Eddy Myrtle

[Sac79]

I've sent you an email Farmboy.

[ArdWrknTrk]

How far out is he in NY, Oswego?

I could probably get them from the Delaware line to Binghamton, NY.

[Sac79]

I finally replaced the balancer this week. Removing everything was a bit of a chore, but all in all , not too painful.

I had to go as far as removing the stone guard to have enough space for my impact wrench. After picking up a removal tool from Advanced I had to go back shortly after to get a tool for the fan!

Upon inspecting the seal and gasket, I'm reasonably sure the timing cover seal was the main culprit, but without having done any real testing, I can't say the pan gasket wasn't also leaking. You can see some oil on the outside of the seal and most of the oil is on top of the pan gasket. Also, notice the 'ring' caused by the balancer rubber.



I can't believe I was so cheap as to want to reuse this. It 'wobbled' from the start, not excessively, but compared to the new one, very noticeably. Also, it's definitely shifted 'out' on the rubber as there wasn't so much of it visible when I installed it last year. But it hasn't 'rotated', the outside notch and inner key still aligns.



I did consider for a moment taking another shortcut and not replacing the pan gasket. Apparently you can do that, just cut the gasket flush with the block and replace it with a cut to size piece. I suppose that could be acceptable with the four piece gasket, but I had no intention of cutting the new one piece and besides, taking shortcuts got me into this mess.



So I did it properly and removed the old(less than 2 month old!) gasket, pictured above. I made things easier by removing the starter which I didn't do last time because I was lazy, it took two minutes! It was a lot easier to clean the surfaces after using the rubber gasket compared to the cork gaskets. I used a little bit of RTV in the corners and plenty of Gasgacinch everywhere else. Also, instead of dragging the new gasket through the pan to get it in place(covering it in oil and getting it caught on the pickup) I pulled it over the outside... Using a little 3/8" pneumatic wrench all the bolts were a breeze as well.

I refilled all the fluids this morning in anticipation of a test drive to Advanced to return the tools. But at the turn of the key, just a click... My first thought was 'Walmart battery...', the truck has only been sitting 3 weeks though, surely not. I switched on the voltmeter/USB port, 12.2V, should still turn over with that. Popped the hood. Smoke by the battery. Oh no. Start to poke around and my eye just happens to catch the loose wire by the starter... I thought, ahh, the starter has no power, but what was smoking? Hopefully I didn't blow the solenoid or something. Anyway, slide underneath to reconnect it and realize that of course it's the ground and not power. Check up top again...



So I guess the starter tried to ground itself(or the electricity tried to return to the source) via the engine block, firewall, fender and through my puny wire to the battery. Hopefully nothing else was affected. I'll replace this wire with something more substantial directly to the clamp, oops.

Anyway, bone dry so far... I'll take a longer drive this weekend, but I'm feeling good about it this time.

[Gary Lewis]

Congrat's!!!  Feels good to get something like that done, even if you had a minor setback with the wiring.  

Taking a big trip this weekend?

[ArdWrknTrk]

  I knew the 300 had the ground cable go to the starter motor instead of the block.
I didn't realize that it doesn't have a tab connecting it to the frame along the way.

Though maybe that wouldn't matter if the direct route to the wiper motor puts the path through the body?

Anyway, glad to see you've got the front of your engine tightened up.
Hope you have a great trip this weekend.  

[Sac79]

Thanks Gary. We had planned to finally go to Atlanta, but the bookshelves at IKEA aren't in stock. So nothing special planned now, just a drive longer than the 10 mile run today.

Jim, the starter ground is connected to the frame along the way, but not being connected to the starter, made that irrelevant. Nothing is really grounded on the frame in my truck anyway. So the only real return route for any electricity was via that skinny wire. I really should have used something beefier from the start as most accessories are probably grounded via it, or maybe not, as everything can flow via the firewall and engine block if the starter ground is connected.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm not sure why Ford chose to run the ground to a starter bolt on the 300, but it seems to make more sense than attaching it to the right front corner of the block (a'la V-8)

The Big Box store of Big Boxes is always a good reason to bring a pickup!
(You can have some lingonberry jam on your Swedish meatballs while you're there.  )

I've picked up a few kitchens that I couldn't even fit in my truck.(without any appliances)

[Sac79]

So last weekend's longer run annoyingly resulted in a not so bone dry oil pan... 



