My van and its problems - any useful input appreciated.

[Fuji_Kitakyusho]

This has also been posted to the forums at ford-trucks.com, but I thought I would paste it here for further exposure.

First off - the vehicle:
A 1994 Club Wagon XL 15 passenger van (E350) with a 7.3L diesel (pre power stroke) engine. I purchased the van used. I am (I think) the third owner.

Since purchase, I have replaced the ball joints, water pump, belt tensioner, batteries, tires, a bunch of glow plugs and several other minor parts. I also ripped out the factory vinyl floor (which was in really poor shape) and had a rhino lining put in right up to the firewall. Works great for me - I use the vehicle for supporting scuba diving ops and other recreational activities, often in backcountry areas. I left in only one bench seat in the mid position, so it’s a huge 5 seater. Ideally, I’d have a 4X4, but the utility off the van outweighs the few times that I actually need four wheel drive, and in those cases, I usually can get a tow over the rough spots.

Now for the problems:

1. Whenever I start it, after the glow plug light extinguishes the van usually will start, but I hear a relay cycling and the voltage indicator oscillates wildly for 3 to 10 seconds after starting until everything stabilizes. Taking the vehicle in for service to check and replace faulty glow plugs usually corrects this, but only temporarily. I suspect that something else must be amiss, since I seem to be going through glow plugs much faster than I should be.

2. No air from my dash vents. It has been this way since I purchased the van. Fan works, A/C works, defog, hot/cold mixer etc. all working, but I can’t get airflow out of the regular dash vents. I have no idea what is wrong.

3. Door handle/armrests have worn and fallen apart on both driver and passenger sides. Bad design, I guess. At the moment, I’m using the latches to close the doors, since I haven’t been able to find replacements at any reasonable cost. I may end up jury-rigging something using whatever I can find at Home Depot.

4. I recently spent a winter in Thunder Bay, Ontario, which is the first time that this vehicle has ever seen temperatures this low. Block heater worked okay, and I installed heated battery blankets as well. I’m thinking I might add a stick-on oil pan heater for next winter. Cold starting was reliable with the plug-in, but the odd occasion where I had to park on the street made for very difficult starting. Maybe switching to synthetic oil would help?

5. Related to the above, I had an issue with the throttle sticking wide open before the vehicle comes to full operating temperature. At first, I thought this was a problem with the throttle cable. Took it in for service, cable was inspected and lubricated, but this intermittent problem still arose in extremely cold temperatures (~-30 C). Eventually I found the lever on the side of the throttle body that could be moved with a screwdriver, so when it stuck wide open I could drop the RPMs manually, and then let the vehicle warm up until I figured it was safe to drive, but I still have no idea what is causing it to stick or why this was happening. Once the weather warmed up a bit - no further issue. I’m worried about next January, though.

6. The rhino lining is great for utility, but I discovered on a recent winter road trip from Thunder Bay to Waterloo that the additional insulation provided by a floor/underfelt combo means a lot more here than it does back in Vancouver. This is exascerbated by the fact that I removed the rear heater/fan when I had the lining done (heater core hoses to this unit were damaged/removed by a previous owner, so it would have been unnecessary expense to restore to working order, given my use of the vehicle). I can always cut some carpet or something, but I wonder if there is any way to insulate the floor from the underside? Alternatively, I suppose I could buy a new auxiliary heater.

7. Although I operate this van primarly in a 5 seater configuration, occasionally I do throw the other benches in for carrying more passengers. I left all the seat-belts in for this reason. The one belt closest to the side door (that anchors to the end of the seat before securing across the passenger in that position) has some sort of an anchor slot in the interior panel for keeping it from flailing about when not in use. Is there supposed to be some sort of mechanical latch here? All I have is a slot with what looks like an integral plastic spring clip to retain the end of the belt, but it doesn’t work worth a damn. I have to duct tape it out of the way.

8. The steering wanders. When I first purchased the vehicle, the steering box was adjusted - didn’t help. Four wheel alignment has been done (necessitating new tie rod ends) - better, but still bad. No noticeable wear on any steering linkage components (I had a garage inspect this). I do have all-terrain tires on, which I would expect to reduce handling somewhat, but it still seems to be looser than It should be. I’m out of ideas.

