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This is my first post and I look forward to learning from the extensive member knowledge. Last fall my wife and I got an excellent deal on an 87 E-350 motorhome that "had a leaking radiator." All the belts were broken/gone but the previous owner demonstrated that it would start briefly and red fluid dripped from the radiator when that happened (first clue). I towed it home and got to work taking the front end apart so I could replace the radiator. Over the next few days/weeks I plan to upload pictures of the process and explanations of what I have done so far, but the shortened version is the radiator is fine and one of the hard lines going from the radiator to the auxiliary transmission cooler had rusted through and was the source of the leak.
The purpose of this thread will be to document the work I have done so far and get suggestions and ideas on things I should do to make this RV trip worthy. It has a carburated 460 V8 with the C6 automatic and I have started another thread in the Big Block V8 forum to get advise on potentially refreshing the engine (it seems to be leaking oil from both valve gaskets). https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19886597
Below is a picture of the exterior in its current condition.
Last edited by 87 E-350 RV; May 18, 2021 at 10:06 AM.
Reason: Added link to Engine Thread
Not sure others here will agree but your RV is a bit outside of the traditional E-Series this sub-forum is about. As you'll do with the engine issues any of the other sub-systems might receive more answers if they too are listed in a more appropriate forum here on FTE.
Not sure others here will agree but your RV is a bit outside of the traditional E-Series this sub-forum is about. As you'll do with the engine issues any of the other sub-systems might receive more answers if they too are listed in a more appropriate forum here on FTE.
JWA,
Thanks for the feedback. I anticipate this thread being for general questions that I think are van specific or do not know where else they might fit. Things like wheels, brakes, wheel bearings, shocks, etc. that I believe are sometimes the same and sometimes different from the similar age pickups. For example, the front lip of the hood is rusted most of the way off so I might look for a replacement or might just cut it straight and seal or weld it somehow.
It was difficult to find any information on the radiator, so I began by taking the engine bay apart. I did not want to mess with the AC but took pretty much everything else out of the front to get the radiator out.
Grill removed Radiator out
With the radiator out I was able to look at the pulleys for the belts. I immediately discovered the bearing in the power steering pump was bad. Changing the pump requires pulling the pulley from the front and then unbolting the pump and removing it from the back of the bracket. This was not too bad with the radiator out for extra space.
Power Steering Pump, Mounting Bracket, and Pulley Setup Pulley Puller available from most auto parts stores
After replacing the power steering pump I noticed the steering gearbox had a broken bolt and was leaking like a sieve. I did not want to do a full gearbox rebuild and could not find the square o-ring anywhere, so I measured the existing damaged seal and ordered the required bolt and the right size square o-ring from McMaster-Carr. For anyone who might reference this it was part number 4061T254: https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/127/3804 and the bolt is a 7/16"-20 by 1-1/4" long.
Leaking with Broken Bolt Only a little rust and the gears look fine Cleaned up with the New Square O-ring
In the late '87 EFI 460 engines Ford got away from the 8 degree retarded timing set but I'm not sure that they did that on the carbureted engines. Headers and a free flowing exhaust system would help greatly. Stock intake is really about the best there is for low end torque but it is heavy. Swapping in an E4OD instead of the C6 is a lot of work and expense but it sure makes it a lot better on the highway.
Loved my 26' E-350 Jayco MH. I had the throttle body so lucked out there.
I finally got rid of it when gas prices hit $4 years ago and the ammonia leaked out of the fridge. Was not a good time in my finances as even though the refrigeration part of the fridge I could replace, it still was $450 for the unit. 5.5 mpg just didn't cut it. At least at that low of mpg, running the genset didn't affect the mileage at all. I had to stop every 150 miles and fill up with that mileage if I wanted the genset to keep running as it stupidly had the stock 36 gallon gas tank. I always had wanted to change it to a 63 gallon but again, finances.
