So I'm 33 now and finally own my first truck , an 84 F150 4x4 with the 300 and a 4 speed.. I think. It claims 3 speed + overdrive, reverse is bottom-right. Which trans is this exactly? Odometer says 54k and change, 5 digit odometer.

I was selling an 89 Toyota Cressida with a blown head gasket for $500 and someone offered the truck, straight across trade. I was initially going to sell the truck but I like it a lot! Definitely keeping it.

Truck runs great, I tested the 4x4 and everything seems to work fine. I'm in CA and it's tagged until August, so all it'll cost me to drive it until then is the $15 transfer fee. It also appears that the SMOG equipment is still there and hooked up. I think I got a pretty good deal, what would you guys ask for this truck if you were selling it?

Got a couple issues I want to take care of ASAP. The fuel system is running on the front tank only, and the gauge doesn't work. The rear tank is there so I'm guessing the control valve went out and someone rigged it to run on the one tank only. Is there a diagram online of all the components in the fuel delivery system? Are there fuel level senders in both tanks?

The speedometer is downright hilarious. It spins like a propeller, faster when you drive faster and in reverse when backing up. Likely cause? Where is the damn release button on the headlight ****?

Heater doesn't work. The blower is fine but the slider controls are shot. Are there guides online for rebuilding this? A/C doesn't work either and I'd like it to eventually.

I have a ton of questions but I'll save some for later hah

 

Thats a clean, solid looking truck. Definately a keeper.

 

Not much to it. Sending units in both tanks, switched electrically by the switch in the dash. A solenoid fuel valve about midway on the driver's side of the frame switches the fuel lines from one tank to the other.

I would go to the junkyard and get another speedo, unless you like fiddling with stuff(I do) and want to take it apart and figure out what's wrong with it. It may not be fixable, but you don't know unless you take it apart. The headlight release **** is on the headlight switch, on the opposite side of the wires. Take the battery cable off, pull the headlight **** all the way out, and then push on the release **** and pull the **** and the shaft out of the switch.

Some of the controls are cable operated, so just see what's wrong, some oil may be all that's needed. Again a junkyard would be a good place to search. This is not a common problem, as the speedo is not a common problem either, so you should be able to get something good from a used truck. The sending units in the tanks and the fuel switching valve going bad are a very common problem, so you want to buy new for these.

 

Well you can add a 1 or a 2 to the front of your 54K in my opinion. The engine has evidence of being swapped or at least painted. Ford gray was the engine color in 1984.

Post the transmission code on the safety certification lable and one of us here can decode it.

It's worth what you got for it, so yeah you did good.

$500 / $1000 maximum. It looks like it's been in a front end wreck at some point. The air deflector under the grille and over the bumper is a different color. Also where the fenders and doors meet looks to be crumpled and is also a sign of a front end impact where the front radiator support was pushed back.

There looks to be some serious issues that need to be taken care of that I'll mention further down.

Yes there are two fuel level sending units. One for each tank. The control valve is a simple three way solenoid valve so if that's the only problem it's easy to fix. You want to get both tanks working before it needs to be smogged. Your truck is exempt from evaporative emissions testing if your truck has two WORKING tanks. So you need to take care of that. I will post the wiring diagram for the gauges and valve in a seperate post.

The speedometer head is defective, or someone put the wrong speedometer gear in the transfer case with the wrong gear pitch would be my guess.

It's located on the headlamp switch itself behind the dash bezel. I'll have Chris (CTUBUTIS) come along and show you some pictures.

You have dealer A/C so the parts are different than if you have Factory A/C. Finding replacements may be a problem.


Other issues that you should take care of ASAP that you haven't mentioned.

Your Brake master Cylinder seems to be leaking. Your brake booster has wet deposits on it that looks like brake fluid. This could be something as simple as a master cylinder cover gasket or lid, or something more serious.

Negative Battery Cable. It's totally misrouted from where it belongs. The negative battery cable is supposed to run down along the passenger frame connect to the frame with a inline crimped on tab, then continue to one of the starter mounting bolts to ground the engine. You also seem to be missing the firewall to engine ground cable. That and with the wrong color of the engine is why I think it may have had an engine replacement at some time.

The radiator is the smaller narrow radiator. From the looks of the pictures it had a wider radiator in it at one time (essential for A/C). The top radiator hose is for the wider radiator and it has been contorted and made to work with the narrow one. The top radiator hose shows signs of bulging at the thermostat housing, and that's not good. The radiator top mounts are missing some bolts and part of it's metal support bracket. You are also missing your fan shroud or fan guard.

