chirkware Posted November 4, 2023 Author Share Posted November 4, 2023 OK, so the particular rusty gate that was on "Larry" when I bought it was likely off an 80-82 XLT/Lariat truck, but that panel is correct for 80-84. Any thoughts on the value for that panel? I've heard they are hard to find. Got my work cut out for me tomorrow! I flushed the system a few days ago, now time for new hoses, tstat, and coolant. Wish I knew exactly how much water from the flush remains in the block. Me thinks this was the original bypass hose. Talk about swollen, and my first time having the privilege of dealing with this clamp type. Thought I had everything on hand and then I realized I don't have a gasket for the thermostat housing so I'll have to run out in the morning for a $3 part. 🤦🏻♂️ Thankfully I'm not far from parts stores and I have a different vehicle to get there in. Replacement starter should go on tomorrow too hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 4, 2023 Share Posted November 4, 2023 Got my work cut out for me tomorrow! I flushed the system a few days ago, now time for new hoses, tstat, and coolant. Wish I knew exactly how much water from the flush remains in the block. Me thinks this was the original bypass hose. Talk about swollen, and my first time having the privilege of dealing with this clamp type. Thought I had everything on hand and then I realized I don't have a gasket for the thermostat housing so I'll have to run out in the morning for a $3 part. 🤦🏻♂️ Thankfully I'm not far from parts stores and I have a different vehicle to get there in. Replacement starter should go on tomorrow too hopefully. That looks like a good day's work. As for how much water is left, I always play it safe and assume more water than is usually in there. Since they hold about 16 quarts, meaning 4 gallons, I assume there's a gallon left in the engine. But that usually gives me a rich mix of coolant, meaning more than 50% coolant, so I can add water instead of coolant as the air comes out. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirkware Posted November 5, 2023 Author Share Posted November 5, 2023 That looks like a good day's work. As for how much water is left, I always play it safe and assume more water than is usually in there. Since they hold about 16 quarts, meaning 4 gallons, I assume there's a gallon left in the engine. But that usually gives me a rich mix of coolant, meaning more than 50% coolant, so I can add water instead of coolant as the air comes out. Good luck! Boy that thermostat housing is fun to mess with! I had leaks there after getting things back together. Finally looked up the torque specs on those two bolts (12-15 apparently) and torqued them to exactly 15. No more leaks. Yay! Ended up reusing that weird OEM Ford clamp for the bypass hose where it attaches to the tstat housing as there's no room for a regular hose clamp. Accidentally figured out that my shop vacs little hose fits great in the opening once the tstat housing is off. Sucked out at least a half gallon of water that way while I was just trying to clean out some debris that got in there when I was scraping off remains of the old gasket. Got done with this and came in and baked a home made pizza. Quite tasty! Once I ate too much, the engine had cooled, and the exhaust wasn't 400 degrees, I pulled the starter. Then I learned that my $52 Amazon special was wrong. No where near right. Not even the right bolt pattern. Back it goes. Weird thing is, the pictures on the Amazon listing look just like the starter I need. Two steps forward, one step back. As always! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 5, 2023 Share Posted November 5, 2023 Boy that thermostat housing is fun to mess with! I had leaks there after getting things back together. Finally looked up the torque specs on those two bolts (12-15 apparently) and torqued them to exactly 15. No more leaks. Yay! Ended up reusing that weird OEM Ford clamp for the bypass hose where it attaches to the tstat housing as there's no room for a regular hose clamp. Accidentally figured out that my shop vacs little hose fits great in the opening once the tstat housing is off. Sucked out at least a half gallon of water that way while I was just trying to clean out some debris that got in there when I was scraping off remains of the old gasket. Got done with this and came in and baked a home made pizza. Quite tasty! Once I ate too much, the engine had cooled, and the exhaust wasn't 400 degrees, I pulled the starter. Then I learned that my $52 Amazon special was wrong. No where near right. Not even the right bolt pattern. Back it goes. Weird thing is, the pictures on the Amazon listing look just like the starter I need. Two steps forward, one step back. As