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Doggy powered Bronco 2.9 fix.


custombolt

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The purpose of this (my first) post is to hopefully help someone experiencing a "snag in their program" with a reportedly rather common low power and torque on their 2.9. Don't sell it just yet like others have done.
I just bought a 1989 BII in December 2021 and what a dog! Plus, it had erratic readings on the tach and I assumed had a miss or two. It was bit of a challenge to make any headway. Initially, fears of a slipped timing chain, faulty cats and you name it got me on a negative path.
I already knew how strong a 2.9 can be since I had bought 3 new Rangers with that same engine, a 2WD Regular cab 1987, a bright red RC 4wd 1991 and SC 4WD 1993. If those had 140 HP, this one had 40 maybe.
New Motorcraft plug wires, Platinum's and a new distributor cap went on to fix a shaky idle. Smoother idle but same ol' dog. I found one vacuum tube on the driver side where a thin tube fitted into a thicker tube near the vacuum tree near the top of the intake.
All wiring connectors were fine and cleaned if needed.
Dang. Well, instinct is screaming timing. So, off to the internet. 10 BTDC is the norm. Fine. Check the timing, right on at 10. Back to the net, the spout needs to be removed. No spout on my engine and no photos of any 1989 BII anywhere. WTH? Just as I was about to give up on the spout, I told myself I'm just going to go out and climb onto the engine and look around, nothing else. Within 5 minutes I found the corner of the spout exposed under the harness. Someone wrapped it in electrical tape tight against the harness. I'm gaining on it.
Anyway, I went to loosen the dist. and the bolt was already loose. Holy crabp! That's it! Were heading for the end zone! After some observation of how the spout affects timing and adding 8 degrees more advance with the spout connected and snugging up the dist. bolt, the timing with the spout removed went right down to 10. I nudged it up to around 12 and tightened her down re-installed the spout and Wow. When I went to back out of the garage it now surged instead of going bluuuuuuh. Wow. Took ''er for a spin and could spin the tires on the wet pavement. Score!
Sorry to ramble on. Hopefully someone will find this useful.
CB
 


custombolt

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After the new Fel-Pro rubber composite valve covers gaskets were installed, I still have a faint oil leak at bank two above the exhaust header. What's best? Run a bead of Form-A-Gasket on the top of the gasket. I'd rather not spend $130 plus shipping with Morana for a pair of valve cover support rails. Your opinion/ positive experience?
Thanks.
 

JerryC

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In my experience if a fel pro gasket doesn't stop the leak the valve cover gasket flange is distorted. Most likely from a previous owner trying stop a leak by cranking down on the valve cover bolts. You should be able to reshape it with a little hammer work. A little silicone sealer probably wouldn't hurt too.
 

custombolt

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Thanks Jerry. I'd rather not take them off as my [does it so I don't have to] guy said it was a real bear with the A/C and alternator in the way. I hot cleaned the engine area at 3200 psi today and will put 20 miles on it to see if the fresh oil comes back. It is dry now after 10 minutes of running at idle and the wet I saw may have been residual.
 

ecgreen

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I have struggled with this issue as well. Only other thing I can say is that lock-tite has been suggested by some to prevent the fasteners backing out. I am going to try that next go-around
 

JerryC

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Thanks Jerry. I'd rather not take them off as my [does it so I don't have to] guy said it was a real bear with the A/C and alternator in the way. I hot cleaned the engine area at 3200 psi today and will put 20 miles on it to see if the fresh oil comes back. It is dry now after 10 minutes of running at idle and the wet I saw may have been residual.
When I was much younger I did the job on my 86 with AC in my garage in AZ. It was summer of course and took roughly three hours and ten pounds of sweat.
It looks much worse than it is. If it had just been the valve cover gaskets it would have been about 90 minutes. The rest was me carefully scraping out the accumulated sludge off the cylinder head and drain back passages.
My brother who was a mechanic told me that the easy way is to use air to blow the sludge off. Plastic off everything to catch what flies off and block the oil passages and use a blow gun hooked to a shop compressor. I didn't have compressor then :).

On my 88 that I have now I paid to have it done. the mechanic at the Ford Dealer says it's usually an easy job for him. Mine however had some type of adhesive added to the gasket that took him longer to cleanup than it did to get the valve covers off. Being an old guy and it being an old truck, I'd guess it was 3M weather strip adhesive. It sticks like crazy and is a super pain to clean up. It was popular in the time before silicone sealer became widespread and cheap.
 

Uncle Gump

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When I was much younger I did the job on my 86 with AC in my garage in AZ. It was summer of course and took roughly three hours and ten pounds of sweat.
It looks much worse than it is. If it had just been the valve cover gaskets it would have been about 90 minutes. The rest was me carefully scraping out the accumulated sludge off the cylinder head and drain back passages.
My brother who was a mechanic told me that the easy way is to use air to blow the sludge off. Plastic off everything to catch what flies off and block the oil passages and use a blow gun hooked to a shop compressor. I didn't have compressor then :).

On my 88 that I have now I paid to have it done. the mechanic at the Ford Dealer says it's usually an easy job for him. Mine however had some type of adhesive added to the gasket that took him longer to cleanup than it did to get the valve covers off. Being an old guy and it being an old truck, I'd guess it was 3M weather strip adhesive. It sticks like crazy and is a super pain to clean up. It was popular in the time before silicone sealer became widespread and cheap.
I've dealt with that yellow 3M snot before... those were the days.
 

custombolt

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I wouldn't use any Loktite on the bolts that fasten to the intake. They could lock up. I put Loktite on a shifter ball that had a aluminum insert and it froze up solid. Should be fine on the iron head bolts for the covers.
I have struggled with this issue as well. Only other thing I can say is that lock-tite has been suggested by some to prevent the fasteners backing out. I am going to try that next go-around
 

custombolt

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Also, Easy on the torque when cinching up the V/C bolt on the intake. Mine had been stripped and had to be tapped for a larger bolt. Cheers.
 

custombolt

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By the way, my fully refurbed 98,600 mile 1989 Bronco II will be sold at NO RESERVE on a Bring a Trailer auction in the next 2-3 weeks under my username custombolt. It needs nothing and runs very well. What started as a barely running vehicle with good bones and lots of tired original paint and only a little rust scale was transformed into a very nice 85 point vehicle. Includes a brand new set of Michelins mounted/balanced on 1989 date coded American Racing wheels. It will only be sold at this auction and was only parked locally for sale for 4-5 days. So, it has not been shopped elsewhere or advertised. It's fresh and delicious. Please take a look and forward any questions or comments to the BaT auction. It really turned out nice after 6 months of attention to detail and lots of remedy testing, persistance, reworking until it was right and sweat and numb fingers. Thank you all for your responses on here. Peace. Be well.
Oh yeah. FelPro gaskets solved the oil sweating problem. It's now bone dry. here's a preview for my bronco corral friends.
 

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