Just Couldn't Stay Away

Alright, some of you know I had a 1984 Bronco 2 for a while that it seemed like had problem after problem, and the body was in such bad shape it was far from being something I could afford to repair...so it eventually got scrapped...ok well some people at the pick a part got some good parts.

The old bronco 2


Picking this one up Saturday for $800, runs, drives, everything works. Owner has been towing it behind his motorhome. Looks like the odometer says 93k, probably rolled over but it looks pretty descent. This will be my first RBV with the 2.9L V6, anything I really need to know, other than the notorious head gasket problems?

That looks nice.

First thing I would do is a coolant flush. Then pressurize the system and see if it holds pressure for 1/2 hour or so. The 2.9's have head problems if overheated.

alwaysFlOoReD said:

That looks nice.

First thing I would do is a coolant flush. Then pressurize the system and see if it holds pressure for 1/2 hour or so. The 2.9's have head problems if overheated.

Click to expand...

Thank you, I was planning on checking it over really well once I get it home. The guy has been driving it daily so I wouldn't think there would be issues with the head but I'll make sure before I do any driving other than getting it home. I'll be sure and check all the fluids before I drive it away.

The guy had it listed on craigslist and nobody has contacted him about it. I've been wanting another one since I got rid of the yellow one. I ran across this bronco 2, I was really looking for a ranger or a bronco 2 and ran across the bronco 2 first so its coming home this weekend .

Paint on the hood looks faded, but I think it has a much better body than my other one for sure. If this one does in fact run and drive good it will become my daily driver.

I'll change all the fluids in it, and do a tune up after I get it home so I have a starting point for record keeping.

Yes, I really miss my b2 too. Right now I'm driving a 1977 F250 as my work truck and a 1998 Neon for a DD. One gets 10 mpg and the other gets 35.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

alwaysFlOoReD said:

Yes, I really miss my b2 too. Right now I'm driving a 1977 F250 as my work truck and a 1998 Neon for a DD. One gets 10 mpg and the other gets 35.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

The thing I find weird with the B2 I'm picking up this weekend is that it has a tachometer, and an automatic transmission, my 84 had a manual transmission and no tachometer LOL.

I'll have a 30 mile drive home with it, so hopefully it does ok at least to get me home, then I'll go through it more in depth, was reading that a cracked head could show up as of course milky looking oil, or even oil in the coolant in the radiator if its bad enough. Any other ways to check for this quickly if the owner has changed the oil to cover this potential issue up?

Use the bouncing glove test. I first saw this explained by RonD...
Before the first start of the day, or once the motor has cooled completely;
1] remove rad cap and plug of overflow line.
2] put thin rubber glove over rad inlet and tie off. I use electricians tape.
3] fire up engine and look for movement in the glove. If there is a problem there will be noticeable "bouncing" of the glove.

This test will show if there is combustion pressure getting into the cooling system which is what causes all the problems with warped/cracked heads.

alwaysFlOoReD said:

Use the bouncing glove test. I first saw this explained by RonD...
Before the first start of the day, or once the motor has cooled completely;
1] remove rad cap and plug of overflow line.
2] put thin rubber glove over rad inlet and tie off. I use electricians tape.
3] fire up engine and look for movement in the glove. If there is a problem there will be noticeable "bouncing" of the glove.

This test will show if there is combustion pressure getting into the cooling system which is what causes all the problems with warped/cracked heads.

Click to expand...

Thanks, totally forgot about RonD's method, I remember reading it now after you mentioned it again. Extremely easy and fast test. Thank you.

Got the bronco 2 home tonight. Windshield wiper fuse is blown, put a different fuse in, wipers don't turn off, got to figure that out.

Transmission seems a bit weird, acts like overdrive is sometimes there, drives ok, but if you get on it hard and it downshifts from drive to 2nd it seems to go into neutral. If you drive it easy its fine though, anyone have ideas on that? Fluid level, needs a transmission flush? Not that good at diagnosing transmissions. Fluid doesn't smell burned, and I've never been able to really get an accurate transmission fluid check but from what I can tell its at the crosshatched area on the dipstick.

Trans fluid needs to be fully warmed up. Check while in park with the engine running. Once you have that figured out, next time its cold pull the dipstick out and file a little mark where the fluid level is when cold. Now you can check anytime.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

alwaysFlOoReD said:

Trans fluid needs to be fully warmed up. Check while in park with the engine running. Once you have that figured out, next time its cold pull the dipstick out and file a little mark where the fluid level is when cold. Now you can check anytime.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Thank you, going to start with this before I do anything else today. The transmission issues kind of have me worried. Unfortunately the transmissions shops are closed on weekends and none are in town so its a 30 mile drive to even have it looked at LOL.

EDIT: Transmission fluid level is correct, although its not the red color it should be and does smell somewhat burned, so going to try and get it to a shop and have a service done on it, and see if they can adjust it any, feels like the transmission is just out of adjustment, unless you back off the accelerator it won't shift when its cold, seems to get better once it warms up.

wildbill23c said:

The thing I find weird with the B2 I'm picking up this weekend is that it has a tachometer, and an automatic transmission, my 84 had a manual transmission and no tachometer LOL.

Click to expand...

Tachs were not an option until '87 IIRC and usually it was fancier truck buyers that sprung for the expense.

You will appreciate it when you get the M5OD swapped in.

Pull the column trim off and check the wiring harness for the wipers. The original cloth tape had probably fallen apart and you may be getting a short. That happened on mine.
For the trans, try adjusting the kick down cable. Push the button on the cable and pull the slack out of it, then go and floor the gas pedal. The button is on the engine side of the firewall. For some reason my trans works better when it is half a quart past full. But it may have the wrong dipstick in it.

JerryC said:

Pull the column trim off and check the wiring harness for the wipers. The original cloth tape had probably fallen apart and you may be getting a short. That happened on mine.
For the trans, try adjusting the kick down cable. Push the button on the cable and pull the slack out of it, then go and floor the gas pedal. The button is on the engine side of the firewall. For some reason my trans works better when it is half a quart past full. But it may have the wrong dipstick in it.

Click to expand...

I'll look at the wiring harness. Found a circuit breaker for it today, holy crap they want $30 for that thing. Why not just use a standard fuse...a standard fuse does fit in that slot.

I'll try doing some adjusting on the transmission as well. Also I'm wondering if the throttle body is dirty, having starting issues now as well, unless I lightly apply the throttle when starting it just cranks. Either the throttle body or spark plugs are in that bad of shape, it does have new plug wires already.

85_Ranger4x4 said:

Tachs were not an option until '87 IIRC and usually it was fancier truck buyers that sprung for the expense.

You will appreciate it when you get the M5OD swapped in.

Click to expand...

Way too much work for my already screwed up budget right now, I bit off more than I could chew trying to pay off old debt, now I'm trying to figure out how to go about fixing that mess...then to top it off the day I go to pickup the bronco 2 I find about $200 in fraud on my checking account.

Just when I thought I was getting a head.

wildbill23c said:

Way too much work for my already screwed up budget right now, I bit off more than I could chew trying to pay off old debt, now I'm trying to figure out how to go about fixing that mess...then to top it off the day I go to pickup the bronco 2 I find about $200 in fraud on my checking account.

Just when I thought I was getting a head.

Click to expand...

That sucks. You get stuff like that from time to time.

I was getting all hepped up to finish buying brake stuff for my D35 and broke my glasses right in half with like no effort. Warranty expired in April, frames are not in the catalog anymore so it sounds like I get to buy lenses too.

Back up three times and punt I swear...