New to the Forum

[Jaded]

Hello everyone, my son just bought a 1985 F150 5.0 EFI single cab 2x4. Been helping him go through it past few weeks and found this forum to be pretty helpful so far. Figured might as well register and join the conversations. The truck runs and rides and stops great but definitely has given me some head scratching with the PO's DIY electrical "customization". Anxious to get it the little gremlins sorted so he can focus on enjoying it. That said, spending time with my boy wrenching isn't a bad thing... I'll take time with him how ever I can get it, and I am greatful that he wants to learn to do his own work.

Haven't gotten the parts cannon out just yet, hoping yall can help us keep that in reserve lol!

Cheers 🍻

[vjsimone]

2 Brave Souls..... 1985-1/2.  What's the Build/Manufacture Date on that beast ?

Gary has a nice link here if you don't own this document;
https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/1985-evtm.html

https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/NEW-MEMBERS-START-HERE-f135.html

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yes, welcome!  

I'm guessing that the link in your boilerplate induction response isn't working?
Gary will want to know that you understand/acknowledge the forum guidelines.
It's unfortunate that this Nabble platform is often quirky, but as you can see we'll be upgrading soon.  👍

We definitely like generational projects around here.
Gary kind of stumbled into these trucks by resurrecting his father's pickup into the souped up garage queen it is today.

PO electrical butchery is a common theme here, and we will do our best to help!
As Vinny points out, the EVTM is a good place to start.
The 5.0's were the first to go to EFI so there are some subtle differences as Ford made that running change in the 1985 model year.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, welcome!  Glad you joined.  

As Vinny implied with the link to the New Members Start Here folder and Jim outright stated, that's where we ask people to start because we have the guidelines posted there and want you to have read them as we will hold you to them.  So can you confirm that you've read them?

As for wrenching with your son, I fully understand.  My son doesn't wrench but we've at least taken a trip in Big Blue.  My SiL does wrench 'cause he has an '84 F150 and that's required to drive it.  And now my grandson is getting a taste of it on a 50 Chevy pickup.  So I DO understand your desire to share those experiences.

Where's home?  I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and can add you with a city/state or zip.

[Jaded]

Check. Read and re-read. For the life of me didn't see where the option to post from the new members page. So I took a gamble with the new thread and tried to post an intro best I could muster in working from mobile phone.

You all are so kind, appreciate the warm welcome.  🙏

As for build date etc. We don't know that yet, but as I now know there were rolling changes in '85 we'll be sure to get that asap. I'll ssume it's a VIN detail lookup?

Also FWIW. I am fairly savy with Discord server construction and management, and I'm launching what will be a community server within that platform in an effort to leverage their optimal chat, embed features, thread creation, voice chat, topic organization features etc (and many more). Not sure if anyone is interested in that, but when the server is ready to rip it will be open for discovery within the app search function. While it won't be a replacement for this treasure trove, it does make an ideal access point for the community to engage quickly and is second to none from an ease of use perspective (better than Teams or Slack imo). The younger generations especially love it, and we are hoping to capture some of them as they are getting their hands on some classic trucks. We already have a channel built to link to this forum lol.

Anyhoo, gonna be late for church, gotta run!

Cheers 🍻

[ArdWrknTrk]

The manufacturing date should be on the door compliance sticker that also shows VWR's and tires.

Here, in the upper left of the NMSH where you see "new topic"
But, you're past that now, and everything is going to change when the forum moves to InVision after they write the code to do the migration.

We may be offline for a bit as the DNS servers get redirected, and certificates are checked, but it should be pretty seamless.

[grumpin]

Welcome!

[Gary Lewis]

We looked at Discord but liked Invision better for our purposes.  We hope to be moving to that in a couple of weeks or so as they are writing the migration code now and expect to show us the beta maybe this week.  Then we will have a week to test it and once they fix what we've found we expect to go live.

[Jaded]

Turns out, this truck is stamped as built in December of 1984. (Signature has been updated with that now)

Productive weekend on it too, replaced the wiper motor and the steering wheel controls/turn signal switch.

Rhe wiper motor was entertaining! Lots of aftermarket available but discovered the motor linkage is incorrect on the replacement part. Had to die grind the OEM linkage to fit the replacement motor shaft. All good though. The wipers park and operate at both speeds as intended now woot! Replacing the disintegrated foam insulation tape before the cowl went back on of course.

The switch wasn't too bad though I am concerned we the have provisions for cruise control despite ordering that specific switch. Hard to verify without having the cruise control and horn connections and buttons as the face of the steering wheel is missing. Blinkers and tilt work though so it'll be good enough to operate for now. Once we track down the replacement parts will see where that take us.

Priority now is "un-customizing" the dual to single tank conversion wiring mess the PO left us, (currently rhe only and primary tank is the "front tank").

