Got the 98 running again this past weekend. Replaced the two fuel lines behind the engine/top of the trans. I was able to do the work from the top of engine, - couldn't see what I was doing, but removing the d-side wheel liner aloud me to get a peak of my work and making the proper adjustments.

The old fuel line I used was gates barrier line , 50 psi. It just split, in a perfectly straight line about 2" long. I never did locate the leak until the line was removed. You couldn't see the split unless you flexed the line. Yea, a strange blowout for a weaved line. There was nothing touching it...no rub. Replaced those hoses with fuel injection rated hose. Could of done a little better, but this will be plenty.

Noticed the tank straps were bad. It was hard to tell because the tank had dropped very little from the bottom of the bed (it's suppose to be touching). Played around with the rear strap then the tank fell, crashed into the skid plate. Yep they're are bad lol. There was nothing left of them across the bottom. The sides of the straps were fused to tank via rust. Replaced the straps.

Decided to flush the cooling system. Coolant looked marginal but I couldn't get a good protection reading. I used a quicker method flushing this time since the truck was sitting at about a 6% percent grade in the driveway nose up. Jacked the truck up in the rear as high as I could which was just enough to get nose down. Drained it down and pulled the t-stat. I used a Motorcraft flushing agent the first time (10 minute flush) to assist. Flushing the engine this way allows exactly 3 gallons of transfer. I mean on the dot! The system holds almost 5 gallons (4.7 I believe).

Began flushing. Keep in mind the coolant wasn't really dirty , no rust....it was just weak. Also a weak color of green. Electrolysis test passed, but for the life of me I couldn't get a clear reading of protection. I also didn't see dirt or rust chunks during the procedure. The cooling system is exceptionally clean inside. The goal was to purge the block clean without draining the block. The 1.7 gallons that still remained. I flushed it five times 3 gallons at a time. I didn't use the garden hose method. First two flushes were with city water. The last 3 flushes were w/distilled. After the fifth go around I gave it up. There was still a tint of green...couldn't clear it totally up with this method. Back to my old ways I guess lol. My final mix was 2 parts coolant/ 1 part distilled....2 gallons of concentrated/ 1 gallon distilled. That should be just shy of 50/50. I'll check it next week to see how close it is.

BTW- after all said and done (so I thought), looking things over I noticed wet spots on the tank under and around the new straps. Damn, thought I was getting out of that one. Purchasing a new tank (have a few hours researching this far) hasn't been easy thus far. They're problems with third party tanks. Looking for a problem free purchase at the moment for a good price. The tanks they have in stock here have there fair share of complaints, - filler neck outlets too short, seams aren't finished or folded. Really don't want to deal with that. I might have to.

 

Seems like we don’t have too many bad drivers here, but that would be the third vehicle in 1 year I have witnessed being driven around lol.

 

It's probably those narrow, shoulderless roads PA is so fond of. Those Amish buggies don't help much either.

 

Some of you may be confused how a 6% grade works to your advantage for this procedure. It puts the expansion tank/degas bottle just above the heater core elevation. Purging air from the system was more less automatic like it should be. That use to be a big problem with this truck.

 

Did not know that Brew. Thank you.

 

True. Amish are everywhere here. Hell there was just about 5 of em at the gas station a while ago lol.

 

speaking of drill bits the other day (other week? Idk sometime ago that conversation was brought up)

 

This "Project Farm" guy has done a lot of interesting tests. I'm curious though about how many of the drills were actually made by the name on the package. There are some obvious ones like Craftsman but what about brands like Milwaukee or Bosch? Thanks Fordguy.

Forgot about this one where he runs a lawnmower engine on Monster Energy Drink:

 

Went to the Dorman site and found a galvanized tank for the 98. The correct tank lol. They are 60 bucks cheaper on line, -free shipping. Amazon wasn't much help this time, made it confusing.

 

Apparently the 97/98 tanks are different from the rest...according to Dorman. Amazon sellers aren't so specific and there's been complaints. I'm not sure what's compatible myself , going with Dorman list on this one.