410Fortune 1988 Ford Bronco II Eddie Bauer 4x4

[410Fortune]

Welcome back glad I could lure you in!

They stopped making these who knows how long ago
Unless I can get the c clip in my arb locker I will continue to wear these out

Thanks Danny!!

 

[BKennedy]

When I had the TTB and a ARB, the c-clip wouldnt fit. The installer knew TTB's very well and just left it out. Never had a problem, but I was using stock length beams.

Nice to hear your still around Danny. I do miss those fireside conversations.

 

[Stic-o]

LOL, Life is pretty busy these days & I sold my last Explorer in 2014, but I saw an email notification from Jamie & was thinking “I bet I have some of those shafts & washers laying around.”


There is a very special group of members in this forum that I’ve had some epic times on the trail & around the campfire!

Holy Crap! 😳 He lives!

 

[410Fortune]

Brett has a 94 sport w arb and he managed to install c clip
I’m trying to find out the secret
The new spring setup works awesome, but I always have a leaky seal on pass side and wear out a washer each winter

 

[fordpickupman]

The trutrac with a spring in mine has been flawless w/o the Cclip.

 

[410Fortune]

sooooo driving the BII like I always do....except now she started to miss badly and was way down on power.... ut oh.

Made it to our gate and parked it, got a ride to town. Came back later, started her up and CEL!!
Limp home, still down on power, plug in scanned check codes.
Manufacture specific codes, P1131
Read pending codes, shows 02 sensors upstream bank 1 lack of switching, reading lean.

I inspected the wiring to the upstream sensor bank 1 (pass side) all looks good. Getting that 02 sensor out on my Bronco would require DROPPING THE EXHAUST PIPE! Not fun. I can get a 7/8" wrench on it but not enough room to turn. No way to hit it with a torch for heat and then a 02 sensor socket without dropping the pipe.

So discouraged I moved on to more testing. Finally I hooked up the scanner and looked a little deeper into the PCM
Turns out there were some pending codes! good. Two P1131, HOS11 ( means heated 02 sensor bank 1 sensor 1) now and pending, then another 1131 this time HOS21!! Bank 2 sensor 1 is lack of switching reading lean also........okay so now I know its not an 02 sensor.
Time to go for a drive and watch live data...... Im starting to lose sleep over this! Wife and I have 4 trucks, FJ, Bronco, Excursion, and F350. Wife has been driving excursion because her FJ is waiting for all new steering parts........ I need the Bronco!!!!

So driving truck watching live data, I see the 02 sensors are definitely switching

Usually when both upstream sensors have lack of switching and read lean CODES, houston we have a problem, this means:
Low fuel pressure
Large intake leak
Large vacuum leak
Dirty MAS, leaky air intake

Full inspection of 02 sensor wires, air intake, MAS, upper plenum, all vacuum hoses, PCV system, everything checks out. Fuel pressure test shows pressure jumps to 42 psi immediately. .checked all fuses, So far I have found nothing wrong! I cleaned some connections in the fuse box

Cleaned mas, re sealed intake tube from air filter to throttle body. Cleaned throttle body. Checked all vacuum lines and hoses, inspected plenum gaskets for soot entry.... nothing! Truck looks like the day I put it together, only dirty.

Finally I found it. I had to use a mirror to see it on my BII, but the PCV valve had come up out of its grommet!! I pushed it back down with a blunt screwdriver....put it all back together and time for test drive.
Shes fixed!!

Two day fiasco put to rest.... back on the road with my 1997.5 02 sensors lol
Drivetrain has about 105K miles on it now, the drivetrain had 68K miles on it in 2006 when I did the conversion
the BII is still just a baby.

So 5.0 dudes let this be a lesson to us
In this case the P1131 code was PCV valve popped loose

I am SURE it will happen again, once they come out of the grommet they keep coming out of the grommet. I will have to do some fancy stuff to gain access to the area, but eventually I will replace grommet and PCV and add some silicoln to keep it seated.

I then spent about 3 hours spring cleaning the Bronco SHES A GOOD GIRL!!!!!!!

