85lebaront2

And do the Bullnose era trucks use standard fittings? I just checked the output fitting on this 1996 C2 pump, and they are M16x1.5 metric. Seems like they can be converted to regular AN fittings pretty easily. Bullnose pumps use English thread measurement system. The Bricknose pump used a metric thread fitting so I just used a 1990 pressure hose. I was also putting a 1996 steering box on. Pressure output of the pumps is determined by the customer's (Ford in our case) requirements. This is why all Saginaw pumps are not equal. I did some pictures of the flow valves and fittings for Gary a while back. pumps were a Saginaw from a 460 E-series, and one from a Chrysler FWD (K-car) E-series uses a Ford power steering box and the K-car a power rack and pinion gear made by one of two different sources (gotta love Chrysler). To throw something else in, my LeBaron has a ZF power steering pump which is a vane pump like a Saginaw, just more compact and with a better belt tension adjustment.

Just remember, computers are actually pretty dumb, they do exactly what you tell them too, HAL 9000 hasn't made it to the mainstream yet, so you don't get "Gary, I can't do that".

Dave, if it is a stock Ford DS-II distributor, under the pickup plate are two weights, two different strength springs and a stop. The light spring is the first advance stage and it's total is limited by the heavy spring. First would be to see at what rpm the advance slows down, if it is above the rpm where you get the ping, then bend the light spring hanger out a bit and try it. If it is above the rpm where the rate slows down, put some more tension on the heavy spring. This can also be used to change the amount of the initial mechanical advance.

The 429s I had, 1970 and 1971 took the Delco solenoid shift starter. It was wired using the normal Ford relay and had a jumper strap from the battery terminal at the starter to the S terminal on the starter mounter solenoid.

On thing I found the hard way on Darth, didn't hit anything and it fortunately happened after I had parked the 5th wheel at a campground. I went to go somewhere and the pedal went down slowly and finally stopped with the brake light on. The brake lines on these trucks run down the inside of the rear left side rail, going up over the axle kickup, then back down into the corner where the crossmember behind the axle joins the side rail where it makes a 90° bend. This bend is located in a pocket where dirt and water accumulate. Try to find the correct combination of lines and fittings in the boonies on a Sunday.

First, you think battery sizes on a Bullnose are strange, try a K-car derived platform. The battery sizes are weird, retention is like a lot of Fords, a clamp on the flange molded into the bottom of the case. On all of my Ford vehicles currently I have Motorcraft top of the line group 65 batteries as that is what the Flexes take and Darth has the Bricknose front sheet metal and inner fenders. Funny story regarding batteries for Fords, a number of years ago I had a 1971 Mercury Colony Park which was described in a car magazine write-up as the closest thing you could buy to a Lincoln station wagon. The Mercury sedans and hardtops used a Mercury frame and front sheet metal and were longer than a Ford, but the wagons were Country Sedans or Squires with Mercury front ends, but Ford fenders. Two issues arose from that, since the frames were Ford the exhaust catalogs lumped them together as "one size fits all". Great, except Ford base engines started with a 240 six, a 302 V8, then a 351W V8, I think the 390 was there in it's last year and a 429 as the top option. Mercury wagons had a 351W as base engine, then a 429 2 barrel and a 429 4 barrel. The last two were identical except for the intake and carburetor. All exhaust systems were single. The six and small V8 had a small tailpipe, the medium V8 got a slightly larger one and the 429s had a 2 1/4" one. Catalog "standardization logic" caused several companies to consolidate at the small V8 size. The other was batteries, open a door or even worse the tailgate on that Colony Park, and I think it was something on the order of 9 - 12 lights would come on. Stick the best group 24F in it (what the Ford models took as standard) and spend some time packing the car for a trip = dead enough battery it wouldn't crank the high compression 429. Battery listed as optional but standard on 429 models, a group 27F. Parts store tried to tell me the 24F was correct for ALL 1971 full size Mercurys. I called them when it wouldn't crank and asked what they wanted to do about the problem, ended up refunding my money, giving me the old battery back so I could go to a store that carried the correct battery (I think it was Sears I went to for the correct one). Today there are a lot of compact powerful batteries, but not in the late 80s - early 90s.

One of the big issues is the 1985/86 5.0L EFI system is different in many ways so a later computer will plug in, but not run correctly. The EGR control system was only used in 1985/86. The engine its self has the worst heads Ford ever used on the small Windsors (221-302) with the exception of the 255 engine used in cars. As far as fitting things, Ford relocated the air filter to the left inner fender in 1987 and all EFI engines 1987-1996/7 have it there. The later bracket can be adapted to the 1985/86 fender, and Gary Lewis has done it and documented the method. The other 1987 change was the EEC location, it was moved down into a recess in the left cowl next to the driver's footwell and the EEC power and fuel pump relays were moved underhood on the back side of the air cleaner bracket. Since your truck is a manual transmission model, essentially a Mustang 5.0L for a 5 speed along with it's wiring, sensors and EEC can be "dropped in". For a strong package without going to a 351, a later Explorer 5.0L has some of the best heads (GT40 or GT40P), but horrible exhaust headers to clear the body. These are a DIS system, but will accept a normal distributor. Starting with the 1994 model year, Ford went to a roller cam on the 5.0L, MAF/SEFI injection and changed the firing order. The early wiring harness will not work correctly in stock form, but there are kits available to upgrade or convert to later systems, or the harness can be redone to a later configuration by moving wires around in the EEC 60 way connector and adding a few if needed.

