WHYDTYTT: What Have You Done To Your Truck Today?

[ArdWrknTrk]

Finally tried some LED bulbs in my truck and Bronco. I never caught the fact that they have polarity.

Thinking I had a bad batch. Then used my brain and it hurt, and turned the bulb around and wow!

Of the six I replaced, the last one was correct on the first try. Sheez!

Dane, your luck sounds about like mine....lol! That's exactly how it would have gone for me. Actually, you got one out of six. I would have been zero for six. Lucky for me, I bought bulbs where polarity was no issue. And Gary, I'm not a betting man

Jim, I feel for you brother. And here I am gripping because my shop is too small. Least I got a shop that keeps me out of the elements. What's the flywheel on your truck look like?

About like that starter does John.

But only where it likes to stop (up against compression) so I can either turn it by hand or roll it in gear a bit to find a place where the starter will engage.

I've put three starters back together with new nosecone bearings and new pinion/sprag assemblies.

But this ring gear has been giving me fits since I first swapped to the Zf, almost a decade ago.

Though the application is for a '90 460 with a Zf-5 S42 it has been eating starters all along.

(Obviously not as bad as now)

When I first replaced the gearbox (and bought a new flywheel) I had issues.

I thought I had resolved that by shifting the starter in (radially)

Deeper engagement seemed to keep it from climbing out and over the ring gear.

But I really want to lay the new one on top of the old to see where the problem is.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thank you, for inspiring me!

Yes, time will tell.

Time tells me I must have chumped a crimp on the sender side, because after bombing through the snow my gauge reads empty.

I still get a sweep on power-up, so the MeterMatch is functioning, but it doesn't read on either tank.

Maybe I can get to it on Christmas.

The rain should be over then.

[Gary Lewis]

Time tells me I must have chumped a crimp on the sender side, because after bombing through the snow my gauge reads empty.

I still get a sweep on power-up, so the MeterMatch is functioning, but it doesn't read on either tank.

Maybe I can get to it on Christmas.

The rain should be over then.

Bummer, Jim! But at least you know how far you can go. Hope you get it fixed easily.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Bummer, Jim! But at least you know how far you can go. Hope you get it fixed easily.

I'm not bummed at all!

The forum pointed me at a solution to a long standing problem, and while I loathe added complexity it's going to solve my problem of not being able to find the proper senders.

Plus, it is a LOT less expensive than the correct sender for just one tank.(If I could still find them)

I tugged at each connection when I spliced the MeterMatch into my harness.

And I made sure it wasn't being pulled when I tucked the cluster back in.

Maybe things shifted when I wrapped the harness back up?

Maybe it is telling me I should have used a shrink+adhesive butt splice?

I really didn't want to cook one of those way back inside my dashboard, with all the other wires right there.

That mistake is on me. I should have taken the risk, using proper connector, or I should have soldered it.

But if soldering I like to use a linesman's splice and I didn't want to give up that much length.

It's difficult enough to reach back in there as it is.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I'm not bummed at all!

The forum pointed me at a solution to a long standing problem, and while I loathe added complexity it's going to solve my problem of not being able to find the proper senders.

Plus, it is a LOT less expensive than the correct sender for just one tank.(If I could still find them)

I tugged at each connection when I spliced the MeterMatch into my harness.

And I made sure it wasn't being pulled when I tucked the cluster back in.

Maybe things shifted when I wrapped the harness back up?

Maybe it is telling me I should have used a shrink+adhesive butt splice?

I really didn't want to cook one of those way back inside my dashboard, with all the other wires right there.

That mistake is on me. I should have taken the risk, using proper connector, or I should have soldered it.

But if soldering I like to use a linesman's splice and I didn't want to give up that much length.

It's difficult enough to reach back in there as it is.

I agree that it is hard to reach back in there. For sure. I soldered my connections and used heat shrink with adhesive.