It's not nearly as bad as before. I assume it's the pan gasket and not the balancer seal or anything else. So, with it not being too bad, we went to Atlanta this past weekend. The 260 odd mile trip dropped the level on the dipstick about 1/8 to 1/4 inches. Not ideal, but I don't feel like doing the gasket again right now.

Gas mileage wasn't great. Going there at 65-67Mph returned 13.5Mpg, coming back at a more sedate 60-62Mph got 15Mpg. All interstate.

I still have a seeping rear pinion on the transfer case, but with the oil pan, that's no longer a concern.

And the right front has a fairly predictable 'knock'. Sometimes under breaking just before coming to a stop and every time I back down my driveway around a corner, mid turn, like clockwork. I can't imagine what it would be, I thought maybe the sway bar hitting the bracket it's attached too, but don't see why that would happen under braking?

The biggest annoyance though is the wind noise at anything over 45Mph, and it's air coming into the cab, not just air being disturbed outside. I'm going to try tape over the seams someday soon to see which areas are the biggest culprits.

Lastly, I replaced the ground to the fender and then added a couple of 'mini BB' grounds between the fenders and the firewall. And I'm following Dave's AFR install as I might still want to do the same.



 

[Bruce moose4x4]

I put a set of these Standard performance wires on my Bronco last time. Really pleased with them. Here is a set for your truck. They have ceramic boots.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b/blue-streak-wire--fmnx--5909/ignition---tune-up-16776/spark-plug-wire-set-12534/9d7639b409b3/standard-ignition-blue-streak-wire-fmnx-spark-plug-wire-set/10045/6235511?q=10045&pos=0

[Gary Lewis]

That's a bummer about the oil pan leaking.  

On the t-case seal, that's a really easy job.  Just did it myself.

As for the mini-BB grounds, I like them.  Should bond everything together nicely.

On the knock, have you checked the radius arm bushings?  They'll give a thump or knock on braking or bumps, and probably on certain turns.

[Sac79]

Thanks Bruce, I'll keep them in mind for the future. I've already acquired a set of NGK wires though. I haven't installed them yet and probably won't until I change the plugs again.

[Sac79]

Yes Gary, I'm pretty disappointed with the oil pan leak. I think my pan might be deformed on the front lip. Can't see why else it would continue to leak. The rubber gasket is pretty fool proof. I'll definitely be using more RTV next time, if not only RTV.

I already attempted the pinion leak repair with some thread sealant and it held up for a short while. I guess I need something better. The rubber 'grommet/washer/seal thingy' is obviously worn. I'll do some research and see if I can find a replacement. The leak is tiny compared to the pan, so for now, it's not bothering me.

All the bushings are new, but I should probably go over everything to make sure all the nuts and bolts are still torqued.

[Gary Lewis]

On the t-case, did you coat the splines with RTV before installing the yoke?  That's necessary on the front yoke given its lower position with respect to the lube, and is shown in the shop manual as a needed step.  But while it doesn't show in the shop manual for the rear yoke it is still possible for oil to seep out there.

And, did you replace the seal itself?  Torque King is my go-to place for seals and other t-case parts.

[Sac79]

Can't believe I haven't updated this thread in more than a year!

As mentioned on the main page I just did the pan gasket and timing cover seal again. Upon today's inspection everything around the pan still appears dry. I'll definitely do more runs this week, so hopefully that remains the case.

To recap the last 12 months, I ran the truck with the leak mentioned in the posts above until somewhere after October. Can't remember exactly when, but I attempted a RTV only solution which was a catastrophic fail. Of course it leaked from the front(since we now know the timing cover seal was ultimately responsible), but oil just poured out from the back as the gap is larger around the rear main seal.

The fact that RTV couldn't seal the front area, made me suspect the timing cover seal. But I was dreading doing that again, so instead attempted a 4-piece gasket(a Felpro performance set) again. Which leaked within a day and led me to the last few days. I had planned on going with another 4 piece set(original cork version), but a last second change of plan led to the one piece.

So I started the rebuild with the 4-piece supplied in the kit, changed to a 1-piece, replaced that again in addition to the timing cover seal, tried RTV only, back to a 4-piece and finally, hopefully for the last time back to a 1-piece and a correctly installed timing cover seal!