Go junkyard prowling and find a nice 1978 or earlier F150/250 with a 300 six, get the distributor, DS-II box and as much of the wiring as you can and the nice simple YFA carb with minimal emission stuff on it. You can get the DS-II wiring from the bigger engine F series trucks up through 1987, up through 1986 the left side front wiring is set up for EFI. feedback carb or none depending on the engine as long as it is a gas engine. Once you have these in hand, you can get rid of all the computer crap (hint, sell it to someone who needs it). On your carb, you can see where the throttle body to float bowl gasket had started to come apart.

The 1997 up F150 and 1998 up 250/350 use bed bolts like that.

The other thing in his description, choke flapping open and closed coupled with the truck sits for a long time, valves sticking maybe? Are we having a special this month on 1985 six cylinder trucks?

Ok let's take these one at a time. First, lifter tick, are you sure it is lifter(s) or might it be a leaking exhaust (manifold to head) gasket? It may also be the mixture control solenoid on the carburetor. Rough running, stinky exhaust, lots of carbon in the tailpipe. First thing I always check on a Carter YFA, is for loose screws (not the owner, we all have them for liking 30+ year old trucks) the ones that hold the throttle body to the float bowl. These are the three (occasionally four) that are installed from the bottom holding the aluminum (silver) part to the pot metal (gold) part. The harmonic vibration of the in-line six will cause them to loosen and the weight of the air cleaner doesn't help. This is why Ford used a brace from the driver's side of the head to the air cleaner can. If the screws are loose, with the air cleaner off, you will find you can move the main body of the carburetor, if so, it is rebuild time. The other item is the design of the carburetor internally, there is a diaphragm about 1" across that does double duty. The bottom of it is connected internally to manifold vacuum to pull it down, lowering the metering rod to lean the main mixture. The top side is the accelerator pump and as it is pulled up by the linkage internally, it provides a shot of gas when the throttle is opened with the engine running. Your truck has a feedback system for mixture control, but even with it inoperable it can't get but so rich. The mixture control solenoid affects the air bleeds for the main and idle circuits and is the cylindrical "can" on the valve cover side of the carburetor attached to the top section of the carburetor. It has a two wire plug on the bottom end of it. I hope I haven't overloaded you with information. Good luck with it!

If you are pointing to the rusted out piece, it looks like the Thermactor system check valve. On the YFA carburetors, first thing to check is the float bowl to throttle body joint (it is the one between the aluminum bottom portion and the gold part above it) if you can get any movement there, then that is the problem.

I suspect that we may have had that issue, because he grabbed two old halogen bulbs out of a box for testing. We put LEDs in pretty much everything, now that we found a brand with a good pattern on the road and longevity. Ersatz bulbs from our fleet may have caused the odd symptoms in my OP. But when we tested for voltage drop tonight, we found a bigger problem. When a halogen bulb is running on the driver side, the voltage supplied to the passenger side socket high beam drops to 7v. I also noted that 0.2v leaks in from the parking lights into the low beam circuit on that side. At this point, given the age of the truck, I'm going to teach him how to put his headlights on battery-direct relays so that the (apparently functional) driver side headlight wires only trigger the relays. Should be a good teachable moment for the young man. And we'll use new headlight plugs and all-new 14g wires in split loom, so he could also use that to run an LED light bar etc. As young men do these days. Gary you and I are of the pre-halogen age when DOT sealed beam headlights were dismally dim and that's all anybody had. I was 16 when I first discovered Cibie and Marchal replacement lamps with - gasp - halogen H4 or H1 bulbs, in non-DOT non-sealed beam EU lenses. They were as much of an improvement as LEDs are today. But they sucked down the power, so I always installed battery-direct relays. On one Volvo 244 with quad lamps I wound up running hi-watt H4s in all four for a retina-sizzling total of 480 watts. That car had battery-direct relays fed by the stock Volvo relays, lol. I once wangled my way out of a speeding ticket by convincing the cop to write me up for illegal lights instead, a fix-it ticket that was dismissed merely by showing they had been replaced with sealed beams. Until I got home. Shades of my 1966 GT350. A Canadian friend brought me back a Christmas present one year, a pair of Cibie 7" headlamps for it. I didn't do any relay adds and they would probably take paint off at 30', I lived on a 2 block long dead end street and turning in and hitting the high beams, I could read the registration numbers on the boat parked at the other end of the street. I got stopped more for the exhaust (Hooker 1 5/8" primary and 3" collector headers into Hooker Header mufflers and out at a 45° just in front of the rear wheels) than any other reason. I was pulled by a VA state trooper on I64 one evening and after showing him the 1965 owner's manual depicting the side exhausts he zeroed in on the headlights and when he looked at the inspection receipt was surprised to find it was one of the better know honest shops in the area. He was going to go have a talk with them the next day. I suspect they convinced him they were a Shelby American item and were acceptable. I gave them back to my friend, who I believe put them in his CA registered Maverick (US Army SSgt stationed locally). The exhaust almost got me an honorary membership in the local Corvette club. We had just finished a high speed event at a local airfield/drag strip and I was headed home to change and head for an SCCA Christmas party. Road from Suffolk (where the airfield is) was a 2 lane 55 mph road with deep ditches on both sides. Just below the Suffolk City line I had one of their finest pull up to me and hit his lights and siren. My first assumption was I was over the speed limit as my speedometer cable had gone out a couple of days before and tach was jumpy. I signaled to the officer I heard him and pointed to a wide area just ahead and put my right signal on. He wasn't happy and wooped his siren, I reached the wider section and pulled in, shut the engine off and activated the flashers. When he got to me he started the why didn't you stop when I first got to you. I told him point blank I was not about to leave my one of 750 red GT350s sitting where it could be totaled, if he wanted to leave his cruiser there that was fine. He thought about it and said ok, then started on the exhaust. In addition to the 1965 owners manual I had a copy of the pertinent portion of the VA Motor Vehicle Code on exhaust systems. He had to call his Sgt. and while they were debating it 11 illegal side pipe equipt Corvettes drove by nicely minding their own business. When they realized I was completely legal and the cars they were after just drove into the next county, they weren't real happy.

