H311RA151N : 1986 Ford F-250 XL

[H311RA151N]

Kinda crude in a way. But fixed the PS leakage. In a few months the PS will be completely redone anyhow. Might convert to Saginaw pump...




Changing oil & filter for the second time since owning it. Bumper to bumper a couple mins down the road only had one gallon of the oil I needed. They will have the second gallon tomorrow along with the the large Motorcraft oil filter.

[H311RA151N]

I found out why this truck ran like shit after my little back road chase the other day. Coil shit the bed. Must have been the vibrations. Or one of the power steering belts slapped the fuck out of it when it threw em off. Piece of shit Ford C2 pumps...

I think the smoke might have been from the belts... It was pouring smoke from behind it like Vin Diesels Charger in F&F 1. But I couldn't smell anything and the oil level is still perfect.

I'm so fucking sick of this C2 power steering pump though. Noisy, leaks, weak, pushes fluid out the cap at higher rpms... They just suck. It's getting a Saginaw off an E350 van when I get time.

[H311RA151N]

Come on... give me a freakin' break... I'm so sick of messing with this stupid power steering pump. I need a Saginaw ASAP.

[foamypirate]

Come on... give me a freakin' break... I'm so sick of messing with this stupid power steering pump. I need a Saginaw ASAP.

Does it make that distinctive Ford power steering whine, too? :P

[H311RA151N]

Does it make that distinctive Ford power steering whine, too? :P

I got lucky and somehow the pump I bought from either Autozone or NAPA I cannot remember now, doesn't have that super annoying signature Ford C2 power steering pump whine. The only time it does it is when it's low. I'm still sending it on it's way when I get all the Saginaw parts.

[H311RA151N]

Found two near brand new tires on Craigslist yesterday. Got them both for $140 with the wheels (Mopar wheels). 265/75/16. Same size this truck has on it now.


GT Radial Adventuro M/T. 265/75R16. 123 is the load rating which is 3,420lbs. M+S means mud and snow. Pretty decent tires that I can use. They sell for about $150 a piece new.

When the current tires wear out I'll throw these on with two new identical tires.

[H311RA151N]

I also took a closer look at the power steering pump yesterday. I couldn't find where the pump was leaking or any of the lines or hoses I suspected. But I did find this.






Pitman arm at steering box.




When checking out the power steering pump itself I could only find a little power steering fluid on it's exterior which was due to me filling it and spilling a little.









In the picture below you can kinda see that everything below where the pitman arm meets the steering box is a bit wetter looking compared to everything above said location.





The steering box works of course. I'm quite certain it just needs new seals which I'm really hoping that's the case because a good replacement steering box is about a couple hundred dollars and up.

I'm actually looking forward to doing this. I will get to plate and weld the chassis where the steering box mounts to the frame (which keeps it from cracking if it ever decided it wanted to) and replace any worn parts inside the steering box. Which I imagine there are.

[H311RA151N]

It reached 1500 miles since under my ownership. So I went over the whole underside.

First thing I looked at was the rear pinion as the nut was backed out and the pinion had quite a bit of play in it when I bought this truck. I recorded it in this MRT in fact. To correct the issue I tightened the nut to the given specs as Ford instructed and hoped for the best. Well, it's still firm as can be with no slop. The rear end still needs to be pulled and went through fully one day. But it's fine as for now and will continue to be for some time into the future as well. It does leak a little but not as bad as the pics might lead you to believe. It used to leak quite a bit before I tightened the pinion nut and I never washed any of the old gear oil off which is mostly what you see. I pulled the plug on the rear diff housing and with my finger I could easily reach the fluid level. To sum it up this area of the truck will need future work but it's nothing that concerns me in the least bit.













Next up was the Borg Warner 1345 transfer case. I've never had any issues with it. Where the two halves of the case meet the gasket seeps slightly as can be seen. This type of transfer case is lubricated with ATF, I filled it with Castrol Transmax full synthetic multi-vehicle ATF and I noticed it quietened down a bit not that it was ever loud. To rebuild this unit without replacing the chain is about $75 if one goes with the highest quality parts possible. The chain (this one being the larger 1.5" wide chain) will run another $85. Which I plan to do both whenever I'm able to pull the drive-train and rebuild everything. Which I don't think is going to be real soon. Possibly next year.





I had a look at the T19 4 speed manual transmission. I changed the fluid in it as well prior to getting the truck road legal. It has 80w90 synthetic Valvoline gear oil in it. Synthetic gear oil for such a crude or rugged transmission is completely unnecessary however I did so because of the T19's naturally slow shifting characteristics. You have to "wait on it" when changing gears even though all 4 forward gears (yes even granny low aka 1st gear) is synchronized. Some people reported slightly quicker shifts with synthetic gear oil and I too noticed quicker shifts although only slightly quicker than before.

The T19 appears to seep around the top of the transmission as well as where it mates to the transfer case. And it looks as if it leaks from the around the drain plug area. I question whether or not it's remnants of gear oil from when I drained/filled it or not. Either way, I plan to rebuild it with a kit from Novak transmissions sometime in the future. It needs sealed up and being as this truck has pulled seriously heavy loads for likely what has been it's entire life I'm sure it could use a good freshening up. No issues what so ever. This thing works nicely and as it should. No complaints. Even though it apparently leaks and/or seeps gear oil I checked it when I took these pics and it's still full.











