Project! Introducing Smokey Pete, the 1989 F250.

IDIBRONCO

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As for me, I also have a dedicated coolant drain pan, but I have no dedicated coolant funnels. The I dump it into a mop bucket. It already has a built in funnel. It's not the best, but doesn't work too badly if you pour slowly. I only dump a gallon or so into the mop bucket at a time so that it's easier to control. I don't reuse what sits at the bottom. That way, most of the bigger chunks will stay in the bucket. I'll top off the radiator with new antifreeze after that.
 

nitroguy

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Well, some days you're the Louisville slugger bat, some days you're the ball.

I was the ball.

Things just didn't go the way I wanted to.

Couldn't get the fan clutch off easily, and after 8 bloody knuckles and no progress (stinking loctite! Why did I use so much?!?) I moved on to greener pastures. I wasn't about to attempt a drain of my coolant late at night with that little energy. That's just a recipe for disaster.

So I got to work on my CDR relocate. I didn't like the way the giant Banks box sat on top, so I pieces together my own K&N cold air intake with 3.5in and 4in tube from Amazon. But I also didn't want a Road Draft Tube because of all the smoke, so I figured I'd try to plumb it in to my CAI. we'll see if it works.

First, I measured and drilled holes. If you follow in my footsteps, make sure you have a hole saw. I didn't, so I grabbed a Spade bit after a pilot hole. Mistake. That thing walked, moved, and made a mess of things. I caught it before it got too bad, and used a Dremel. My die grinder bit loaded up with aluminum filings, my Dremel shot off the sanding disc, bent the mandrel, bit my finger on the way out, and smoked the motor.
Did I mention it was a slow progress night?
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Used some gasket maker, mounted the CDR, and plumbed it in. Still some tweaks to go, but overall I like the way it turned out.

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Next I got to work rewiring. The wiring I used worked (woohoo!!) So now it's time to clean it up. Ran my starter and glow plugs button wires into the cab, loomed the wires with zip ties, and mounted my Glow Plug Relay on the fender. Felt good to make progress here. Turned out pretty good, a lot better than the mess I started with!

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(Edit: I realized that this photo doesn't actually show my wiring. Doh.)

Then I tried to mount my buttons and failed miserably. Turns out an old licence plate taped in place isn't nearly strong enough. The light of day makes me wonder why I even attempted that in the first place. Oh well, live and learn.

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This is just embarrassing.
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At that point, I called it quits. I was done for the night.

Oh, and my IP gear cover bolts are stripped, so I've gotta get some helicoils in there.

But all in all, still progress! Two steps forward, one back, but we're still moving.

If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. Life's too fragile to get all up tight about stuff like this. I'm grateful I get the opportunity to work on my stuff! Lots to be thankful for.
 

IDIBRONCO

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I like your idea to mount the CDR. It looks good to me. The 7.3 PSds ran the blow by into the intake between the air filter and the turbos with no CDR. They used something that kind of looked , to me, like coarse steel wool. Maybe they had smaller rings gaps and didn't have the same amount of blow by that our IDIs did. I'm not sure on that. You didn't mention whether you used bolts or screws to mount your CDR. Assuming that you used bolts and nuts, I would recommend using some red Loctite on the threads if you didn't. I wouldn't want to trust a nylock nut by itself to not vibrate loose and go through the turbo. I also wouldn't trust lock washers alone. I think that a true locking nut would probably work. I also think that there is a slight amount of metal shavings that come off of threads when you use them (maybe I'm wrong on that part) and they would go through your turbo as well.
Edit to add: one more thing. I had one of the same holes in an IP cover on a 6.9 strip out years back. What i did was to tap the hole out to 3/8" and put a bigger bolt in there. I used plenty of grease on the tap to catch the metal shavings. I also cleaned all of the grease off two or three times before I got all the way through the cover as well. There may or may not be a big enough hole in your Banks style adapter to put a 3/8" bolt through it. If there is, that would be the easier, less expensive way to get new threads in there. Either way, you're tapping the hole out, but with a Heli Coil, you may have to drill the hole out bigger before tapping it out. naturally, that will make even more shavings that you'll have to deal with. The new threads don't have to be prefect since there isn't much torque needed to hold these bolts in place.
 
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nitroguy

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Assuming that you used bolts and nuts, I would recommend using some red Loctite on the threads if you didn't. I wouldn't want to trust a nylock nut by itself to not vibrate loose and go through the turbo. I also wouldn't trust lock washers alone. I think that a true locking nut would probably work. I also think that there is a slight amount of metal shavings that come off of threads when you use them (maybe I'm wrong on that part) and they would go through your turbo as well.

