Oh that sucks. right when your excited to try out the best feature of your truck its not there for ya. I've had electronic t-cases fail to shift but never a Borg Warner with the floor shifter.

When doing a full system flush I've seen quite a few people switch over the the G05 with out any issues.

 

Yeah, I read they the linkage itself is what's binding up usually.

I was super upset this morning, went out to get the truck ready and found a huge puddle of coolant. I can't pinpoint exactly where its coming from but the only thing that was messed with recently was the thermostat housing. Maybe I didn't clean it up enough when i replaced the housing and thermostat.

hopefully I get a chance to pull the truck in the shop and take a look.

 

Good morning everyone. I got a chance to work on the truck yesterday. My main goal was to fix the coolant leak. I tried making a plate to reinforce the flange on the thermostat housing, but it didn't work out. I also tried to use some "Right stuff" RTV that cures in 90 minutes, it was absolute garbage. I had to scrape all that off and do it over. Seems like the gasket is holding well enough for now *fingers crossed*. I usually have the worst luck with leaks like this.

I was thinking about when the time comes for a water pump just getting the IH cast iron version with the screw on filter and a billet thermostat housing. That would let me really ensure the gasket was sealed, I'm afraid of stripping the aluminum one out. Plus the added bonus of the coolant filter and its perks. I'll be doing some more reading on this and finding the best place to source the parts.

I also got a chance to change out the trans fluid. I drained and replaced it with Mobile 1 synthetic ATF. Seems to shift so much smoother. Maybe it was just since the truck was inside a heated garage but it was like night and day smoother.

I also wanted to tackle some of the exhaust ( I was waiting the 90 minutes for the RTV to set) I had ordered a 4" SS kit but realized the downpipe wouldn't work. The exhaust on the truck went from 3" downpipe to 3.5" and then to 4". I decided to replace the back half for now as thats where the exhaust was the worst plus I could reuse the welded hangers as they were already 4". I fought to get the muffler off (donaldson muffler, HUGE) once that was off I pulled the rest of the tailpipe off the one hanger behind the axle. I got a kit with no muffler so I installed the muffler replacement pipe in place and then began test fitting the over the axle parts. I found out that I wouldn't be able to run the actual tailpipe portion because the rear fuel tank is in the way. I decided to end the exhaust there for now, it goes over the axle, aimed down and to the side, I hope to get a pipe bent and then a new tip. Just have to find an exhaust shop most around here.

Today I might go back up to the shop and double check everything is good and then tackled some wiring and look at the transfer case lever linkage.

 

Just buy a stainless thermostat housing flange

 

Thats what I was originally planning on doing. Just didn't want to wait for it to be shipped. Leak seems to be fixed for now, area around the thermostat is nice and dry. Engine still smells like coolant though, need to give it a good cleaning.

I was tackling some more of the wiring on the truck yesterday. I pulled out a couple wires that ran pretty much the whole length of the frame. One must have been for a backup camera at some point, it ran up into the dash area under the floor mat. The other ran up to where the battery was, had a circuit breaker and a fuse (5 amp) on it. Maybe that was a power wire for said camera.

I also found a big bundle of tape, I unwrapped it since these wires went through it. Found a couple more scotch locks.


This is for a plug mounted on the inside of the bed. They had a camper in there so I imagine its a plug for that. There's also another couple plugs hanging back by the tailgate under the bed rail. Those wires come from behind the rear bumper. I'll look at them sometime as well.

 

Hope is doesn't leak on ya for a long while. Nothing drives me more crazy then a leak.

I was having a issue with the torque converter in my E4OD. it was shuddering in 3rd. I didn't feel like draining everything so I went to O'reilly to see what Snake Oil they had to offer. Found a bottle of this


It wasn't an instant fix but 3 weeks later the shudder is gone and shifting from 3 to 4 is smoother. I'll get to changing out the fluid at some point but for now I'm happy that this got rid of the shudder. Not bad for $10

 

Thanks, I hope the leak stays gone as well.

I have a ZF5, so no torque convertor for me. Never seen that Dr Tranny stuff before.

 

Wait a minute... I think your about to educate me here....

I know that Ford used some Mazda Manuals that used ATF but I thought the ZF5 used gear lube. But your telling me the ZF5 uses ATF also?

 

Yes, the ZF5 takes 3.5 quarts of synthetic mercon atf. Cant remember if its 3 or 5 off hand (believe 5). Surprised me too. Apparently the internals are so tight that gear lube camt flow properly.

 

Well, driving home I started to see smoke coming out from under the hood. The thermostat is leaking again. Fiddlesticks! How is this thing still leaking?

The bolts seem to be coming loose. I re-tightened them and torqued them again, first to 10 ft/lbs and then again to 13 ft/lbs.

If I can't get this to seal both the water pump and the housing are going to be replaced anyway.

Why is it that the simple things seem to be the most aggravating?

Anyone have any ideas on why this housing won't seal?

 

From your description it sounds like you might need to take a straight edge to the housing and see if its warped. I don't know if you've try'd taking a gasket and putting RTV on both sides of it. Had to do that to my one of my housings.

 

I tried to clean the flange up as best I could on the water pump, the housing is brand new. The water pump has a stud in one of the 3 bolt holes, maybe that's causing the issue. Idk, short of putting a new pump on as well, but then it opens up another can of worms for things to break/leak.

There's no actual gasket. The "gasket" is just an o-ring that gets sandwiched between the housing and the thermostat (which is in a depression on top of the water pump). I think if they had an actual gasket that could be RTV'd as you describe and/or a real cast housing like a SBF it'd seal no problem.

I might order up either a billet housing or the reinforcement plate and go from there. I'd rather not have to replace the water pump right now unless there's no other options. I'll try and double check using a straight edge when I have it apart. (assuming my re-tightening didn't fix it)

 

Been busy at work this week. I haven't driven the truck this week. Decided to go ahead and order a new heavy duty thermostat housing. I found one from KB Diesel on Ebay, looks and feels very nice. I also order the IH water pump kit from Diesel site. I figured I'll knock it all out at once and eliminate any issues with the thermostat. The water pump was about due I think to be replaced. Looks original and the one bolt hole is got a stud for some reason.

Here's my shiny new thermostat housing:

I thought about the short billet housings, but I don't want the upper hose going through the belt.

The water pump kit should be here Monday. I should get a chance to install it next weekend.

 

Operation water pump seemed to be a success today. The factory pump was indeed messed up. As you can see in the picture, they placed a bolt upside down and JB welded it in to act as a stud. They must have stripped it out. By doing this it shifted the housing over slightly causing a no seal situation. Some people...


Same guy probably used the air chisel on my fan clutch, rather then rent a free tool:


Here's the old pump still in place. You can see the "stud on the lower left"


Here's a shot of the old pump out next to the new one. I did prime and paint it with an aluminum color just so it woulnd't get all rusty looking.


And here's a shot of the new pump installed.


On the drive home I didn't see any leaks or smoke. This should take take of the issue *fingers crossed*

I do plan to replace the belt tensioner (forgot to order it previously) and possibly the fan clutch. My next project is hopefully going to be front brakes, rads and rotors. A RSK lift is also planned to level the truck out.

 

So the new pump has a filter on it?

When I comes to brakes I like the Powerstop front pads, I have them on my F350 and they work pretty good.
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