You have one of those Chinese Chevy distributors? Trash can is the best place for it. I personally would go back to a breaker point system before I would touch one of them. Mechanical advance on GM distributors is under the rotor and is easy to check by removing the cap. with the cap off, grab the rotor and turn it counterclockwise, it should turn with some spring tension and return when released. Vacuum advance can be checked with a vacuum pump, or with the engine running fast enough to have vacuum at the hose, connecting and disconnecting it should bring a noticeable rpm change.

Randy, I would look at the distributor, vacuum advance and mechanical advance in particular. A bad vacuum advance will kill gas mileage as will a sticking ar flat out stuck mechanical advance mechanism.

Randy, all hot air chokes have a vacuum passage internally to pull the air through. The water heated ones still will have a choke pull-off, either an internal piston or a diaphragm that can be internal or external.

Too bad you're down there, I used to own a carburetor and ignition shop. BTW, that gas mileage puts you in the 460 range. 12.5 mpg at 70-75 mph with a 6400 lb F350 Dually.

That was my thought also, it can be carried with you. However, if you would finish the injection system.....

I saw something years ago someone had built, not as portable or fast as a tire step. He had built a platform in three sections that went front and both sides at about the height of the tire step. The sections hooked together so you had to drive the truck in partially, hook them together and drive the rest of the way in. Advantage, a walk around work platform. Disadvantages, need to assemble, disassemble and store between uses.

That's why mine is 40' X 40' and since the roof isn't flat 18' high at the highest point. Plenty of light (thanks Gary) and I can heat if needed with an old torpedo heater I was given after the owner thought the spark plug was bad and no replacement to be found. Cleaned it off, reset the gap like my dad taught me to do on our oil furnace and it lights every time. I use a Tractor Supply barn heater thermostat that goes in series with the cord to cycle it when I'm out there. Lift is planned, If I had the funds recently a shop I know closed and He had a nice twin post that I know will lift Darth, it was the inspection bay lift.

I have run into headlight bulbs that appear identical but the L H and G pins are in different locations. Just for the heck of it swap the bulbs side to side, if the problem follows the bulb, check the numbers on them. If it remains the same, then dig into the wiring.

I will have to look at Darth's headlight plugs and report back to you. Do check the ground resistance as the grounds could be an issue.

I think I put AutoZone Duralast on Darth when I changed the axle to get a limited slip but that was 10 years ago. I did go to wider shoes since the drums were wider.

Ok, first thing cab and chassis trucks used a Dana axle, either 60 or 70 and should have hub and drum assemblies. I don't know if the frame and spring spacing are the same as DRW pickups, I do know the pickup wheel spacing is wider so the bed is 50" side to side at the inner fender area. The Sterling 10.25" has removable drums (slide on) which makes brake servicing much easier. My AllData is not super informative, but does show 2 different brake drums, a 12X3 and a 12 1/8X3.

Gary, I would bet that like other changes it varied by assembly plant. I think Matt's "Stolen" 86 F150 had it on the transfer case, Darth's was in the cable at the floor to firewall seam. Stolen was built in Norfolk VA, Darth in Oakville ONT.