I start up my Ford 460 carbed and let it run a bit. I don't notice any coolant going into the overflow bottle as I changed the coolant yesterday. That seems to be fine. As far as I can tell the water pump works as I pulled the cap started it and saw water flowing around/out. Secondly, I am working on changing the oil but ran out of daylight. The issue is my coolant guage does not work and I am worried about cracking my block. Really no reason to think this other than it heats up, and I notice a burning smell. From what I garner this is pry the valve cover seals allowing oil to drip onto the exhaust, which also would reflect the dripping sound I hear after shutdown. Anyway, just wondering if I should be worried here? I am going to be changing timing and stuff, and running some atf through the carb and crankcase tomorrow but don't wanna do something stupid because of a stuck thermostat or something?

 

I'm assuming the engine was warm and the thermostat was open when you started it
without the radiator cap and saw fluid moving, that much is fine if those are the
conditions under which you performed your actions.

Coolant will generally only make its way to the overflow when the coolant gets hot
enough and the system builds up enough pressure that it needs to release it, the
overflow container catches it and sucks it back in as the engine cools.

I hope you're not using only plain water in the cooling system without anti-freeze/coolant....

Leaking valve cover gaskets are common, yes, they can leak oil onto the exhaust
manifolds which will burn off. How long does it have to run before you can smell it?

Regardless, if your temp gauge doesn't work, you should probably fix that sooner
rather than later. Most reliable & informative gauges will be aftermarket add-ons, factory
gauges are generally good only for vague representations of things.

Harbor Freight has a hand-held lazer thing on sale for $40 right now, this will help you feel
comfortable NOW until you can get the gauge working correctly:



Non-Contact Laser Thermometer

 

Yeah, the truck was sitting all day yesterday or the day before can't recall exactly. Anyway, flushed all the coolant and cleaned all the hoses that I could. I filled it up with coolant, and then I attempted to burp it. This is why the cap was open but I just noticed that coolant was flowing out more than anything which made me believe that the water pump was ok. I generally ran it about 5-15 minutes and then shut it down. I got a timing and high idle issue that won't kick down. I changed the oil today, well got it drained and will fill it up tomorrow. Sure was black! I think tomorrow i am going to spray some atf fluid into the carb to see if it helps anything, may even run the stuff in the oil and then drain it with some good gloves.

How hard would it be to wire in an aftermarket guage? I asked in another question but at last review it was mostly about adapating another guage set for my use, or making one from scratch. Both things I would rather not do. Just looking to wire in an aftermarket guage for the coolant. I suppose it could also be a coolant sensor too but IDK.

Any idea how I can adjust the high idle? It starts up and then it runs good by idle is high for sure. I let it warm up and then mash the peddle to get it to kick down and no dice. I also shut it down and have some diesling. More than likely goes back to timing, the high idle, and potentially the plugs. I pulled the front most plug on the right side of the engine viewed from the front, it looked clean but I figured why not replace it because its cheap and rather know what I am running is good.

 

Most Chinese aftermarket electrical 2" gauges I'm aware of come in 1- or 3-gauge
mounting brackets along with the wiring & senders necessary. You can get 'em at Wal
Mart or Harbor Freight.

For an electrical temp gauge, you just need to replace your factory sending unit (which
might be your entire problem) with the new one, then run the wire through the firewall to
the gauge, mount the gauge & ground it, there's also probably a backlight that could be
hooked to your existing dimmable dash lighting.

Mechanical temp gauges merely require replacing the electrical sender with a mechanical
variant, then running the mechanical line to the gauge as above and then dealing with the
backlighting.

When you find your temperature sending unit, turn the igniton to RUN (but don't start the
engine), disconnect the wire and ground it somwhere, the gauge should swing fully in one
direction (probably HOT). Un-ground it and the gauge should swing fully into the other
direction. If that test passes, the gauge & wiring are good and there's a problem with
the sender - either it's failed or it's not grounded to the engine well enough anymore.

Temp gauge sending unit wire is either red/white stripe or white/red stripe, I forget. One
is oil pressure and the other is temperature. Dash & gauge dimmable backlighting is the
light blue/red-stripe circuit.

The oil pressure sender is a bit bigger than a golf ball and kinda looks like a cylinder with
a funnel-shaped top, wire plugs into the center of that. Temp sending unit is about the
size of your thumb from knuckle to nail and will be mounted in the water jacket
someplace.

Temperature sender:



Oil pressure sender:



I really really really doubt your high idle (which is gonna be responsible for the dieseling)
is caused by your timing, this seems to be carb-related as you can't get it to kick down.
You may have a dashpot (keeps the idle high when the AC is on) that's keeping it up
high, you may not, I really don't know.

You might begin by figuring out what model of carburetor you have and looking up the
docs for it and how to adjust it (or ask here), it might just be sticking mechanical
mechanisms that just need cleaning, it might be more than that, you'll have to determine
that.

