It's curious to me that your truck is a Hamilton. I saw those stickers on it when you were at my place and forgot to mention it to you. Hamilton Custom Cruisers was a conversion company that did (or may still do) conversions on vans and trucks. They were similar to Centurion or Roll-A-Long or any one of the other coach builders of the time. The thing that struck me as odd about your truck is that it had NOTHING on it that would have led me to believe it was a conversion. No pseudo aftermarket leather interior, no tacky (period correct) vinyl graphics on the sides, no wood grain interior accents, NOTHING. So it begs the question. What exactly did they convert? Your truck looks like a very clean example of a '95, crew cab, long bed, 4x2, dually in XLT trim. I did notice the Hamilton stickers though. Sort of odd...

 

Oddly enough that one in the link must have been a really in-depth conversion process because they apparently de-stroked the engine to eliminate a tenth of a liter of displacement!

 

A few moments ago, I bought a Genisys Diagnostic Scanner on E-Bay.

Genisys SPx OTC Diagnostic Scanner w Interface Cable 1993 Domestic Pathfinder II | eBay

It physically looks like the Matco that was successfully used last weekend.

It has the same 1993 Domestic Pathfinder II card as the Matco.

I believe that both the Genisys and the Matco are made by the same company - OTC

I hope that it works as well as the Matco. The only visible difference between this unit, and the Matco, is that the Matco had an OBDII Smart Cable. The cable that comes with the Genisys appears to be a 16 pin OBDII, so maybe this is all that is really needed.

I will post the results when it is received.

 

Good deal! Here's hoping it works marvelously.


If you ever need anything else done on that truck, you know how to get a hold of me. We're not that far apart, after all.

 

I am hoping so. Talked to Jose at OTC Tech Services (They make the Genisys), 800-533-6127, 3, 3, and he said that it may work without the Smart Cable, and it may not. He was not sure if the reason that the Matco worked, was because of the 1993 Domestic Pathfinder II cartridge, or if it worked because of the Smart Cable. He said that the cartridge would work for any 1993 to 1995 OBDI protocol, but that it would have limited use for any OBDII systems.

Seems that the whole world is unsure about this particular Ford oddity.

 

A bit off the main subject here, but if I may be allowed to hijack a thread that I started, I have another question.

A different friend came over, and he noticed that the big ugly positive battery connector on the passenger side of the vehicle had the flats broken off where the tightening bolt and nut squeeze the the connector onto the battery terminal. The result of this, is that this connector can only be finger loose. The bolt and nut are almost totally ineffective.

My friend thought that perhaps this had something to do with the truck stopping. I do not agree at all, as both batteries are relatively new, but I still would like to replace the connector. It has multiple wires coming out of it, and looks something like a tetrahedron.

It looks like the entire cable assembly from Ford might be rather pricey. Any thoughts?

 

So the terminal is cracked? Is it pretty easy to rotate on the post, even with the bolt/nut tightened? Agreed, that won't cause a stall, but if you don't have good terminal/post contact at both positives and both negatives, you'll eventually have trouble cranking the starter, esp. as the weather gets colder.

It's possible, provided you have enough cable left after removing that terminal, that you can replace it with something like this: NAPA AUTO PARTS . Otherwise, Standard Motor Products makes a good quality replacement cable assembly - STANDARD MOTOR PRODUCTS Part # A12300HP - not cheap, but that's a fair amount of copper, and it's not nearly the sticker-shock price you'd pay at the dealer. You could also build your own with 2/0 welding wire, a terminal like the one above, and a single terminal for the driver's side (and a ring terminal for the starter). But you're into almost as much money then as the SMP product.

 

The flats on the terminal where the bolt goes through, are compromised. Imagine looking through the terminal, along the longitudinal axis of the fastening bolt. Now imagine that 180 degrees of the outer circumference were missing. That is what it looks like. The bolt and nut contact surfaces are only 1/2 way engaging. The other half of the flats are missing.

The NAPA part looks like a good answer. Other than the connector on the one battery, the cables are in great shape. I also have the appropriate rabbit ears (Greenlee K09-2GL crimper) that will crimp up to 4/0 wires. Thank you for the link.

 

Sorry, not picturing it. Sounds like it's shot, anyway. You could post a pic if you're so inclined.

 

I think what he's saying is that if you're looking through the bolt hole, instead of seeing a complete circle O half of it is missing and looks like a C.

 

Ok gotcha. So the bolt/nut are probably able to tighten down the terminal onto the post with the remaining area they're hitting, but its days are numbered. The remaining bolt/nut contact area is next to go. Or the next time he tries to loosen/tighten the bolt/nut, the surrounding part of the terminal will probably give way. If it were spring, I might procrastinate on it. Fall breezes startin' to blow; not something you want to leave for a cr@ptastic winter night.....

 

Well stated. Thank you.

 

Found something that worked for cleaning the tube that connects the exhaust manifold to the exhaust pressure sensor.

Take a .040" to .060" wire wound guitar string. Cut it to just longer than the exhaust tube. Use a needle nose plier, and put a very small bend on the end, so that it has the same shape as a harpoon. Now put the unbent end, into a cordless drill chuck. Insert the harpooned end into where the sensor was, and push down as far as you can, while twisting with your hand. When the guitar string runs into resistance, turn the drill on, and let it spin, until it breaks loose.

If the blockage is near the top of the exhaust tube, put the guitar string through a piece of tubing, before inserting into the exhaust tube. This will let you hold the tubing, while the string spins, without binding up.

 

Sounds like you found the trick Greg. That's more or less the way I clean them out too, but I use a piece of 1/8" aircraft cable in the drill. It takes some time and patience but it has always worked for me eventually.