- Joined
- Feb 18, 2014
- Messages
- 57
- Reaction score
- 31
- Points
- 18
- Location
- Butte Co. California
- Vehicle Year
- '87
- Make / Model
- Ford
- Engine Type
- 2.9 V6
- Engine Size
- 2.9
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
I'm hopin' some of you guys'll give me an idea (I know there're no hard and fast rules) as far as when I might be lugging the 2.9 in my stock '87 4X4. ID plate says it has 3.73 and came with P215/75R15 and it now has LT235R75/15. Truck has 144K and seems to run pretty well, other than an occasionally uneven idle (1100 to 1400RPM) but I know that I don't want it turning over so slow I can feel each hole firing.
I'd never try to run it uphill at 1200RPM in 5th, but in 1st and 2nd I'm not bothered by revs that low. Is there a rule of thumb that applies to these engines that I can use, or just figure that if response lags when I give it throttle then I need to drop down a gear?
Now for the radio. Aftermarket Kenwood AM/FM/CD that sounds uh...well...all right, I guess. Less noise with FM than AM, but that's to be expected. Occasional popping and hissing, but a real whine that gets higher pitched as RPM increase. Whine disappears when I turn on lights, turn indicators (at least while they're flashing on) or stepping on brake pedal. Turning on/off fan makes no difference. First guess is a ground problem but it'd be nice if this is a common thing and somebody here could tell me to just change the blinker fluid, rebuild the firttzensplatzer, replace the teflon muffler bearings and it'll all be perfect. I guess if you tell me that I need to go through and clean every ground from the battery to the tail lights, maybe I'll have to consider goin' that route.
BTW, anybody got a favorite brand of muffler bearings or will generic Pepreilleyzone do the trick?
I'd never try to run it uphill at 1200RPM in 5th, but in 1st and 2nd I'm not bothered by revs that low. Is there a rule of thumb that applies to these engines that I can use, or just figure that if response lags when I give it throttle then I need to drop down a gear?
Now for the radio. Aftermarket Kenwood AM/FM/CD that sounds uh...well...all right, I guess. Less noise with FM than AM, but that's to be expected. Occasional popping and hissing, but a real whine that gets higher pitched as RPM increase. Whine disappears when I turn on lights, turn indicators (at least while they're flashing on) or stepping on brake pedal. Turning on/off fan makes no difference. First guess is a ground problem but it'd be nice if this is a common thing and somebody here could tell me to just change the blinker fluid, rebuild the firttzensplatzer, replace the teflon muffler bearings and it'll all be perfect. I guess if you tell me that I need to go through and clean every ground from the battery to the tail lights, maybe I'll have to consider goin' that route.
BTW, anybody got a favorite brand of muffler bearings or will generic Pepreilleyzone do the trick?