EDIT: On the issue of the senders, the lack of availability and high cost now, plus the probability of the availability & cost getting worse as supplies dry up, was a big reason I went with the FDM's. It was a paint converting everything, including the tanks, over to the more modern system, but I think it'll be worth it. So I fully understand why you did it.

[85lebaront2]

About like that starter does John.

But only where it likes to stop (up against compression) so I can either turn it by hand or roll it in gear a bit to find a place where the starter will engage.

I've put three starters back together with new nosecone bearings and new pinion/sprag assemblies.

But this ring gear has been giving me fits since I first swapped to the Zf, almost a decade ago.

Though the application is for a '90 460 with a Zf-5 S42 it has been eating starters all along.

(Obviously not as bad as now)

When I first replaced the gearbox (and bought a new flywheel) I had issues.

I thought I had resolved that by shifting the starter in (radially)

Deeper engagement seemed to keep it from climbing out and over the ring gear.

But I really want to lay the new one on top of the old to see where the problem is.

Jim, I would be willing to bet that either you have a lot of end play on your crank or the ring gear was installed either too far back, or backwards. The latter was a common issue on the FE engines as the original starter was the old 'folo-thru" Bendix drive, that had small spring loaded detents that (in theory) would keep the drive engaged until the engine started. These came into the flywheel ring gear from the back side, when Ford switched to the moveable pole piece starter it engages from the front. Ring gear teeth are beveled on the engaging to enable the gears to mesh easier. If the bevel is on the wrong side it makes it harder for the gears to mesh resulting in chewed up teeth.

The reason I say too far back, the gears are chewed up halfway across like they are not fully engaged.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Jim, I would be willing to bet that either you have a lot of end play on your crank or the ring gear was installed either too far back, or backwards. The latter was a common issue on the FE engines as the original starter was the old 'folo-thru" Bendix drive, that had small spring loaded detents that (in theory) would keep the drive engaged until the engine started. These came into the flywheel ring gear from the back side, when Ford switched to the moveable pole piece starter it engages from the front. Ring gear teeth are beveled on the engaging to enable the gears to mesh easier. If the bevel is on the wrong side it makes it harder for the gears to mesh resulting in chewed up teeth.

The reason I say too far back, the gears are chewed up halfway across like they are not fully engaged.

Bill,

When this whole thing started I'd measured 5 thou of end play.

I don't know anything about the ring gear spec because it came on my new flywheel.

But the teeth are beveled and the ring gear seems to sit right up tight to the recess.

So I'm fairly sure the beveled ID is facing it.

Hopefully the new one I have drops right on with a rosebud, and my starter problems are solved.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Bill,

When this whole thing started I'd measured 5 thou of end play.

I don't know anything about the ring gear spec because it came on my new flywheel.

But the teeth are beveled and the ring gear seems to sit right up tight to the recess.

So I'm fairly sure the beveled ID is facing it.

Hopefully the new one I have drops right on with a rosebud, and my starter problems are solved.

Well, I've got some air horn gaskets arriving today so I've been scraping at that darn gasket this morning.

I had to resolve my blower motor failure, and I found this

The motor plug was "crunchy"

But I got out the heat shrink and a zip tie

Then mummified the whole thing in self fusing silicone tape.

Better than this!

[Gary Lewis]

Well, I've got some air horn gaskets arriving today so I've been scraping at that darn gasket this morning.

I had to resolve my blower motor failure, and I found this

The motor plug was "crunchy"

But I got out the heat shrink and a zip tie

Then mummified the whole thing in self fusing silicone tape.

Better than this!

Well done! That should last for years. And now you have defrost!

[85lebaront2]

Well done! That should last for years. And now you have defrost!

Gary, the blower motor wiring is the one place Ford used the 0.110 pins in a connector (inside) that really needed bigger connectors due to the current draw on high. I have run into more than a few where the plug was partially melted from the heat. At a minimum they need to be new and probably greased to prevent corrosion.