9. As reported by the garage - my valve cover gaskets are leaking oil. Not significantly, (i.e. more an aesthetic problem than an oil loss problem) but a leak of any magnitude is annoying. Is this expensive to correct? DIY?

10. ABS indicator is always on. It has been this way since I bought the vehicle. Actually, not always - occasionally it will wink out for an hour or two, but inevitably comes back on during a braking maneouver. I have had two different shops try and diagnose the problem - both have come back saying that the error code could not be read, and proposing that it is probably some sort of sensor issue. I haven’t pursued it any further. I stuck a piece of black electrical tape over the indicator in order to preserve my night vision, and I drive the vehicle as though it was not ABS equipped - not a real safety issue, since I’m aware of it, but I would really like to fix this.

11. High mileage - currently 341,000 kilometers. The previous owner was pretty lax on maintenance. I have changed the oil regularly every 5000 kilometers since I purchased it, and I’m getting an oil change before I head back to Vancouver in a few weeks. On the next interval, I’m thinking of getting the differential gear lube and tranny fluid changed as well - I really don’t know how often this should be done, but I have never owned a vehicle with this many miles on it which I planned on keeping. Now I’m paranoid about doing everything I can to extend its longevity.

12. The vehicle didn’t have a jack / tire iron when I bought it. I bought a hydraulic bottle jack and a breaker bar with the correct size socket, but I don’t have the tool for lowering the spare. I have done this successfully by hand, but resetting it once repaired was a royal pain in the ass. Having the correct tool to rotate that fitting would be a lot easier. — On second thought, putting the spare on a readily accessible door mount would make a lot more sense than leaving it underneath the vehicle. Never mind.

13. I have a CB installed which had power leads for both always-on and accessory (ignition controlled) power. I wired both to the battery, since I didn’t know where I could tie into ACC power, but I’d like to redo this correctly at some point. If anyone knows where I can tie in to ignition controlled power?

14. I have to spend another winter in Ontario next year, and I’m worried about the corrosion damage done by the salt used on the roads here. Does anyone have any experience with underbody coatings?

Sorry for the long rant, but if anyone has anything useful to offer regarding any of the above, I’d appreciate it.

-The Fuj

[Bruce_Daddy]

@Fuji Kitakyusho

2. No air from my dash vents. It has been this way since I purchased the van. Fan works, A/C works, defog, hot/cold mixer etc. all working, but I can’t get airflow out of the regular dash vents. I have no idea what is wrong.

I would think that would be a very primative filter behind the fan that would be blocked or some other blocking going on around the intake.

8. The steering wanders. When I first purchased the vehicle, the steering box was adjusted - didn’t help. Four wheel alignment has been done (necessitating new tie rod ends) - better, but still bad. No noticeable wear on any steering linkage components (I had a garage inspect this). I do have all-terrain tires on, which I would expect to reduce handling somewhat, but it still seems to be looser than It should be. I’m out of ideas.

SuperWAG, bent axle?

9. As reported by the garage - my valve cover gaskets are leaking oil. Not significantly, (i.e. more an aesthetic problem than an oil loss problem) but a leak of any magnitude is annoying. Is this expensive to correct? DIY?

I don’t know what the cover looks like on that block but that is usally super easy and cheap. Found a set for your van here.

10. ABS indicator is always on. It has been this way since I bought the vehicle. Actually, not always - occasionally it will wink out for an hour or two, but inevitably comes back on during a braking maneouver. I have had two different shops try and diagnose the problem - both have come back saying that the error code could not be read, and proposing that it is probably some sort of sensor issue. I haven’t pursued it any further. I stuck a piece of black electrical tape over the indicator in order to preserve my night vision, and I drive the vehicle as though it was not ABS equipped - not a real safety issue, since I’m aware of it, but I would really like to fix this.

I’d pull the bulb out. Screw it.

