Hey guys, Im new to the site. Also new to Ford. I have dozens of questions!! I have an 85 f150 straight 6 manual that I got for free. Truck has about 130k on it. Has sat for over 10 years now. Didnt run when I got it. Just rebuilt the carb. Had zero electric inside the cab. Engine would turn over but die immediately when I stopped turning the key. Replaced ignition switch. I have most of the electric back now. Truck pretty much started right up and idled fine for about an hour. Engine sounds great. Cant test drive it yet since there are no brakes. I am not great with working on vehicles but I am capable. So the warm air choke tube not exactly sure what its called, at the exhaust manifold its broken and rusted to ****. There is about an inch left above the manifold. The rest was connected to carb still. I am curious how that connects to the manifold. Haven't tried anything with it because its so rusty I am afraid it will fall apart. Electrical and emissions have been toyed with. Dont care about emissions as far as motor vehicle goes. Was told it has a rebuilt tranny and new flywheel and clutch installed right before it sat. I will attempt to upload some pictures.


Problems....
1. How does the warm air choke connect to the manifold?
2. I have no rear lights at all. No headlights.No horn. No interior lights. Only blinkers in front work. Any common connection?
3. Wipers attempt to move. They will budge a 1/4 inch several seconds. Motor problem?
4. Zero brakes. Obvious leak just haven't gotten that far yet.
5. Idles fine. When I went in reverse (5 ft) it was fine. In 1st it wanted to stall and I either had to give it a lot of gas or put in neutral to keep running. (truck was pulled off dolly in awkward place, just wanted it moved over about 5 ft)

 

Let me be the first to welcome you to the forum.


Look over this post and links on the choke heat tube.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...uto-choke.html


You should be able to find a heat tube fit it in the parts stores help area.


As for electrical things not working. I would start at the fuses and most likely replace them all.
Then I would look at the fuseable link wires. Look for a burnt one and also a bad connection at the solenoid. I would pull the wires and clean the connections and see what you get.

As for the brakes I would go thru them replacing the wheel cly & rear shoes, all rubber hoses (1 rear 2 front), and maybe the 2 front calipers & master. This way all is new and would not need to worry about them.
Dave ----

 

Welcome to FTE, Brian! Lots of people on here with serious knowledge about these trucks, so I'm sure there'll be plenty of help for you.

Also, my web site has lots of information on them. Here are a few links you might find helpful:

• Trucks: This is the main page for the 1980 - 86 Ford trucks
• 1986 EVTM: The Electrical & Vacuum Troubleshooting Manual is by far the best way to look at the electrical wiring since it breaks it down into one or two pages for each circuit. The link given is for the 1986 version as it will be the closest for your 1985 truck. But, be aware that in '86 Ford did away with the hash marks and dots on the wires, so your wires may be marked slightly differently than what is shown.

Now for your questions:
1. How does the warm air choke connect to the manifold? I don't know how it connects on the 300 six, but some of the V8's had a captive nut/fitting that screwed into the exhaust manifold. However, some had the tube pressed into the manifold. Hopefully someone that knows about the six will come along soon. In any event, I've been told there are kits available at the parts stores to fix the hot-air chokes.
2. I have no rear lights at all. No headlights.No horn. No interior lights. Only blinkers in front work. Any common connection? As you will see from this page in the EVTM, the headlights are fed by Fuse Link L and everything else is fed by Fuse Link M. So, the commonality is the Splice 101 (S101) and the Yellow wire that runs through Connector 610 (C610). The location of the fuse links is shown on the first page, and the location of C610 is listed on Page 17.
3. Wipers attempt to move. They will budge a 1/4 inch several seconds. Motor problem? I suspect the linkage or the gearbox of the motor is frozen and the breaker is tripping. I'd pull the linkage off the motor and see if it'll run.
4. Zero brakes. Obvious leak just haven't gotten that far yet.
5. Idles fine. When I went in reverse (5 ft) it was fine. In 1st it wanted to stall and I either had to give it a lot of gas or put in neutral to keep running. (truck was pulled off dolly in awkward place, just wanted it moved over about 5 ft) I don't think you said what tranny you have. But, the brakes tend to freeze/rust up when the trucks sit for a long time, as yours has done. And the way the brake linkage is designed makes the brakes self-applying in forward. In other words, if the shoes are against the drums they'll automatically apply harder the further forward you go. But, in reverse they'll slip. So, I'd bet that your rear brakes are rusted up and that you'll have to replace the wheel cylinders, shoes, and maybe even the hoses.

 

I do like Gary's answers for #3 & #5 and I meant to say that for each but I know #5 would be taken care of with the brakes.
Dave ----

 

Here is a link for info on the six cylinder engine. The carb on your truck is not stock. On a 1985 the hot air pipe connected to the drivers side of the carb as it was a originally a feedback carb.
Do you have an electric choke cap with a single wire attached to it?

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...hose-line.html

As you are new here, it is important to read all the links completely as sometimes the original thread itself is a learning curve, meaning there is corrected info near the end of the thread.

Jim

 

O' boy, here we go again. I wonder what distributor he has? Anyone want to take the lead on this one? Another 300 six with no timing control?

 

May be the reason the truck sat for 10 years as they don't run well at all with the carb swapped and the ignition and computer left intact. That's what my '82 had and, as I learned later, it sat on a used car lot for several years 'cause it ran so poorly.

Brian - Post up a pic of the distributor. Or, tell us if it has a vacuum hose going to it.

