Monday, December 8, 2008

Truck Update.

In late August, I bought a 1988 Ford F-150 pick-up. Shortly after making the purchase, it developed an electrical problem. After lallygagging with the distributor for weeks, we discovered that the problem was the Ignition Control Module. Ford, being the bright people we all know they are, put it on the distributor in such a way that you have to remove the distributor to get to it. Well, in the process of taking the distributor out, my older brother broke the shaft, so bam, another $130 down the drain. We got the distributor, replaced the module, and got the truck started so that we could time it. Well, my brother turned the distributor the wrong direction, threw the motor way out of time, and shoved the pushrods out of their lifters on 3 cylinders. These stuck valves caused enough back pressure that ir burst the head gasket on the left side. So, now it's been 4 months since I bought the truck, and my friend Jose might loan me the $45.00 i need for the gaskets, given I be his chauffeur for the month. I'll keep you up-to-date on how its going.

WORK DONE SO FAR
removed top side of motor (heads, intake, rocker covers, accessories)
removed exhaust system
cleaned components
pulled pushrods
replaced 2 fuel pumps (out of 3, dual tanks)
bypassed inertia switch (unsafe, but neccesary)
overhauled ignition system (coil, plugs, wires, dist. and components)

WORK TO BE DONE
replace gaskets, reassemble motor
hook up wiring harness
replace plugs again, DOUBLE CHECK GAPS
replace faulty fuel pump, front tank
repaint the poor thing
replace drivers side window motor
replace ignition cylinder




1 comment:

Tim J. said...

This sounds a lot like a car I bought when I was a senior in high school, a Ford Galaxy.

If I recall correctly, the value of the car about doubled when I replaced the tires.

Just some tunes!