1999 Mounty 5.0 aka My Great Bad Idea

[donalds]

Mine was leaking where the roof gutter Meets the windshield The body seam sealer wore away 1 drop of RTV fixed it Until I got a new Windshield

 

[97Sandbox]

That makes sense. The Mounty has an aftermarket windshield, maybe the replacement was installed sloppily. It's cracked anyway, so I should probably prioritize just getting it replaced.

 

[410Fortune]

Sunroof drain? If you have a moonroof there are 4 drains, two front and two rear. If one of the drains is plugged you will get water down the a pillars

Weed trimmer string and compressed air can be used to clear them…
If that does not work then the headliner must come down to repair.

I have one plugged drain in my 03 sport trac I was not able to clear. So I simply Plugged it with a plastic cap from a tube of silicon, making the other 3 drains work instead until I can remove the headliner.

The other source for water there could be a leaking windshield or If your cowl drains are plugged

 

[97Sandbox]

No sunroof in this rig (thankfully).

Are the cowl drains easily to access with the plastic cowl vents removed? I'm sure it's worth checking them.

 

[Josh P]

My freightliner Cascadia does this, for me it is cause the weatherstrip on the top of the door doesn't seal very well.

 

[97Sandbox]

I flushed a lot of old leafy crud out of the cowl the other day, hopefully that resolves the moisture issue. Afterwards I traced the water trickling down the inside of the firewall behind the dash, so I think the cowl was the more likely entry point rather than the door seal.

Getting my radiator/condenser guard mocked up and ready to tack.

The brackets were cut from a truck bumper and the tubing was half buried in my field -- all about the budget build!

 

[97Sandbox]

Since it's almost Halloween, I went with a Frankenstein look and hand stitched a section in front of the shifter for my flooring:

It's far from seamless, but good enough for this rig.

I also got my guard tacked and welded:

Again, not the prettiest, but it'll sure protect the condenser and radiator better than the plastic bumper. I welded both sides not because it needs the extra strength but because welding one side of a plate has a tendency to cup/warp it as the weld cools. I'll spray some galv coating on the brackets and welds tomorrow then this thing is going on.

The most important discovery today came after using my multimeter at the CC servo on My Sport and Mounty. My Sport confirmed the CC servo should see 12V from BPP input, open from CPP input, and ground with no pedal input. Back probing the servo in the Mounty, I don't get the open with CPP which should surprise no one.

I know the CPP is working and going open under the dash, but why not at the CC servo? Well, I started digging into the harness and found there is no TN/LB wire on the engine side of the bulkhead connector! My CPP is sending an open signal to an empty plastic connector...that'll do it haha.

While cutting into wiring harnesses isn't my favorite, I'm thinking all I need to do is cut into the harness somewhere that I know the TN/LB wire from the CC servo will be and snip the wire. The servo side will get connected to a new wire that I'll run back to the firewall and the other side will be taped up as I don't want the splice with RD/LG in my circuit anymore. Ideally I'd find the splice itself, but that could be anywhere between the firewall and the ABS module which is a lot of harness to peel back. Any of you swap/wiring pros have tips or words of caution to add in?

 

[410Fortune]

Run a new wire instead of cutting open all the loom? What connectors does this wire pass through? Maybe able to access it at one of the connectors and simply pull it out?

Spitballing

I Love the hand stitched look!!

 

[97Sandbox]

Run a new wire instead of cutting open all the loom?

That'd be easiest, but I'd rather run OEM style without stray wires.

What connectors does this wire pass through? Maybe able to access it at one of the connectors and simply pull it out?

As far as the engine side of harness, the only connector that has the TN/LB wire is at the CC servo itself. I believe that wire runs to somewhere around the main fuse box where it's spliced with the RD/LG wire. But the RD/LG wire also goes to the PCM and the ABS module so that's why I say the splice could be anywhere between those takeouts.

If I want to feed my new wire back to the firewall bulkhead C148 anyway, I may as well just peel back the loom and find the splice I guess. Then I can put everything back together nice and tidy.