The engine was where I placed my attention next. Which during the last 1000 miles I didn't have to add any oil although as can be seen in the pics below, it does it fact leak. I noticed when I purchased this truck that it desperately needed valve cover gaskets. That as with everything else is documented in this MRT somewhere. The 460 has several locations in which it leaks so I will point out the one leak that actually concerns me first.

I don't know what this is yet but I briefly looked it over and realized it needs my attention as the clean area on the oil pan below it provides definitive evidence that this line whatever it is, is leaking an amount of oil much more than I'm comfortable with.









Another note as for the engine regarding oil leaks. When I bought the truck I drove it a little. Mainly to make diagnoses or to preform tests. In doing so even though it wasn't often or much driving when it was driven I noticed a loss of oil on the dipstick frequently. This being before I ever changed the oil for the first time I might add. After replacing the valve cover gaskets I immediately noticed this unwanted feature dramatically improve as well as I could physically see the reduction in oil loss on the heads. The oil pan gasket does seep. But I'm not concerned with it for two reasons, the first being as the pic above this paragraph shows, if you take a look at the oil pan bolts, that's old oil on the heads of those bolts. If it were leaking a substantial amount of oil in that location it would be much cleaner looking oil than what's seen there. The second being what the picture below shows as for the oil and sludge buildup on the block in comparison to the oil and sludge buildup on the oil pan. It's identical which can only provide one explanation and that is whatever leaked or is leaking oil onto both the block and oil pan must be above both. And on this engine that could only be one thing and that was those oil leaking valve cover gaskets that I replaced.




I need to clean it all off to provide it with a clean canvass so it will give me an up to date status as for oil leakage. But it simply cannot be leaking much as it doesn't require any to be added when checked. I have not cleaned the oil, grime, sludge etc off yet because it's going to make me such a mess when I do. Not exactly something I'm looking forward to in this way.


Since I just covered a couple things regarding the power plant of this truck I will make note of the condition of the engine mounts and transmission mount next. They were in need of being replaced when I bought the truck but were manageable for a short time after purchasing the truck. This changed with the first short trip with approximately a 20' goose neck and 12000 lbs of scrap metals on said trailer. This engine/trans combo is hard on engine/trans mounts anyhow. But I have the replacements on their way currently.








I checked out a few more things on the truck but this is all I have time to post as for right now. I'll continue with this later on.

[H311RA151N]

I've been doing some reading about the lower gear box pitman arm seal. Apparently these gearboxes (much like the power steering pump) suck. Ford did not make good power steering systems...

I'm going to replace the lower seal which may hold for a couple months. Which will give me plenty of time to get the replacement steering gear box on the way.

[H311RA151N]

I recorded this the other day. Looks like the factory tach is trying to make an attempt at working. Hear those power steering belts squall.

They do that for the first minute or so from start up. Truck was drove earlier that day they must have been just cool enough. Idle was lower than normal a hundred RPMs or so as air cleaner was removed for cleaning.

That thunka thunka thunka thunka thunka sound is something to do with the clutch or related components. The clutch fork moves while the truck is idle out of gear back and forth just a little and if you put your hand on it lightly it stops as well as the sound. And it doesn't do that all the time. When I go through and replace all the clutch/trans stuff I'm sure I will find out exactly what caused the noise.

[H311RA151N]

Engine and transmission mounts came in today. Now only to find the time to install them.

[Jarrett]

That thing needs a date with a bucket of Simple Green and a power washer.

It's pretty amazing all the effort you've put into getting this thing driveable and reliable in the conditions you will be putting it through.

[H311RA151N]

That thing needs a date with a bucket of Simple Green and a power washer.

It's pretty amazing all the effort you've put into getting this thing driveable and reliable in the conditions you will be putting it through.

I was actually looking to purchase a hot water pressure washer... until I seen the price.

It seriously needs a good scrubbing. I have plans to purchase a pressure washer in the near future as my old one gave out on me. I have a yellow plastic poncho and some duct tape for when I have to lay under it and spray everything. And I think I will use Simple Green, like a gallon of it and some oven cleaner and maybe buy another gallon of FinishRenu Red Bull degreaser.

When it comes to this truck all my "responsibility" so to speak, goes away. I guess it's just in my blood. The way it makes me feel to drive it I can't explain other than to say it's downright awesome. This truck is just so me.

[thumping_accord]

Found two near brand new tires on Craigslist yesterday. Got them both for $140 with the wheels (Mopar wheels). 265/75/16. Same size this truck has on it now.


GT Radial Adventuro M/T. 265/75R16. 123 is the load rating which is 3,420lbs. M+S means mud and snow. Pretty decent tires that I can use. They sell for about $150 a piece new.

When the current tires wear out I'll throw these on with two new identical tires.

Good luck with those tires.... I have a set on my truck (1500 Ram 4x4) and they eat themselves up real quick, especially if you dont rotate every 3k miles or so (mud terrains have to be at least rotated alot, at least thats what the offroad shop keeps telling me).

[H311RA151N]

Good luck with those tires.... I have a set on my truck (1500 Ram 4x4) and they eat themselves up real quick, especially if you dont rotate every 3k miles or so (mud terrains have to be at least rotated alot, at least thats what the offroad shop keeps telling me).

I figured as much. Being as I won't have but a little over $400 in a set of 4 I won't care all too much.

I had a set of Hankook Dyna Pro's and they were shit. Not on this truck on a dually. Gotta be careful with tires anymore evidently.