'85 Ranger Restomod

What book do you have? Those diagrams look way better than anything I have access to in my Haines or Chilton books.

Shran said:

What book do you have? Those diagrams look way better than anything I have access to in my Haines or Chilton books.

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That is a Ford EVTM.

85_Ranger4x4 said:

Thanks!

I was still on my idiot light page, looks like the shunt should be near if not with the gauge.

Interesting it looks like the green and yellow wires do different things between the two clusters:

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No those wires do the same things in both systems. The difference comes in with where the warning device is in the circuit.

The idiot light is a bulb in line with the circuit that turns the alternator on and off.

The ammeter, is in line with one of the lines back to the battery. It has to be, or it can't really be a whole system ammeter. For an to be a true one it has to have basically all the power to and from the battery go through it

adsm08 said:

That is a Ford EVTM.

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Yup

Well worth the $15-20 on ebay.

adsm08 said:

No those wires do the same things in both systems. The difference comes in with where the warning device is in the circuit.

The idiot light is a bulb in line with the circuit that turns the alternator on and off.

The ammeter, is in line with one of the lines back to the battery. It has to be, or it can't really be a whole system ammeter. For an to be a true one it has to have basically all the power to and from the battery go through it

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It makes sense, I haven't looked into it enough to see what all needs switched around to go from ammeter to idiot light yet.

I know with my tractors you pop the dash apart and it is all right there in the open.

85_Ranger4x4 said:

I know with my tractors you pop the dash apart and it is all right there in the open.

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If only these truck harnesses were that simple.


GB

Anyway, truck has been running perfect. Probably the best it ever has, almost like a new one. Everything is working and it is almost freaky.

Finally some new parts:

I went junking today in search of pedals... didn't turn up any but I did find a nice condenser... it still had stuff it in it so it wasn't leaking anyway. The truck already had the radiator out so it was a target of opportunity. I will hit it with the pressure washer at work tomorrow which should really help the looks of it.



I am going with the 4.0 style system where the condenser has a fitting on each side of the truck rather than the 2.8/2.9 style where both fittings are on the passenger side. One less hose going across the truck in theory.

I did a little recon seeing how the various systems are laid out.

'89 2.9 BII. I don't like how the compressor is on the DS but the everything else is on the PS side so we have to run two hoses across the engine:







'90 4.0 Ranger (condenser donor) Cleaner setup with only the one hose going across the engine. Never heard of it being done but the compressor mounting does look similar to the Explorer compressor mounting...





'97 5.0 Explorer. Dual port manifold is hanging in space above/behind the white PS reservoir. ONLY the compressor will work with my truck, hose fittings are vastly different between a '96+ 5.0 and anything out of the 80's. My plan is to take a manifold, cut the ends off and join it with hoses from older trucks to connect to the rest of the system. Still working out the details but that is my plan.

I didn’t notice it until going thru pictures but if I can hang a 4.0 compressor in a 5.0 bracket that would take a lot of the legwork out of it...



I still need a lot to finish that, I just have the airbox, harness and now the condenser.

And Saturday I hired a new Head of Ranch Security, Boss. He starts next weekend.

Just replaced all the lines, condenser and evaporator on my 94 4. 0.
New lines were less than $50.

On that condenser you have? Just a suggestion, clean it real good, pressure wash it, find a way to clamp some hoses on the ends and try to pressurize it with some air, put it under water and check for leaks, it will save you some aggravatio. Oh! and flush the inside of the tubing with a 134 compatible flush fluid.

The system still had freon in it so I think I am good for leaks. When I get it stuck together we can pull a vacuum on it it and see how it holds.

I am getting new hoses especially since I am going to have to alter them to work on my conglomerated truck.

It is getting flushed for sure, getting converted to R134A too.

You made me check into it more, the second gen 4.0 uses a manifold too. Didn't look like it in the pics. It would still simplify my operation to just stretch one hose rather than put new ends on two hoses (and buy hoses for both trucks) if I could use the 4.0 compressor.

I can't believe how freaking hot it is here in the east!

The suction line dips down and is held in place just above & right of the thermostat housing. I'm not sure but I think they run the suction line intentionally above and behind the radiator because they want the Heat to hit it and prevent slugging (saturated gas and or liquid refrigerant) of the compressor

Are you going to paint it? I don't know that it makes sense to paint a condenser flat black but they often are. It would certainly look better LOL

85_Ranger4x4 said:

The system still had freon in it so I think I am good for leaks. When I get it stuck together we can pull a vacuum on it it and see how it holds.

I am getting new hoses especially since I am going to have to alter them to work on my conglomerated truck.

It is getting flushed for sure, getting converted to R134A too.

It is interesting how different your third gen is from a second gen, they still had separate hoses. Yours is more like the Explorer.

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Denisefwd93 said:

I can't believe how freaking hot it is here in the east!

The suction line dips down and is held in place just above & right of the thermostat housing. I'm not sure but I think they run the suction line intentionally above and behind the radiator because they want the Heat to hit it and prevent slugging (saturated gas and or liquid refrigerant) of the compressor

Are you going to paint it? I don't know that it makes sense to paint a condenser flat black but they often are. It would certainly look better LOL

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It hasn't been so hot here but terribly muggy.

On the second gen truck the suction hose wrapped around the back of the intake which would work somewhat better for me, the t-stat area is crazy hectic already.



You can see the hose routing in picture #6 of post 774. Actually the 2.9 did that too in pic 3 and 4.

It looks like it was black originally. I will know for sure after I wash it. If so, black it is.

I wouldn’t paint it at all.
That factory paint on the condensers is very thin.
Painting it would put a think coating on it and prevent better heat transfer.

Ewgoetz said:

I wouldn’t paint it at all.
That factory paint on the condensers is very thin.
Painting it would put a think coating on it and prevent better heat transfer.

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We will see how it cleans up, a real light coat of paint shouldn't mess up too much.

It will be fine and less obvious if it's black,. It's giving up heat, not absorbing it.

Denisefwd93 said:

I'll be fine and less obvious if it's black,. It's giving up heat, not absorbing it.

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I can see where too much black and it can't give it up as efficiently.

I think they make radiator paint that is thinner than usual, I need to check into that.

It cleaned up really nice, I might just throw a little flat black on the pipes that wrap around the radiator and call it good.



Not hard at all to see where the tranny cooler was...