Couple general questions

[Optikalillushun]

1) When i move up to 315/75/16s soon, i want to change the speedo gear so it reads right. is this a difficult task on the ZF? and how can i figure out which one i need?

2) My tach is erratic. most of the time on a cold start it wont even move until i've gone some distance, sometimes it will work right off the bat. other times it will just drop out and not work, then it will. and sometimes it will read all screwy, like if im doing 2K it'll be at 900. i spoke with a fella on here and he said it could be a bad ground at the instrument cluster or tach sender.

3) The fuel guage also reads erratic. when the tank (either one) is full, the guage will be spiked WAY over F. it takes to what i assume is almost 1/2 tank for it to read at the F. if it did this on one tank i would start looking into the sender but it does it on both,

 

[tonkadoctor]

1) When i move up to 315/75/16s soon, i want to change the speedo gear so it reads right. is this a difficult task on the ZF? and how can i figure out which one i need?

2) My tach is erratic. most of the time on a cold start it wont even move until i've gone some distance, sometimes it will work right off the bat. other times it will just drop out and not work, then it will. and sometimes it will read all screwy, like if im doing 2K it'll be at 900. i spoke with a fella on here and he said it could be a bad ground at the instrument cluster or tach sender.

3) The fuel guage also reads erratic. when the tank (either one) is full, the guage will be spiked WAY over F. it takes to what i assume is almost 1/2 tank for it to read at the F. if it did this on one tank i would start looking into the sender but it does it on both,

1. ZF is easy, all you need is a 10mm or 11mm wrench and a small screwdriver. Take out the bolt that holds the speedocable in the tranny, take off the clip, swap gears and put it back on. Takes 5 minutes..... 10 if you're slow. IIRC each tooth on the gear is about 5 mph, you'll have to find out which gear you have and figure out how far off your speedo is and go from there...... can do this with somebody tailing you.
2. Sounds like bad ground
3. Sounds like bad ground also

 

[Optikalillushun]

ya half my thread got cut off, lol. sorry.

i figured it was a bad ground at the main for the cluster. i have some more ill add later.

 

[Michael Fowler]

Could your erratic instruments be due to a faulty IP voltage regulator?

 

[Diezel_Cowboy]

1) When i move up to 315/75/16s soon, i want to change the speedo gear so it reads right. is this a difficult task on the ZF? and how can i figure out which one i need?

2) My tach is erratic. most of the time on a cold start it wont even move until i've gone some distance, sometimes it will work right off the bat. other times it will just drop out and not work, then it will. and sometimes it will read all screwy, like if im doing 2K it'll be at 900. i spoke with a fella on here and he said it could be a bad ground at the instrument cluster or tach sender.

3) The fuel guage also reads erratic. when the tank (either one) is full, the guage will be spiked WAY over F. it takes to what i assume is almost 1/2 tank for it to read at the F. if it did this on one tank i would start looking into the sender but it does it on both,

1)315's will only add 5 mph at 60mph. SO when the speedo says 60 mph you will really be going 65mph.

2)Tach problem is common, sender unit is bad and really not worth fixing because they go bad often

3)Fuel gage sounds normal, it always takes almost 50-70 miles for mine to get to F when they are full then 50 miles more to half then 50 miles more to a quarter, for a total of about 150-180 per tank. This is also normal.

 

[Optikalillushun]

Mine reads WAY past F for almost 1/2 tank, that isnt normal. ill dig into the ground circuit, starting with the main instrument cluster.

 

[jimraelee]

I have noitced since watching my mileage, thy I get about 100 miles on before the needle moves off the F...

 

[Optikalillushun]

alright, second set of questions.

1) truck is hard to start in the morning. new GPs, GP controller, batts, IP pump (timed at the ford diesel dealer) and plenty of fuel. all was done by the PO. only thing he didnt replace were the injectors and return line kit. me thinks its the return line because she is starving for fuel after sitting over night. yes, no?

2) kinda related to #1...i have a smell of diesel fuel after the truck is shut off for a while. there are no leaks anywhere, i was thinking possible deterorating return line...?

 

[Agnem]

Well if you smell fuel, then you have a leak. And if you have a leak, you could have hard starts. So, follow your nose.

 

[Optikalillushun]

ha-ha-ha. there are no leaks so i was asking if the return line can leak as i was describing.

 

[LA350]

After replacing my return lines I noticed that while my lines looked good, they had actually hardened, cracked and very brittle. I was showing my wife and took a piece and flexed it. That caused large chunks of rubber to fall off revealing the reinforcement thread inside! Many of my connections were disintegrating!

 

[zigg]

ha-ha-ha. there are no leaks so i was asking if the return line can leak as i was describing.

Mine was doing the same thing. It was where the return line exited the pump. Only did it after shutdown, and it dribbled down the pump, and dripped off underneath outasite onto the valley. If I parked it for an hour, I came back and there was always 2 drops on the ground.

...Like Mel says...

Zigg

 

[Optikalillushun]

thanx!, now i have somewhere to start looking again. i poured over the truck and didnt see any leaks, hence my Qs but now i am gunna just replace it anyways.

 

[slideordie]

i was having problems with hard starts as well till i noticed a slight leak at the return lines that you couldnt see in less you were up close and personal and that was what you were looking for. once i got into that can of worms almost all of my o rings were dry rotted and cracked.

 

[jimraelee]

i was having problems with hard starts as well till i noticed a slight leak at the return lines that you couldnt see in less you were up close and personal and that was what you were looking for. once i got into that can of worms almost all of my o rings were dry rotted and cracked.

Yup Yup... I had hard start issue only after sitting.... would start just fine if out driving and stopping during the day. Sit over night and it was a ****** to start next AM... usuially needing a battery jumper... Replaced the return line with the kit and all is good again..