Hello All,

Let me start out by saying I am brand new to this forum and so far what I have searched through and read has all been great stuff. Although I am amazing with fixing computers, when it comes to vehicles, I am not soo mechanically inclined so bare with me .

The Info:
In my yard is a 1992 F150 that hasn't been touched in roughly 8 or 9 years. From everything I could gather its a supercab possibly shortbed (I haven't gotten the measuring tape out LOL) with a 5.0 302 EFI engine and has an E40D automatic with 3.55 gears. It also has dual tanks

Heres what I have done so far:
Because it hasn't been started or touched in roughly 8 or 9 years, I couldn't find the keys for it, So I decided to drill out the ignition cylinder and put a new ignition cylinder in. After doing that I hooked up some jumper cables to make sure the engine wasn't seized and would turn over, however when I put the key in everything comes on electrical wise but when I go to turn on the starter it doesn't do anything...I thought well maybe not enough juice going across to make the starter go, so I went and bought a new battery. Hooked it up and still nothing. I then went to the solenoid on the passenger fender and touched a screw driver to both wires and VIOLA it turns over so at least I know the engine isn't seized. I read around and found a thread mentioning something about an actuater rod or something in the steering column and to try and lower the steering column and see if that works, I did that and I get the starter to do an initial click but its like its not going into the full starting position so im assuming that rod is broke and needs to be replaced. (please correct me if I am mentioning the wrong thing).

I tried turning it over a few times to see if it would start but I think the gas is WAY WAY WAY to old to do anything, smells foul like sweet sulfur...Is there a way to put gas in a container and have the engine suck it from there? I would like to find out if runs or if Ill need to replace a ton of things to get it to start. I do plan on getting rid of the old gas and probably running new fuel lines cause id imagine the ones already on are rotten and cracking. From this point forward I am open to suggestions and ideas as where to start and how to do it.

As with everything there is a kicker to this....I contacted my uncle who has the title and asked him if there was anything wrong with it he mostly doesn't remember but he thinks the transmission may have started acting funny but cant remember if it was that truck or a different truck that was having that issue....sooooo...I imagine there will be a big build thread here in the future on this.

I apologize for making this soo long, just wanted to give you the full story and not bits and pieces..and pics will be coming as soon as I remember to take them

 

To dump fresh gas in take the throttle body hoses off and get a sparay bottle and open it up by hand squirt some in there and try to turn it over. If you have someone to help have them spray fuel down the intake while you push the gas peddle and turn it over or vise versa

 

It sounds like you have a bad solenoid. If the key moves the rod up and down smoothly and turns electrical on and off and can make the starter click your fine. If it sticks or doesn't travel all the way in both directions it likely the actuator link. I assume with computer background your familiar with a multimeter and relays. You want to do a resistance test on the solenoid which is just a large relay. Check the battery connections and grounds for clean tight connection at both ends. I dont think you can easily connect to a fuel can because the fuel pumps are in the tanks. You could pull the pump and drop it in a bucket, or find a good pump around and connect it. Or drain the tank and fill it with some fresh fuel mixed with Seafoam cleaner. I would recommend pulling the spark plugs. They can tell a lot about the engine. It would be good to throw some cheap oil and a new filter on there and shoot a little in each spark plug hole to lube the engine. If its good you dont want to damage it.

 

Thanks for the info so far. I am headed out of town for business today and tomorrow so getting her started is put on hold till this weekend. After reading your post Warlockk about the solenoid just clicking, I havent tested it but I am just going to replace it this weekend, its a $20 part.

I also am going to try and drop the tanks this weekend. Does anyone have any good recommendations on how to clean those filthy munchkins? Gas is definitly varnished.

 

Basically this. I'm glad someone said to change the oil and filter. I can't imagine what 8 year old oil look like.

You can disconnect the fuel filter and use a bucket, hot wire the pump and let it drain until empty. get a new fuel filter hook everything back up with fresh gas and seaform like Warlockk said.

Good luck!

 

Non polar solvents will clean varnish.. I'd b tempted to use some fresh gas with sea foam or similar and slosh it around. You can also take it somewhere to be cleaned abd coated, my local radiator / a/c place does that. I would flush all my fluids if I were you

 

There are also a few tank cleaning / sealing systems on the market if its rusty but reusable. Check summit or jegs.

 

Alright I just returned from the parts store, got new starter solenoid and some goodies to clean things with, Seafoam, etc. Going to go out and work on it, but before I do as promised here two pictures of how she sits as of this morning

 

I noticed some plugs not connected that were like that before I started working on it. Can anyone tell me what this plug is for and where it goes?



Also what about this one

 

EEC test port and the other looks like power steering pressure switch.