 

Was going to wait to get back on my comp to respond to all the great feedback. I really appreciate the help. I didnt know it was an aftermarket carb? Tag attached to it says motorcaft. I got the truck from a guy who said it sat in his yard for 6 years, He had plans of using it as a plow truck. He said he got it from someone who told him it was sitting for a few years because he had bought a brand new truck. Not sure why it sat so long...
Why is the radiator capped like that? There is an identical capping on top of the catalytic converter im assuming for an o2?? The wiring in pics is all right near the fuse box under the dash. I checked all of the fuses they all looked fine. I will replace anyway because I have them already. Sorry for the fbl pic of carb.

 

It isn't an "aftermarket" carb but it isn't the right carb for that truck. You can give me the #'s off the carb's tag and I might be able to figure out what it is from, but it didn't come on yours. And, your distributor is a computer-controlled style. So, since the computer is trying to control the carb but can't since it isn't a computer-controlled unit, the computer has locked the ignition timing into the limp-home mode. That's probably 10 degrees BTDC, but normally you'd have 20 to 40 degrees BTDC depending on the load on the engine. In other words, your engine will be a dog until you do a DS-II conversion and get the computer out of the picture.

So, go here and read up on the DS-II conversion. You'll need a DS-II distributor, wiring harness, coil, and DS-II module from a DS-II truck. But, it'll make a huge difference in the way the truck runs.

 

tag on it says motorcraft E5TE BA A 4 H 21

 

Where does the yellow wire go, that is plugged into your flasher socket?

Re: your rear brakes... The first thing to check for is seized parking brake cables.
These will rust up inside and then the truck won't move forward.
Let off the parking pedal and see if there is any motion at the equalizer on the drivers side frame rail.
If you can get the drums off try disconnecting the cable from the arm inside there.
Maybe you don't have to replace everything after all.

You have a Thick Film Ignition eec-IV style distributor.
If the computer is missing or has sensors disconnected it will not be able to adjust the ignition timing.

The hose going to your catalytic converter is for the smog pump to inject air in order for it to reach operating temperature more quickly.

The hose on your radiator is plugged because many replacement radiators come with that extra port and the rubber cap that it came with long ago got dry rotted and fell off.

 

I think the parking brake works... It was parked on slight hill with only parking break on and truck in neutral. Didnt move. When I was moving it I attempted to use parking brake as my brakes but I didnt work lol... I just pushed clutch down to stop moving, Which felt like a brake because it stopped instantly... I know thats not right. I did Find a wire i didnt reconnect to carb choke housing after all this.

 

Should I reconnect to the smog converter? I just got the impression from this truck that the PO had wanted to avoid all emissions. Emissions no longer matter in jersey for a truck this old.

 

Well, here's what I've found. That carb was used in these applications. Does anyone of those appear to be yours? If so, perhaps it is the right carb for your truck.

• CALIBRATION PARTS LIST NO. 431
  (Calibration No, 5-51E-R0)-6 Cyl. 300 C.i.D. (4.9L)
  1985/86 F150 - - M/T exc. Calif., or Hi-altitude carb.
  1985/86 F250 - - M/T-U/8500 lb, GVW exc. Calif, or Hi-altitude carb.
  1985/86 U150 — M/T-exc. Calif, or Hi-altitude carb.
• CALIBRATION PARTS LIST NO. 433
  (Calibration No. 5-51H-R0J-6 Cyl. 300 C.I.D. (4.9L)
  1985/86 F150 — 4/W/D—M/T—exc. Calif, or Hi—altitude carb.
  1985/86 U150 - - M/T-exc. Calif, or Hi-altitude carb.
• CALIBRATION PARTS LIST NO. 434
  (Calibration No. 5-51K-R0)-6 Cyl. 300 C.I.D. (4.9L)
  1986/86 E150/250 — M/T-exc. Calif, or Hi-altitude carb
• CALIBRATION PARTS LIST NO. 441
  (Calibration No. 5-52E-R0)-6 Cyl. 300 C.I.D. (4.9L)
  1985 F150 - - 2/W/D-C6 w/Hi-altitude carb.
  1985/86 F150 - - 4/W/D-C6-exc. Calif.
  1985/86 F250 - - C6-U/8500 lb. GVW-exc. Calif,
  1985/86 U150 - - A/T-exc. Calif.
• CALIBRATION PARTS LIST NO. 472
  (Calibration No. 5-52H-R0J-6 Cyl. 300 C.I.D. (4.9L)
  1985/86 F150 - - 2/W/D-C5 exc. Calif.
  1985/86 F150 — 2/W/D-C6 exc. Calif, or Hi-altitude carb.

 

My buddy is a diesel mechanic. I dont do much without his help, although he outright says this isnt stuff he deals with regularly. But I trust him working on my truck. So all your help you guys are giving I will save until he is with me. He is receptive to any help, not a know it all. He is the guy who rebuilt my carb with me. I am not a mechanic by any means but I am comfortable using tools. Ive only really done bolt on things like engine and tranny removal and water pumpers and such... So I appreciate all your guys patience. I am 100% willing and eager to learn though. I am replacing parts with cheap autozone parts. Any franchise parts stores near me dont really know anything at all. I will say with all of my dodges Ive had their forums were amazing in helping me. You guys are on your way to blowing them out of the water. I am trying to get this thing road ready as my daily driver as fast as my paychecks will allow me..