Hey all!

I used to frequent the board all the time when I had my 78 Bronco, but then I went Ford Truck-less for a few years. I finally fixed that with a 79 4X4 F250 Explorer with a 460 (originally a 400 truck) and automatic that picked up two weeks ago. I've been fixing problems on the truck, but have come up against a couple I need help with. Unfortunately work, a 2 year old, a 4 week old, and a new house are sucking up my time. I'd like to find a good mechanic in mid-Michigan (Lansing area would be great) who has experience with this vintage truck to fix a couple of things. Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

 

Have you talked to Mark at MiOffRoad?

 

Mark is prolly the best in that area for that vintage truck.

What kind of issues do you have, maybe we can talk you through them.

Rich

 

I should have added.... (517) 487-0742

 

Thanks for the help guys, I'll give Mark a call, he's right in my backyard.

The biggest problem currently is that the truck doesn't want to start when hot. New starter, new selenoid, new cables, newer 700CCA battery. Starts great when cold, but the hotter she gets the less she wants to start.

I'm not thrilled with how hot hte truck is running when you drive over 60 MPH for more than 15 mins, and when the truck is at a stop the Oil Pressure drops to zero. Start moving and it picks up. I could probably sort those two issues out if I had more time, but just too much on my plate and I want to use the truck.

At this stage I just want to get the reliability issues sorted out by someone who can do it right, then I'll take care of the million and one little things that a 32 year old truck needs but don't need to be done right now.

Thanks again!!

 

1. getting hot at higher speed., Possible radiator pluged not enough flow.
At same time replace thermostat and gasket.
2. put guage in to check oil pressure. if all is good replase gauge in truck.
If not good. sorry to say but you have motor trouble, cam and crank bearings. some people will tell you to replace oil pump first. This will not fix your issue, it is a good idea to replace it if you rebuild the motor.
3. not starting when hot is most likey the coolant temp sensor for the computer not the guage or light. I had same issue with mine way back when I had one. also replaced a ton of them when I had my shops for many many years. hope this helps sorry if it brings bad news.

 

No coolant temp sensor on a 79, or computer. It's either going to be the coil breaking down when hot or a bad spot in the starter. If it cranks over good but doesn't fire it's most likely a coil going bad, but could also be that rotten "electronic ignition" module. (I hate that damn silver box on the fender)

No that I think about it check your timing too, to advanced could cause the overheat issue to a point too.

 

Too old for computers and coolant sensors, but I've sort of solved the starting problem, it's half an easy fix and half a difficult fix. The timing chain is showing it's age and when the engine is hot 700CCA isn't enough to turn the bid ol'460 over. 930CCA is. That's the brute force fix, but the timing chain is one of the factors leading towards a rebuild. I know it's not the coil or the starter as both are new and the way the symptoms are (perfect start when cold, engine seems almost like there's a bind when it's hot, cool it down and start perfect again) really don't lead towards those. The odds of the started or coil always landing on the same bad spot are pretty slim.

Capital - I'm leaning towards the thermostat for the cooling issue, flow seems to be good for coolant, and I just flushed and changed the coolant and that seemed fine.

The bad new is that the oil pressure gauge is accurate. It's just going to need a rebuild soon. I'll drive it for a bit and solve all my problems with a total engine rebuild

Thanks to you who sent me to Mark at Michigan Off Road. He's actually closed down his shop, but was happy to provide some advice and steer more towards a shop for the soon to be done rebuild.

 

He closed down......again. I know he's had a hard time getting someone in there that he can trust to run the place while he runs the truck, course he doesn't want to pay someone to what they are worth either. To bad, he was pretty much the only guy in Lansing specializing in it.

Check your timing, you may be able to retard it a bit to get it to start easier hot. The battery is the likely culprit. We use to have a rule of thumb for batteries in those older trucks......double the cubic inch size of the engine to get your minimum CCA for the battery. in this case a 460 ci engine should be at least a 920CCA battery.

 

Well the 79 I had did have sensors and a computer. but when we talk about not starting when hot no one said anything about turning over slow or hard. only info was will not start.

Computers started being put in cars and trucks in 73 and newer. did not work well and some did have coolant sensors. fact my 73 lincon had both I still have the 302 HO waiting for a body to go into. very bad motor 400 hp.

sorry for the bad news on the motor. Hope you can find a good rebuilder or a good used one.

on coolong system. I understand you flushed it but did you pull the radiator and have a radiator shop test it.
I had alot of people come to my shop saying that same thing., But when we pulled the radiator and used our flow test system we found it about half pluged. you can`t tell just by looking in it when running.
Also if thermostat is doing it`s job at lower speed or Idle it is ok. but should be replaced with any coolant system repairs. Not saying yours fits this but this is what I have found over 38yrs as a service tech.and shop owner. but I could be wrong.