thanks for the tips guys. regardless of what my truck has or not, I need help with the fuel not making it to the engine. if I decide to switch it just to the mechanical pump what is the hose routing and the electrical routing?
81-ford-f-150-Explorer: I am at work right now and I will tell you all of the wires when I get home and under it, both sending units front and rear have three wires coming out of the plug that plugs in on the top. The in dash switch had four wires I think I will get the colors for you there as well. Pump is part of sending unit, all in the tank, steel tanks front and rear, I think its a 16 or 19 gal in the front and 15 I think in the rear, I have not filled up from empty so its just a guess. I know the front pump is good I bench tested it and it works. there was also a 6 pronged plug into the selector valve. If anyone could post a wiring diagram that would help me out a lot. thanks for taking some time to help me out.

 

You certainly don't have the standard 1982 selector valve as it has 1 wire in and a ground. But, I don't have any wiring diagrams that will help as all of mine are for mechanical pumps.

As for hose routing, you are just going to bypass the -in-tank pump, or remove it. In other words, you'll have the pickup in the tank to a hose that runs to the selector valve, and then from the selector valve to the fuel pump. But, I don't know how your vent hoses run so don't know if they go through the selector valve. If not, they shouldn't change.

 

I am not totally against electric pumps, all new cars and trucks have them now. What I don't like is the cost and availability of the switching valve(I believe it's over $200 from Ford and they like to go bad). The aftermarket sells a switching valve cheaper, but you have to do a little rigging to get it in.

The sending units are hard to find for this setup, and they like to go bad also. I haven't checked lately, but I believe the ordinary sending units are available at a reasonable price, along with the simple 1 wire selector valve.

Since you have not been using the rear tank, I would take the electric pump off your front sending unit and replace it with a short piece of FUEL rated hose. Put it back in, and run a hose down bypassing the selector valve and hook straight in to the fuel line running up front. Run this into a new mechanical fuel pump that you have installed on the engine, and run a new fuel line from that up to the carb.

Watch out for an extra line running from the carb(a return line). If you had electric pumps from the factory, you should have one. You will not need it anymore with the mechanical fuel pump, and the extra hose port on the sending unit can be plugged up to keep dirt out.

 

Not trying to be smart, But Rock Auto lists Both mechanical and Electric pumps in their catalog for a 82 F350 with 6.6
It lists for steel,plastic tanks as well as midship and aft.

Just my 2 cents..pardon if someone else already mentioned it..

 

ok franklin2 I have an old mechanical pump on my engine right now, I will get a new one, how is it hooked up? right now there is a male hose hookup facing the radiator going in between a belt. is that the tank to pump or pump to carb side? That will at least get me back on the road which is what I need to do. Thank you!
hey truckertrav do you have a 4 speed in your 85? I do in mine with 4:10 gears and it is SLOW! it is basically wrapped out at 65. how do the 3:50 gears work out for you? is the c6 an automatic trans?

 

I know you asked Franklin2, but the forward fitting is traditionally the output of the mechanical pumps, and the other one is the input. If you have an old one it might work fine, but if you are happy buying a new one go for it. Just connect up as previously suggested and it should get you on the road ASAP.

Oh, I like to run a see-thru plastic filter ahead of the pump and one between the pump and the carb. The reason is that there is frequently a LOT of junk in these 30 year old tanks, inc rust, and it can easily plug passages in the carb. Been there had that happen more than once. So, a filter ahead of the pump saves the pump and gets most of the trash. The one behind the pump gets the rest of the trash. With a new-to-me truck I've had to change the first filter monthly for a while until most of the trash is filtered out.

Trav - Sorry, I missed your post. Someone else also said that some of the sites show the electric pumps on the 82's, but that was news to me. In fact, I don't think anyone that has chimed in has seen them in captivity. This is the first one, and my ears still ring.

