ArdWrknTrk

It was exciting for me to watch the Livestream and recovery of the Dragon Crew-6 capsule. Yes, these men (and woman) aren't returning from the moon, but it was a long run from Apollo to the first Crew Dragon splashdown three years ago.

I did not replace the bolt and washer. They weren't badly corroded and came out fine for me the few times I've had my timing cover off to replace the timing set. Perhaps you don't intend to go that deep, but it might be wise to check if there's considerable slop in your cam timing?

If the pinion nut comes loose the pinion will get sucked in on overrun. This usually means the tip chews into the carrier, and if that gash gets deep enough the carrier splits. AMHIK.

Expanding the lug under the head to a long lozenge shape that will engage the holes in the bed floor. Take one out and have a look... Of course, if you have rusty bolts and a welder you'll likely end up tacking the old bolt heads to the floor so they don't spin and you can get them off.

Laurie, pulling the pinion involves removing both axles and the carrier+ring gear. You could torque the pinion nut then check the backlash and turning resistance.

Yep. Headliner and rear window up through 1996. If you want to go with an aftermarket rear slider you need a new gasket intended for a single glazed window. (I now have a slider from C.R. Laurence. It fits well) Bed bolts are tricky and expensive. Carriage bolts can be adapted is you have a welder.

Wow! Fantastic news That was quick. I hope it works well for you.

I have a Dorman balancer on my truck since 2008 and it hasn't caused me any trouble. Often you can "rent" a puller from your local parts store, if you buy the part there. Not much point in purchasing a specialized tool for a one off job. But a 15/16" deep impact socket is a good thing to have, even if you just use it to turn the engine over. I would definitely change the FMS at the same time. Be sure to grease the lip so it doesn't start dry on your new damper.

. Sorry, I didn't realize you knew of him. Just thought that he already had the process down and was familiar with this era Ford switches. Hopefully the person from Next Door can model and print what you need to fix your mirror!

Glad you caught that debris around your resistor! There's a guy in Portland that has been printing window and power lock replacement bezels for a while. https://bluetruckparts.com/ Maybe he could help with your mirror switch? He has an eBay storefront "bluetruckparts"

17mm shaft size is the same. Nut comes right off with an impact. One thing of note is that you may need a thin spacer behind your V-belt pulley so it doesn't rub the 3G housing. I'm not sure why this isn't better spelled out in the instructions.

Good call! I need to study the wiring diagram before I get too much further so I don't miss anything. I do have a piece of 10awg AWM wire that's 18in long and yellow if that's enough. Leftovers from an old APC UPS unit I scrapped after it tried to kill me (long story... Let's just say my face was a foot from it when sparks flew out!). I've got a three day weekend needing a project. 😃👍👍 18" seems like it should be enough to take wire 37 from splice 202 or connector 610 to the starter relay stud, but you can always bring it to the downstream side of your Megafuse holder as well. (this is electrically the same, just the other end of the short cable) Fuselink 'J' goes in the bin, but the hot stud of the starter relay can be crowded depending on how many circuits you have in your truck. On my truck I elected to go for the Megafuse terminal.

Looking back at your post the one thing I see you'll need is a piece of 10Ga. primary wire to bring the yellow 37 wire from where it used to live at C610 to the relay terminal where the charge cable attaches. You see that the cab feeds each have their own fusible links after the splice where it forks. Edit: You won't need a second belt unless you apply too much load, and you aren't changing/adding anything today. The one thing you might notice is a small chirp or squeal on startup.

As you know my truck came with a voltmeter in the cluster. I don't need to know how much makes it to my radio... edit: I did cycle my radio display today and see 14.1V. So a .25V drop from the 14.35V set point of my 3G regulator State of charge will definitely show up in the cab. Not everybody has a winch, 3,000/6,000W inverter, onboard air compressor, and a military radar station loaded in their truck. The 95A 3G is a very viable upgrade for anyone with a 1 or 2G. It puts out a lot more at low rpm's than either of the earlier units and seems more stable. IMHO, more than enough for a stock pickup, but if you get into something like electric fans, heated 6-way electric seats, whatever, the bigger option is the better choice. Edit: rapid swings would be a huge improvement over the stock setup where you don't see anything unless the alternator is cooked or you have a dead short. I still don't know that the shunt (which is all that's feeding the cab) is sized for 95A+. In principal it can't be, as that's how it functions. The ammeter failures I've read about come from the ammeter gauge windings turning into a toaster and melting right out the back of the instrument. If you don't notice that, it burns through the harness and sets the dash on fire.