That and the radio install has little to be desired really. A proper mounting kit would fix that.

With all those problems, it's worth around $500/$1000 dollars around here. It may not take very much $$$ to double that figure though, if you fixed things.

 

Here is the Wiring diagram for the gauges and fuel selector switches and valve.

 

Awesome info guys, much appreciated. Luckily I am fairly mechanically inclined and have done plenty of my own work on cars. The last project I did was swap a radiator in my 94 Sable the morning we were supposed to leave for vacation, the previous radiator cracked at the worst time. Got it done by myself and off we went. Popping the hood on this beast and seeing all the empty space was glorious. I'm used to working on cars with crammed engine bays.

I see many visits to junk yards and pick-n-pulls in my future..

I've done master and slave cylinder swaps before, is this fairly straight-forward? Also I notice a lot of these rust badly, is there a newer design which will stay looking fresh if properly maintained?

I've also never done differential oil changes before but it seems pretty simple. Is the front diff changed the same way the rear is? Anything I should watch out for when doing these and the others? I'd like to change all the fluids. Is there anything in the front hubs that would need servicing?

I thought that little radiator looked odd. Are all the larger radiators interchangeable or are there differences between auto/manual/etc. I'm also curious how to identify factory or dealer A/C? Luckily it looks like everything is there, although the hoses are rubber and I haven't seen that before.

Thanks for the detailed replies. Most forums are not quite so helpful.

 

The truck came with the wheels in this picture, but only 2. Are they a popular enough style that I could get a complete set? Anyone know the name/manufacturer?

Attachment 293654

 

I saw this on CL:
Ford Bronco Rims (4) - $200 (hayward / castro valley)

 

Oh that happens to be somewhat near me, I'm up in the Sierra-Nevada foothills.

 

Interesting... So am I.

To keep them from rusting you have to paint them. Most master cylinders are never painted. New Brake boosters are not painted either. Spraying the master cylinder aluminum or Silver, and the brake booster satin black after everything is sealed tight. (Do not want paint in the brake fluid area), it will keep them from rusting for years to come. you will have to bleed the system and it's highly recommended to bench bleed the master cylinder before installation. I recommend getting a brake booster at the same time.

They are simple if they have a drain plug. Some do, some don't. If they don't have a drain plug, then you can get a pump and pump them out. That's what I did with my rear end on my 1981. Also check if your truck has limited slip, (traction loc) axles. If it does then you will need to add a Ford approved additive to the differential oil for traction loc axles.

The front hubs should be repacked with grease everytime you do a brake job.

The little radiator is the standard one for trucks without A/C. Trucks with A/C or Super Cooling have the wider radiator. The radiator has to be one from a 300-6 engine as they flow backwards to the V8 engines.

I can tell you have dealer A/C because you instrument cluster bezel and your passenger dash area has been cut for the dash registers. Also non Factory-A/C trucks have vents below the dash in the kick panels, and the heater core is in the engine compartment instead of in the cab. Also Dealer A/C uses standard A/C hoses with clamps. Factory A/C uses moulded hoses with fittings. As you get to know your truck you will be able to pick out the differences in dealer or Factory A/C at a glance, especially looking at the differences in the wrecking yards.

You will find a whole bunch of helpful people here. Welcome!

 

Is he missing the duraspark box?? I see holes in the fender wells but no box.

 

His is a 1984 so it has EEC-IV/TFI-IV ignition.

He's missing the Duraspark Box because it never had it.

 

A common name for these wheels is "champ 500"

 

Mountain Ranch here, east of San Andreas.

Looks like I have to get the truck smogged even though the tags are good until august. I haven't bought/sold many vehicles in CA, thought fees/smog were good the whole year regardless of whether it changes hands. Truck is running great though and appears to have all the equipment, we'll see how it goes.

Thanks again for the info guys, going to start on getting the two tanks running first since that'll help with smog.

 

North East of Sacramento for me...

As for the smog, it's only good for 6 months for title transfers.

Having two tanks is a definate plus with smog checks. The evaporative emissions test is easy to fail. They pressurize your gas tanks, and check for leaks, sometimes creating leaks in the process. Factory Dual tanks are exempt, but both have to be working otherwise they will do a evaporative emission test. They still test your gas caps.

Fix the tank, and I would take care of that battery cable. No need to advertise to the smog tech that someone hokey pokey'd things.