13. I have a CB installed which had power leads for both always-on and accessory (ignition controlled) power. I wired both to the battery, since I didn’t know where I could tie into ACC power, but I’d like to redo this correctly at some point. If anyone knows where I can tie in to ignition controlled power?

I used to wire things up to the fuse box when I was a teen. Probably not the best thing but it worked for me. Likewise, to keep from having to go through the firewall, you could use the wireing from one of the cigarette lighters. They usually don’t work without the ignition.

Sorry for the long rant, but if anyone has anything useful to offer regarding any of the above, I’d appreciate it.

-The Fuj

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along.

[NurseCarmen]

2. No air from my dash vents. It has been this way since I purchased the van. Fan works, A/C works, defog, hot/cold mixer etc. all working, but I can’t get airflow out of the regular dash vents. I have no idea what is wrong.

This could be a problem with the vacuum advance on the plenum door. In fact, a couple of your problems could be vacuum related.

Either way, for #2, I’m pretty certain the plenum door is the culprit, if not the vacuum advance, than maybe just jammed, stripped, or just plain broken. Do you have a Haynes manual for this vehicle yet? If you’re lucky, access to the plenum door is easy. If it’s the same as the Ford Explorers of the same vintage access can gained by dynamite and a good insurance policy.

[Danalan]

3. Door handle/armrests have worn and fallen apart on both driver and passenger sides. Bad design, I guess. At the moment, I’m using the latches to close the doors, since I haven’t been able to find replacements at any reasonable cost. I may end up jury-rigging something using whatever I can find at Home Depot.

I had the same problem on my '91 Explorer. I broke a latch using that method – then I had to roll the window down to get out on that side. I ended up installing brass screen door handles with sheet metal screws. Worked OK.

6. The rhino lining is great for utility, but I discovered on a recent winter road trip from Thunder Bay to Waterloo that the additional insulation provided by a floor/underfelt combo means a lot more here than it does back in Vancouver. This is exascerbated by the fact that I removed the rear heater/fan when I had the lining done (heater core hoses to this unit were damaged/removed by a previous owner, so it would have been unnecessary expense to restore to working order, given my use of the vehicle). I can always cut some carpet or something, but I wonder if there is any way to insulate the floor from the underside? Alternatively, I suppose I could buy a new auxiliary heater.

Don’t put anything underneath! There are hot parts under there. Put in some cheap carpet – or maybe Astroturf!

8. The steering wanders. When I first purchased the vehicle, the steering box was adjusted - didn’t help. Four wheel alignment has been done (necessitating new tie rod ends) - better, but still bad. No noticeable wear on any steering linkage components (I had a garage inspect this). I do have all-terrain tires on, which I would expect to reduce handling somewhat, but it still seems to be looser than It should be. I’m out of ideas.

Maybe you need a steering stabilizer, or if you have one already, it needs a new shock.

10. ABS indicator is always on. It has been this way since I bought the vehicle. Actually, not always - occasionally it will wink out for an hour or two, but inevitably comes back on during a braking maneouver. I have had two different shops try and diagnose the problem - both have come back saying that the error code could not be read, and proposing that it is probably some sort of sensor issue. I haven’t pursued it any further. I stuck a piece of black electrical tape over the indicator in order to preserve my night vision, and I drive the vehicle as though it was not ABS equipped - not a real safety issue, since I’m aware of it, but I would really like to fix this.

This is a common problem with this generation of Ford truck ABS. My Explorer did the same thing. I was told it had something to do with the ABS only being set up on the rear brakes, but the cross-over for braking is frontL/backR – frontR/backL.

12. The vehicle didn’t have a jack / tire iron when I bought it. I bought a hydraulic bottle jack and a breaker bar with the correct size socket, but I don’t have the tool for lowering the spare. I have done this successfully by hand, but resetting it once repaired was a royal pain in the ass. Having the correct tool to rotate that fitting would be a lot easier. — On second thought, putting the spare on a readily accessible door mount would make a lot more sense than leaving it underneath the vehicle. Never mind.

You should be able to get the right tools at any decent junkyard, cheap.