Two keys.

This is the identical same truck as the one I already own. Just three years newer.

My first one is a 1989 F250 XLT Lariat 7.3idi non turbo with a C6 trans. (3 speed, no overdrive.)

This one is a 1992 F250 XLT Lariat 7.3idi Non turbo With an E40D trans.

My 89 has always had two keys. One for the ignition, one for the doors. So having two separate keys for this one will just be the same old same-o for me.

My Camry only has one key. And you are right, it really is nice not to have to deal with two keys. But a locksmith is nowhere near being in the budget. (Also, no point in that at all, until I have the truck back on the road.) Even getting locking gas caps is going to have to wait for a while.

Anything else that I do for a while is going to have to be held to working on stuff that requires cleanup, fixed wires, remove rust and corrosion, lube, and that sort of thing. If the job requires parts it will have to wait.

I'm positive that you and probably everyone else on here, has been in the same place, so you understand.

Just asking for some patience guys, if this doesn't progress fast enough for you.

Hey, if it turns out that I just can't get this back on the road, at least I will have parts for my 89. For instance, the steering box/gear. (Same box/gear!) Just that alone would save me 300 dollars over having to buy one for the 89... But I am going to try my best to get this one on the road instead. It's a much better truck.

I noticed that rock auto has cylinders with different key codes. Did some poking around and apparently the cylinders are designed to work with different parts of the key

On a 10 notch key the ignition uses 1-4 and 6 and the doors use 5-10. When you buy a new ignition cylinder you're supposed to match up the 6th notch on the old key then have a locksmith cut the rest of the notches to match the door cylinders

Here's a great explanation of how it works:

https://www.taurusowners.com/topic/4845-ford-keying-systems-how-they-work/

Like you said, it's not a huge deal. Especially when you're just focused on getting it running

I think I gave you all the extra IDI parts I had. I still have a crate of random stuff from my '94 E350 with the 7.3 IDI/E4OD and my '87 F150 302/C6 though

Left the house right after I posted that. Went to Monroe and had a tooth pulled. Back again by 2:25. Not bad! LOL

Now I am working on not drooling on my keyboard while I type...

Thank you for that! I immediately hoped maybe a file would make the new or old key work for both jobs. LOL No such luck. They are too different. At some point I may take the lock cylinder out of the door and fool around with the pins, to see if I can get some kind of 'combination' that works with the new key.

And thank you again, for those parts!!! They have saved my bacon three times already! You wouldn't happen to have an extra TCC solenoid for the E40D, in that crate, would you? LOL

Well, what looks like more good news.

Decided to test the batteries today, instead of just writing them off because they sat for years.

This is not a load test. Just voltage, but it looks promising.

Driver's side battery is at ~4 volts. Ok, thats down quite a bit, but not completely dead.

Passenger side... Main battery... 12 volts!


Ok, I am going to put them on the charger. I only have one charger, so only one at a time, of course. But I am going to start with the passenger side.

Maybe these will charge up!!!


Side note... I could be wrong but it looks like home made positive cables between the batteries and down to the starter. Very well made cables! And they look like welding cables. At least twice as thick as normal battery cables! I'm liking this!

Not much to report today.

It took nearly 24 hours, but it looks like the passenger side battery took a full charge.

Not going to really know whether they have actually taken a charge and/or are worth anything, until I get the other one charged up, and hook them back up.

Driver's side battery is in the middle of charging now. Guess I'll know about that one tomorrow. But it is at least taking a charge.

I've done this before on other vehicles. Looked like the batteries took a charge... Only to find out that they were too weak to be worth anything. So... We'll see. If they still work, I'm going to have to reconsider my opinion of Les Schwab, at least for batteries. LOL

Filled the brake reservoir. Left it for the day. Found at least one leak. Looks like it has been there a long time.



That area was bone dry this morning when I filled the reservoir. And I was extremely careful not to spill any brake fluid. Didn't spill a drop.

