Gary Lewis

I did away with my rag joint entirely by welding the steering box input spline to a later(2009-14) F-150 lower shaft that Incorporates universal joints and a cross shaped sliding section. I had to be careful by keeping the joint wrapped in a wet rag, but it removed all that slop and vagueness from my steering. 😉 Like this one on eBay Good find on the chain, Jim. And since RA will ship to Germany the price difference is moot. As for the lower steering shaft, your approach is a great one - for our application. That's because our trucks have a very straight shot from the steering column to the steering gear so there's no real need for two u-joints to smooth out the rotational speed. But in some applications there's quite an angle between the steering column and the box so using just one u-joint will give an odd speed-up/slow-down in the steering as the steering wheel is rotated at a constant speed.

Steve/FoxFord33 checked out the video today on his Android and it worked fine. The full screen button worked correctly in both landscape and portrait, and the banner didn't obstruct the view.

I'm not sure I understand your question, but I don't think there are different parts for slightly different BW1345's. In other words, if you get parts for a 1986 BW1345 then I think you'll be fine. And while in there I'd replace the chain - although it is only in use in 4wd. And there is no gasket, just RTV between the case halves. As for the steering shaft, I think you'll be fine with that material.

Those are basic part number 3C140. But we need to know if you have a Dana 44 or 44HD, as they take an E0TZ 3C140-A, or a Dana 50 or 60, as they take an E0TZ 3C140-B. Do you have a tag on the front diff?

G208 is next to the EGR valve, as shown in the first pic, and G462 is next to the carb bowl vent solenoid, as shown in the 2nd pic.

Those are nice gaskets! I made mine out of weatherstrip tape, but yours look much better.

It may not be just the ground at the battery. The Bullnose trucks had a really poor grounding system, and Ford stepped up the grounding for the Bricknose trucks, and did even more on later year trucks. I think that's because they found that the grounds weren't adequate for the EFI systems with computers. For instance, the only true ground for the cab is the dinky wire from the engine to the firewall. There's no ground wire from the passenger's fender to the cab, so just because there is a ground from the battery to that fender doesn't mean that ground is passed on to the cab. So if the wire from the engine to the cab isn't there or if it doesn't have a good connection, or if the ground from the ECU to the cab is bad then there will be problems. And probably flakey, unpredictable problems. Given that, I'd make sure the grounds are good. And it wouldn't hurt to add grounds. I have HD grounds from the batteries to the engine and then to the frame, from the batteries to the radiator support, from the radiator support to the fenders, from the fenders to the cab, and from the frame to the cab.

Thank you for doing that, Jim. Glad you did! And I thank those who have served as well. We are safe because of you.

Yes, that's a BW1345. But it may well be the original one to the truck. If you go look at the Applications tab on the page at Documentation/Driveline/Transfer Cases you'll see that there are several engine & transmission combinations for the U150 that show "W1345". Having said that, I believe that one has been apart before. In your closeup of the tag on it there's red RTV hanging from the mating joint. I've not seen one from the factory have that. So remind me why you think it needs to be rebuilt? And those look like good materials to rebuild the rag joint. But just remember that where it is gets hot, so everything needs to handle heat quite well.

Wow! I understand the stewing. Obviously something is wrong somewhere as all of the ECUs find issues, although not the same one nor seemingly under the same conditions. So making some changes is probably the right thing to do. Good luck!

That being the case then you don't need to replacing the timing chain. But I'm not sure I understand where the point is vs TDC on the new balancer. I think you said it is -7 degrees on the old balancer, but I got lost with what you were saying about the new one.

Cool! Glad Larry is getting to strut his stuff.

I may steal that from you never gave that a thought. Dave ---- Yes, that pedal comes off HARD, so ringing like a bell is appropriate. I used to try and pop the brake off gently, but that's not easily done when you are on a mountain in a tight spot, so finally gave it. So far, so good.

I have mine suspended on a zip tie just to soften the blow.

No, I don't have them saved on my devices. I just use them online. But I do have the 1980 - 89 master parts catalog on my OneDrive, meaning on the cloud, and then saved for immediate use on this laptop's hard drive. That way I don't have to wait for the massive document to download. I do have all of the Bullnose, as well as the 87, EVTMs on my bookshelf. And the factory shop manuals for 1981 and 85. Plus several owner's manuals. Sometimes I pull one of those out if the info I'm looking for isn't online.

Very true, Jim. But I recently answered questions by using the EVTM on this site while I was in Switzerland. Didn't know which of the three to pack, so I didn't.

Glad the truck is running so well. On the wipers, did you pop the park brake off this afternoon? From what I've read that is usually the reason the delay module fails as it can crack the solder joints. There's a how-to for repair of that on the page at Documentation/Electrical/Windshield Wipers. And from what I've read the interval, or delay, only uses the Low setting. So if the delay module goes bad I think you lose both delay and manual Low.

I’ve actually got my dash cover loose, but all i see from above is the AC duct. Maybe there’s more writing behind it? Easiest to see it from below, not above.

Good thought! I added a couple saved searches (one with just EVTM as an acronym and one with the words spelled out). Looks like you can get a CD version but like you said a hard copy is so much more useful. I found this at the right side of the hole for the radio after removing all that sliced in radio harness junk. I’m guessing this is G701. No, the Grounds page of the 1985 EVTM shows "Behind I/P (instrument panel) near RH side of radio". Then it gives a list of illustration and page numbers where you can see it depicted. Long and short - it is on the firewall, not the instrument panel.

I think that makes sense, except for the transfer case. First, do you know what brand and model transfer case those parts are for? I ask because both the BW1345 and the N208 were used in '86. And they take different parts. Also, you might consider replacing the chain in your transfer case. They can stretch and while you are there would be a good time to do it. But I'm still not sure I understand your desire to replace the throttle body. Is this due to the noise you are hearing?

Yes, it does look nice.

Sorry, I missed this. I'd guess that either your air charge temp (ACT) or engine coolant temp (ECT) sensor is bad. That would mean that the ECU doesn't know how cold it is and that it isn't adding enough fuel to the mix to get the engine to run.

Interesting. My iPhone 14 Pro Max responds much the same as Jeff's 13 Mini, except that I have the full screen button in portrait as soon as the video starts playing, and it works properly. Apparently the Androids, or at least Jim's as there may be differences between them, doesn't respond the same way to the HTML code. Steve/FoxFord33 carries an Android and is to be over tomorrow to install all LED lighting in the shop - assuming the bulbs come in today. If so I'll have him check the video out on his and then report back. Jim - Please go back to the Shafer Trail video here and see how it performs. Then try the same video here, and check it out. In the first one I doubled the fixed height and width figures that Youtube gives, and in the 2nd I just used their figures. I'm going to guess that you'll like the new way better than either of those ways as the new way is somewhat flexible to the size of your screen and the old ways aren't. But I don't know that so would like your input. And maybe there's specific code that an Android needs?

Thanks, Jim. But I don’t understand why it won’t go full screen. It does on my iPhone. Jeff - Do you have the problems Jim is having?