First post!
I bought a 2004 E250 4.6 cargo van from my HVAC contractor about 8 years ago for $1,500 (IIRC) with a bad transmission. (247K miles) It has very little rust but there are some "contractor dents" in it. It also was not really well taken care of mechanically but the engine is awesome. No leaks, smoke and starts right up and is pretty smooth. It also has a really nice slide out drop down ladder rack. When I bought it I put it in my parents extra 5 car garage because it had an 8' tall door. (still had remove a few ladder rack parts) I promptly pulled the 4R70W out and rebuilt it myself. This is not a typical DIY task and I don't recommend it to anyone. After doing a lot of research on how to do it I got it done and then just placed it into the cargo area of the van. Then things happened in my life and it just sat there for years. Out of sight, out of mind. I'm not sure how much longer it would have sat there but my parents decided to downsize in Jan 2020 so I was motivated to get it running. I installed the transmission in and it actually works! Still lots to do but I was able to drive it to the car wash, get new tires put on it and then home and park it at my house. Then it sat again. Then more motivation came from my wife to get it going or "Houdini it". Last week I started on it. So far all four new shocks (those are FUN!), new rear brake calipers, rotors, all three rubber hoses and the pads. Currently in the process of replacing the front calipers, hoses, rotors, pads and driver's side ABS wheel speed sensor. There are some other things that I have done but can't remember right now.

Here is what I want to replace:
passenger side motor mount
negative battery cable terminal (I put a small c-clamp on it for now)
spark plugs
oil/filter
coolant
rear diff oil (not sure what diff I have so not sure what oil to use)
exhaust manifold gaskets (does not sound too bad yet but has a few broken studs)
maybe power steering fluid?
blower motor resistor (assuming it needs replaced because it does not run on the middle switch position)
a few interior pieces
replace the drivers lower seat vinyl covering

Here are some things I want to upgrade:
cargo area mat or some type of heavy duty flooring
would like to replace the bulkhead/cargo separator with one that has a door
a quality alarm system installed properly
receiver hitch
headlights (these sealed beams are not bright at all)
get rid of the dog dish hubcaps and go with the full wheel covers or maybe some aluminum wheels (if I can find a deal on them)
maybe the bigger two post type mirrors
have the dents repaired and painted from the drip rail down


This is all I can think of right now but I'm sure I'll add some later. The wife and I own a few small businesses so this van will be used for home repairs, building maintenance, full on home remodels and car wash repair/ maintenance. Please comment on anything on my list and thanks for reading.

This is the good side:

 

I also wanted to share that I'm using the free FORScan software on my laptop with the OBDLink EX cable for diagnostics. Before my subscription expired I was using Alldata DIY for specs and procedures but they have raised their pricing significantly so I switched to eautorepair.net. (Mitchells) I prefer the alldata more but maybe I'm just not used to it yet.

 

If you’re not too deep into the front brakes, consider the 2008-up big brake upgrade.

Sixto
07 E350 5.4 177K miles

 

There are no exhaust mani gaskets, if you have noise some studs are broken and the manifold may be cracked. Now for the bad news, to replace the studs the mani has to come off, but all the studs have to come out clear of the block to do that because there is no room. If you do manage to get the manifolds off the studs still have to come out, those broken off in the head have to be drilled out with a special alignment jig. With a pickup truck this can be done via the wheel well after removing the inner fender but that isn't an option on a van where the frame and body are in the way, so really the motor has to come out to do this job.

The rear diff is a Dana60 and takes a standard 75w90 gear oil
The blower motor resistor is the same part it has always been and yes that is likely your problem.
Yes the 35w incandescent sealed beams on these things are pretty sad, I suggest upgrading to an LED set but whatever you do don't buy some unrated chinese crap from Amazon or ebay, the reflector is everything so the fixture has to be DOT rated to produce a useful light pattern. Watch this video..
5x7 SEALED BEAM LED HEADLIGHT SHOOTOUT - We Tested 16 Different Headlights And Only 5 Passed - Bing video

 

Dang. I wish I knew about that. What does it entail?

 

Removed for redundancy.

 

I know there are no factory gaskets but there are aftermarket ones. Like I said in my original post they are not too bad right now but I saw broken studs on both sides. If I could get the manifolds off I was thinking of welding a nut on each broken stud to try to get them out.

My axle code is 22 which indicates a 4.10 open diff but that is all I could find out. What is a Visteon diff? It is listed as one of the types and takes 75W-140. Also it looks like the Dana 60 open diff takes 80W-90 and friction modifier. Why would an open diff need the FM?

I believe I saw the older version of that video. The recommendations are for $500/pair headlights so I'll stick with the sealed beams for now. The video shows some real junk out there.

Thanks.

 

Brake upgrade thread - https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...th-photos.html

Sixto
07 E350 5.4 177K miles

 

I already have all my parts ready to go but after reading that thread I think I'll pass anyway. The original poster got it to work great and another did not without wheel spacers. Not enough data for me. Did you upgrade yours?

 

That is one of several techniques that can be used, but what if there are studs broken off flush or below the surface?

Same as my truck.
No idea, never heard of it.
It doesn't.. that is just another example of the bad info that can be found. I think anything in that range of gear oil will work just fine.

Yes there are a lot of junk headlights out there... I bought some of them for the '06 E250 I retired last year. The best replacements will have a projector lens in them, they look weird but work excellent. You don't have to spend $500 to get good results either, I can't find it at the moment but I thought there was a set that only cost $100 or so that are DOT and work really well.

 

I found some DOT rated Vision-X and Hella conversion kits for about $100-ish. They are not LED but have the replaceable bulbs. Surely they are better than stock. Speaking of headlights, I started the van the other day after charging the battery I noticed the headlights had a very slight but rapid flicker. What is the deal there? Need a new battery? It was bought new in Jan 2020 but I have let it discharge several times from sitting so I probably killed it.

 

As the OP of the linked thread there was no "getting it to work.........." because I used OEM parts to replace other OEM parts. Those who have had issues almost always deviate from what I posted. Those who've followed a relatively simply parts swap across this and another well-attended E-Series forum have had the same results as I list---perfect from day one.

 

I was hoping you would chime in on this. Did anyone find out what the reason is why they would not work? Are the Ford branded parts that much tighter tolerances? If they bought a combo of different generation years that would most likely be an issue. What is the other E-Series forum that is well attended? I could not find any that were as active as this one.

 

I have no answers for you as I never asked or dug any deeper into their issues. Why or how they created their problems just no concern for me. Sorry.

Here is a link to this same write-up on the other site: SMB '08 Brake Upgrade That thread has already been dragged away from its original intent so I won't be responding to any more silliness concerning this brake swap. If you do it as I did you'll have the same results as I had. BTW that van ran just over 90K trouble-free miles after the swap, brake pads and wheel bearings replaced @ about 85K miles. The van was retired and sold to a local contractor.

 

After getting the brakes replaced and driving it around I have a few more questions.

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?

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)

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.

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?