always! That pizza sure does look good! Glad you got the leaks fixed. I've found that many thermostat housings are warped and I flatten them with a file before installing them. That seems to help seal things up. As for the starter, the pictures on Amazon are frequently incorrect. As is that starter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirkware Posted November 10, 2023 Author Share Posted November 10, 2023 That pizza sure does look good! Glad you got the leaks fixed. I've found that many thermostat housings are warped and I flatten them with a file before installing them. That seems to help seal things up. As for the starter, the pictures on Amazon are frequently incorrect. As is that starter! Got a remanufactured starter from O’Reilly with lifetime warranty installed this evening. Let it get good and hot and then shut it off. It starts right back up no problem now! :nabble_smiley_good: Not sure why I had convinced myself it wasn’t the starter and started chasing the charging system. Good news is I’ve got all I need to do a 3g upgrade. Maybe at some point I’ll get these gauges working. 😃 Engine had been running 20 minutes or more when I took that pic. No way the engine was cold! I’m thinking I may need a pigtail for the harness at the sending unit. I recall that connection didn’t seem like it was very tight. If that’s not it, is it possible i just need to run a ground somewhere on the fuel tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 Got a remanufactured starter from O’Reilly with lifetime warranty installed this evening. Let it get good and hot and then shut it off. It starts right back up no problem now! :nabble_smiley_good: Not sure why I had convinced myself it wasn’t the starter and started chasing the charging system. Good news is I’ve got all I need to do a 3g upgrade. Maybe at some point I’ll get these gauges working. 😃 Engine had been running 20 minutes or more when I took that pic. No way the engine was cold! I’m thinking I may need a pigtail for the harness at the sending unit. I recall that connection didn’t seem like it was very tight. If that’s not it, is it possible i just need to run a ground somewhere on the fuel tank? Fuel tank senders ground back to the dashboard behind the radio (I believe) Let me check the EVTM.... Edit: yup! G701 is behind the instrument panel at the right of the radio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 Got a remanufactured starter from O’Reilly with lifetime warranty installed this evening. Let it get good and hot and then shut it off. It starts right back up no problem now! :nabble_smiley_good: Not sure why I had convinced myself it wasn’t the starter and started chasing the charging system. Good news is I’ve got all I need to do a 3g upgrade. Maybe at some point I’ll get these gauges working. 😃 Engine had been running 20 minutes or more when I took that pic. No way the engine was cold! I’m thinking I may need a pigtail for the harness at the sending unit. I recall that connection didn’t seem like it was very tight. If that’s not it, is it possible i just need to run a ground somewhere on the fuel tank? That IS good news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chirkware Posted November 10, 2023 Author Share Posted November 10, 2023 Fuel tank senders ground back to the dashboard behind the radio (I believe) Let me check the EVTM.... Ahh…somewhere behind this mess you mean? If so, that might explain it. I need to clean this up and remove a lot of spliced in wiring. Thanks for the advice as always! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 Fuel tank senders ground back to the dashboard behind the radio (I believe) Let me check the EVTM.... Ahh…somewhere behind this mess you mean? If so, that might explain it. I need to clean this up and remove a lot of spliced in wiring. Thanks for the advice as always! There's a screw into the metal frame of the dash. Look for multiple black wires with ring terminals. If you look in the front of the '86 EVTM there should be illustrations which show all the grounds in place. If you don't have your own hard copy it's WELL worth putting a saved search into eBay and waiting for one to show up for about $25 delivered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted November 10, 2023 Share Posted November 10, 2023 Fuel tank senders ground back to the dashboard behind the radio (I believe) Let me check the EVTM.... Ahh…somewhere behind this mess you mean? If so, that might explain it. I need to clean this up and remove a lot of spliced in wiring. Thanks for the advice as always! If I remember right, I got to that ground on my 86 by removing the dash cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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