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Just have to vent


LittleHorse

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this Bronco II has been hell from the get go.

I bought it for what I thought was a pretty good deal, because it had a bad clutch. I figure, a couple hundred in parts and some time in the garage, no biggy.

I take the transmission out for the clutch, and discover the cltuch is bad, and the transmissions trash too. So I replace the transmission. The clutch hydraulic quick coupling is trash because the plastic sleeve has completeling disintegrated. New master cylinder. I decide to upgrade to a 4.0 clutch so there's a new flywheel and starter. Due to the 4.0 starter having a starter-mounted solenoid, the original cable is 3" too short. New cable.

Battery losing charge when it's not even connected. Cables practically falling apart. New battery, new cables.

Coolant puddles forming under the truck. New water pump.

So I take it on the first drive, just now. Making noise at startup, sounds like starter gear isn't pulling back in until about 3 seconds after I let go of the ignition. Hopefully it's a problem with starter and not something else. Needs brakes, at least one warped rotor.

Almost empty, drive to gas station. Hit 20 gallons and notice fuel smell. Gas tank leaking. Stop pump, drive home. Still leaking...from the flange about halfway down the tank. Looks like a failed previous repair.



So anybody got a guess what a gas tank is going to cost me? I've given up on coming out ahead on this, I'm already to the point that I could have bought one that ran and is in just as good condition for less or equal.
 


dusto2

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i paid about 150 for a new tank
 

skippy

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Lmctruck.com on the tank.I recommend having a priest exorcise the demons from the truck first,then proceed with repairs.
 

LittleHorse

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Lmctruck.com on the tank.I recommend having a priest exorcise the demons from the truck first,then proceed with repairs.
Wow, like $140 delivered. That is not anywhere near as bad as I was expecting. Thanks!

the exorcism might be a problem, I live in baptist country. I don't think they do those. :icon_rofl:
 

HndMeDnBroncoII

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its still better than monthly payments too good luck
 

mjonesjr

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hey... i like my monthly paymnts!!!!
And you just became the board idiot.

Hang in there, once you get the quirks worked out it will be a nice ride.
 

LittleHorse

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actually ridding myself of payments was a primary intent with buying it. Assuming the other car will ever sell, it will be saving me $350 a month including insurance. Instead that $350 can go into stuff like lifts and tires.

My F-150 payment isn't that bad, and I have to have a truck to pull the boat. I've enacted a household rule that we only have one car payment at a time - so that new Camaro has to wait until at least 2012.


This isn't the first time I've done something like this - I bought a 1985 Nissan 300ZX with a blown head gasket, which my disassembly revealed to be a blown head gasket that had eroded a channel in the aluminum head and filled a cylinder with water and rusted it - so the head gasket job turned into a new head and a full engine rebuild.

The gas leaked out overnight into a bucket, looks like I only lost a couple gallons. I went ahead and drove it to work anyway and was pleasantly surprised that it drove straight with no vibrations. It could use some new shocks, but it's not something that needs to happen right this second.

Once I get the tank, brakes, and shocks out of the way, the only thing left to break will be the engine itself! Knock on wood...though it would give me a perfect excuse to explain to the wife why I need a 4.0.


In reference to the starter issue - is this a common thing? Just a matter of shim? Are shims for it readily available? I've seen plenty of shims on GM vehicles but don't remember messing with it much on a Ford.

Or is it possible to have a solenoid sticking out? It's a reman starter on ebay...I saved $50 by buying it instead of the lifetime warranty autozone starter but if it's trash then I didn't really save that $50 after all.
 

Psychopete

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Went through the same thing with my Tempo. I'll really never get my money back out, but at least it runs and drives fine now. The KBB value for my '93 is like $450. :icon_confused: Doesn't even constitute the "any running car is worth $500" rule.

I've done the brakes, calipers, rotors, front rubber lines, plugs, wires, auto trans quick flush, fixed trans fluid cooling line leak, rear struts, replaced cracked vacuum lines, 2 new rear brake lines from the master all the way back, harmonic balancer, surpentine belt, alternator, and just recently a new wheel bearing, CV boot, and lower control arm. Exhaust just broke off the catalytic converter, so that needs fixed. Also has a rear mean leak (it's just going to have to leak). The car simply wasn't maintained and someone drove it around with a frozen caliper for quite some time. I paid $150 for it thinking it only need a little brake work and a new harmonic balancer (which took me 3 days to replace). :annoyed:

Pete
 

LittleHorse

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I drove it during my lunch break and may have had a break through with the starter issue - seems the ignition cylinder isn't springing all the way back out of "start" to "run", instead I can turn it back myself and the noise stops. It feels gummy in the action and there aren't the usual obvious distrinctions between each key position.
 

