ok, first issue is an inconsistently reoccurring idle problem. Most times when I start my truck up, it works just fine, purs like a kitten. Occasionally I will have a miss at idle, and sometimes it gets so bad that the truck stumbles and almost dies. I have only noticed it when it is cold outside and the motor is cold. I never have any problem once the motor has heated up past the far left part of the "N" on the temp gauge. On the same note, sometimes this manifests itself in a slight surging. Nothing like what the chips make your truck do, but a noticeable surge of 50-75 rpm maybe? When it gets really bad it might surge 100-150 rpm... And it will continue to surge like that until I touch the go fast pedal.

-I have a 97 cali code with all stock injection, hpop, idm, and stock turbo. I have a mild single stage dyno sources chip, 3" dp to 4"straight pipe, DIY tymar with a baldwin 2818 filter element. I run rotella T 15w40 that I have about... 4500 miles on I think? I don't remember it ever happening when I ran 10w30 mobil 1... But the mobil 1 made my truck run like crap (noisy, not as smooth). the rotella T runs good but I think it may be connected to this idle issue... Any thoughts guys? dirty IPR screen possibly cause this? Oh, and I have a fuel leak at my banjo bolt, but I have always leaked there, so it's no change... wierd


OK, second problem... again, 97 f250... So I got a dana 60 from a 93 f350 gasser. took the axle and springs from the gasser. Rebuilt the axle hub to hub with all new seals, u joints, ball joints, brakes, calipers, everything. When I installed the axle, I also installed all new steering components from the pitman arm down. So when I put the front end all together and went and test drove it, it handled like garbage. Steering was ridiculously loose and sloppy, and slow to respond. Took it back to the house, installed the panhard rod (this was a test because some of yall said on another forum that you didn't need to install it!!! Needless to say, I didn't believe that was true, and was planning on installing it after the test anyhoo) big mistake there guys. Panhard rod installed, the steering was alot quicker to respond, turned alot tighter, and felt more stable. The next day I went to the spring shop and had the springs rearced to level the truck with the new f350 rear springs and blocks. The whole truck sits about 3-4 inches higher than it used to... and I have had no problems with the rear end. Next I took it straight to the alignment shop, and got her all zeroed out. Going down the freeway a couple days later, i hit a bump on an offramp going about 45 and went into a death wobble that was so horrible i think my eyeball fell out of my head... so I plopped my eyeball back in, took him round the corner, hopped out and checked underneath to make sure nothing was broken or bent... looks ok, thought it might be my old beat *** tires. So i went along my marry way and hit a death wobble two more times the same day!! Came home, parked the truck, went out and bought new panhard rod bushings the next day, installed them, and new grade 8 bolts with nylock nuts on the upper mounting bracket (as the death wobble had been so fierce, it pulled the bracket bolts loose!!!) No more death wobble. I have even tried to make it death wobble... nothing.. ok so that's fixed. Ever since I had the spring shop rearc the springs and remount the axle on them, I have had a slight pull to the right. Even though I had taken it to the alignment shop afterward, read the print out showing that it was all zeroed, still pulls right. I also have a dead spot in my steering since the new axle as well... When you install a solid axle, can the small amount of play between the spring and the spring pad misalign the axle enough to create a pull? Like if the bolt through the leaf spring is all the way forward in the hole on the spring pad on the driver side, and all the way to the rear of the hole on the passenger side, can that be enough misalignment to make it pull? I had the spring shop who rearced the springs reinstall them, and he said he didn't measure to make sure it was exactly square to the chassis, but he also said he has never done that before and never had a problem...sorry about the back and forth, my brain is fried trying to figure all this crap out with all my craziness at work the last few weeks.


So to sum this up...

1. I have an inconsistent idle issue
2. wierd intermittent dead spot in my steering (sometimes it's all nice and tight) on that same note, the dead spot sometimes feels like it hangs up a little bit when I try to turn the wheel a smidge to correct for the pull to the right. Almost like a ball joint is loose and the steering knuckle is flopping around when you steer against it. (NO THAT'S NOT IT, I CHECKED)
3. pull to the right.