If it stays dry here, I'll go out there tomorrow and have a look under the truck for any other wet spots on lines, etc. However, I suspect this is the only leak. The reservoir doesn't seem to have gone down more than maybe a thousandth of an inch.

Do the trucks use the same two batteries?

In the vans they’re mismatched because of the limited space. I still charged them together since that’s how the alternator does it. Takes forever with a trickle charger though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes. They do.

I still chose to do it this way, though. LOL

Positive and negative both disconnected from both batteries. Charge the battery on trickle charge instead of a higher amperage. I felt this way had the best chance of saving the batteries if they are saveable. And taking both cables off, not only completely isolates the battery being charged, but I would have removed them anyway, just to clean the terminals.

Yeah, I'm taking my time on this. I'm retired. The truck is sitting in deep mud, on a steep driveway. And I have a ton of other things I need to do as well. LOL

Taking two days, just to charge up a couple batteries doesn't bother me a bit.

Love this project and write up Jeff! Please continue to keep us posted no matter how slow the progress.

Ok, what I know, so far.

First, yeah, I know some of youns here know a heck of a lot more than I do about this stuff. I also know that what takes me a week to do, some of you could probably do in an hour. So what. This is just an old fart, playing with a new toy. LOL I'll do this as I am able. No faster, and no smarter.

That said...

Yesterday, both batteries were fully charged.

It is looking like they are actually taking a full charge. When cleaned up and reconnected, they turned the truck over like a champ! And not just a time or two. They worked the same as I would expect new batteries to perform.

Have to say here, if you need new batteries, you won't go wrong getting them from Les Schwab. These were probably their best batteries. Regardless... they have sat in this truck for several years. I have never had batteries that sat disused like that for so many years.... That just jumped right back into service as if they were still new.

I did try to get the truck started. I don't like using starting fluid on a diesel, but I couldn't find my wd40, so I tried the starter fluid a couple times. (WD40 makes a great 'starter fluid' for a diesel. It is an oil, of course. I'm assuming that if you put mineral oil, ATF, air tool oil, or any other thin oil into a spray bottle, they would work, as well.)

First time I spun it over, I jumpered the starter solenoid on the fenderwall. Something came out of the front and almost hit me in the face. Mouse nest or something. LOL No problem after that.

Spun over with absolutely no problem. Using starter fluid, it sputtered. So it WILL eventually start.

Took pics of cleaning up the battery connections, greasing them up, and reconnecting them. Then decided that was less exciting than watching paint dry, so I won't post them. LOL

Fuel gauge is set to the front tank, and is pegged to the top. Well past the full mark. Put my bore scope down that tank filler. Looks like the tank is bone dry. Didn't check the back. I don't want to swap tanks around with that switch, until I have it running. You never know what might have happened with the switch while it sat. Just leaving that alone, for now.

The headlight switch was almost impossible to pull out. (Pull it out to turn on the headlights.) Pretty sure that is going to have to be replaced. Neither the headlights, nor the dash, come on. Could be the bulbs, could be the switch. I am going to replace the switch and go from there.

Driving lights do work. Minus a bulb or two.

Turn signals work. But the bulb for the left arrow on the dash is blown. Brights looks like it works, but without the headlights actually turning on, there's no way to know for sure. Some bulbs in the driving and brake lights are blown.

Radio works! LOL Original radio w/cassette player!

Serpentine belt looks like it is going to part company with the pulleys any minute. Surprised it didn't just fall off, it's so rotten.

Not going to get into the brakes any further until I get it started. But I did lube all the linkages for the brake pedal, and the parking brake. Those seem to be working better now. Brake pedal still doesn't return all the way. If I have to later, I'll add a spring or a bungy, to help that return. Possible that it will fix itself once the truck is running, and the vacuum assist starts to take effect.

Small leak at the top of the windshield. Not enough to bother with right now. I'll seal that up, sometime in the middle of summer when it is really dry. Just want to pay attention to it now, to locate the actual leak.


Today, I am just finishing up charging the batteries up again.

