Gary Lewis

Thanks, Dane. It is working out extremely well. I've already pulled the oil pressure switch, oil pressure sending unit, and the fitting for the aftermarket oil pressure gauge off the back of the block, disassembled it, and then replaced the bit I needed - just the sending unit and fitting for the gauge. That simplified the connections back there - fewer things to fail. And I pulled the vacuum tree from the back of the lower plenum and plugged it as there's a vacuum fitting on the back of the upper plenum that I can use for the HVAC vacuum. I don't need the larger fitting for the vacuum brake booster since I have hydroboost, and won't need the one to the speed control as I'm going with the all-electric later version. So doing it this way I have far fewer vacuum caps under the hood, and those are a "when" rather than "if" for failure. But I put another vacuum tree up front. Bill's picture was helpful for finding the vacuum hose itself, but it also let me not only get the right vacuum tree but also position it correctly - with the small nipples to the driver's side so the fuel pressure regulator's hose fits. And yes, this one will take a bunch of vacuum caps, but it won't be hidden behind the upper plenum and impossible to see. Bill - Where does your PCV valve hose connect? I'm thinking I'd like to connect it to the back of the upper plenum as well. That way it'll be adding any oil mist to all of the cylinders instead of just one or two.

Got the Traxion TopsiderCreeper NXT in last night and put it together this morning. Sure is going to make getting to things easier and less painful! Positioned as shown below I can get to things on the back of the engine or the firewall, but have to scoot out a ways on the top pad. If I pulled the bumper, which means pulling the camera and the winch, I could get it about 5" farther back. But I'm going to try it this way and see how it works as pulling the bumper is a pain.

I'm not a Powermaster alternator fan. Big Blue had one when I acquired him and it failed soon thereafter. Called Powermaster to get parts and was informed that they don't sell parts - you return the alternator to them for repair. I'm not into that. I want to be able to get repair parts at the local auto parts if the thing fails while I'm on the road. So now I'm running a box stock 3G. But any 3G, even a souped-up one like Bill's 160A unit, would be fine because you can always drop another 3G in its place for the trip home. Like maybe even from a salvage Not true of the 1-wire Powermasters as you have to wire specifically for a 1-wire. I'll let Scott/kramttocs persuade you that the Powermasters are the way to go. He's the Powermaster czar as I think he now has three of them - inc my bad one. Took me several years to find someone that would take it off my hands - for free.

You are now on the map. And I've been there a few times. Used to recruit there for Conoco.

Welcome to the forum! Glad you joined. Where are you in CO? I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we can add you with a city or zip. But I can't say if your system has to be completely functional or not. Perhaps others that live in CO can answer, but that is surely something that only the locals know.

Getting it up on ramps would be good, but if you have tree trunks big and solid enough getting it up on them would work as well. However, do you need the rear up? That gets you closer to level and probably would make the engine installation easier. But it makes it all the more precarious. If the rear was still on the ground you could chock the wheels to ensure nothing moves.

You are now on the map.

And then to deliberately tell dealers to only repair vehicles that were known to have contaminated terminals when there was no way to gauge when the terminals would become contaminated, or when the damage would be severe enough for a short to cause combustion, ESPECIALLY on the trucks with the switches pointing down. Absolutely insane. I get the supply chain shortages, but with how simple the harnesses were, it blows my mind that it took so long. I'm thinking about the manager that let someone design the always-hot circuit in the first place. And then apparently allowed the same team to design the solution - fuse the ground. And seemingly the same team designed the solution to the first solution - clag on another fuse and a label to tell everyone these can't be serviced. So, did that manager as well as the whole team get fired? The third go at it seems much more reasonable, so obviously it was a new team. But then the bean-counters get involved saying you can't put the good solution on if the switch hasn't failed yet - in spite of the fact that when it fails it may burn the vehicle up. Man, this whole thing is bizarre. I hope bunches of people were on the street.

I did a little Googling and found tons of problems with those heads, but not specifically the one you've described, Cory. As for the open ports, I would think that would be counter to everything I know of in intake plumbing, but I'm obviously not an engineer, much less an engine engineer. Still, it sure is strange. I think I just figured out where Ford got the "engineers" that designed the always-hot brake switch in the 90's that burned up a bunch of vehicles. And then they let the same engineers design the solution - put a fuse in the ground circuit - when the power was going to ground through the master cylinder itself.

Welcome, Tyler! Glad you joined. Would you like to be on our map? (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu.) Nice truck! Bummer on the dent, but apparently it wasn't too bad.

Yep. Just think how stupid it is to wire it with constant power in the first place. It is serving a switched-power accessory so there's no advantage of any kind to having it always powered. Then to put a fuse in the ground circuit when it was clear that the short was to the aluminum of the master cylinder itself was ludicrous. Ford didn't even have the first graders engineering that thing.

You should be good as the re-designed switches aren't prone to internal breakdown like the original. The recall was still VERY fresh back when I bought my 2003 Ranger in 2010. I remember popping the hood at the dealership to make sure it didn't have a red switch because I didn't know the changeover date. My 2002 Ranger was built in late 2001, so of course it's included in the recall, but the 2003 Ranger was built May 2003, so it's well past the changeover date and already had the updated wiring (switched power, built-in to the harness) and newer switch. I dissected the "repair" harness when I installed the final iteration on the 2002, and if I remember correctly, it had two fuses, so it was the second iteration. I left it on there because the 2002 Ranger is still wired in a way that provides constant power to the SCDS, which is what was causing them to burn overnight when shut down and parked. It doesn't seem to affect anything having it connected to the newer fusible link adapter, so I'll probably just leave it. Yes, it should be ok. But Bill was suggesting I might want to change the source of the power from always-on to switched, just for the extra piece of mind. So I'll see how easy that will be as I get into that aspect of the wiring. There will be a ton of wiring to do, so changing that won't be difficult.

