Hello everyone, just wanted to throw our situation out there and see if anyone smarter than us might be able to help us figure out our next steps. If you’re interested in hearing a little more about our background story, check out our new member post by clicking here, or just skip all the extracurricular drama and get to the real issues below:

Our project for the last 6 months caught on fire. Below I have recapped the problems I encountered over a 2 day period while I attempted to get to the tire place and back, unsuccessfully. In chronological order, for your expert analysis, I present the following ulcer inducing recollection of events:


1. Overheat Auto Engine Shut-off

-Once I arrived at the tire place, I parked the RV and went into the office. I was advised to pull around to the side of the building. The engine sat for about 3-5 minutes before I restarted it to move it around the building (approx. 300 feet). ¾’s of the way there, the engine died out and I had to coast the rest of the way. A person at the tire place advised me that it was probably a kill switch that engaged due to the engine overheating, and that my carb sounds a little high and to check the radiator fluid levels

-After letting sit for 15 minutes I was able to start it, at which point I moved it and parked it
Overnight.

-Next day I returned and added ¾’s of a gallon of distilled water to the radiator, as that much had fallen since the flush and actually driving to the tire place. It is worth noting I was at about a 3/2 mixture of antifreeze to water, I have recently read that I maybe should have used straight antifreeze instead?

*At this point I proceeded to drive back home with my new tires installed*


2. Fire Issues
Driving back from the tire place, aside from the backfiring issue and carb running high (issues I assumed I could just fix once I got the RV back to the house, as well as the solenoid), I was feeling pretty good about the grueling 6 months of work we just put in on this moneypit. Although a simple paint and refloor turned into a near complete overhaul, I was feeling confident about some last minute tweaks and hitting the road. Next thing I know the engine died out on me, power steering was gone, and white/grey smoke started to come out the right side of the hood. I pulled over as fast as I could and grabbed the fire extinguisher. Popped the hood and put the fire out. Proceeded to call a tow truck and fall into a spiral of depression. After a week of putting it out of my mind, here I am looking for advice on where to get this thing back running again, figure out why it caught on fire, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.


-I have some pieces of hardware that looked to connect vac/emissions hoses and lines, and I am unable to identify whatever this item is, so any help is greatly appreciated




-Air filter melted into tray. This one didn’t specifically fit the edelbrock as the bolt for the wingnut wasn’t tall enough. Can I just clean this up and reuse it with a taller bolt through the carb? Or do I need a edelbrock specific air filter tray?


-After putting out the fire, the radiator gave out a small puddle through the overflow hose, not a lot, but enough to be noticeable

Other random pictures for reference:






Misc. Issues:
Some other things I’ve noticed and other thoughts of possible additional problems or causes. The a/c has never had a belt on it (I assume it doesn’t work) and also the hosing to connect from, I believe the blower, which goes to the air filter above the carb, the middle piece of hosing never existed.


The other main issue I noticed was, when I first drove the RV home, I was unaware of the solenoid switch under the dash, and did not need it to start the RV. Then after a couple weeks it wouldn’t turn over at all, unless I held the switch. It proceeded to continue to only start when the switch was held until I went to take it to the tire place right before the fire, and I noticed that I no longer needed to hold the switch to start the RV.

Also do I need to look into PVC vs Crosslink wiring for this area, could that be a possible cause of the solenoid melting?

The gauges have been a little quirky, especially the gas gauge, but this could just be a corroded connection in the fuel tank

Bad voltage regulator or alternator?

Radiator seems to have a tiny pinhole leak at the very top

How much do I have to replace, especially in relation to the smog and emissions stuff, can I get by without some of this stuff, and if so, how? Block hose lines?

I have read about numerous recalls for this specific vehicle and engine fire problems. Appears to be too big of an engine in such a small space and it gets too hot? Possibly spews out fuel from the carb? This with the combination of backfiring on deceleration makes me susceptible of this being the source of the fire.

The flames had started to reach into the front of the engine bay and got some of the top of the wiring harness pictured below. Can I rewrap this or do I need to hit some junkyards to find a another wiring harness to replace it with?


Thanks in advance for any help. We have put a ton of time, effort and money into this beast and I just want to make sure this is salvageable, and safe before dumping anymore time and effort into it. Thanks again.

-WeGotNoSpare
Attachment 290141

 

Here is our introduction page for those that are interested!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post15456000

 

What motor is that?

 

It's the V8 7.5 L 460ci

 

I am going to ask one of the other mods to move this to the engine specific threads. I think that is where you are going to need help with the re-wiring and proper items.

 

Thank you, didn't realize there was an engine specific thread! Still figuring this out.

 

I think I goofed. I think this is where you need to be for that motor.

 

Just looking at the pics and thinking about a couple of things that you will need to get this motor running again.


It would appear that you saved the motor itself.


I would be getting new plugs, plug wires, coil, looks like the EGR is toast as well.

 

Thanks for your help! I'm going to be editing the post to take off some of things that have already been answered for us and make it not so daunting.

 

I have a 460 but it doesn't have any of the emissions equipment on it...and I can't see your pics probably due to the firewall at work. Can you tell where the fire started? If your carb was running too rich and backfired up into the air cleaner that might be where it started.

You can mount any height air cleaner on a carb by just getting a longer thread-all and then cut it to the length you need.

 

Turbodog you seem to be the man I might need to speak to!

We think thats exactly where the fire started... And you just took another question off of our list with the air filter.

You mentioned yours doesn't have any of the emissions stuff, did you happen to do this process yourself?

 

My 460 is a hot rod modified engine, you can read the specs in the fine print. I have it in an old '67 that doesn't have any emissions testing problems.

 

Wow... it reads impressive.

Would you happen to know in general, as far as emissions go, what we can get rid off? We don't have emissions testing in South Florida and we're trying to cut down on as much of the clutter as we can. There's also a part I can't identify (although I feel like it's going to be something I should be able to identify) you might be of great help with but with you not being able to see the pictures I'm not sure how to show you... Here's a direct link to it that might get through 24 - Imgur

 

I think my work is top secret...they won't even let me see that site. Can you put the pictures in an album in your user control panel?

Emissions equipment either has to ALL be there if you're getting tested or you can remove it all. Things like a charcoal canister don't hurt anything, but you might want to put a block off plate on the egr, just depends on whether you are looking for more power.

Either way I'm only around for another hour...then I'm off working on my land with no inner net 'till Monday.

 

They're up, I think, in the untitled album.

Thanks again, really appreciate it.