Hi all. in the past you would mainly find me in the dent side section, but lately I have been messing with a 96 and thought I would turn to some old friends on this site for some advice. I bought my 16 year old a 96 f150 with the 302 and e4od. 120,000 on the dial. I swore I would never have one with a 302, but I had a weak moment and now I am paying for it. Check engine light keeps coming on, and I have a very old code scanner which keeps telling me that left bank is running to lean and the right bank is running too lean. Like I said, the scanner is early technology, but my thought is to start at 02 sensors.

The other problem he keeps having is in the shift linkage / indicator. The other day it would start in park, so I moved the lever to N, and it started. Once running and warm, I shut it off in park and it started again. We live in the frozen wasteland and he is a 16 year old kid, so before I jumped to any conclusions, we thawed it out in the shop to eliminate any ice or moisture. Fast forward to today and it happened again. Is this a common problem and maybe as simple as just an adjustment of the shift cable? if it can be adjusted it wasn't real obvious from the transmission side. The other thing to note is the indicator has gotten really sloppy, mainly between N and OD. maybe a related issue maybe not?

I appreciate any feed back, and thanks.

 

May have low fuel pressure.
Sounds like you also have looses screws low in the column.


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Maybe he only uses one tank or bad valve in other tank or maybe only has one tank.
A lot of things can cause low fuel pressure.
Most of the time it is not the O2 sensor.

 

Your shifter issue is usually the shift tube and bushings. I had to redo mine in my 96 Bronco.

https://www.dormanproducts.com/gsear...rd&model=F-150

 

Awesome, exactly why I love this site. Here are some more facts:

Rear tank currently unusable as the pump quit shortly after I got it, therefore we are running off the front tank all the time. I changed the fuel filter almost immediately because I thought it seemed a little hard starting. Starts pretty good and seems to idle just fine. He does complain about fuel economy, but I just chocked that up to a 16 year old with no experience with a 390 holley 4 barrel. Ill search for the right way to check fuel pressure, and post results.

Thank you.

 

Actually, now that I think about it, I just assumed the pump went bad, but havent actually did any trouble shooting to make sure. whats the easiest way to check it?

 

Subford, is it safe to assume you need to take the cowling off to get to those screws, or can they be accessed from under the dash?

 

Pretty easy to see the screws when your lying on your back looking up under the dash or on your side.

I've found that I need shifter tube bushings in both of my '95s.

 

How difficult is it to change these bushings? What symptoms indicate they are worn out, or can you just tell by looking at them that they are broken?

 

When I had the instrument cluster out on both trucks, I saw the black pieces of the shifter tube bushings lying there on the column.

Having lots of slop in R, N, OD, 2, 1 when moving the handle in each gear, is a tell-tale sign IF the torx bolts are already snug and tight.

 

it was indeed those two screws, tightened them up and it is functioning correctly now.

Thanks for the advice, ill rep you if we are still doing that around here!

 

An Update, fuel pressure appears to be 24-26 psi with key on and engine not running. It stays at 24-26 with the engine running, and doesn't change at all when the vacuum line is disconnected from the fuel pressure regulator. when you rev the engine, it dips below 20. Does this point towards the fuel pressure regulator?

 

No, bad fuel pump
Should be around 40-45, and more when you unplug the fpr

 

OK guys, I installed a new fuel tank and pump in the rear as I knew for sure that one was bad. Retesting the fuel pressure now it is at 30 psi on the rear tank, when I pull the vacuum line off the fuel pressure regulator, it jumps to 40. Subsequently, when I switch to the front tank, it drops back down to 24, which probably indicates a weak pump in that tank too, as Skuzzy eluded to. For the heck of it, I put on a new fuel filter and it didn't change at at all, so that rules that out. So what do I look at next? the fuel pressure should be higher then 30, correct? Also, I have check for vacuum leaks and cant find any.

Thanks in advance.