MJ'sBlkBII

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You are feeling the exact way I do. I have had nothing but gremlins with mine. The laundry list of stuff I have replaced or have parts just waiting to BE replaced. Like $300 for new body seals hood to hatch. Full brake system minus rear drums and most of the lines. I had to cut and replace the rear axel lines to replace the wheel cylinders. At least your is driving! :icon_thumby: I have to replace the in-tank fuel pump because the sending unit is defective, so I am thinking about replacing the tank at the same time. I'm so tired of throwing money at it! Really thinking about just parting it out and trying to re-coup my losses. Will anyone pay $1400 for a full A4LD to M5R1 swap? :icon_rofl: This is the fun of projects though...so I've been told. :icon_rofl:
 

geoffthepoolguy

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This must be the day to vent..we all bought used vehicles with hopes and dreams of turning into something we can be proud of. I like the fact that I can fix just about any problem I run into as opposed to a late model car/truck that needs a laptop to change the oil!!! I bought my 1990 B2 from the original owner who was allegedly a mechanic for the State Highway Patrol for some time. I was also told that EVERYTHING works and it had no problems...of course what I found was a little different than what I was lead to believe. Anyway I really like my B2. Its easy to drive around town, it drives fine on the highway, parts are generally cheap and when I drop in a 4.0 and lift it up a little, new paint and a new stereo it will be great. My 10yr old son is already wanting it for when he is old enough to drive. Anyway just my 3.5 cents, all ya'll enjoy your little pieces of history.
 

LittleHorse

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maybe sometime this weekend i'll get into the ignition switch and see if i can clean it up. if it comes to replacing though it'll be autozone, o'reilly or advance; we dont have kragens here.
 

country0001

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90 BII's must be full of problems. Bought mine for 1000, Almost immediately had to replace the rad, water pump and thermostat. Just replaced the battert, alt, and cables. It didn't even have a ground cable from the engine to the frame. Caused my gauges to go screwy and took me a while to figure out. Still waiting to find my donor 4.0.
 

LittleHorse

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do you know where yours came from?

I've had this experience on one car before - a BMW. Both it and the BII were from northern climates. People usually think about body rust but the truth is it affects the entire car. On the BII it's the ignition cylinder gumming up, on the BMW it was the door cylinders. Both had cooling system and electrical system issues that could be blamed on corrosion.

But, as it was mentioned before, these are 20 year old cars, and when you're talking about cars that are in the $1500 range, people just don't maintain them. At that point they're just disposable appliances that can be replaced for about what they would cost to fix. The only people that maintain these things are "enthusiasts", like us. So unless you buy it from a fellow enthusiast, chances are it's been neglected for some time. They either don't know enough about the car to know anything is even wrong, or when something is wrong, they fail to recognize the need to fix it.

How else can I explain a car having a leaky water pump, leaking gas tank, failed transmission, destroyed clutch, broken seat track, and a bad transfer case shift motor all at the same time?
 

country0001

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I bought mine from a horse trader that had picked it up at auction. He told me he had driven it quite a bit b4 he decided to sell it. I drove it and like it so I bought it. The owners were in OKC, and lived in town. I look at it the same way, these are 20 year old trucks. Luckily, I am too cheap to just bow down and buy new stuff, and we have some pretty good salvage yards around here. I fixed my ooling probs for under 70 bucks, my electrical probs for ununder 100. So no biggie. I love the truck, took it to OKC and back home yesterday morning and to Dallas last night. Got 21mpg on 235/75/15's and ran good. (other than the annoying lifter rattle.:icon_thumby:
 

LittleHorse

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yeah, I actually did some good driving in mine last night...I think I've got about 100 miles on it so far.

I'm a little perturbed by the fact that the transmission I bought for $150 makes a weird, rapid clicking noise in 3rd gear...but I'm just gonna drive it until it doesn't work any more. Sometimes that sort of stuff can go on for tens of thousands of miles before actually failing. If/when it does go out again or I have another reason to take it apart, hopefully I'll have the cash for a rebuilt transmission.
 

Roger

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I think I have my wife almost trained (after 26 years) that maybe we don't need a car payment... When the current truck is paid off, we will put money aside for another vehicle or for parts/repair. As I refused to go into debt for vehicles for my kids, they both got sub $1000 rigs that needed some work. 1990 Ranger for the boy that was just fine for almost three years (and has become a near permanent project), and a 1990 Cherokee for my daughter. For my son's 21st birthday (and likely his coming marriage later this summer), I bought a $350 94 Explorer that was in great shape, except it had a dead transmission. So, I have the A4LD in parts on my bench... I have it almost back together except I seem to have an extra thrust washer sitting that I'm not sure where it goes.... But, I'm at the purchase price in parts and I'll add tires soon, which, are sitting in the shed (they were for another project that didn't materialize). I expect my truck will be with us for some time, and I have my Jeep and my Neon that are paid for for getting to and from work with. I hope to be ahead for a change soon. Now, hopefully, the Explorer doesn't have any other issue once I get the transmission back in it... I do expect older vehicles to have issues.

Good luck with the B2... Maybe you can get a Medicine man to swing a dead chicken over it instead of a Catholic...
 

MJ'sBlkBII

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or when something is wrong, they fail to recognize the need to fix it.
How else can I explain a car having a leaky water pump, leaking gas tank, failed transmission, destroyed clutch, broken seat track, and a bad transfer case shift motor all at the same time?
Wow, this sounds just like mine! Dead A4LD and transfer case, leaking rad, valve cover gaskets and oil drain plug and busted seat rail here too. Oh and rotors so warped they were split! :shok:
 

skippy

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Wow, this sounds just like mine! Dead A4LD and transfer case, leaking rad, valve cover gaskets and oil drain plug and busted seat rail here too. Oh and rotors so warped they were split! :shok:
Least it's nothing serious,lol.
 

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