Going to remove the dash bezel. So I can get at the headlight switch, and remove it. I am hoping that the problem is just corrosion. Either way, I should at least be able to use jumpers if I have to, to find out if there are other problems.

And I am going to do a bit of cleaning.

No idea how soon I'll be able to start getting the parts, so I'll just clean and do whatever else I can, in the meantime.

Like I said, I do have other work I need to be getting done, anyway. Just difficult to step away from the new toy.

I don't know those engines specifically, but when I've had trouble getting diesel engines started after they sat too long it was because they'd lost fuel prime (or when I ran the tank empty - don't do that!). There is usually a manual pump somewhere, maybe around the filter maybe not. But I've had bad luck ever getting that to work. And all that cranking is hard on batteries and starter too. What has worked for me is cracking the fuel lines loose just a bit at the injectors. When you crank it over fuel will leak out a bit and it seems to get rid of the air lock. Worked for me on multiple occasions. Maybe it will for you too?

That is what I will be doing once I put fuel in that tank. All the cranking and cracking in the world won't start an engine on an empty tank. LOL

Got the dash bezel off. Got the headlight switch out.

Going to have to replace the switch and it's harness connector. The harness connector is broken. And the wires are loose in it.

I took the switch as far apart as I could, and sprayed a ton of lube in it. Got it to working smoothly. It was packed full of corrosion.

Headlights still do not come on. But everything else works, except dimming the dash. Either on or off now, because the rheostat spring inside was broken, so I just took it out. I do at least have running lights. At least those that are not blown. LOL

Last test... I pulled the connector off of the headlight switch, then jumpered between the correct two sockets, to turn the headlights on. If the switch was bad, but the lights worked, they would have come on. They didn't. Next time I am out there, I'll check the fuses, just in case. (Yup, forgot to look, the last two times. LOL) But it looks like the headlights need replaced.

~~~

A note about the batteries.

I was informed that Les Schwab may have switched their battery manufacturers.

Used to be GNB which is an exide subsidiary.

They might have switched to Johnson Controls around the turn of the century.

Here is a pic of the top of one of them.


If this is one of the old ones, that makes these batteries at least 19 years old! And still performing like new!

Should write up a parts list, and keep it updated. I’m sure there’s a few of us here with a stash of powerstroke/Ford stuff that they might be willing to donate to a good home.

The headlight switch was a bad design. They didn't use a headlight relay so all the power goes through the switch

I've replaced the switch twice on the truck, once on the van, and the connector on both

LED replacement bulbs draw less amps and help lower the load

I saw that in my research this morning.

I was already planning on putting relays out near the lights, running solid power through those, and switching them with the headlight switch.

Now I'm glad that I had already planned that.

Tested the switch. Jumpered the connectors. Got everything to work except the headlights.

Went back out and checked the fuses. Nothing wrong there.

Finally went back to the connector with a volt meter. To test the headlight circuit, you jumper across pin H and Pin B1. No lights. Tested for volts. Full 12 volts. So while the switch and connector are bad... So are the headlights.

Don't know if I can take those headlights apart of not, but they are really dirty. Algae and rust all over, on the inside. Algae all over on the outside. And the headlight housings are loose. Driver's side so loose it seems like it would fall out if not held in there by the bezel.

So, yeah. Looks like I'll be R&Ring the headlights. No better time to install relays than when you are completely removing the headlights, and somehow taking them apart. LOL

Have I said yet, how much I am enjoying this? Not kidding. I am really enjoying figuring these things out.

Gotta say. I like fixing things. I like improving things. I like altering things. Something like this truck is the perfect thing to bring all that into play. The truck is in bad enough shape that most people simply wouldn't deal with it. In this shape, it's kind of hard to mess it up worse if I decide to alter something. Put in a toggle switch, etc.

So there you go. It needs fixed, and altering it can only improve it. LOL I have license to think as far outside the box as I want! And I have a good chance of ending up with the truck I'll love for the rest of my life.