***Need track down the lack of fuel guage at instrument paenl (nothing on the db/y or y/w wires..), and verify the in tank pump and sending unit is working. I have reviewed the threads for diagrams and basic function of the OEM dual tank setup and have already assessed that many components are either bypassed or missing all together. The tank selector solenoid valve is there but not connected and no connector to be seen, the high pressure pump leads have been spliced and now connect directly into the front tank pump leads, p/b and b/w cut at selctor switch.i was able to re-pin the tank selector switch and ignoring the splice from the hp pump to the tank pump I verified the OEM dual tank wiring (b/w, red, orange) to the dual tanks switch as they should. In particular we are still looking through all the mentioned locations for the fuel pump relay to confirm it is either existing or if it has been bypassed, or if present test for function. There are seemingly a lot of either missing connections present some in key locations that are concerning, but trying to stay focused and run this through systematically so as not to be distracted by unrelated issues to be addressed later.

The goal right now is to get his truck reliable to drive. We will work the kinks out on the rest later.

 The dilemma to that end as I see it, stems from deciding one from one of two options to resolve the fuel supply system issues:

Restore to factory setup and re-equip the truck with fuel pump relay(s) fuel tank selector valve, rear tank w/ pump and sending unit, etc.

Or replicate a proper OEM single tank system with as close to a factory wiring diagram and components as we can.

Leaning towards OEM dual tank setup simply to make diagnostic (current and future) and operating maintenance simple for my son to maintain going forward (following factory manuals etc), but after reading here on the known issues with the fuel tank selector solenoid, tank selector switch, etc, failing ... this solution doesn't inspire confidence that we wont be creating more problems from a reliability standpoint. Also, the cost to replicate OEM equipment is going to be steep for him initially with his limited part time high-school job income and he still needs to replace the horribly over sized wheels and tires it came with. (More on this once we fix the fuel system woes).

Curious to hear if there is a consensus on the two approaches to this or if it really boils down to personal preference, money, and time/effort? Also, I haven't read that there are many if any options to make the dual tank system more reliable, but open to that if there is a recommended search I can use to find it in this forum.

Cheers 🍻
(Sorry for the wall of text, hopefully I've highlighted useful details.)

[ArdWrknTrk]

Pretty much any truck built after August is going to be the next MY.

The problem with the wiper shaft has been mentioned recently.
I'm really surprised that 'whatever' factory didn't get it right (or perhaps they got a hacked one as an example to replicate?)

The 5.0 EFI has the filter in reservoir/accumulator as part of the high pressure pump on the frame rail, correct?
I'm sorry, I'm not super familiar with these smaller trucks.

I imagine a lot would depend on the range needed, and the option of relocating the spare and fitting a single oversized rear tank is also there...

[Jaded]

Can confirm the flter is a seperate component as it is inline just before the hp pump.

Noted on the tank size. Definitely an option to consider for simplicity of system design at least. Range being a factor I hadn't really given much thought until now but assume that a minimum of 350/400 miles unloaded would be a minimum starting point if I use my Ram as a baseline to compare. We haven't even used a gallon of fuel at this point as it has been in a state of repair since we drove it from the seller's house onto our driveway a little over 2 weeks ago. If only the fuel guage worked so we could assess the mpg lol.

Going to stretch my back and scuff some knuckles digging through the dash and the engine compartment looking for those relays. Once I get the full assessment of current state, should have enough to priorize a path forward on how to resolve.

Cheers 🍻

[ArdWrknTrk]

I have no idea what kind of range to expect from a 5.0 EFI on 19 gallons.
Perhaps someone else that owns one can chime in?

Hopefully the switch & valve are still operable, because I understand that they are expensive... if you can find them.

[mat in tn]

in the interest of reliability. at least study the next version of the twin tank setup. it uses two high pressure pumps in the tanks. a much simpler system and far less problematic. the three pump system with reservoir/ filter selector valve has been known to be failure prone and replacement valves are not as good as oem. which are NOT available that I have been able to find.
there was a certain sender ohms range for the bullnose then a change to a different range sometime after that. I'm not certain of what year. it's been a few years since doing one myself. however, we have an 86 twin tank that we have had a hell of a time getting correct and have done the whole system twice by now. one piece at a time per the owner's decision. I think he is just using the front tank at the moment. he is not happy about the parts store choices.
on my own truck resurrections, I start with new tank/ tanks and senders. I learned the hard way many years ago that its far less expensive and far less of a headache to start there.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Senders went from 70-10 ohms to 16-160 ohms in 87 when the new instruments became more like steppers than the old thermal spring type that used an ICVR.

Gary is using a Meter Match to correct for this upside down and extended range with his FDM's.