SFaulken is just trying to help out, like everyone else... I'd recommend taking all suggestions in, this site and the members are an invaluable resource if you are rebuilding your truck. They may make a suggestion that doesn't make sense right now, but eventually it will.

OEM part numbers, such as the water pump above mentioned are in the FSM. You may be getting confused by Engineering numbers, which most use interchangeably with PN's. Most websites I find use EN's and their own aftermarket PN, not OEM PN's. Faulken is correct on that.

Example: Water Pump (This is from a 1996 FSM - Do not use this part number or page for yours, it may not be correct - it is just an example of where to find it in a FSM.)
From below FSM for 1996 - The OEM water pump PN is 8501. In all honesty, that may or may not help you much. You will probably need to cross reference that to the engineering numbers being used on various websites. After Market suppliers probably have all of their own part numbers for them.


It might be more helpful to you to post up what you are doing, and a list of parts you are looking for. A member may help you out with it, or mention their own experience with various manufactures/brands.

Good luck with it.

 

Hey James,

Thanks again for responding. The best example I can provide is the first problem I encountered. I wanted to replace the door mirrors on both sides of my truck. When I did the initial search, no less than a dozen parts sites swore to me that the part the had to offer was guaranteed by the “manufacturer” to be an authentic replacement.

So I went with CARiD.com. When I received the mirrors, the install bracket screw holes were the reverse of my current mirrors. Upon further inspections, I realized that the image of the part provided by the vendor did not match up with the layout of my mirrors. Carpe Diem…

I allowed myself to be mislead by the “marketing” language on the webpage. To add insult to injury, it turns out that the mirrors on my truck seem to not have been what were originally supplied (based on ‘Ford Truck Shop Manual’). It’s all so confusing. The factory mirrors were not what was on my truck; Who Knew!

I’m trying not to go through this with every part I need to replace!

Thanks for Your Help…

 

Hey James,

Thanks for your insight. I’d venture to say that I’ve been my own worst enemy in this thread. Part of it is that I just don’t know that much about automotive maintenance and repair. The other part is that I have way too high standards for customer service provision.

Prior to retiring in 2012, my background had been in Workforce Development. I traveled the Globe training organizations on how to prepare “hard-to-employ” individuals for the workforce. More often than not I get bogged down with vendor attitudes and I don’t see the forest for the trees. My Bad…

It seems like every vendor I speak to wants to blame me for not knowing what I’m talking about when I need to order a part. That said, rather than belabor the point, I’m trying to lower my learning curve. “Can’t beat them, join them!”

To take you up on your suggestion, my next post will be for help on a specific part. Let’s see where it takes me.

Thanks for Your Help…

 

Hey Jeff,

Sorry for calling you James. Not sure where that came from.
Attached is an image of the covers on the Manuals I have. Are these legit? If not, point me in a direction where I can find legit manuals.

Thanks Again...

 

Boie! Did I have a place you need to visit, before, retiring...dangit! Most of our trucks arent all original, parts, when you start looking, on here you'll see similar/close to, original looking, web sites are keen on how to cash in on the unsuspecting buyer, but like JJF20 said, all here will help, because one of us prolly already been down the rabbit hole your noseying around. Let us help

 

Respectfully, I think you may be overthinking it quite a bit. Ford truck parts are widspread and easy to come by especially for this era because every level 150 250 and 350 have the same chassis. They made a ton of these trucks and you can find parts just about anywhere. You may have run into an issue with that part im not sure how you went about finding it on CARID but I have found that CARID is not the greatest and matching vehicles with parts in general. If you want to find OE mirrors the only deviation in parts would be that you had the option for towing mirrors which stick out farther for more visibility.

Here is a link for you: https://www.lmctruck.com/1980-96-for...s-door-mirrors
as you can see its pretty standard equipment. Follow the diagram for dimensions found on the webpage and go measure out on your truck to ensure you get the right part.

You should be able to pretty easily find any part you need without knowing part numbers. I have found that knowing the OEM part number rarely helps anyway because there are so many different OE catalogs and references and the part numbers often dont match the equipment that is actually on your truck, or a part with a different OEM part number does fit your truck its just a newer or older version that the aftermarket part is based off of.

That's a lot of information, so if you need clarification let me know. I just think like you said you may be your own worse enemy in this in that your looking at it from a supply chain standpoint when really finding parts for these trucks is very simple and easy. Any auto parts store should carry the majority of what you need.

 

Once upon a time FTE had/has an individual from the Cali area who was a life time Ford/multiple make counter person.

He had a treasure hoard of parts documentation dating back to pre-WWII to the mid 90s.

He rarely gave the OBS forum a lot of OE # help because this gen parts documentation is for the most part on micro fiche.

If you really-really-really want to chase OE parts #s, that's what you need to look for, but be prepared for much disappointment using the numbers you find.

 

The only complete source for part numbers would be a microfiche set.

The dealer catalog for this vintage is no better than what you will find online. The FordParts.com catalog used to be fairly complete but a great deal was lost in an update about 5 years ago.

The workshop manuals are invaluable sources of technical information but aren't much help with part numbers, as they only provide the generic part number.

Ford does not put part numbers on parts. They put engineering number on parts. The 2 can supposedly be cross referenced. Many catalogs, especially for used parts, may list engineering numbers instead of part numbers.

Part numbers list year, model, part, and the varient. F4TZ-6049-A is a 1994 truck cylinder head, first version.

I have found it best to use multiple sources to cross reference a part number. If you really need help you can call GreenSales as the have microfiche catalogs.

 

Thanks David.

 

Thanks Anyway.

 

Those engineering numbers can sometimes seemingly come up empty when searching. Searching this number probably brings up forums in which I have researched it before but not much else lol!

and most of you can probably tell what it is by this pic, but since I dont have a SBF it took a while to really nail down what it was. a thermostat housing for a 1990(I think) thunderbird with a 5.0 (???) but the real question is why do I have one?????

 

I am a little surprised at some of the replies you got for your question. You might clarify that you're looking for OE parts and that requires OE numbers. I thought it was clear enough but apparently not. I'm here for basically the same reason. Good luck to you!