Great tip! I bought flanged nuts, but not lock nuts. I'll throw some red on there, that would be a huge bummer to lose a brand new turbo to a loose nut!

I'll take a look at the threads and see if I can tap bigger! I also have a sneaking suspicion the person before me helicoiled it. When the screw stripped, it came out with very obviously coiled metal, it looked pretty intentional. Hoping I can just thread a new one in there, but if not, bigger I go!
 

IDIBRONCO

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Great tip! I bought flanged nuts, but not lock nuts. I'll throw some red on there, that would be a huge bummer to lose a brand new turbo to a loose nut!
I'm going to do something similar to my Blue Truck when I put a turbo on it so I've done some thinking on the subject. Besides losing the turbo, it may wipe out the engine too because the metal from the nut and the turbo wheel wouldn't stop right there. It would probably keep going into your intake. If it's intercooled, the pieces may stop in the intercooler, but they may not all stop there.

When the screw stripped, it came out with very obviously coiled metal, it looked pretty intentional.
That could have been the threads all pulling out on the bolt. Just see if they're magnetic. The housing is aluminum, the Heli Coil is probably magnetic.
 

nitroguy

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Welp, it makes me feel better that I've not gotten as much progress done over the last few days and why I kept getting fatigued...

Turns out I'm covid positive. :dunnoo_O

All good here, 4 out of the 6 of us have it, and have been and will continue to quarantine. Hopeful to finish up Pete here soon with a bit of free time from work if I can start to feel a bit better. Overall doing well, just like a bad cold.
 

IDIBRONCO

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Overall doing well, just like a bad cold.
That's what I've heard the most often. I even know a guy who lives in the Denver area who's in his later 50's, smokes heavily, has a bad heart and lungs from it, and didn't have any symptoms when he had it. The only way that he knew was when his cardiologist told him that he did. Other than his age, he should have been one of the worst affected. Since his name is Ken, one of his nicknames now is Covid Kenny.
 

homelessduck

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Progress!! Probably the second most excited day, behind only the day he fires up. - I got the engine installed!

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Lots of wiggling, banging, wrenching, and pushing, we got it in! Woohoo!!!!

I had a good buddy come over and we got the engine in within a couple hours. A few more hours later and the turbo was in. It's a first gen (non wastegate) Banks unit that was a booooger to get in. I'm not sure how it went together last time, but we had to cut the exhaust back by the muffler to get the right angle to bolt the downpipe to the turbo. Got a 3in patch from O'Reilly today, that'll get on tomorrow. While I was there, I got some straight pipe to cut out the muffler. Turbos quiet it down a bit from NA, right?

Then went back out after my buddy went home and ended up working until 130 last night getting all the hoses and wires cleaned up.

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Ordered a 3.5in intake tube and cone filter for the front to eliminate the giant cast banks box from the top. My plan is to rivnut on the cdr to the bottom side of the aluminum intake tube, unless y'all say that's a horrible idea for some reason.


Quick question - is there any way to shorten the cruise control throttle cable? I'd like to take 4in off it, it's all wildly up in the air. Drives my OCD nuts. It's the wire that goes up and around the brake booster into the unit under the hood hinge. I'm guessing from the Folgers Can vacuum plenum (I guess that's what it would be? Not shown here) that it's not exactly "factory".

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And another question. I've got an (unworking) oil temperature gauge in the cab, and a brown wire that runs down and sits on the cross member under the drain plug. But it's not connected to anything. Do you think that female spade connector used to go to a oil temp gauge in the pan? Would that be useful to source a new sender and wire it up? Or replace it with a temp gauge?

In these pictures you have the accelerator cable in the wrong notch on the bracket.
 

The_Josh_Bear

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About the best $10 I ever spent, a big coolant drain pan:
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...n-pan/11845/4379852?q=Coolant+drain+pan&pos=6

And of course if you clean it it works for anything and I've used it for ATF and I think oil once too when my normal oil pan was full. It's big and holds a bunch. Then put a coffee filter in the funnel when you go to pour it back into the radiator and you're golden.

So YES you can re-use good coolant, just make sure to filter it as I mentioned.

If you don't have one and plan on working on vehicles more, grab a cheap set of step-bits from harbor freight or wherever you feel like. One decent one will make all those drilling needs so much cleaner and faster. I can't believe how long I made it in life before I knew about those!
Example: https://www.harborfreight.com/3-pie...PnaYwNT-j-qHEm7pdwegzzVHi_UMuI0YaAskSEALw_wcB
Lube them when used on steel and they will last a while in my experience.
 

nitroguy

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Not a lot of progress today. Sure am tired.

