Hi folks,
I have heard from the other lists that I have posted, that this is "the" list to be on. )

So... I will start from the beginning. I just bought a 1985 F250 4x4 Diesel with 84,300 miles on in. Exterior is pristine. Interior is hammered (all the plastics are seriously oxidized). I originally bought the truck to be my "go to the dump" truck. That being said, my soon to be 16 year old son has instantly fallen in love with it, and claimed it for his own.

We have since started refurbishing the interior. Removed all interior panels, the dash, and the head liner. I am in the process of sanding all the oxidized plastics, and painting them, along with the the metal trim, with hammered look spray paint that lookes pretty good with the original blue color of the interior. Bought some cool new fabric for the headliner, and will probably get a dash cover from JCwhitney. I think I will end up with a total of about $4500 into the truck, all said and done.

Now, everyone in the family wants the truck. They love the "sofa" front seat, the openness of the cab, the earthy diesel sound. It is almost like time slows down when you are driving it. The truck is what we are driving to get our Chrismas tree this year.

Anyway, a couple of questions.

1. The truck came with no manuals what so ever. I would love to get the original owners manual for it, as well as a shop manual. Recommendations?
2. The tachometer does not work. It will register low revs when the engine is maxed out. Ideas?
3. The fuel gauge is all over the map, for both tanks. Although it has seemed to gotten a little better since I have owned it. (3 weeks) Could it be that things have just frozen up due to the truck sitting?
4. And last for now. As the truck becomes a family favorite, and being driven more, the three speed auto trans is painful to live with at highway speeds. I think it is a C6. What would be my options for upgrading to an overdrive system?

Thanks in advance.
Joe

 

For manuals keep an eye on Ebay.........

Tach info....

Check the wires where they exit the big nut on the oil filler housing , known to short out due to bare wire.....

Replace the tach sender on the oil fill housing a big 1" nut with 2 wires. Ford only part Engine RPM sensor E5TZ-17B384-A about $50. You can remove and clean it but usually changed later too.

You can test it too, hold it in the air away from ferrous metal, using an ohm meter lead on each wire you need DC resistance between 2000-3000 ohms.

Tank senders usually wear out after so many years...... LMC truck has them I believe. Try not to let the tanks go below 1/4 as they could also have the lower portion of the pickup broken off.

You could do a test and run one tank at a time until almost empty... or the engine sputters or stalls....ensure the other has over 1/3 minimum. Some air bleeding of the Schrader valve on the filter may be required to restart.....

Look up the Gear vendors page they have overdrives a few $$ but can be switched to different vehicle......

 

As far as the shop manual you can use AutoZone.com. I found out that they just copy the haynes manual for it. Use their repair guides.

For the fuel gage, replace the sending units, and you should be fine.

I have a C6 as well, and I hate it at highway speeds, but when I ask around here, I am told to replace my differential gears first. If you go from a 4.10 to a 3.55 you will have about 2600rpms at 70mph. To a 3.08 @ 2300. A new tranny will not affect your cruising rpms. If you plan on towing, I would go with the 3.55s.

 

T here is usually gearvenders on ebay one will show up pretty regular it don't matter what it fits you can get the adapter for the c6 seperatly from gearvender mine drops the rpms 500.

 

zettajoe,
Welcome to FTE and the IDI diesel forum.

Tach sender location.

 

Thanks for the info everyone.

I was wondering about the Gear Vendor Overdrive fitment. There is one on Ebay for a Dodge for relatively low price. Needs to be rebuilt though. I would imaging though that if I have a 4x4, I will need a more elaborate setup???

I think the gauges will be the next project I tackle. More elbow grease oriented, less wallet.

I will post pictures soon of the truck and show the progress of the project.

thanks again.