So I am lost on the idling issue unless it's possibly the IPR screen or the oil weight... it's been in the 30's and 40's here, not too cold, but colder than normal for the SF bay area...

for the dead spot, I'm thinking of adjusting my steering box? but why wouldn't a sloppy steering box have manifested itself as a dead spot with the TTB axle before the axle swap? And something creaks and groans and pops occasionally, maybe the box is loose on the frame rail? have to check that...

and for the pull... if it's radial pull from my crappy old tires, i'll know next week because i have new rims and tires coming in tuesday... I just wanted to get my issues out here and hear what you guys might think as I am tapped the out on time. Any help you guys might have on any of these issues, things I can check... I appreciate yall. I need people to bounce ideas off of sometimes and don't have a shop buddy anymore, so thanks shop buddies!!! I am going to be working in LA until I get home sunday evening, so whatever you guys come up with this weekend, I will be looking into on monday. Thanks again!!!

 

wow, sorry I wrote so much guys... I was trying to answer any questions about my setup that I thought you guys might come up with... ok i'll shut up, thanks!!

 

My knee jerk reaction is low or old oil. Could it be the EBPV? Try unplugging in and see what happens. Cali-model-fuel leak........EEK! you CAN tighten the Banjo w/o removing the turbo. INFACT you CAN replace the fuel pump w/o removing the turbo. So don't be skerd.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...placement.html
BANJO BOLT: Remove the engine pull hook on the left rear. get a MIT (Made In Tiwan) stubby 1/2 in driver with a swivel at the neck and a 1-1/4 socket 12 pointer. (you will NEVER get it with a wrench)

 

On the hesitation , change the oil first, & you may need to scan EOT & compare against ambient air temp .The pull could be in the brakes too ...

Dead spot in the steering can be from a bad bushing in the intermediate shaft under the hood ..

 

for the pull try switching the two front tires side to side. It seems like you've done everything else. And you were right. On a D 60 that bar is a necessity!!! People that say not are idiots. It's the only thing holding your front axle in place. The springs sure don't. They only hold the height, not the side to side movement of it.

For the pull you can also try loosening the front shackle bolts, bounce on teh bumper pretty hard and then retighten them. Both bolts on each side. It's worked for me in the past sometimes.
I would almost be willing to bet that someone didn't do the caster right on it though. Since this isn't the original axle then it has aftermarket adjusting bushings on the upper ball joints right. The problem I have seen is there are FORD specs for caster and alignment shop specs. Look up the Ford specs for that year model and insist on it being set to the middle of the range. Not just in the green. Perfect center! Also if you leveled your truck then you might as well give up now. Ford specs are designed for it to be higher in the back. Thus the weird looking caster specs. Caster increases as you put a load on it to help in the steering wheel return and straight ahead driving ability of the truck as it gets heavier. Set at factory specs on an unloaded level truck will make it drive goofy. I always just had to play around with trucks like that to find the best caster setting for them.

 

hey yall, thanks for the suggestions, and sorry I haven't gotten back to update... ugh, im sure we can all appreciate the craziness of these holidays this year. So I went out and got my new rims and tires... upgraded to 285/75r16's, which I am diggin, and the ride smoothed out greatly. The pull is gone, no more rattles, nice smooth cruisin. There is still a sizeable dead spot in the steering(of course, I haven't had a chance to address it) but as soon as I can chase that down, i'll let yall know. Action 4478, thanks for the suggestion bud, I had thought about that one as well. I need to grab my brother on his day off or something so I can have someone turning or eyeballing while I turn.

As for the idle quality, it hasn't produced itself very badly as of late, but has been noticeable. I want to change to amsoil 10w-30 on this next oil change, but don't think I can justify the cost... I mean geez man, it's like $200 for an oil change!!! I think im going to check into trying to tighten the banjo bolt too. If that don't work then i'll be heading to the local dealership to talk to a parts moron to see if we can't get the correct washer set. I have heard that sometimes the washers simply need to be replaced back there and that will solve the problem. Start cheap right? So thanks again guys!!

 

If you need it scanned or a second or third opinion PM me. No need for anything other than 15w-40 around here. I run Redline myself. As far as the idle and intermittant stuff. Likely a fuel pressure issue. Mine surges a bit also at idle. Its due for a pump and rebuilt bowl. But you may want to pull the chip.

 

Pull it and leave it out? Then there is no power!!! What do i do then? :0/

 

No just as a test. If there is no change put it back in.

 

I got a couple tricks up my sleeve. Im going to run a quart of atf for a couple miles before i change the oil and im going to clean the fuel screen. See if that's helps