Being quarantined, I can't head into town to get the drain pan like I'd hoped. Did my best with a 5 gallon bucket, got most of it on the floor. Next time. The stuff that IS in the bucket, I'll use the coffee filter trick and reuse it.
And I'll most definitely get a step bit set.

So, got the water pump off, coolant drained, headlights polished, and wires run up into the cab for plugs and start buttons.

Getting closer.

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nitroguy

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He Drove!!!!

I'll get a video of it tomorrow, it was dark and literally just up and down my road. But it drove!!

I'll back up.

I have two engines, and both had bad water pumps. The first one was wobbly because the donor engine was in a truck with a front end collision and warped the whole thing to heck. The second one was bad because of some bad bearings and it rattled and clicked and was no good. So a quick trip to O'Reilly's and I got a new one. It was like $40! I couldn't believe how cheap that huge hunk of metal and bearings was! Goodness I love these old trucks.

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Got the new pump installed, torqued to 15ftlb, and permatexed the top two bolts.

Then it was time to drill and tap the IP gear cover for those helicoils (didn't want to up size the bolts). Drill was too long, so out came the radiator, again. I figured there was still some coolant in there, and sure enough, another flood. Caught about 3/4 of it with my Home Depot bucket.

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@IDIBRONCO, that tip of heavy grease to hold the shavings was BRILLIANT! I never would have thought of that, and you saved me a massive rebuild in about 3 months from what would have been shavings throughout my engine. Genius! Thank you!

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Then it was time to filter all the coolant. Coffee filtering station set up. Also, for those interested, coffee filters don't drain quickly. I'm glad it did, because there was a ton of gunk, but be prepared for a wait. I now know how long it would take to make 4 gallons of coffee though, so that's some good info to have.

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Last but not least, got it all buttoned up, put back together and checked my levels. Oil is good, radiator is good, PS is low, but I'll get more fluid tomorrow. Fired up, and away I go! Woohooooooooooooo!

I will say, that first fire up is both intoxicating and terrifying. There's all kinds of squeaks and creaks and things smoking from it getting all settled together and assembly oil burning off. It's amazing...and freaky. But it held together, so that's a win. I do think I have a stuck injector, it's chuffing pretty bad like a miss. Planning on getting him road worthy and going for a hot drive to loosen it up.

One question before I go - is it possible to shorten the throttle cable? I don't think I'm getting a full open, and it's got a big dead zone on the first half of the pedal throw. Possible?

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Thanks all for reading! I'll show you tomorrow how I hacked up some wood for my starter and plugs buttons. It looks super redneck from the backside, but fine from the front, so we'll just call it 'inventive' not redneck. ;)

'night!
 

IDIBRONCO

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@IDIBRONCO, that tip of heavy grease to hold the shavings was BRILLIANT! I never would have thought of that, and you saved me a massive rebuild in about 3 months from what would have been shavings throughout my engine. Genius! Thank you!
You're welcome. Not quite genius. More like experience with previous advice from others.

One question before I go - is it possible to shorten the throttle cable? I don't think I'm getting a full open, and it's got a big dead zone on the first half of the pedal throw. Possible?
Yes it's highly possible. A lot of aftermarket throttle cables are too long. factory ones can stretch. The most common advice that I see on here is to pull the slack out of it above where it attaches to the throttle pedal and then squeeze some split shot fishing weights onto the cable to hold it farther back. I couldn't get that to work for me. retardation? Wasn't holding my tougne right? Too much/too little humidity in the air? I have no idea why it wouldn't work so I came up with my own solution. I took the smallest worm style hose clamp that I could find and used that instead of the split shot. I tightened it up as tight as it would go. Then I squeezed it with a pair of pliers to get it to tighten up some more. Finally, it got tight enough that it holds just fine on the cable. I can't really remember how long it's been on there, but I think that it's been at least 6 years. It's not the best picture, but at almost 10:00 at night, this is the best that I could get.

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The_Josh_Bear

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Now that I see the trouble I put you through waiting for 4 gallons of coolant to brew...I think I gave up and used an old t-shirt last time I filtered it. Sorry, I forgot how slow the filters were.

But I'm glad to hear it lives!! I take it you're feeling better as well?

X2 on what @IDIBRONCO said about the throttle cable. Take up slack at the pedal, just make sure it's not going to fall off when you're towing up a big hill, haha. I had to do the same on mine, think I used slice of the smallest fuel injection hose I could find, then cut down the middle to slip over the cable and then a zip tie to keep it snug.
 

asmith

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Looks good. What I have seen recommended is to use zip ties around the cable. Just keep adding more until you get all the slack out.


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