I just picked up a 1991 F350 Ex-cab 7.3/E4OD/4:10 dually for $1000. It has a Banks turbo setup which is the main reason I picked it up. Ideally I want to make a tow rig out of it if the cab isn't too rotted. But I had some issue's driving it home.
The seller said if it sits overnight it won't start without some starting fluid. If it's been running it will fire no problem. One of the injectors is visibly leaking so I thought it might just be air intrusion. No big deal. He had run it earlier so when I started it, it fired at the turn of the key and idled fine. The OD light was flashing the whole way home. The water temp and oil pressure gauges were fine and the needles were steady the whole trip home. It was about a 30km/20miles drive with no stops until I got to my driveway. At my driveway I came to a stop to wait for a couple of vehicles to go by and I noticed the check engine light came on and the oil gauge was showing no pressure. I made the turn and drove the 300-400 feet to my house and shut it off. Is the motor pooched? Is their a safe way to check the oil pressure? I have a mint 88 F250 so I don't mind swapping the turbo, new rad, dually rearend into the F250 and junking the F350 if the motor is shot. It just prefer the extra space of the extended cab over the F250's reg cab.

 

Id verify that the stock oil pressure gauge is correct, they are junk, throw on an aftermarket oil pressure gauge to be sure.

 

But if just the gauge failed, would it trip the check engine light at the same time?

 

Yes,
Iirc the gauge and light are connected,
My stock gauge is disconnected and my check engine light is on because of it.
I'm running an aftermarket gauge, keep in mind that the stock gauge is not a gauge at all it's basically an idiot light with a needle lol

 

Thanks Zombie. I called the seller and he said the oil gauge would flicker occasionally but he had no problems with how it ran. I'll put an aftermarket gauge on it and try firing it up. The box is rough but the cab doesn't look too bad especially for living in northern Canada so I'd like to rebuild the truck into a tow rig.
Are the suspension and brakes the same for C&C F350's and regular F350's? I have a C&C with new rotors, pads, and calipers I'd like to use if I save this truck.

 

Also check your oil level and change it out (filter/oil) if needed, my oil level was low and time for a change, it made a huge difference in my oil pressure.
I think the reg and C&C f350's are the same, but I'm not 100% positive,
someone with more knowledge than I, will chime-in.

 

Mine will drop down to no oil pressure after the oil is hot and I come to a stop light (stock gauge before they switched to the idiot light version). These engines don't run with high pressure to begin with, and the stock gauges only read in the ballpark. I'm sure you're engine is fine. Congrats on the new rig with the turbo!

 

Hi Pheadrus you got a good looking truck for it living in the great white north. I couldn't find very much around me so I headed south for mine.
I saw your question, so I looked in my 1986 Ford shop manuals to see if I could help out any. I don't know how much this will help you, but this should be at least close to what you need.

From the Manual

The oil pressure gauge indicating system consists of the instrument voltage regulator (IVR), an oil pressure indicating gauge and an oil pressure sending unit, all connected in series. the sending unit consists of a diaphragm, a contact and a variable resistor. The oil pressure causes the diaphragm to move the contact on the variable resistor thus controlling the flow of current through the gauge.

When the oil pressure is low, the resistance of the sending unit is high, thus restricting the flow of current through the gauge which moves the pointer only a short distance. As oil pressure increases, the resistance of the sending unit decreases, causing a proportionately increase flow of current and movement of the pointer.

With adequate engine oil pressure, the oil pressure gauge should indicate within the normal band.

I must say though for 28 + year old tech the dash gauges are pretty good for their day and still do the job they were designed to do. Compared to the new tech of today they suck.

Dave

1986 F250 XLT Lariat 6.9L IDI 2WD Super-cab Dually LB 155 WB HD Special Order

 

Thanks guys. The truck has a US instrument cluster so it spent at least the first part of it's life down south. The bed is pretty rotten under the dually fenders but the frame is just surface rust surprisingly. It was used to haul horses so it likely didn't see sever winter weather especially with the limited slip rear-end. I'll probably take the box off my F250 plow truck which has minimal rust over the wheel wells and swap the dually hardware unto it and put it on the ex-cab. My plow truck will likely never see the road so it just needs the box for weight when I plow.

Any ideas on the OD switch flashing? Pushing the button did nothing. The seller said the previous owner got the Bank's module for the E4OD but unhooked it because he felt it was shifting too hard. I'm going to read up on it tonight. I was turning 1900rpm at 88km/55mph and 2000rpm at 100km/62mph on the way home.