Did you get the 95A (4 hole) or 130A (2 hole) 3G? That would influence the Megafuse you'd want. The pigtail pair looks good if you have a crimper and some fittings. I don't think you need to fuse LG/R the exciter wire. You certainly don't 'need' an ammeter, or a voltmeter.... Unpinning the R/O and Y/G wires at connector (C610)will completely isolate it. Many of these trucks only had an indicator to show charging. Unlike Gary's instructions I'd want to know power in the cab like your USB would show. It seems an expedient solution without opening the cluster.

They are a common 194 miniature wedge base. The indicator lamps aren't dimmed at all. You shouldn't really need an electronic flasher if you still have incandescent bulbs in the lights themselves. Front and rear lamps alone have plenty of load to cycle a thermal flasher.

Yes. ASI is the regulator connection. The black square with an arrow pointing at a screw "ground here to test" is the integral regulator. See if you can get the lower charge plug free from the alternator housing. Is there corrosion on the contacts? Is the plug itself melted? These are the initial concerns outlined in Ford TSB 96214 Hopefully your battery wasn't toasted by a bad alternator. Feel the back of the alternator to see if it's hot(ish) This is a sure sign that the diodes inside have failed and are passing current. If you have a multimeter, with the key out and the doors closed, set the leads and dial to amps, place it between the negative cable and the negative battery post. There shouldn't be any draw above say 30ma, (radio and/or clock memory)

When I look at the 86 EVTM it seems the stator wire does not connect to the regulator (the center pin is empty) and the stator only comes out in the rectangular charge wire plug. This is a little different than my 87. Probably because I have a voltmeter and not an ammeter.

"There's your problem lady!" So your alternator has two plugs. One grey regulator plug (ovalish) with green and yellow.wires. And a chunkier rectangular plug with two black/orange and a white/black wire? Test first (of course) but consider a 3G upgrade to eliminate dead batteries and the chance of fire.

Sorry, I didn't catch this question. After my 2G killed batteries a couple of times and then melted the wires I gave up on replacing it and went with a 130A 3G from a '92 Taurus 3.8l V6. There's a few wiring changes involving an actual power cable and a Megafuse... Since you have an ammeter you would need to disable it or have it converted to a voltmeter by Rocketman Innovations (~$50) Gary has a writeup under 'Bullnose Upgrades' in the documentation. https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/3g-conversion.html

You can buy an authorized reprint of your specific year EVTM. https://www.themotorbookstore.com/1986-ford-f-series-truck-electrical-vacuum-troubleshooting-manual.html I found a used '87 copy on eBay for $25 delivered... It's been well worth it for all the help they offer.

I can tell you this. I have a little digital angle gauge for setting my woodworking tools (Wixey type 2) It reads in 1/10 degree. If I were going to try and adjust camber id cut a piece of ferrous metal that spanned across my rim (not touching the tire) and stick it on that so I could check progress. Be sure to bounce the suspension/drive forward & back after letting the truck down off the jack after playing with the camber bushings. Good luck!

If you have a new sender and it was reading empty there's an open circuit (somewhere) Best to test the ground side first and then look for pulsing 5V coming from the ICVR to the sender with the key on. The troubleshooting section of the EVTM here on site can help you figure it out. '86 was a year when your truck could come with a 1G (fender mounted regulator box) or a 2G (integrated regulator) The 2G's had a power plug with two black orange wires that would corrode, melt and sometimes burn up. 🔥 The 1G has a power cable bolted to a lug on the back. The ammeter was never any good anyhow, but the wiring is different, so I asked because tracing the fault has different steps. Again the testing methodology is available in the '86 EVTM.

I never said it was a good thing. I said crazy camber when backing up is intrinsic to every TTB I've ever seen. I spent big $$$ with my alignment guy last year and 30 years ago he told me there's nothing he can do about it in reverse. I trusted his father, and I trust him to this day. He was practically born under an alignment rack. Now, if you feel you have too much camber in regular driving perhaps there's a point in dialing some out, but big rims and wide tires aren't helping the cause any.

Two steps forward and one step back, but it sounds like a successful trip overall! Does Larry have a single tank? Where was the gauge reading while out for a drive? You can probe the resistance to ground from a connector without dropping the tank. According to the EVTM the ground is up by the radio. As for your battery do you have the 1G or 2G alternator? Your '86 has an ammeter, correct? If a 2G I'd strongly suggest getting rid of it.