Hey guys new to the forum and just bought my first truck...90 F150 4x4..i really like it...it needs some work but it will be worth it...

my question is when first started it runs rough and has black smoke...but runs better when it warmed up..plugs wires cap and rotor look newish and ok...but i dont have a CEL on either....i dont really know where to start to look on these older trucks...oh also i am not finding any vacuum leaks either....thanks for any help!!!

 

Pull the vacuum pipe off the fuel pressure regulator and look for signs of gas in the pipe, if any found replace the FPR. If that checks out OK might be worth doing a fuel pressure check.
Even with no light on there may still be trouble codes stored so might be worth checking for codes.
Hopefully some of the experts will give an opinion soon.

 

at almost 4500 posts I would have considered you one of the experts Lazy... and Welcome to old_lynrdd! they'll be someone by soon i'm sure...

 

mine did this when birds got up in my air box and built a nest...im no expert but maybe check and clean the air filter
also since you just got the truck id do a full tune up just in case because after i bought my 87 with a 302 i didnt do a tune upand ended up gettin like 5 mpg for the first month, messed up a water pump andnone of it wastomuch fun to deal with

 

well thanks for the advice i checked the auir filter today it it was plugged and weighed about 5 lbs and the breather was non existant so i replaced both and it runs a lot better...i also pulled the plugs out and they still look good so i just regapped them...next stage is to pull the trans and fix my foreward clutch that is burnt up....

 

which trans do you have?

 

being that its a 150 i think its an AOD i havent actually checked yet.....there is no reverse it just binds up and neutral is a foreward gear and so is drive..even in park it loads up....guy i bought it from power braked it and thought the tires were spinning....but wernt....

 

read codes.

cel does not have to be on to have one.

i would replace plugs, replace wires and replace cap and rotor.

then you will not have to do it for a while and you do not know how old or bad those parts are.

what kind of plugs are in now?

 

they looked fine...rotor and cap were clean but i plan to do a full tune up after i get my trans working properly.... the plugs in it were autolites

 

another thought after I just bought my last 88 with the C6 is that the guage cluster didn't tell you when the tranny was really in gear. Technically I had to shift past the 1,2,D, & R to get it to snap into gear.... So you can't always expect the column to fully enguage the tranny when the marker is on "D." You might have to shift the column in between the number to get it to snap in because of the slack in the column... Just a thought.

 

A quick check of which tranny you have would be to check the indicator on the cluster. If it has OD then it's an AOD, if not it's a C6....this is of course if the tranny hasn't been changed.

If it is an AOD, make sure to replace the kickdown cable bushing near the T-body...those things get old and dry rot which throws the cable out of calibration and will burn an AOD out in a matter of miles.