truck is now running excellent

[floydguy]

my 1987 ranger 2.9 super cab 5 speed.............i finally got it right, first my bad clutch and slave, the replaced the cracked heads with 1989 bronco 2* 2.9 heads, tackled the broken exhaust* manifold bolts, cleaned valves, new valve seals, cleaned and repainted heads and intake/ fuel rail, adjusted valve lash properly, new injector, o rings, ive cleaned the throttle body iac, valve, egr valve, new theremostat, ran it, let it cool, and i retorqued the intake and valve covers, set the timming. it runs great, no smoke, no water in the oil, doesnt overheat, and no blow by, it idles smooth and starts everytime, im impressed. the extra work paid off. thanks for all the imput everyone.
i just cant stand those tapping injectors!!!

[TigerDan]

Sounds good, glad you got it all together!

[floydguy]

its running fine, but sometimes it will clatter on start up, but the oil pressure is normal, when warm it lowers some right in the middle of the "M" at idle, at highway speeds it will be just below the "R" while warm, it will get a little lower, when idled longer, but never gos dangerously low, the guage does seems kinda slow, should i get another sending unit? will i be okay or is this gonna be trouble in the future?

[TigerDan]

The factory oil pressure gauges on these trucks aren't accurate. They're actually a sort of idiot light with a needle, they show pressure in the normal range as long as it's above something like 7 psi. Some folks report fluctuations in gauge readings which leads them to believe that the gauge is actually showing true pressure. I guess Ford had too many folks panic when the oil pressure would fluctuate, it's actually fairly normal for the pressure to be somewhat low at idle and low RPM. If you want a true representation of your oil pressure you should install a mechanical gauge.

[floydguy]

yeah i was considering installing a sunpro oil pressure guage i had laying around i just need a new tube kit for it though.
i was just slightly concerned maybe the the crank bearings suffered some damage during the water/oil issue, i dont know how long/hard the previous owner drove it with the cracked head, i do hear a slight clatter at higher rpms before 2nd and 3rd shifts sometimes and on some start ups, but the factory guage never gets dangerously low. im gonna try the manual guage, atleast it has numbers. the oil pan is slightly leaking, i will eventually fix that along with a fresh oil pump. i have been driving it right regular now, has plenty of power.