Okay so here goes:

I installed my mechanical temperature sensor and i found out that it is hard to hit 200 degrees. hahah.the stock POS is above where i like it and the mechanical is only at 190. LMFAO.

So now the problem......my fuel gauge is pegged. I know it is grounded but i cant figure out how it happened. Let me shed some light. I removed the dash panel to install the new gauge, found out how much was involved with the gauge cluster mod i had planned, decided to replace my hole from my GP switch. It is in the place where the 4wd button would be, looks like three rectangles to the left of a large square. I installed the switch and it works like a charm, it is grounded on the firewall and the power comes from the instrument panel fuse. It dims, comes on with lights, etc etc. Overall a great time and worked well. But now the fuel gauge being pegged i am lost. The other issue is the vehicle timing, it is so friggin quiet i cant believe it. It has to be a short in the fuel system electronics. I replaced the temperature light and not the temperature sender unit because i thought it needed it. I went back, redrained fluid, reinstalled the stock temp sender, took out the temp light and installed the new mechanical switch. My biggest issue is the fuel gauge and the sound of the engine, its must be the timing, if it advanced or retarded which way would it make it sound quieter. It is quite possible that i have lived with the noisiest engine in the world for so long that i got used to it. I just dont know fellas, please help me in determining the engine sound and fuel gauge being pegged after installing the new mechanical temp sender.

 

Electronics plays no part in the timing after the motor warms up.
You may somehow unpluged the temp switch that controls the cold start advance and the cold start solenoid, it is by the waterneck down there where it is kinda hard to get to.

 

Well first off do you have a pyro? If you don't know what you are doing I wouldn't recomend adjusting the timming with out a pyro. These trucks definatly run a lot quieter than their powerstroke breathren. Are you getting any smoke at idle once its warm or when cruissing?

As for the fule gauge the first place to check is where you grounded the new gauge you may have put the screw for the ground threw the wire for the fule gauge by accedent also make sure you didn't pinch any wires when you reinstalled the cluster. I'm sure the wiring harness on that thing is a nightmare due to the fact that its multiple diffrent trucks and this could be caused by a wire that was put in a strange spot when it was assembled and finally rubbed threw.

 

okay so i am not messing with the timing on purpose, it is totally a side effect. Where i grounded it, it has another wire grounded there so it may be the fuel gauge by some wild coincidence. I will re locate the ground for the temp gauge light.

In ref to the volume of the engine, it has always been about ten times louder than a powerstroke. Not quieter. Not by a damn long shot, it has been the loudest thing on the road since april when i bought it. This time when i went out it sounded like smooth silk. i couldnt believe it, the engine purred and made a low hum at idle. I cant hear a thing on it over the exhaust.

What could have caused this sound difference? I will check into the cold advance switch, i am not sure though, it isnt acting like it does when the timing is advanced. It has the extended rev when i rev it on high idle when normal, it also did this when i noticed the lower sound. It still kicks off the high idle when warming up and then proceeds to quiet right down, run normal and has the same if not more power. I am lost fellas! haha

 

Well it sounds like what ever you did fixed your timming problem, rule of thumb is they should be advanced to the point where they ratle like a powerstroke with the cold start advance on and the ratle should go away with it off.

 

well yeah bit i just cant figure out why or what i did. hahaha. Very confusing, damn i hate electronics!

 

Well what about your truck so far hasn't been confuesing. There is absolutly nothing you could have done in the cab to effect the timing so thats just some sort of coinsidence but the fule gauge could well be from something you did. Do you run any fule additves or did you recently start using one? it sounds like the advance was sticking and now freed up.

 

It was that 2 stroke oil he ran in that last tank. lol

 

lmfao, now that would be a funny one! i think i nailed the fuel gauge, but i will make sure in the am.

 

i mixed up 50/50 mix of 2 stroke oil and howes meaner system cleaner. and ran that till it was gone. But that was awhile ago, recently i ran 2 stroke solo .5qt per fillup in two fillups, i saw a lot more smoke but nothing else. Odd that it would just fix itself and that ford didnt see a need to adjust the timing. weird. I need to solve this asap.

 

Your fuel gauge is pegged to full?

If I remember right, grounded has the gauge at empty, no connection would be full.
Resistance increases from empty to full.

So I think when you plugged the connector back in, it did not make a good connection on the fuel gauge circuit.

As for the timing change, if the fast idle is still working the same, then I can see no reason for the change unless the timing advance solenoid was stuck and just unstuck by chance.

 

which connector dave? the temp switch? since i took out the temp light sender and installed my new mechanical temp sender there could that be the problem? I dont see how it would affect the gauge but yes it is pegged at full.

 

Fuel gauge for sure sounds like a bad ground, did you have the batteries unhooked when you were working on the dash? If so recheck all the connections and grounds under the hood, can't find anything there your going to have to pull that cluster again. Might be as simple as a wire stretched and loosing connection inside the insulation, inspect all ground wires closely in that dash.

 

No, I am thinking the insturment cluster connector or where it grounds.

To much metal under the dash is not grounded or very poorly grounded at best, thank you plastic.

I find may problems either are or started out as bad grounds.
The rest are under sized power wires and more bad grounds.

 

Like maybe loose wires in the connector or one of the pins in the connector pushed out the back when he plugged it in?

I had the pin push out the back problem before