 

thanks a lot Gary this site is pretty good I just signed up for it 24 hrs ago and I am already on my way to a fix. I will probably change out the old pump just because it has sat for a while, dont they have a diaphram inside? i bet that thing is dry and cracked from not being used. I will post a video soon so you can see my beauty runnin!! is there anything I need to watch out for when changing the pump? is it just an unbolt and bolt up thing or what?

 

I forget which engine you have, but it doesn't matter much. Oh yes, a 400. Now I remember. The biggest problem I've had at times is that the engine stopped with the eccentric pushing the pump's lever toward the pump such that it made it hard to get the pump close enough to the block to start the bolts or studs, whichever you have. In that case, put a 15/16" socket on a breaker bar and turn the engine slowly by hand until the eccentric rotates enough to allow the pump to snuggle up to the block close enough to get the fasteners on. Or, turn the key and hope the engine will stop spinning at a different place in the rotation. And, do that before you use any sealant on the gasket as it is easy to get sealant everywhere while you are fighting the pump's arm. Speaking of sealant, I use Permatex #2, but preferences vary.

As for a diaphragm, yes they have one but it is not really subjected to outside air so I haven't heard of them drying out. There is a vent, but it is pretty small, and the other side of the diaphragm is open to the crankcase and its oil fumes so drying hasn't been a big problem. But, a new one won't hurt.

 

Thanks again I will get to work on it at first light tomorrow, the new pump is 15 to 20 bucks, thats a lot better than the 160 I paid for the new electric one!

 

Happy to help. And, for the record I'm not against e-pumps. But they really aren't necessary for the vast majority of our carb'd engines. Further, as you pointed out, they are expensive. And, as I previously said, lots of people have been having problems with them. So I would simplify things in order to get reliability and minimal cost. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

The C6 is a three speed automatic.

The 3;50 gears work well. They are a good compromise between power and speed.
With the factory LT235 75R 15 tires it turns about 3000 rpm at 70.
I'm running 31 10 50's on it now and I still have plenty of power.

It will get me down the road, pull a trailer, and do what I want.
Needless to say, I am VERY HAPPY with my setup..Trav..

 

I think you are doing the right thing on replacement of the pump.

My 85 was sitting for several years and the fuel pump went bad.
For the small cost of a fuel pump,you could save your engine.

Sometimes, when they go bad, they don't leak fuel OUTSIDE of them but INSIDE the engine....Gas in the oil...Bad Deal.
If you don't notice it, you will one day hit the starter and cause a big boom...I have seen an engine with oil pan,valve covers,etc.VERY DISTORTED...Trav..

 

Did you change the diffs yourself or have someone else do it? what was the cost for parts/labor. My truck is good for around town but when it comes to freeway travel is is basically out of the question, I dont feel comfortable having the engine so wound up for 2 hours down the road. I am going to change my diffs, but the question is when. I asked a mechanic and he laughed and said you dont normally hear of people gearing up! they always what lower gears for crawling and power. I dont think the sacrifice will be too much.

 

No, the 3:50 ratio was what the truck came with..
It is a fairly common ratio in these trucks with the 351W HO engine..

Usually, not all the time, a truck with more torgque and horsepower will have higher ratio(numerically lower) rear gears.

I have seen some set-ups that were geared up so much that it was like trying to take off in 3rd gear...Ran fast after you got it rolling..But wouldn't pull any kind of load..

 

Amen. Changing out the diff's on a 4x4 starts running into money, but I've seen them go for ~$150 on Craigslist. However, I wouldn't bolt one in w/o having it checked out. And, while you have the diff out of the rear axle I would seriously consider having the rear seals replaced, which requires replacing the wheel bearing. Given all that, I would expect it to cost $500 for the rear axle, inc having someone go through the diff and replace bearings and seals on the axle.

For the front, I'm not sure I would worry about the seals and just have the diff replaced. Might get by with $300 after buying the diff and having it gone through. So, all up somewhere between $800 and $1000 to do everything.