be careful with chemicals.

Yes, nice looking truck! But don't forget to introduce yourself in the New Members Start Here folder - after you read the guidelines.

It is a weird pitch. Hard to find the right bolts. Finally decided I'd use 5/16-18's and not turn them quite as far.

Yippee! I did it correctly! Thanks, Bill.

86/87 E-F250/350 - diesel from serial # 241647 6.9 E6TZ 9K523-A r/b E7TZ 9K523-A # 1807877-C2

Thanks, guys. I think running the wires first with the engine out is the best way to do it. In fact, it may be better with the front axle off, and since it is off I may leave it off for the electrical phase of this. And you are right, the goal is that it look "factory". In fact, I'm going to tell my offspring that it is a 1996 California truck under the hood, which would have sequential fuel injection (SEFI) and a mass airflow sensor (MAF) as opposed to a 50-State truck with bank-fire and speed density. In order to line things up on the driver's fender I've kept that fender from Huck, which was a 1990 truck. I believe the air filter box was in the same spot, so I can use it to lay out where the air filter box, PDC, and cruise control go. And that will let me determine where the auxiliary battery can go. Once those things are located I can start figuring out where the ECU will go and what I'll have to do to its wiring. Speaking of wiring, I think there are two phases to the wiring: It is going to take a fair bit of laying things out to make this happen, but I will document it thoroughly.

Apparently I stumped the chumps? Anyway, today I installed the engine mount plates and the mounts, which leads to the next question: How do the engine mounts/isolators go on? Judging by the paint on this one, which suggests it was painted while on the vehicle, the rounded part goes up, as shown. I say that because that "exclamation mark" of black paint above the lower stud looks like it was painted through the slots on the perches. Do I have it on correctly? Another thing I did today was to helicoil the alternator. Went easily - maybe too easily. The instructions say to drill the part 25/64" (.3906") but the hole was already slightly larger, but not as large as 13/32". I'm guessing that it was 10 mm, which is .3937". But the threads looked pretty good, and the helicoil threaded in with some effort. And, I used red Loctite on it so I don't think it'll let go. And, thinking of that, here's a shot of the parts I'd PC'd a day or so ago. Bill, what kind of bolt is that in the center bottom? Another thing I did today was to get the 5/16-16 G8 bolts for the clutch plate. Plus, I painted this thing. And with that I think the engine is just about done.

Well, if you got 13 at 65 MPH with 4.10 gears then maybe I can achieve the 14 MPG I'm shooting for at that speed. You should have been turning 2050 RPM and I'll be at 1800 with my 3.55's.

Ok guys, I have a question that I'd like your help on. And that's the timing on doing things on Big Blue. The specific question is when, in the overall scheme of things, to start it up to break in the cam. I'm going to borrow a carb adapter for the lower plenum and start the engine up using the original fuel system. That way I know the system is going to work and I won't have a glitch in the middle of the break-in run. But, do I do that before or after wiring up the EFI system? I think I should wire up the EFI system, maybe with the exception of the fuel pump wiring, before doing the break-in. That's because it will be much easier to do the wiring w/o the radiator, radiator support, air conditioning compressor, power steering pump, etc installed. In fact, as I think about it maybe I need to do the more serious wiring before even installing the engine as I'll be able to walk into the engine compartment. But you'll probably be asking what wiring needs to be done, so let me think about that a bit. It will include: Adding the power distribution center to the driver's side fender, running the many wires to/fro it for EFI, and then removing the fusible links and running their power feed to the PDC. Adding the 3G wiring Eliminating the starter solenoid/relay on the fender and running the wire to the PDC Hmmmm, I'm thinking the best approach is to do the bulk of that before installing the engine. Thoughts?

Good question. If the charger can overcome the draw of the pull-in current of the isolator then there's no harm no foul. In my case the little HF charger couldn't and the relay would pull in and the voltage would head south. Then the relay would drop out and the cycle would start again. But in this case the charger is going to be adequate to not only overcome the current of the relay/isolator but also that of the inverter, so there's no problem at all. I wasn't thinking. In your case, check the capability of the charger you are going to use. But also note that the relay will parallel the batteries so the charger will see both of them instead of just one.

Christian - That's exactly what this forum is for, documenting what you do and asking questions of others. Yes, I'd agree that the paint/tape scheme is aftermarket, either dealer or someone else. I have not seen that before. On the issue with 3rd gear, you might want to change the fluid in the transmission. That transmission takes regular gear lube with specification ESP-M2C83-C. But I'd go with something like a synthetic. I think Mobil and Royal Purple both make one. As for the ignition switch, it may be that either the clutch switch or the neutral start switch has gone bad so they wired around it. You can find that wiring here, but I've pasted it below for convenience: Documentation/Electrical/EVTM/1985 EVTM/Start & Ignition (Gas Engines). But it might also be the ignition switch.

No, don't think so. The 15 is the gear ratio, and the B&H are the spring codes. In order to do that calculation, you'd need to know the weight of the truck minus the un-sprung weight. The numbers are in pounds anyway, so the total is obviously 53X lbs, and the front looks like it's only 2 digit, so less than 100 lbs...ish. Right on! Getting the total "book" weight is very time consuming. There are tables for every possible option the truck could have, and they show how much weight that option adds to the front axle awa the rear axle. Would take a long time to do.

Good point. Any leak of the core itself would be inside the truck. I guess it is possible the leak could be where the inlet/outlet tube hits the body and it could run down the tube and drip in the engine compartment. But that would mean the seal to the cab would have to be bad. And it would have to be a slooooow leak. More likely it is the hose/tube seal that is leaking and dripping on the fender.

Yes, Bill. It has lotsa holes. Probably would take the old clutch plate awa the new one, and several others. Jim - Listed where? LuK's catalog doesn't list anything earlier than '88 if that's what you mean.