Gary Lewis

Yes, on all counts. The EEC-V system on Big Blue knows when the A/C compressor comes on and is capable of bringing the idle speed up to compensate. But it doesn't have to as you can't tell when the compressor engages.

Good point about the connector. I didn't think of that.

Good info. And thanks for correcting me, Jim!

That's cool, Jeff. But who says we can't post movies?

1990 lines. Originally came from Huck the half-truck. But those are new lines as the old ones had a leak. I did some playing with it later and I think I can raise the inboard end of the air box about 1/2" and that will make the inlet tube clear the A/C line. I'm going to give that a try tomorrow and will report back.

I'm more than happy with Blue Top. Not only did the box make a huge difference in the steering of Big Blue, but I had many email communications with them and they were very responsive. (I emailed them on a Saturday while they were closed and I got a response at 8:08 AM on Monday.) So I have no hesitation in giving them a 5-star rating.

End of day report: SUCCESS! The Blue Top box made a HUGE difference. I'm really impressed and will go write up my review of it and them - 5 stars.

The DS-II module would have been on the driver's side fender. And the wiring comes out of the cab, goes along the fender, and then out to the engine.

I have plenty of inner tube rubber. But I wonder if that would be very different from the garage door seal?

I think that regulator will help you. As for what regulator you may have, the note at the bottom of that advert says "F794 without LRC. F795 with LRC". And from what I remember the F795 is white. Concerning what the LRC regulators came on, my understanding is that they were for the vehicles with little engines because the standard regulators brought the alternator in faster than the ECU could respond when a high-current load was turned on. My 460/7.5L doesn't even flinch when loads come on, but a little 2.0L does.

That's a very thorough explanation. Thanks. But I've not heard of placing a C6 torque converter in an AOD. That seems counterintuitive since, from what little I know, the torque converter of the AOD is where the shift to overdrive happens. So, you have two AOD's and one works perfectly and the other doesn't. My first thought was to swap them to prove it is the problem, but then that's a lot of work and it is obvious it is the problem. I really don't know what to suggest. I think I might do partially as was suggested - go to a salvage and get an AOD and its matching torque converter. And from what I've read you want to find one from a V8 truck as they are supposed to be the strongest.

Yes, that helps. The oil pressure sending unit is above the fuel pump, and the wire should come from near the DS-II module, assuming you have one, over to the engine. How do you like the Truetrac in front. I have one in back and like it a lot, but have wondered how it would do in front.

When I pulled the inlet air system in order to get down to the steering box I discovered that there is movement where the inlet air line crosses the A/C system high pressure line. In fact, the inlet tube has worn completely through the foam insulation that's on the line and was rubbing on the steel line itself. As I put that back together today I stuck a piece of garage door bottom seal between them, as you can see in the picture, and that was the wrong thing to do. Now when things move under the hood there's a noise like two rubber pieces sliding over each other - which is pretty much exactly what it is. So I'm looking for suggestions. One approach is to put something between those parts that will let them slide w/o making noise. But probably a better approach is to raise the air cleaner box about 1/2" and see if that will let the inlet tube clear the A/C line. Thoughts? http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/waving_orig.gif

Mid-day update. Got the system filled, but that wasn't as easy as the Blue Top instructions implied. Using their guidance I filled the Saginaw pump up, pulled the coil wire, cranked the engine over, and spun the steering wheel back and forth from lock to lock several times. And the pump was still full. So I did it again and again and the pump was still full. Given that I put the coil wire back on and started it up. And in a few seconds there was a noise like something had gotten caught in the fan. But there was nothing. However the pump was so low I couldn't see any fluid, so I filled it back up. When I started it again the noise was gone for a few seconds, and then it was back and the pump was low. After about four rounds of this the noise didn't come back and the level stayed where it should. So I took it for a drive. To say it made a difference isn't even close to the truth. WOW! It is new-car tight! There is no slop, no wander, just drive it and don't think about it. The steering wheel is off slightly so I'll pull the bottom of the Borgeson shaft off the box and turn it a notch clockwise. (The Borgeson shaft doesn't have the flats like the factory shaft so can be turned to make adjustments.) And I'll check the fluid level again to ensure that it doesn't need topped up.

It is easy. It goes into the alternator from the back and there are a few small screws holding it in. You pull those screws and pull it out. The brushes will fly but you can put them back in and hold them in place on the regulator with a toothpick. The new one will have its brushes held with pins and you just put it in, screw it down, and pull the pins.

There is always something that needs this or that, and many times there's no tool available to fix it. But if you have the tools with which to make tools, you win. The lathe, mill, welder, and grinder come in very handy.

Maybe time to go EEC-V? Would be a lot of work, but...

What are the problems with the AOD you have?

The 3G comes online immediately, so when starting the truck it'll try to "fill the battery back up" very quickly. That'll make the belt squeal for sure. The fix for that is one of soft-start regulators, which are technically called LRC. This search shows several of them available from 2 seconds to 10 seconds.

Glad it is working so well, but I'd have thought that 20 degrees initial would cause it to kick back on starting. As for the transmission, I've not heard that AODs like the torque a strong 351's torque.

I made this tool to hold the u-joint flange on the transfer case while I torqued the nut on the shaft:

A box stock 3G alternator puts out 106A @ 1600 alternator RPM, 134A @ 2500 alternator RPM, & 160A @ 6000 alternator RPM. And Ford put a 3:1 ratio on the 460's, so maybe your pulley isn't too large? As for the belt, I've read that a single v-belt is not supposed to be able to handle more than about 100 amps. But people seem to make it work fine all the time, so I'd give it a try. If it doesn't work then you might look for the right pulleys to do two belts, but take it from me that isn't easy to do.

You really ought to have a signature that tells us a bit about your truck, like what engine you have. That would allow us to tell you where to look for the wire. Speaking of the wire, assuming you have gauges you are looking for a white wire with a red stripe, as shown below.

Thought y'all might be interested in this article. (I'll try to find it on Hagerty itself and link to it.) Boggles the mind with possibilities.

The Illustration portion of the master parts catalog also shows an oil slinger - basic # 6310. But the parts list for the 351M & 400 doesn't show one, as you can see from the snippet below where things are listed numerically. My guess is that both the shop manual and the illustrations are generic, meaning they were prepared for any 351M or 400, but that by the 80's that part had been eliminated. So I don't think your engine had one. And you cannot put one in w/o removing the timing cover. So if you have checked the timing chain for slack and it is fine I'd do w/o the slinger. But you don't want to get that close to the timing chain and not check it.