 

[CDW6212R]

That's good trouble, a bother but minor.

My last car issue was on job, the truck started and then stumbled, and died. After the 2nd try I got under the hood and thought of the PCV, which had come out once about 18 months ago. I thought it might be out again, I got both of my hands filthy reaching back there to it. It was in place, so I was then actually worried, I get paid zero/nothing if I can't finish the day at work. So I sat down and thought while wiping my hands off... oh, look where I've parked, and I meant to buy gas 30 minutes ago. I look over and see, yes, no gas. I was parked on a slight slope where I usually do for lunch in the shade under a tree, on my route. I was happy to know I messed up, then I found a person home and outside about 100 yards away. He had a can of gas outside with a couple of gallons left in it. He was nice and I got about a gallon or so, I left him some for what he was doing with a chain saw. I let my truck roll 50 feet to a more level spot, and it started with little cranking. It got me another ten minutes to a gas station on my route, all good. If the gas gets low, do not park the truck aimed downhill at all. You can have two gallons left and it won't start, or start and die.

 

[BKennedy]

Wish my vehicles had problems like that. Hard to diagnose, but a 5 second fix. If you didn't have the equipment and knowledge to fix that, first you would have to find a shop to touch it, then hope they don't just start replacing parts on your dime.

 

[CDW6212R]

They have the best parts cannons. Do you want a new water pump for $750, or a new fuel tank for $1800? The WP costs $65 and the small sensor on the fuel tank only comes with a new tank. Those are actual stories from my dad's Cadillac several years ago, while my sister was driving it.

 

[joney]

sooooo driving the BII like I always do....except now she started to miss badly and was way down on power.... ut oh.

Made it to our gate and parked it, got a ride to town. Came back later, started her up and CEL!!
Limp home, still down on power, plug in scanned check codes.
Manufacture specific codes, P1131
Read pending codes, shows 02 sensors upstream bank 1 lack of switching, reading lean.

I inspected the wiring to the upstream sensor bank 1 (pass side) all looks good. Getting that 02 sensor out on my Bronco would require DROPPING THE EXHAUST PIPE! Not fun. I can get a 7/8" wrench on it but not enough room to turn. No way to hit it with a torch for heat and then a 02 sensor socket without dropping the pipe.

So discouraged I moved on to more testing. Finally I hooked up the scanner and looked a little deeper into the PCM
Turns out there were some pending codes! good. Two P1131, HOS11 ( means heated 02 sensor bank 1 sensor 1) now and pending, then another 1131 this time HOS21!! Bank 2 sensor 1 is lack of switching reading lean also........okay so now I know its not an 02 sensor.
Time to go for a drive and watch live data...... Im starting to lose sleep over this! Wife and I have 4 trucks, FJ, Bronco, Excursion, and F350. Wife has been driving excursion because her FJ is waiting for all new steering parts........ I need the Bronco!!!!

So driving truck watching live data, I see the 02 sensors are definitely switching

Usually when both upstream sensors have lack of switching and read lean CODES, houston we have a problem, this means:
Low fuel pressure
Large intake leak
Large vacuum leak
Dirty MAS, leaky air intake

Full inspection of 02 sensor wires, air intake, MAS, upper plenum, all vacuum hoses, PCV system, everything checks out. Fuel pressure test shows pressure jumps to 42 psi immediately. .checked all fuses, So far I have found nothing wrong! I cleaned some connections in the fuse box

Cleaned mas, re sealed intake tube from air filter to throttle body. Cleaned throttle body. Checked all vacuum lines and hoses, inspected plenum gaskets for soot entry.... nothing! Truck looks like the day I put it together, only dirty.

Finally I found it. I had to use a mirror to see it on my BII, but the PCV valve had come up out of its grommet!! I pushed it back down with a blunt screwdriver....put it all back together and time for test drive.
Shes fixed!!

Two day fiasco put to rest.... back on the road with my 1997.5 02 sensors lol
Drivetrain has about 105K miles on it now, the BII is still just a baby.