 

[97Sandbox]

RD/LG has no splice between firewall and ABS module:

TN/LB is running past the ABS module:

So the splice must be behind the ABS system...the one thing I didn't really want to move.

If I undo that bracket from the fender, do the brake lines have enough flex to pull the module aside and get to the wire harness easily? If not, I'm just going to tap into the TN/LB in front of the ABS module and try to feed a new wire back to the firewall.

 

[97Sandbox]

I answered my own question: it's too tough to wrestle with the ABS module when you can just clip the wire you're already looking at.

I fed new wire through the loom behind the ABS module, soldered on a male terminal, and opened the spot for it in the bulkhead connector. Just need to solder the other end to the wire going to the CC module and wrap it all up.

I don't want to speak too soon, but I'm pretty sure this was the missing piece of the puzzle.

 

[97Sandbox]

All soldered and heat shrinked

I got the multimeter out and the TN/LB wire is normally grounded then goes open when clutch pedal is pressed. I think we have a winner!

I took my Sport to Speedway Motors' last cars & coffee of the season today and picked up a roll of vinyl wire harness tape while I was there. Looks better than electrical tape and it's easier to work with once you get the hang of it

I'm eager to get the battery back in and go for a test drive, but I've decided now is a good time to replace my sketchy hood release cable, so I'll have to wait for it to arrive on Tuesday.

 

[410Fortune]

Man once that hood cable snaps or stretches it can be a real pita to open the hood…96-98 easier then 99-04 that’s for sure, can get in there with flathead and release ,but it’s not easy there is a plastic guard that makes it hard to access
Good call on waiting

Thanks for showing us how to get our cc working on a 5 speed swapped 5.0 rig! I’m sure it will work now!!!

 

[97Sandbox]

Radiator guard installed!

 

[410Fortune]

Looks like a great spot to attach a skid plate

 

[Josh P]

Beautiful work. I want a 5.0 5 speed 2nd gen.

 

[97Sandbox]

Looks like a great spot to attach a skid plate

Definitely! If this rig becomes a real off roader someday, that'd be a great (and easy) addition.

Beautiful work. I want a 5.0 5 speed 2nd gen.

Build one! They are fun. Other than the crossmember, everything goes together like it was made to be that way.

I got my front bumper on last night and removed the hood latch to prep for cable replacement. I also strategically added some header wrap to reduce my tailpipe rattle (temporary solution).

While I was under the truck, I noticed a continuation of a slow trans leak I noticed as soon as it had fluid. There's a very slow seeping of fluid from between the trans and tail housing. I'm guessing that means the tail housing is full of fluid which would point to a leaky output shaft seal. Other than the mess, is there any issue leaving that alone for a while as long as trans fluid level is maintained? I wouldn't think so. I'm not in the mood to pull everything back apart yet haha.

 

[97Sandbox]

Picked up the new hood release cable today. Easy enough to install the new one the same way you remove the old one.

I noticed some of the Velcro in the heat wrap I had on my old cable was melted close to the header (the heat wrap itself was not damaged). I don't think this had to do with the sticky cable condition because that issue started before I had headers. But it did inspire me to route the new cable forward behind the dip stick then over as opposed to the stock routing under the brake booster.

It's zip tied to the inner fender to keep it in place. Plenty of clearance to the header now.

The new release cable and works great! My only minor gripe is the mold quality of the Dorman release handle is kind of rough. I will probably end up using the original Ford handle with the new Dorman cable.

I'm ready to get the clutch master reservoir, fuse box, and battery back in place, then time to see if my new CC wiring works the way I want it to.

 

[97Sandbox]

I'm happy to report that cruise control is now working just as it should!

Time to get this thing in for a front end alignment then start driving it as much as I can to get the clutch bed in.

 

[410Fortune]

Dude….
Welcome to fun town
Rowing through the gears in a v8 sploder is soooo satisfying I feel like 16 again