A few issues

[Bob]

The truck ---> '91 F150 Lariat XLT super cab, 5.8l, E40D

1. Cruise control - If I'm driving with the cruise control on, and I hit the brakes, the cruise control doesn't disengage like it should. I have to actually hit the off button. Any ideas?

2. Tranny - When cold, it shifts hard from 1st to 2nd. Once it's warm, it shifts just fine. I flushed the tranny and replaced the filter, no luck though. Any ideas what could be causing this or what to do to fix it?

3. Heater core - This truck sat for most of 3 months before I got it with a leaking heater core. I replaced the core, steamed out and wiped up all the antifreeze that had pretty much gelled in the plenum, but the damn truck still smells like antifreeze every time I run the heater. I've run a pressure test on the system, and there are no leaks, so I dunno. Would it be safe to run the steamer through the duct system to get any remaining antifreeze out?

4. Power door locks - How in the H3LL do you get the actuator motor out of the door to replace it? Both sides, drivers and passengers if that helps any.

5. Power window motor - How in the H#LL do you get the passenger side motor out to replace it? I've got power to the switch, even tried swapping the passenger and drivers side switches, still didn't work, so I can only assume the motors gone out since I don't even hear the motor making any noise.

Thanks in advance for the help guys, and ladies if there are any that answer.

 

[Skandocious]

Can't answer them all but I can maybe offer some help on a few...

1. Cruise control - If I'm driving with the cruise control on, and I hit the brakes, the cruise control doesn't disengage like it should. I have to actually hit the off button. Any ideas?

There is an electrical connector attached to the end of your brake booster, forward of the reservoir. Sounds like it's either unplugged or faulty. If it's unplugged-- dont go and plug it back in right away. Some of these trucks had a recall on this connector because it can leak and cause brake fluid to hit the electrical contacts, starting engine fires. Before you reconnect it-- confirm with a Ford dealership the either you truck does NOT qualify for the recall, or it has already been performed.

2. Tranny - When cold, it shifts hard from 1st to 2nd. Once it's warm, it shifts just fine. I flushed the tranny and replaced the filter, no luck though. Any ideas what could be causing this or what to do to fix it?

What kind of fluid are you using? How many miles on the truck?

3. Heater core - This truck sat for most of 3 months before I got it with a leaking heater core. I replaced the core, steamed out and wiped up all the antifreeze that had pretty much gelled in the plenum, but the damn truck still smells like antifreeze every time I run the heater. I've run a pressure test on the system, and there are no leaks, so I dunno. Would it be safe to run the steamer through the duct system to get any remaining antifreeze out?

I can't see how it'd hurt anything, your anti-freeze if (or should be) 50% anyways. Turn down the pressure if you can, and if you'll be using mass quantities of water then it might be better to use distilled water, if you don't think you'll be able to get all that water back OUT of the system. If you're done and you've ended up adding water to the system-- use a coolant tester and some 100% concentrated coolant to bring the ratio back down to where it needs to be.[/QUOTE]

 

[conanski]

Power window motors and door lock solenoids are riveted to the door, so get out your drill.

Window Motor:
You don't need to comletely remove the window and regulator assembly to remove the motor, just prop it up with a stick so it doesn't drop when the motor is removed. If this is the first time the motor has been out you will have to drill 3 holes to access the bolts that mount the motor to the regulator. There will be dimples in the door that will line up with these bolts. In the pics below I was installing power windows and locks in a door that had manual hardware but hopefully you can see enough to do what you need.

Lock Solenoid:
It's riveted to the rear edge of the door, you could drill out the rivet and remove the whole thing or try to pry the solenoid out of the mounting bracket. I had to install the bracket seperately as shown because the rivets I used were long and had to be cut down after the fact to make room for the solenoid. Getting the solenoid back into the bracket was difficult to say the least but just possible.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/motorstuff/sets/72157602815798457/

 

[radialarm]

The truck ---> '91 F150 Lariat XLT super cab, 5.8l, E40D

1. Cruise control - If I'm driving with the cruise control on, and I hit the brakes, the cruise control doesn't disengage like it should. I have to actually hit the off button. Any ideas?

It could also be the brake light switch. It also has a curcuit for the cruise control. The pressure switch Chris mentioned is a back up deactivation for the cruise system.

 

[Mil1ion]

The brake light switch is for the brake lights ONLY

The cruise shut off switch is separate and can Hang Up.

I didn't realize they moved it from side of the brake pedal to under the hood ?

 

[Skandocious]

The brake light switch is for the brake lights ONLY

The cruise shut off switch is separate and can Hang Up.

I didn't realize they moved it from side of the brake pedal to under the hood ?

My cruise deactivation switch is on the end of the brake booster-- it has to be, since it's using the brake fluid to activate the pressure switch.
I dunno if it was somewhere else on his 91, but that's were it is in my truck.