My C&C also has a rebuilt E4OD so it might go in this rig along with the brake parts. I have a really nice 96000km/60000mile F250 2wd that needs a clutch, but I don't have the heart to take the 7.3 out of it for this truck. I might sell it to rebuild the 400K 7.3 in the C&C because I have no idea what the mileage is on the 7.3 in the ex-cab. The seller said he thought the guy he bought it from said it had 600K on the truck, 300K on the motor, and 50K on the E4OD but he wasn't sure. The truck only has a US five digit odometer so who knows how many miles it really has. It honestly doesn't seem to be showing 300K to look at it but maybe it was babied for the first half of it's life?

 

I'm also going to have to rebuild the Banks turbo so any suggestions on parts suppliers for the Banks system would be appreciated. I was reading about some guys making aftermarket impeller wheels. Are there any for the Banks turbo's? I'm going to check it out tomorrow to see what turbo I have. It has the big black cast aluminum Bank's air box if that helps to identify the kit.

 

Well Pheadrus I'm still new to the diesel game cause this is my first 1st, and mine is a non-turbo all original 6.9L IDI sorry I can't help you in the turbo department. I can try to help you on the US side of it because mine came from Virginia. What I did was a CarFax Report to find out how many owners it had and checked for accidents plus the mileage is reported at the DMV so it told me how accurate that is. The history on my truck is I'm the second owner and it only had 170,000 miles on it, to which I got from the report and helped me make my decision on buying it. (my avatar pic is my truck at the dealer in Virginia) Now I haven't done the report since I bought my truck so I'm not sure if it will show Canadian stuff, but I think it should. As far as your overdrive I'm guessing that from your RPM #s it sounds about right, mine is a C6 tranny and at 105KPH/65MPH I'm in the 3000 range with my 4.10 rear end. I'll look in my manuals to see if your tranny is in it and I'll get back to you on what I find. Oh by the way what does C&C mean? I have never heard that term before.

Dave

1986 F250 XLT Lariat 6.9L IDI 2WD Super-cab Dually LB 155 WB HD Special Order

 

This only applies to the older vehicles. In at least 88 and later models(as far as I can tell), they replaced the resistance-type sender with a /switch/. It simply reads one way when there is more than 3 PSI in the system, and the other way when less.
It's hooked up to the gauge via a resistor, such that it shows /somewhere/ on the gauge when there's 3+PSI in the system. Where it shows varies, and depends on temperature, voltage, other resistances of the system -- despite being a switch, the gauge will move around a bit, which makes everyone think they have a real sender.

The easy way to tell is to look at the sender itself -- the switch is around 1" in diameter, 0.75" tall and the upper 2/3rds of it is plastic. The actual sender is 1.25" in diameter, 1.25" tall and totally metal. Both have one terminal sticking out of the top.

If you have the switch, you can buy the proper sender and use your stock gauge, but you have to remove a certain resistor from the system. There's instructions for doing that around here.

 

The banks turbos are notoriously hard to find parts for and to rebuild. I would plug the banks module back in. It is supposed to increase line pressure to firm up the shifts so that the clutches dont slip so much. The flashing OD light just indicates there is a problem. You will need an OBDI scanner to pull the codes.

 

I think I have a better idea on the mileage now. When you buy a vehicle in my province, you get a "Buyer's Package" that tells you if it has any liens, the previous owners, and mileage when sold each time.
It first was registered in my province in Nov 2009 being bought out of Wisconsin. The mileage was listed as 131,450km(81,000miles)as of Nov 2009. I believe the mileage was accurate based on how nice the cab, interior, and under-carriage look.

19 months later in May 2011, it was sold and listed as having 200,000km(125,000miles). I think the odometer was roughly around 20,000.0miles(really 120,000miles) and it was read as 200,000km's because Canadian trucks have a 6 digit odometer.

It then sold 2 years later in June 2013 and the mileage is reported as 554,267km. I find it highly improbably that someone put 250,000km/155,000miles on a 20 year old truck in just 2 years. Right now it says something like 67,000.0 miles. So I think in 2013, instead of seeing 55,426.7miles, again it was mistakenly read as 544,267km's.

In 2009 it was reported as 131,450km/81,000 miles and now it's likely 270,000km/167,000 miles. 140,000km/86,000miles sounds likely over 5 years for a truck of this age. But that's a guess based on the Buyer's Package and the shape of the truck. It could be 567,000miles for all I know.

 

get manual gauge, if PO said he had to use ether, to start it proly needs a controller, for gp's the tranny sounds like its in limp mode, flashing od lite, proly has a sensor bad or out of spec. post 94 E40ds use pwm to control pressure in the trany pre 94 uses diferent control method, banks controllers can make it shift real hard, nice truck!!!