So at 100,000 miles is my stock chain set in jeopardy. Where to set cam degree offset as new sets are triple timed keyway. Engine is bone stock but I am feeding it with a 3310 holley (750cfm vac sec) in place of the 4180 smog control original. Rated 600 cfm. Added twin 2.5 inch high flow two chamber thrush welded ex cans. Nice rumble and not gross loud. The obvious next is what to do with cam chain gear set. Not doing to cam swap but maybe justify new chain gear set while I have the rad out after the "Smog Ectomy" operation. Got rid of all pollution failed hardware pumps lines hoses belts etc etc
All that remains is one ported vac line from carb to dist for vac advance. Even took manifolds off and ported away the AIR inject point lumps blocking the exhaust flow. Poor man version of header like flow without spending dough..No more heat riser shield and yes never seize on the new gr 8 bolts. There outta be a law that requires mechanics to use never sieze on ex bolts or go to jail...lol I only broke off one. Milled the rusted manifold face to serviceable condition. 2 weeks into mechanical side of retro fit. Yanked the old 4500 watt cast iron Kohler gen set replaced with Yamaha Invertor 3500 SEB. Works way better and quiet.
Okay let's chatter about the real issue cam timing...
Russell
Last edited by Behemoth Beast; Jul 22, 2022 at 08:55 PM.
Reason: Sp
If you look at your new timing set the zero timing mark and keyway should be directly in line with one another. With the retarded set the dot is obviously offset. Some aftermarket "performance" sets are made with their zero based on the 8 degree retarded position. If your engine has the retarded set just going to the non retarded version will make a noticeable difference in the idle quality, low end torque and performance.
Yes I was wondering what others have experienced without having to do the whole degree wheel dial indicator procedure. Local shop trying to procure the triple keyed set. Still wondering about average life of stock chain gear set.
If I remember correctly the stock 460 cam that I plotted was ground on a 115 lobe sep. I don't know where it was installed in the engine but I would assume it is at about 120 ICL when the 8 degree retard set is used and that would make it at about 112 ICL nominally. 112 is still way back for a low compression engine but a heck of a lot more optimum than a 120 ICL.
The toughest emissions problem to solve back in the early '70's was N2O which is mainly caused by having high cylinder pressures and temperatures at low speeds. EGR, low compression ratios and retarded cam timing were used to reduce those emissions. Rather than change the cam grind Ford just changed the lower gear in the set to move the cam back 8 degrees(4 degrees cam). A long time ago back when I first got my '79 F350 it was all original. I changed the timing chain to the non retard version and the difference in idle quality and performance just off idle was very noticeable. I never checked the mileage but that would have been pretty interesting. Back then it had a C6 with 4.10 gears and it would turn about 3000rpm on the highway. Was that high enough that it wouldn't matter?
Last month I put together a totally stock 429 CJ for a customer's 1970 Cyclone restoration. I ordered the early style timing set yet the retarded version is what came in the box. I just milled another keyway slot in the lower gear to correct it and all was well.
I will have to check out the Holley 3310, I’m still running the original 4180 and have been thinking about an upgrade.
FWIW my cut away RV is also an ‘87 but I figure the carbed 460 chassis was built in ‘86 and the RV part was finished in 87 thus the 87 model year.
My cam timing is set straight up, it’s been a number of years but if I recall correctly it’s a timing set for ‘88 and up fuel injected 460s. 100k miles isn’t a lot, but I think the stock cam gear might be some kind of plastic (since they run quieter) that could become brittle after 35 years.
Okay that's good info. I guess it's worth taking a look. Of 3 parts places no one had both the chain gear set and the gaskets required. It is after all 35 years old.. I hate it but Amazon has almost completely cornered the market for having the stuff somewhere. I think it's worth running index straight up and putting in a Cloys type true double roller set. I guess I should break out the degree wheel and dial Indicator and see where this units cam is ground and set. I will post details later.
Well as per suggestion I test rolled the crank pulley from the snout bolt. Sure glad I did definately lots of slack in that stock 100,000 mile chain. I got about 8 degrees or a bit more of slack before I felt it tighten and saw the distributor start to rotate. Ordered up a cloyes double roller set. And appropriate gaskets kit. Digging in a little deeper Is a pain but reliability and timing accuracy should squeak out a bit more mileage outta a liter of fuel. It's a good thing I like pulling wrenches. Now I gotta re-read where to set the cam timing at for max economy. The gear set has triple keways -4 0 +4 .
Last edited by Behemoth Beast; Jul 23, 2022 at 10:51 AM.
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