The switch being down WAS an issue, because those applications were the ones catching fire due to the ease of the brake fluid flowing downhill into the switch. On vehicles with the switch on top, it was less likely for brake fluid to congregate uphill, so they weren't prone to catching fire. But if you have the newer switch and harness, you should be fine. I enjoyed reading that TSB because 2001-2002 Ranger is mentioned multiple times, and I happen to own one. In fact, it had been serviced at some point, but only with the fused harness, and not the new switch with new adapter/fused link harness. It still had the red switch, which I promptly removed and replaced with 1L1Z-9F924-AA. According to the below snippet, that should have been done a long time ago, but I assume wasn't because my old red switch was still dry even when I removed it. Luckily my SCDS is also top mounted, so low risk. I need to check and see if I still have the fused harness in there, as I did not realize the adapter harness doubles as a fusible link; I assumed it was just an adapter to the new style switch. If I understand correctly, there are three harnii: The original "fix" where they put an externally-accessible fuse in the ground circuit The fix I have which has two externally-accessible fuses, one in the ground circuit and one in the power circuit The last iteration with the fusible link(s) and no externally-accessible fuses I plan on getting pics of the last two when my new one comes in. But that comes in with the new switch as well, which will replace the red switch that was on the '95 F450. So, while it does point down I hope it'll be safe. Anyway, yes the Ranger had the problem as well. So if you had the red switch it was a ticking time bomb. With the fuse(s) it wasn't likely to burn up, but it was likely to leak. But I'll bet you have the fused harness, although the question is how many fuses?

By "checks out", I assume you mean the air didn't go through. Good!

Congrat's!!!! Beautiful shot.

That's a chunk of change!

Yes, I powder coated the fuel rails. I have two sets of rails, but the other one has the 3-screw regulator and we agreed some time ago that the later, 2-screw regulator is the way to go. However, that set of fuel rails was rusty so I blasted and PC'd them to stop the rust. And you are right, I'm not going to PC the inside of the MAF casting. After I bake the casting for an hour at 400F, which is necessary with that kind of aluminum casting as the pores hold contaminants that out-gas and blow the powder off, I'll mask it off to keep the powder off. In any event, I'm going to protect the inside as well as the mounting spot for the sensor itself.

Cool! You should be set.

Leading edge! Duh! I should have realized that it had to be the edge. So since it is the leading edge I'm already off as I have the middle of the vane lined up with the middle of the HEP. But it is good enough to go on until I get the ignition installed and can turn the key. And, that's a really good tip to get it where I want it. Cool! And I understand the bit about using the clip as a reference to get it back to where I can do it again and make it right where I want it. Thanks! As for what I did this afternoon, I prepped the fuel rail for installation. I used a felt disk on the Dremel and polishing compound to polish the "bells" where the injectors and fuel line attachments go, and the hole under the fuel pressure regulator where the two o-rings go. All of those where less than shiny when I started, but are shiny now, ready for their o-rings. Then I installed the new fuel pressure regulator, newly-found vacuum hose, and fuel pressure lines. The lines will probably have to come off to connect up to the supply and return lines under the truck, but at least I know they fit nicely. And it isn't difficult when you have the right tool.

That is EXACTLY what I wanted to see. I thank you, and my knees thank you as well! (My Topside Creeper isn't in yet, and I've been up and down like a yoyo, inc kneeling on the radiator support.) And the narrow "arm" of the shutter, which you said is #1, is as closely aligned with the pickup as I can get it. I may be off a degree or two, but it is very close and I'm sure I'll have to set the timing with the SPOUT disconnected when I start dialing it in. As for the clips, they look like they'll clear nicely as they are at about 3:00 and 9:00. And, look what I found. Your picture helped a whole bunch! The fuel pressure regulator just came in so I can start assembling the fuel rail.

That's perfect, Bill. Now I know what to look for. Next question - is this close enough? The #1 terminal is basically where the screw head is, and we are timed at 13 or 14 BTDC. It is off ~1/2" and my math says the next notch in the gear would get me .84", which would be slightly closer at .34". I can't seem to get it in the next notch. I've put it in several times, and either get two notches or this one. And of course, I have to rotate the engine a bit to get it to drop down - surely due to the oil pump shaft laying over to the side. So does it need to go one more?

Right. Or the latch may need to be adjusted a bit looser.

David - I hope you and Natalie keep warm as well. The storm seems to have fizzled here, although they are still saying there's more to come. And I hope your internet is back. I'd be lost w/o that.

I like those campers. Or, maybe I should say I like the look and the idea of them. I've never actually been around one. Are you getting a new one? Do they actually make them now?

Yeah the center cap says Western on them. They do look very similar to the factory wheels, but I notice that the valve stem comes out on the flat part of the wheel whereas the factory wheels have the valve stem on the "step" just slightly further out (if that makes sense). I'm guessing these wheels are wider than the factory, HOPEFULLY no more than 8" wide, as I'm wanting to go back to 235/75R15 tires on this truck. Partly because...well I'm cheap, and I need tires for my 70 F100 too. I don't want to buy for both, so I want to end up with one good set of wheels and tires I can move between the two trucks (they'll usually be on this truck, but they'll go on my 70 when I need to take it places like to the F100 Supernationals that is less than 60 miles from my house). After looking more closely I think you are right. Those are different from mine.