[Sac79]

I have done a few other things as well. I think I got the transfer case sorted, it just needed the RTV as Gary mentioned. But I still have a brake fluid leak from the rear 'split' fitting. I've tried re-tightening it many times to no avail. But it's small enough that it isn't giving me sleepless nights.

[Sac79]

I inquired about the gauges at some point and did make some progress there. I replaced the ICVR with one from my backup instrument cluster. I decided against the upgrade for now. I swapped out the coolant temp and oil pressure gauges and replaced the oil pressure sender, with some difficulty. I had a bear of a time to get the old sender off. I bought special skinny wrenches that simply stripped the stud. I had to use a big v-groove set of pliers in the end. Everything works as it should again though, so worth it.

I then added a Metermatch to the fuel gauge.


The wiring was easy, getting the fuel tank empty, not so much... I drove around the neighborhood to no avail. I then thought about testing the 4wd since I hadn't since the rebuild.



This made me notice some weird characteristics. The front wheels don't always turn at the same speed... I guess it has something to do with the resistance in the shafts? To clarify, this is at idle in gear. Anyway, my truck was way to efficient with no wind resistance! Eventually I saw bubbles in the fuel filter.

I shut it off there, added a gallon and set the metermatch to show empty. I then added 6 gallons and set it two about 1/3. Added another 6 and set it to 2/3. Then drove to Buc-ee's and filled up. I had hoped it would take another 6 gallons, alas it was less than 4... So with the 1 gallon expended to get to Buc-ee's, that meant I was only 3 short of full at 2/3. And I have 4 gallons left at empty! I don't mind the 4 gallons at empty, but now my gauge essentially reads the same way it did before. Drops quickly and lingers down low forever. At least it's easy to adjust. Oh, and I know that my pickup tube is sucking air with 3 gallons in the tank... 

[Gary Lewis]

Do you have flare wrenches?  Sometimes they are what's needed to get sending units off.  But some sending units don't have a skinny spot where you can get the flare wrench on.



On the front wheels running at different speeds, that happens when the front brakes drag, and they do with the type of calipers these trucks have, which don't slide side/side very easily.

On the Meter Match, are you remembering to save the setting each time?  Not that you'd miss that step, but I sure did.  Several times.  

[Sac79]

A flare wrench would be perfect, but it would have to be skinny. The standard skinny I bought did this...

Makes sense about the brakes causing the drag. And yes, I saved the settings. I filled up this morning - the trip meter malfunctioning messed up my mileage documentation. I had only been writing down the trip distance. So to figure out the last trip I added all the miles and subtracted from the current odometer in addition to the starting reading. Got 200 miles from just over 10 gallons... As nice as that would be, no way. So something went wrong somewhere, my tripmeter probably acted up somewhere before and I didn't notice it. Anyway, I'll be resetting the MM on this next tank. It's reading about 2/3 now and I've done about 50 miles, seems about right for 3.5ish gallons. I'll do another 20 miles then bump it back to 2/3.

Some other additions. I replaced the mirrors, I preferred the originals, but they wouldn't stay in place.


And then I stupidly drilled these holes before checking fitment of the seals...




So that's why it's all wonky, but they need to be so low to actually touch the cab. They do make a difference, not much at interstate speeds though.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, that would have taken a skinny flair wrench.

And I doubt you got 20 MPG, so you did have a glitch somewhere.  But you'll get it dialed in.

Mirrors look good.  But the seal is, as you said, wonky.  I thought they had adhesive on them?  

[Sac79]

Oh, and I added the dash cover. That picture was taken with it just lying in place and before I removed the speaker cover.

And I changed out the exhaust at last. 2.5" throughout now, with a 'universal race muffler'




It's OK in moderation, a little loud at times, definitely drowns out the cheap 4" speakers next to my ears. But the wind noise still wins out on the Interstate. I would like to get another muffler to swap in when I feel like going for a less noticeable drive. Any recommendations? It would have to be 2.5" inlet/outlet on center to make swapping easy. Length less important as I can add a different intermediate pipe.

Lastly, I added a tow hitch yesterday(pics to follow). I haven't bought the ball or drop yet. Google comes back with 17" as a typical hitch height, thoughts? The bottom of my hitch tube currently sits at 16", so the bottom of the couple would be about 17, maybe a little over. I don't plan on using it much, I don't even have a trailer(otherwise I would of course set it up accordingly). I'll be borrowing my neighbors trailer when I buy a new mower. That's the only use I currently foresee.