 

Fantastic! You have been more then helpful, rep sent your way if I can. I know a little about cars and figure that my inexperience shouldn't result in a costly failure. I really like this truck and am happier than hell to finally have a Ford. Always wanted one, so I am pretty excited about it. I figure I will break out the tests tomorrow and see what exactly is going on. From what I understand once an AC system breaks, basically the costs are excessive and the funds can be better spent on engine/performance mods? I'm used to having no ac being as my current dd doesn't have it, but it would be nice to have. Any idea how I would go about checking that system?

 

I don't know anything about air conditioning or how to test it but I've seen it talked about out
here, you might search the archives....

 

Yeah will do, its currently unplugged the compressor I believe. The PO never told me what occured exactly. Good news though, I drained the oil, and oil filter and ran a new synthetic blend 5w-30 and filter. Maybe it was a placebo effect but it indeed did seem to help start up and makes me feel many times better than junk is out of there. I'm gonna run some carb cleaner later on today. I'm so excited for this pickup that I am working in 5 inches of snow hahah. Any idea if the 460s with intank pumps would have an inline filter as you are headed towards the front of the pickup, as in post tank,pre carb. Its right next to the tank in the fuel line.

Next on the list, is air cleaner, spark plugs, and fool around with the timing once I get a light. New double roller tchain. Rust bullet the entire truck if the temp ever warms up, new master cylinder and break booster ( I hear a vaccumn leak and assume its in that system. PO said master cylinder needs replaced, because its rusty as heck, and I am assuming seals are done.) Repack the bearings, hubs, tcase, trans, and track down the coolant sensor issues.

This is a great forum! I really appreciate the help!

 

I have no idea about fuel filters, I would just crawl under there and follow the lines and
look. I know there's one in the tank but it may be broken off the sender by now and/or
disintegrated into many pieces and would be next to worthless by now. It also might not
be, maybe somebody changed the sender already.

You should have a fuel filter right at the carb inlet, too, but that's gonna be subject to
what previous owners may have done over the years.

You might have a leak in the power brake booster; disconnect that thick vacuum line
from the booster and plug it and then start up the truck and see if you can still hear a
leak.

I would just remove the belt running the AC unless it also spins the power steering or
alternator or some other important device. There's been a fair amount of talk out here on
AC so there's a chance you can get it to work again without spending a fortune.

Rust on the outside of a master cylinder doesn't really mean much of anything but if
you're gonna replace the booster, I understand you can get one already paired with a new
master cylinder and that would be the way to go.

If the temps ever warm up.... it's mid-December, dude, maybe in about 4 months. It
was 12*F when I woke up this morning but no real snow to speak of yet this year.

IIRC you have the factory shop manuals, right? Maybe I'm confusing you with somebody
else, maybe not....

 

Yeah I found some information, but they are very difficult to diagnose as they show no pictures and in many cases leave the 460 out entirely. An example being is the coolant sensor.

 

My personal opinion is that those things rock and are far better than the Haynes & Chilton's
things and they have plenty enough pictures for me, are you sure you have the actual Ford
manuals?

I don't have one yet but I read a lot of good things about Electrical & Vacuum Troubleshooting
Manual, I figure I'll get one as soon as I get rid of my square tuit.

 

Yeah they are specific for the 84 broncos, vans, and trucks. They are pretty good overall, but just the lack of pictures and info for small things such as the coolant sensor location is disapointing. Overall they are good, but generally I use a chilton haynes and shop manual and between the 3 can have a good idea of what I am doing without trail and error.

 

We have very similar trucks...

The OPS is at the back of the block beneath the EGR valve.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/24183730@N03/2341398064/" title="IMG_1903 by Jim_Urrata, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2230/2341398064_eee3888e15.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_1903" /></a>

The coolant sensor is in the intake manifold, front drivers side, between the distributor and coil.
(sorry I have an aftermarket intake, so no photo)

An easy way to tell if it's the sender or gauge is to turn the ignition to the run position and ground the wire(s) to the block.
Both the water temp and oil pressure should read full scale.

 

No, the only filter in the 'hot fuel handling' system is the vapor separator up near the carb, and the in tank pickup socks.
It's recommended to install a generic inline filter before this.
The separator is best found at the dealer, and costs much more than the generic filter you can use to protect it.

 

Yeah I am thinking that it is an additional po installed filter. I am starting to wonder if perhaps I am losing oil pressure on my pickup, thus when it gets warm the fuel pumps shut down? The oil was black as heck and it has been replaced and in both cases has read good on the dipstick. I am thinking of rebuilding the carb, but don't know if it is worth it to mess with the 4180. Although, I haven't ran the pickup on the road to feel power observing the stock numbers they aren't all that good for 460s.

I think tomorrow I will replace the plugs and hit the carb with some cleaner to see if I can get it to idle down, the sucker idles high and dieseles after shutdown.

 

Before you change the plugs, run the engine up to temp and get a spray bottle full of water. Spray mist into the the carburetor and try to loosen some of the carbon deposits that are causing run on.
THEN change the plugs.
Check your timing. That could cause it to run hot too.