I have an '84 F350, so I normally post in another forum, but I'm thinking about buying a '91 F150 that an amateur mechanic worked on and botched, so I'll ask questions over here.

A guy in the factory couldn't get his truck to start one day, so he started to take the steering column apart. Talking with him, it sounded like his Neutral Safety Switch may have acted up, which should be a simple fix. Anyway, he kept tinkering and I guess he took most of the steering column apart and couldn't figure out how to get it back together. He asked his father-in-law about it, and they worked on it for a few minutes until our guy mentioned that he was about to buy a new truck anyway. The father-in-law said, "well, that solves your problem" and walked away from it, and our guy did too. He bought his new truck, and the old one is up for sale cheap.

Are there any Twilight Zone gotchas with this steering column? It looks identical to the one in my Taurus wagon, and there just aren't many mysteries there for me, but I could be overlooking something really fundamental.

Also, our guy has a leaky heater core, and he bought the replacement but never put it in. How easy is it to change one in an early-Nineties Ford truck? I'm changing the one in my Taurus right now, and it is a real pain (I have to disassemble the entire dashboard and mixer box, and I'm about 40% done with it).

So, why am I thinking about trading my '84 F350 for the slightly newer '91? The F350 is too much truck for what we use it for, frankly. I only tow one horse in her little trailer, but the F350 can tow a 5-horse goose-neck, and burns enough gas that I think it is imagining that it is doing just that. A little injected 302 would be a little easier on the wallet too. Oh, and the '91 has new tires... NEW tires! Hehehe....

So, any wisdom will be appreciated.

Scott

 

not sure about the steering column.

heater core is a piece of cake. just remove the glovebox and it's right there.

302 isn't too great for towing though. no low end power.

stick or auto? just curious

 

Automatic 4x4. The 302 should allow the torque converter to multiply torque enough to get the horse trailer moving well enough.

I'm glad that the heater core is a piece of cake. There is some risk because the truck can't be started until after I buy it, but my guy has dropped the price mightily to reflect that.

Scott

 

Sounds like it will cost you way less than you can part it out for if the 302 gave it's life up already. Personally I don't like too many Auto Trannies ... but wish I had gotten one for my Depot Grocery Gitter, I don't drive it all that much or tow anything.

 

My father bought a 90 F-150 and we changed the entire steering column. Not to difficult and about $150 total.

 

That's kinda what I thought about the steering column. I had to take the steering column apart, partially anyway, in the course of disassembling my Taurus's dashboard in order to change the heater core. It just isn't that complex. The picture I saw on the bulletin board of my guy's truck's interior shows it has the same steering wheel as my Taurus, so it is probably the same unit from the Ford parts bin.

Guys, thanks for the answers. I'm going to see the truck on Saturday morning bright and early. I'll report back what I see.

Scott

 

Steering column is a breeze to change, dont let that scare you off. I havent changed a heater core, but even if it is a pain in the ***, so what, it might be worth it!

 

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first buy it.

second, it is probably the actuator switch that was the problem.

 

We used to have an '89 F250 (same body style) that wouldn't start. As it turns out, the keyswitch quit engaging with the plunger rod that engages the starter switch which is further down the column. We never fixed it, we just popped the plastic off and used a pair of pliers to push the rod in.

 

that is the actuator.

 

I'd also like to add that the heater core is a breeze in these trucks. The box is right behind the glove box and easy to get at. It took me about a half hour to change it and I have really big hands.

 

Well, I saw the truck today, and it's a real mixed bag. Yeah, it's a '91 and it doesn't have too many miles on it. It's got nearly new tires with lots of tread left. My guy had been off-roading it for the last few years, so it has a replacement front fender that isn't hung very straight, and the front bumper brackets are all bent because the guy got fish-hooked on a stump and had to unbolt the bumper to get loose.

Then I looked under the dashboard.... He took the lock cylinder out and lost it. He claims I can buy a new one at any auto parts store for $8 with a new key. That seems too cheap to be true. He also cut out all the original wiring at the starter switch and hand-crimped on new wiring with different colors of wire than original. Last time I bought a car with wiring like that I ended up rewiring half the car to undo the damage done by the incompetent crimping and splicing. The interior was a nice one, with fuzzy seats and nice looking fake wood on the dash. The front end was tight, and the rear bearings were loose, but all the shocks were great.

I've got to double-check my wiring diagrams, since my manual does have 1991 in it. I was thinking a couple of days ago that this would be a slam-dunk of a rehab job, but after seeing his wiring, I'm not so sure. Why do some guys go cutting wires without testing switches, circuits, component operation, and grounds first? It's pretty hard to screw up a modern wire without cutting it.

Scott

 

check out motorcrafts web site, in there you will find a list of assembled pig tail kits with the plugs for all most any aplication on fords. from there it will be a peice of cake to properly rewire that switch.

 

I hadn't thought about the Motorcraft site before. It looks like they've got a lot of good info and parts there. Heck, I can even order the missing owner's manual there. Thanks for the tip.

Scott