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Also I did some adjusting of the sliding door but the rear hinged roller assembly appears to not have much adjustment. The rear of the door is sagging about 3/8" or more but the latch lifts it almost perfectly into position when it closes. I tried to remove the mechanism but could not get it out. From what I can see the rollers look good. Maybe it got bent. That side of the van is kinda beat up. Anyone mess with these? I searched for it on here and read about 15 or so threads but did not see anything.
Initially the left turn signal indicator light in the instrument cluster did not work. (all the outside bulbs work fine though) After driving it a few more times it now works every time. Is this a know issue?
Check the actual bulb inside the instrument cluster.
Originally Posted by Shanester1
The steering feels tight, the ball joints and the tie rods are fine but it wanders a bit on the road. Also when turning sharp it sounds like the inside tire is ripping/losing traction. It does give good confidence. I'm sure it needs an alignment and would most likely correct these issues. The front tires both look like they have more positive camber than I would expect which I know can be corrected with different ball joint sleeves. The question is how much would you guess the camber would change if I put 1,000 lbs of tools and such in the cargo area? (assuming evenly distributed front to back)
You already know this vehicle needs to be properly aligned---get that done and the need to "guess" will disappear.
Originally Posted by Shanester1
When it was cold outside the other day when started there was bearing squall but went away after driving it for 10 minutes. I ordered a new tensioner pulley, idler pulley and belt thinking that is the issue. This is a pretty straightforward job but is there a good possibility of breaking off a bolt? The engine looks pretty corroded.
There is already a chance of a bolt breaking so proceed changing parts at your own risk. Its just a part of any maintenance especially on a vehicle you don't seem to know its maintenance history. I would suggest before you start changing parts "thinking" it will cure an issue perhaps do a bit more investigating first.
Originally Posted by Shanester1
The manual states 6 quarts of oil with filter change. It took 6 and a half or so. Yes, the dipstick was all the way snapped in. How oil much do 4.6s usually take?
My 5.4 manual says 5.7 quarts with filter so I simply add a full 6 quarts BUT I fill the filter first. The filter media will absorb the fresh oil so it takes a few times topping it off, make sure you lubricate the O-ring on top. Needless to say (hopefully) make certain the old O-ring is removed from the filter adapter. Once the oil change is complete run the engine to operating temperature, shut down and check oil level about 5 minutes later, adjust if necessary.
I called the local Ford dealer parts dept and gave them my VIN to see what axle lube should be used. He said it came up as a Dana 9.75 and takes 5.75 pints of 75W-140. None of that jives with my owner's manual.
The Ford dealer pretty much nailed it on the diff capacity at 5.75 pints because I bought 3 quarts and put it all in there to bring it right to the top. (bottom of fill hole) Valvoline makes them in bags now and I thought it was much easier to fill than the traditional tall skinny containers. The old oil did not look terrible but everything inside had a dark coating. I sprayed the inside part of the cover with brake clean but opted not to spray the gears or inside the housing. There was a decent amount of micro shavings on the magnet but was not alarming to me.
I called the shop I want to align it and they said it is very possible that the previous owner had it really loaded and was aligned accordingly. He suggested loading it with my tools before bringing it in.
After swapping out the blower motor resistor I still only have high fan speed just like before. The old resistor terminals were very corroded so some of that may still be in the plated terminals in the plug. I'll do some checking with my meter and look at the wiring diagrams. If it turns out to be that the plug has a bad connection at least they do make replacements.
One of my headlight bulbs had a chip in it and moisture was getting in. For now I replaced them with GE/Tungsram Nighthawk bulbs until I figure out what to use for an upgrade. They were only $11 something each at Rock Auto and after comparing one to the other existing one it seemed a good bit brighter. I have not driven with them in the dark yet to see how much better they really are.
After replacing the idler, tensioner and belt it is much quieter now. The idler pulley bearing was very difficult to spin by hand after removal and the tensioner pulley was not great either. It seemed like a good idea to be cheap and replace the pulley on the tensioner instead of the whole thing. It was a fail because I snapped off the bolt trying to remove it with my impact wrench turning it clockwise. (it seemed logical to me that it was a left handed thread) The good news is that the tensioners are really not that expensive and everyone seems to stock them. Also I have read that they should be replaced with a new belt anyways. The spring on the new one was much stronger than the old one so there must be some merit to that idea. Belt had a lot of cracks in it.
I'm still investigating (festering about) the possibilities of replacing the exhaust manifold studs with motor in place. I think there are four broken ones on the passenger side and two on the driver side. There are gaskets on there now so someone has done them before. Maybe someone replaced the motor before? Who knows. They really need to be done but I might put it off until spring when it is warmer outside. The van is too tall to fit in my garage so I'm working outside in my driveway. Today it just barely got up to freezing here in Ohio. SO much fun working in that.
What would you guys guess would be the least amount of labor to do IF these ideas are good:
1. Jack up the body.
2. Pull the heads.
3. Pull the motor.
After swapping out the blower motor resistor I still only have high fan speed just like before. The old resistor terminals were very corroded so some of that may still be in the plated terminals in the plug.
Yes, I've had these so corroded the plug wouldn't disconnect so I had to splice in a new connector pigtail. If you really had to fight to get the plug off that is your problem.
What would you guys guess would be the least amount of labor to do IF these ideas are good:
1. Jack up the body.
2. Pull the heads.
3. Pull the motor.
I vote for lifting the body.
In the mean time you might try my turn buckle idea to cut down on the noise. I installed a small one between the exhaust collector bolt and one of the upper trans bolts as shown in the pic and it killed most of the leak. I tightened the turnbuckle as the engine was idling and didn't crank on it any more than necessary to do the job.. which didn't take much only a few partial turns. This bandaid fix made the van quite reasonable to drive and didn't cost much.
After swapping out the blower motor resistor I still only have high fan speed just like before. The old resistor terminals were very corroded so some of that may still be in the plated terminals in the plug. I'll do some checking with my meter and look at the wiring diagrams. If it turns out to be that the plug has a bad connection at least they do make replacements.
Originally Posted by Conanski
Yes, I've had these so corroded the plug wouldn't disconnect so I had to splice in a new connector pigtail. If you really had to fight to get the plug off that is your problem.
Definitely replace the pigtail lead--that's almost a must do when/if the resistor fails. If you still have only the high speed the switch in the dash board control pod has failed, most likely due the already failed resistor.
In the mean time you might try my turn buckle idea to cut down on the noise. I installed a small one between the exhaust collector bolt and one of the upper trans bolts as shown in the pic and it killed most of the leak. I tightened the turnbuckle as the engine was idling and didn't crank on it any more than necessary to do the job.. which didn't take much only a few partial turns. This bandaid fix made the van quite reasonable to drive and didn't cost much.
The turnbuckle I used looked like this...
Interesting idea. I assume that means that you had broken studs at the rear most cylinder. I'll have to double check but I think those two studs are fine on mine and would not think it would help the broken ones closer to the front. It looks like pulling one of these motors is pretty big job.
What is the chance that this block drain is coming out? This is on the driver's side and I can't find one on the passenger side. Maybe behind the starter? When I drain my truck's (6.0 Powerstroke) coolant I always pull this plug and a decent amount comes out. How much coolant is still left in the 4.6 block if I don't pull the plug? Would I save a lot of time flushing by pulling the thermostat? I also want to backflush the heater core. Should that be done first or after the system flush?
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