I have a 1990 E150 high top conversion with a 302 FI dual fuel tank and AOD Trani. I posted before about an odd oil presure problem that i have and since then have hooked up a mechanical gauge and an electric gauge. the problem is when i start the van i get about 50-60 psi and it will stay good even after the motor warms up then if the outside temp is above 65 and i drive 15 - 20 miles my presure will drop to zilch at idle ( no engine noise) and at cursing around 13 psi when it down shifts it jumps to 25psi and will stay there for 10 - 15 miles then it drops back to 13psi when the outside temp is below 65 my presure will usally settle at 20 psi. When i go around sharp curves or down about a 3% grade the presure drops. Also when i am driveing anywhere above 25 mph and let off the gas quickly my oil presure will jump up to 25psi. I do have a small oil leak at the valve cover but i keep the oil where it needs to be. the engine has over 190,000 miles on it. I have great power and you will not beleive this but my fuel millage is great when i have a full take i get 27 mpg on the highway and about 15 city but once it drops to below 1/2 tank the millage will drop to around 13 mpg highway and 8 city I have checked this and rechecked this and it is correct. I have discovered that if i supliment the intake air with pure oxygen I can get over 35mpg on the highway. my other problem is after i had new springs put on all around with shocks i discovered that the rear axle is not running true and streight. the axle itself is true but when it is mounted on the van it is 1/2 **** eyed. it makes my wheel base 138 on one side 138.5 on the other I checked the old hardware with the new hardware and discovered them to be the same so it must have been sideways before i looked that the mounting points for the leaf springs and there is no adjustment on them and nothing looks like it is bent and i know the van has never been in accident. The van did have a wheelchair lift on at at one time and it caused the van lean to the side now with new hardware on it . it still leans to the side by over 1" it is leaning to the side that has the 138.3 WB Any help on any of these problems would be so helpfull. Thanks in advance

 

With 190K on that motor you might be looking at putting in a new oil pump. You could start by changing the oil and adding straight weight 50 and see if your pressure improves, if it does, go on to 70 weight which I see being sold at my local Auto Zone as 70 weight Racing oil.
Depending on where you live, I wouldn't go that heavy in the winter months. I have a 92 Hi-Top conversion with a crap load of miles on it and I run straight 50 most of the year cause I live in the Houston Tx. area and it never gets that cold. I've found that motors running very low oil pressure will tend to run hotter as well from lack of lubrication. Keep an eye on your temp gauge and see if there is any difference in temp at different oil pressures.

 

I have a mechanical temp gauge and when I got the van it ran about 200F most of the time since then i had to replace the Radiator and now when it is cold out side i run between 180 and 190 in warmer weather i run 190 -200 when the motor is straning like climbing a mountain or something then it can climb to 210 but never above that and the only time i noticed that temp went up with oil presure low was going up a small hill and had next to no oil presure the temp went to about 215 but then the road leved and my oil presure came back up and the temp went down. I live in the north east where winter temp can get to 0 I run 10w40 oil with some dura lube in case a blow a seal and suffer a complete oil lose. I have used this stuff before and it really works. I have a new oil pump 12 bucks with pick up tube. should i also get a new drive shaft for the pump? does anybody know how hard it is to replace pump? do i have to pull the motor? Ford wants above $850 to change it. thanks

 

Does anybody know the normal operating temp of a 1990 E150 with a 5.0L 302 FI AOD Trani?

 

You don't have to pull the motor, but you might have to unbolt the motor mounts so you can raise the motor enough to remove the oil pan to get at the pump.
It's not a job for an inexperienced shade tree machanic.
And the dealership is the last place you should go for parts or service unless your still under warranty or rich $$
If you have some experience wrenchin on motors then go and buy the Chiltons soft cover book for that van at your local auto parts store or go to the library. It's a dirty pain in the butt job but if you have some tools,the book to follow, and more time then money, go for it !
I know about the weather up there, I come from New York. I'd try the heavier oil thing first since the warmer weather is coming and maybe you can put off the pump replacement a little longer.

 

Yep, that's pretty hard to swallow! I'd like to know more about your testing methods and especially about the oxygen thing. If that really works, it might be worthwhile with today's gas prices.

 

I agree with changing the oil pump and shaft. ford had a problem for a while with the shafts wearing to the point that it would cause the pump to put out reduced pressure. While you are in there changing the pump you might want to replace the main and rod bearings. chances are real good that with 190k miles that the bearings are worn out allowing to much clearance thus reducing pressure.

The man is right, none of this is clean or fun but you may as well do it all at once.

ps, I'm looking for the fuse box diagram for the 1990 e150. do you have an owners manual?

 

The way i have been testing and mesuring the gas used is simple . I have two messured routes that i use. one is on the highway and other is city type driving. they are both mesured out to 50 miles. I fill up at the same gas station and the same pump and i have been filling it up until it shuts off and then i shake the van once and fill until it cuts off. by looking att he fuel gauge it takes it to the same place each time. I have just recently obtained a portable scale accurate down to 1/100 of a pound and i am going to retest it by weight just in case the pump is not working correctly. I have also been monitoring Exhaust temp and i have noticed that when you get too high oxygen the exhaust temp goes up some but not too much the most i have noticed was an increase of 35 º I have found that between 3 and 4 litters per min produces the best results right now i am useing oxygen tanks but that is costly so i have purchased a used oxygen concentrator and using an inverter to provide the 120 volts for the concentrator . I have set it up . I plan on testing it over the next couple of days. for the oxygen delivery i am useing standard hospital type tubing run to the engine compartment and the useing a vacume Y spliter split the hose and then I run it to the two hoses running to the throtal body after the air fillter. I put a small hole in each of the tubes and then used another vacume connter to hook up the oxygen supply. After i have tested this with the concentrator I am going to do some testing with a hydrogen supply either injected directly into the combustion chamber or injected right before the valves. I have done some research on this and it should produce even greater fuel ecconomy and as long as i do not get too much hydrogen in the mix should not have a problem with rust. If you would like more information c96drumm you can email me at owner@fiittllc.com thanks oldesailor i will be sure to check the bearings and probably change them just so i dont have to do that some other time. I do have an owners manual but it is for an older E150 I will do some checking and see if i can dig up a fuse box diagram for you for a 1990 I do have the haynes manual and it does have diagrams of the fuse boxes for most years and i have found that is close but exact for the 1990. if you would like a copy of it let me know and i will email it to you.

 

Please let us know how the concentrator works out. This is really interesting!

 

all of your research with gas mileage sounds interesting, keep me informed please.

YES, I would like to have the best, most accurate fuse box diagram that you have for the 1990. At least that will give me some place to start in my search for my grounded circuit. I ran a little test the other day and know that i have a direct ground somewhere but without knowing which fuse is which it would be almost impossible to narrow it down further.

oldesailor46@yahoo.com

thank you, mike

 

I Will scan that for you tommorow and send it to your email that you have on file since they will not let you post email addis here. if you need to direct contact me my email is in my profile. thanks and i will keep you informed about the gas tests.

 

You can find these in medical supply stores, people with respiratory disease rent them/buy them because pure oxygen is expensive to buy. Nitrous Oxide basically does the same thing but to a much greater extent than straight oxygen and in fact works so much better than oxygen that your engine will require more fuel or it will run lean and burn up.

I didn't quite catch all the details of the miles per gallon computation but it sounds like he's visually checking his gas gauge to calculate it, which you can't because of the angle in which the sending swings. It swings at a greater angle and therefore faster as it gets lower in the tank. So his mpg at half tank will be much less than when the tank is full and the gauge is moving less fast.