95 XL hunting truck

[cbans]

Hopefully, it holds up for a while. Has anybody done the dash fix? My dash is broke loose on the passenger side. I searched it here and nothing came up. I googled it and I guess Ford's solution was to rivet a piece of strap to the dash and bolt it down. Sounds good......

[hobbyturnedobsession]

Yeah there used to be a kit you could get from ford but its been discontinued.

[cbans]

Look what I found in the salvage yard in a 93 f150. Tore the dash apart and installed it. Much better.

[cbans]

My motor was missing those stand off bolts that the coil bracket mounts to. So, I got those too but they aren't the right ones. Slightly larger... I am gonna have to open up the holes on my bracket a little bit. Maybe tomorrow.

[Rmc]

Nice! I still need to make one of those or order it

[cbans]

I fixed the dash and the coil and that is good but, l still have other problems. Every third time or so when I start the truck it idles up to 1500 rpms for about 25 sec then stumbles goes back to 1500 rpms for about 3 secs then idles down. It seems to stay a little high 1000 rpms. When it first Idles up the check engine light flashes four times. The other problem I noticed is on the interstate going 75 mph in overdrive. If I accelerate (or load the eng) for a few minutes I lose the a/c air flow. So, I assume that I am losing vacuum and the damper is closing (cuz it doesn't hit me in the feet). Is this a stuck check valve or do I still have a vacuum leak....? I ran the KOEO and KOER tests and it passes.
Thanks,
Chris

[hobbyturnedobsession]

More than likely a vacuum leak. Check the white vacuum line on top of the heater /ac box near the firewall.

[Rmc]

That or a vacuum solenoid failing under higher operating temps. Internal insulation issue within the vacuum solenoids coil. I'd start with the "t" plastic unions. You can also dead head ( plug) any section of the vacuum system ( u must isolate each section from air leaks from where the normal source of vacuum is coming from ( the intake manifold) with a brake bleeder hand vacuum pump.

[cbans]

Well because the guy before me had tore into the a/c portion of the vacuum system I didn't get to see how it was supposed to be. The diagram under the hood only shows the emissions related stuff. Long story short I didn't have a check valve and it wasn't run thru the second vacuum canister. I am going to try cleaning the IAC and the throttle body to fix the idle on start up problem.

[Rmc]

Make sure carbon build up isn't keeping the egr valve open that will cause all kinds of choking and hesitation issues at low rpm.

[cbans]

I cleaned the IAC and what I could reach in the throttle body. I had the problem show itself after that but, I took the truck on a long drive and now the problem seems to be gone. Maybe, the computer was trying to relearn the correct idle rpm? BTW, the truck is getting 11.4 mpg in the city and 13.5 mpg on the highway (78 mph with some decent grade changes). I think that should get a little better when get the exhaust done.

[cbans]

Well, since my last post... I was thinking I was about to move on to upgrades (exhaust, frontend) and the bronco had other ideas. I drove the truck parked it for an hour came out to go somewhere and my speedo didn't work and all the other stuff on that ckt/fuse were out (ABS, o2 heater trans etc). I changed out the fuse and started troubleshooting. It would blown every time I put the bronco into reverse. I removed the backup lamps and it still blew. I removed the neutral safety switch off trans and it didn't blow. I ran out of time and parked the truck. Came out the next day and the truck wouldn't start (fuse was out all night). Since then I have been chasing all kinds trouble. Started with changing out the pigtail on the o2 sensor on the passenger side (the wires were exposed and shorting). Now I have a ckt with everything turned off and its over 5 amps. I have removed all the fuses and if I run the neg battery lead to my volt meter then to the term I still have -12v/5amp ckt. I took the lamp out under the hood btw. I have removed the wiring off of the starter and the alternator with no success. Are there any other easy things I am over looking?

[Rmc]

Wires running to the trailer receiver?

[cbans]

Now I can't duplicate the 5 amp draw for some reason. The trouble I had on the "E" fuse from the block under the hood is in the dash. A buddy of mine helped me chase it today. The trouble is on the Black/pink wire going up into the dash and back out (but the trouble is definitely in the dash). That lead is for the power mirrors that I don't have. Done for today.

[cbans]

I found the problem. It was a wire that went up over the windshield for an overhead console or day/night rear view mirror. Short to ground out on the only metal interior piece in the whole truck.

[Rmc]

Well done. I never would have thought of that.

[cbans]

I didn't think of it. It was a painful, labor intensive tracing project. I really don't want to do that again any time soon.

[cbans]

Thanks for the idea.

[cbans]

after

[cbans]

So I had the exhaust done. Its double inlet cat out to 3" all the way out the back (stock location). Seems like the truck lost 1 mpg in the city and gained a little less than 1 mpg on the highway. Runs better. I have new pro comp 4" lift coils, radius arms and 4.11 gears (gonna run 33s) ordered and should get them Tuesday. I am thinking about cutting my own beams. I was reading through here and was trying to figure out ideal caster and camber. I have seen 6 - 8 degrees being stock caster and that guys are running up to 18 degrees on c&t. Would 10 degrees be a good target?