I guess you are positive you do not have vacuum leaks making it run lean?
If it is fuel injected have you replaced the oxygen sensor every 40K miles.

Replacing the oxygen sensor on mine solved my lean mix and over heating . The tailpipe color changed from modern new car to dark again.

 

^^^ He's right engine tuning issues can make an engine run hot. The most common of these is late ignition timing.

Take out the antifreeze and add a coolant additive instead. Not ideal in that if you have to deal with freezing temps in the winter then you'll need to put antifreeze in then. But until then it should cool a lot better.

Could also have too much refrigerant in your AC system making it run at higher pressures and thus higher temps.

 

It's not fuel injected, it's carbureted. That being said, much of the vacuum lines are gone. When I got this it didn't have any of the smog control crap on it anymore. Many of the vacuum lines were completely rotted too. I don't plan on replacing all of the smog control stuff, so probably need to figure out which vacuum lines are absolutely needed. It looks like a lot is either plugged, or just left open. I will say that it smells like it's running rich, but it's been like that for a very long time.
Does anyone have a photo of diagram of what is necessary to run right, without all of the other stuff added in?

 

You never did mention the year did you? since it's carbureted you could just pull all the vacuum hoses off. Pretty much you have 3 primary hoses, main carb vacuum, brake booster, and vac advance for the distributor. Other than that, the extra stuff is just that, extra stuff. Seeing as it has some smog stuff still it might have the extra plate under the carb that recycles exhaust. If thats leaking that could be a big issue.

 

I'm not that up on the carb, is the plate you're talking about pretty obvious?
My truck is an '85 with the 351W HO 5.8. Like I said, most of the smog control was off of it when I got it. Tons of vacuum lines either plugged or going nowhere. The big vacuum port on the front of the carb has a big vacuum line running nowhere and makes a hell of a sucking sound. It seems my engine runs smoother when I put my thumb over it. Any ideas? I'll try to take a picture of what's in there and post it up.

 

That would be a main vacuum line. On the valve cover you should see a sort of valve sticking up, that's where it should go. If you don't see it then you should find a way to just cap off the port for now. and bare hoses should be tested for vacuum as well, then capped off if they have any. I will see if I have any pictures of the plate I had. Mine might be different due to being from 78 and the emissions standards were a bit different. Being an 85, that probably means you had a smog pump at one time, and some pipes coming up from the exhaust that fed into that pump. Pretty much that pump would push the harmful exhaust fumes back into the engine to be re-burnt.

 

Alright so I checked my pictures on my PC and couldn't find one showing the plate between the carb and intake. What you can do is look around the base of it and if you see any sort of spacer with vacuum ports, plug them.

This is starting to sound correct. Pretty much what I would do is start by plugging any open ports, and pulling the old crusty vacuum lines and replacing them. If there is a line that is going nowhere like the big one you mentioned, pull it and cap the port on the carb.

That is a vacuum leak which will cause the engine to run poorly. When it gets smooth thats a good sign, that means the engine is running better.

 

So here's the set up. I took your advice and plugged the one in front of the carb. There are two lines coming up from underneath the truck, end up going into the vapor canisters. Do I need all of the extra crap that was probably once hooked up to something electrical? I know I need to leave the hoses to the vapor canisters.

 

Hmm I'm not too sure, someone with a bit more experience might know. My experience is ripping a bunch of hoses out, plugging ports and seeing how it runs, then connecting as I go. With that main vacuum plugged, see how hot it gets. Also a few ways to check for leaks is by taking a can of carb cleaner or brake cleaner and spraying it around the carb and on some vacuum lines. If he idle increases then you have a leak around there. You can also take your hands and cup them over the car while it's running kind of like if you were choking it out, if the idle increases a lot, there is a good chance you have a leak.

 

Well, part of my overheating was a leak I had from not tightening the red heater hose after I switched out the heater core. DUHHhhhh. Ended up with antifreeze dripping inside from the heater core box.
Also, I ran the truck last night with the heater going full tilt with the radiator cap off and got quite a bit of air out of it. Today, the thing ran okay even with the A/C on. That being said, I still want to clear out the tangle of vacuum lines.

 

Sounds like one problem is fixed Next is the fun part, cleaning and organizing.

 

You have a real mess there, do your brakes work well?

Ok let me put together a list of the vacuum lines you need, the rest you can discard. From memory so take it easy on me if something is wrong.

1) To the brake booster, this generally is a 3/8 hose from a vacuum tree behind the carb.

2) PCV valve, this is the thing in the back of your passenger side valve cover. It connects to a metal tube that is still there. The other end of that hose goes to the big plug in the front center of the carb. (The brake and PCV CAN NOT share a line)

3) EGR and Distributor, these both source there vacuum from the ported vacuum port on the carb. It's the driver side front small port. I'm not 100% how Ford did it but I would T the line at the carb, one leg going right to the distributor. The other going to the temperature valve on the water neck then to the EGR valve.

4) Transmission, small hose going to the back of the transmission. I would connect it to the small port on the drivers side front of the carb.

5) Charcoal canister, this is a breather for your fuel tank. Should be a metal line on the frame, to a rubber line connected to the canister and from the canister to your air filter.

6) Heater controls and cruise control, this is the vacuum lines connected to your firewall, should be connected to the vacuum tree in the back of the manifold.

That should be all you need for all of the factory stuff that has any real use. Anything else can/should be discarded.

 

Hmm, this gives me a good reason to show off my engine bay

78 will probably be vastly different form 85 but I've got the basic Vacuum stuffs that is needed to run the motor. I don't have accessories such as cruise control or even a charcoal canister so I've only got the main stuff.


It isn't the best but on the back you can see the brake booster line running to the metal tree. Then I also used that for the transmission vacuum line.


I've got my vac advance and primary vacuum on the front, and everything else has been capped.


Of course Brute covered the few extras you might have but otherwise it should be pretty basic.

Also, don't make fun of my green intake!