Hi,
I am going to buy a 1990 F-150 tonight. It seems like a decent truck. Very little rust, 170,000 miles, 302 V-8 according to the owner, 5-speed, 8' bed, regular cab. It's going for $750, which seems like a good price for a truck that starts right up and purrs evenly. However, there are a couple of issues.
The brake pedal is hard. That is, there's no play at all in it. The owner said that after the truck was warmed up, this hard pedal went away and braking returned to normal. It also seemed that the brakes were locked on, as the truck didn't roll far after I stopped accelerating. He also said the rotors were warped and should be replaced, but that's probabaly unrelated. What is the cause of this hard pedal?
The exhaust pipe has a small leak between the catalytic converter and the tail pipe, where the two connect. Can the cat be removed? I understand that we don't have emissions checks as part of the annual inspection, so I'm considering stripping all the emission tubing/etc. out of the engine compartment, too.
Anyway, let me know if you have any idea about the brakes.
Randy Olson
PS I had a F250, 1965 that I wish I hadn't sold...great truck.

 

first welcome to the forum.
That is a good price for a 90 f150 if the engine and tranny operate good my recommendation on the brake issue is to replace the brakes all the way around (i do that anyway when i get a new vehicle including the rotors and drums)
And if you dont have emissions checks by all means pull that pos cat converter off and put a piece of pipe in its place just dont remove any vacuum lines from the engine compartment where they would leak

 

Thanks for the welcome! And the advice.
I still would like comments on the hard brake pedal if anyone has any ideas.
Also, did the 1990 F150 come with a 302 engine? I don't see it when I google it.
Randy

 

look at the 8th digit of your vin if it is an N it is a 302 if it is a H it is a 351 Anything other than that idk and yes a 302 was an option in 1990 ummm with the hard brake pedal you can try changeing the power brake booster and see if that helps i have never heard of that issue before

 

You may check for a leaking vacuum line from the engine to the booster. A small leak can cause the length of time to increase for vacuum in the booster.

You may consider replacing the entire exhaust with a new exhaust system. A decent exhaust system will also help that 302 breath better, making the seat of your pants happier.

There were 3 engine options in 1990 for the F150: 300 I-6 (4.9L), 302 V-8 (5.0L), and 351W V-8 (5.8L). 300 I-6 and 302 V-8 came with either AOD, C-6, M5OD, or a 4spd that I think was the BW T-18 (and possibly the E4OD). The 351 had the C-6, and the E4OD, dont recall on the manual trans someone will know other than I on that option. Google 5.0 rather than the 302 as Ford only used the metric designation starting late 70's early 80's.

 

Hi,
I bought the truck. The VIN indicates it is indeed a 302 V-8 engine. The tranny was installed by a PO, and is a 5-speed,,,not a problem as far a I'm concerned, yet.
The hard brake pedal advice is helpful. It's along the lines I was hoping for. A vacuum hose would be an easy fix, but rebuilding the booster is a little more involved.
Anyway, I'm glad there's a forum for this type of discussion, and I'll do what I can to contribute.
Randy Olson
1990 F150