 

[NeXtras]

the 1991 f150 does not fall under the recall

 

[Bob]

Transmission fluid is Mobil 1 Mercon ATF
Mileage is 198,000

I did call about the recalls, there were a few, but none active or preformed. The biggest one was the check valves for the fuel lines. $148 for 2 check valves! There has got to be an after market product for these somewhere, I just haven't had any luck finding them yet.

Thank you Paul for the photos. It should help immensely.

The cruise control is plugged in and working fine, just not disabling when the brake is pressed. I'll check around the brake pedal tomorrow for a switch for the cruise control.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[Skandocious]

Well first off your transmission has a lot of miles on it (for an e4od) and so it is to be expected that it wouldn't run tip top. Second of all-- what kind of fluid were you running pre flush? It's not good to switch from dino to synthetic on a high mileage tranny-- breaks loose all the crud and clogs up the passages in the trans. Was it dino before? It's dino from the factory.

As for the cruise control switch-- you might want to pull the harness and put a multi meter across the pins and make sure you're getting 12v. Of course I'm assuming that depressing the brake pedal completes the circuit as opposed to breaking it, and I could be wrong.

 

[subford]

On the cruise control you do not have anything on the brake booster or master.
You have a vacuum dump valve and when you hit your brakes the dump valve should dump the vacuum off and shut off the cruise control.
Your stop light switch should also shut it down and if you have a clutch then the power from the stop light switch goes through the clutch switch and the clutch should shut it off also.

Check your stop light switch and the valve in the dump valve.

Here is how it works:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g91/subford/Electrical/Speed Control/031-04.jpg

Here is the vacuum part:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g91/subford/Electrical/Speed Control/031-02.jpg

Here is the wiring part:
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g91/subford/Electrical/Speed Control/031-01.jpg

/

 

[Bob]

I have no idea what was in it before. It was shifting extremely hard from 1st to 2nd when cold, so I drained the fluid, changed the filter, put a small magnet in the pan to catch any shavings, filled with fluid, drove it a couple hundred miles, drained the fluid, changed the filter, took the magnet out (not much of anything on it, filled with fluid. Shifts much smoother, but still jerks kind of hard from 1st to 2nd when cold. Just doesn't feel like it's going to jerk your teeth out of your head now.

 

[subford]

I edited and put diagrams for your speed control on the last page if you did not see them.

 

[Bob]

Thanks Bill.

 

[Bob]

Allrighty then, I've made a bit of progress.

1. Cruise Control - I replaced the brake light switch, no change. Turns out the 15 amp fuse for the brake lights/cruise control was popped. So why the cruise control itself actually worked, I have no idea, but it did. Replaced the fuse, works great. If the cruise control don't know you're hitting the brakes, it don't know to turn off.

Went to pull a trailer later in the day, and the same thing started happening. Fuse blew again. Replaced, worked great, then popped. Got it back to the house and started my investigation. Keep in mind I did not install the trailer brake kit, it was on the truck from the PO, but the book was in the glove box, BONUS!, this comes into play later.

So I replace the fuse again and go to work with my multimeter trying to figure out if I have a bad ground, a ground where I shouldn't etc... EVERYTHING checks out good. I'm stumped. So for grins and giggles I hook the trailer back up and take it around the block. First time I hit the brakes and the trailer brakes engage, popped the fuse.

Get back to the house and remember I saw the book for the trailer brake kit in the glove box and start reading through it hoping to find the answer to my problem. One of the very last steps in the installation is to replace the the fuse panel fuse with a fuse rated 5 amps higher. Slapped a 20 amp fuse in, hooked the trailer up for a ride around the block and no issues. Works perfect.

2. Tranny - Drained, replaced filter, refilled with dino fluid, and noticed an electric connection toward the top of the tranny on the drivers side. Wiggled it, and it was loose. Gave it a good cleaning with some contact cleaner, slapped some dielectric grease on it, reinstalled. Problem solved. Still feels like it's shifting a little hard from 1st to 2nd, but it's not slamming like it was and jarring the teeth out of my head.

3. Heater Core - The smell of antifreeze was driving me absolutely bonkers. The truck sat so long with a busted core that the antifreeze seemed to have gelled in the vents. I took the cover off the plenum and stuffed paper towels into the vent area right there. Then I took my little Shark Steam Cleaner and blasted as far into all the vents I could. I also took the time to go ahead and replace that little in cab filter by the blend door. Antifreeze smell is now gone.

Haven't looked into the door locks or the passenger side window motor yet, but being as how I've got nothing but free time for the next two weeks, I imagine I'll get to it sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the info and helping to point me in the right direction.

 

[radialarm]

Makes you feel good when you get it fixed.