Good Morning, I purchased a "88" Bronko over the weekend and named it BRUTUS. It needs some work but I think for $1500.00 and it's running I think I got a good deal. It seems to have a lot of little problems. The fuel indicator was constantly fluctuating when I first drove it home however, after I filled it up with gas it is now pegged at 2:00 AND DOES NOT MOVE.

Secondly, the valve cover gaskets are leaking. I have purchased replacements but I am not shure if I will have to remove the intake manifold to replace them, I certainly hope not.

In addition, the steering wheel seems to have about five inches of play. At times it feels like the front wheels are leaning from one side to the other.

Also, the last owner removed the alarm system. Now I must turn the key to start and bump the starter relay selinoid. I have since destroyed my favorite screwdriver. I have decided to connect two wires to the starter relay and install a push button on the dash board for future starts. It wont be origional but it will save me on screwdrivers.

Any help in resolving these problems would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
JAB.

 

>Secondly, the valve cover gaskets are leaking. I have
>purchased replacements but I am not shure if I will have to
>remove the intake manifold to replace them, I certainly hope
>not.

I'm pretty sure that you won't have to remove the upper intake manifold to do the valve covers. One of these days I'm going to get ambitious and do mine as well. Let me know how easy/difficult it turns out to be.

>Also, the last owner removed the alarm system. Now I must
>turn the key to start and bump the starter relay selinoid. I
>have since destroyed my favorite screwdriver. I have decided
>to connect two wires to the starter relay and install a push
>button on the dash board for future starts. It wont be
>origional but it will save me on screwdrivers.

Had to chuckle at this. I did the same thing to a '78 Datsun I had. Then I took it into a shop to have the annual safety inspection done. I told the guy who took my keys, "When you get around to my car, let me know and I'll come out and show you how to start my baby." The manager looks up from his computer and says, "We can't inspect it like that." I took my keys back and will never go back and see him again. One of my pet peeves is "professional" mechanics who look down on the do-it-yourself types.
Sorry, that doesn't help you, but I feel better knowing that I'm not the only one who does stuff like this.

 

well lets see valve covers ill start with to make things easier on your self move the alternater and bracket out of the way on the pass side disconnect as many wires as possible without forgetting where they went and your still gonna have a bit of a bear getting the cover through the maze of wires but its not impossible drivers side is a bit easier you will have to get the ac out of the way just unbolt it and flip it up out of the way mabey have someone hold it make sure you get the felpro rubber gaskets not the cork ones and dont lose any cover bolts as they are a pain to get at . as for the steering id say you have a eithere a bad stearing box or a bad front end i just had my whole front end replaced ball joints ,tie rods, ujoints etc... cost me just over a grand but i had a garage do it. jack up each wheel and check it by pullijg on it and rocking back and fourth should only be a small amount of play about a 1/4 inch if that anything more and id say replace it otherwise youll end up ruining those tires. as for the elec problem bring it to someone who specialises in elec problems shouldnt be a big thing if it was the alarm that made it do this then id say you have a disconnected wire someplace. but then who knows i could be wrong. good luck

 

Sounds like you got some fun there. If you have driven it enough to note whether the other gauges fluctuate also it could be this. There is a small transformer on the back panel of the instrument panel. It's about 3/4 X 1 1/2 inches and attaches with a couple of small snaps to the plastic instrument lomb. It supplies power to the instruments and lights. It could be bad. I noticed a bad one on a big F series one time, as the fuel gauge went up the oil pressure went down and vice versa. If you don't have fluctuation in the gauges like that, then you have a bad sending unit in the tank. This is what I am doing this weekend $110 for a brand new sending unit, aftermarket not available. You can try to take the sending unit apart and bend the little communtator tighter to the resistor that it brushes against, I tried this once and got it to read different but not good. (ran out of gas)

I have no experience with the fuel injected models for valve cover gaskets although the 85 carb model while not being easy is pretty straight forward. In any valve cover leak problem suspect overtightening first. Most gaskets will work effectively if not overcrushed. Be sure to check where the valve cover bolts go through the covers for denting in and use a hammer and dolly to pound any imperfections out so the surface is even before reinstallation. This is a good indication that someone with more braun than brains tried to fix his leak. Use rubber not cork, do not overtighten.

There are only a few places to mount the starter disabler for the alarm. Most lazy guys will just find the wire as it comes out of the bottom of the steering housing cover and cut it to mount the relay. It could be that the relay is still there just unhooked. The next best place is up near the solenoid itself, probably under the relay/valve cover on the passenger wheel well. Should be easy to find.
Ford did not put any greasable steering components on the b2's I've seen, for around $150 you can replace all of the tie rods and ends under the front with aftermarket components that you can actually grease. I know mine were absolutely toast after the 240,000 miles this rig has logged. I've replaced just about everything under it and it never ends. Still cheaper and more fun to drive than your average $25,000 cute ute and the payments thereof.

 

The valve cover gaskets. I replaced the valve cover gaskets on my dad's 88 Bronco II (2.9 V6, EFI) without having to remove anything, just have to jockey around some wiring. I used rubber gaskets, as I do on all my cars.