So 5.0 dudes let this be a lesson to us
In this case the P1131 code was PCV valve popped loose

I am SURE it will happen again, once they come out of the grommet they keep coming out of the grommet. I will have to do some fancy stuff to gain access to the area, but eventually I will replace grommet and PCV and add some silicoln to keep it seated.

I then spent about 3 hours spring cleaning the Bronco SHES A GOOD GIRL!!!!!!!

Great info and explanation! I wonder if that O2 sensor could be gotten using a really Long extension? Glad you didn't have to drop the pipe!

 

[410Fortune]

hmmmmm well the way my BII is, I have a slight body drop with a 5.0 shoved in there, right above the 02 sensor is the passenger floor, so I do not think so! I can drop the exhaust pipe, it just requires me to loosed the header to downpipe bolts, on my truck these are through bolts with a nut on the back side. I also have a hole I cut in my passenger floor board under the carpet to give me direct access to one of the bolts.
Still a big PITA to drop the down pipe. I was hoping to do a quick visual inspection of the 02 sensor....that did not happen.
If I drop those down pipes I plan to build new ones without the primary converters, I have never been happy with the drivers side down pipe anyways it hangs waay tooo low. Back in 06 I did not build my own exhaust, now days I do
If I replace those pipes and build custom ones at that time I will replace all 4 02 sensors

 

[410Fortune]

no such luck! Tried to drive BII yesterday thinking she's all fixed and now clean..... made it half mile CEL came back
P1131 sensor 1 bank 1 lack of switching lean
This time followed by P1132, Sensor 1 bank 1 lack of switching rich

So the 02 sensor is shot, or the wiring to it........Slow switching, lack of switching is what we call a lazy 02 sensor (worn out)
it looks like I will be dropping the downpipe(s)!!
I will pickup some Bosch 4 wire 02 sensors, universal, while I am in town
Been spraying the bolts with PB blaster since last night

 

[CDW6212R]

Shame to read that, I know the dread of working on an old exhaust. I've done the O2's on three of my four 2nd gens, and they weren't too bad, just the front ones.

But my Mountaineer has had a miss that got bad enough I stopped driving it. I haven't diagnosed it at all besides doing tune up items which found a bad coil. I'm thinking either the cats are plugged partially, or the prior lean condition ruined some exhaust valves. Removing the old 1998 cat pipes will be a PITA, I'm hoping to swap the pair in from my project truck, which now have the same mileage(129k).

Jamie, pull out the sawzall, and make a new pair of cat pipes.

 

[410Fortune]

that is exactly what I was thinking!!!! Make new pipes like I did for the 07
Timing on this repair just sucks,.... I have enough repairs to make!! HAHAHAHAHA battle on

 

[CDW6212R]

Do you want my Amazon wish lists links? I have a few possible good choices for cats in my lists, 2.5" and 3" sizes. I haven't measured under my truck yet, but I hope there is room for a 6" diameter version, with 4" outlets. That's one I like for my project Explorer later, there's a bunch with 4" diameters and 2.5" or 3" outlets. Flowmaster makes some good ones, but there are tons of other brands etc.

 

[410Fortune]

I have used the flowmaster cats before, good price good performance!! We used them in the 84 ranger, Darth ranger as the primary cats, made Colorado emissions referee happy.

My BII cats are hollow at the moment, shhhhh don't tell Colorado that they passed me about 4 times with no catalyst
Now that I am in Idaho the cats are going bye bye in favor of smooth pipes
Every once in a blue moon if I goose the throttle and then slow down quickly I will get a CEL, cat efficiency code.......maybe once a year
eventually I will get Holley PCM and then no more worries

 

[410Fortune]

I got the 02 sensor out!! woooo hoooo. Lets see can bill the customer (me) for .5 hour for a job that spanned over 3 days, losing sleep, took about 6 hours total. win win. These are the kinds of repairs that will put a shop out of business real quick LOL

So anywho I now know the 02 sensor was bad, because the computer told us, right? Lack of switching lean, lack of switching rich, = slow sensor.
I removed some of my center console/shifter setup so I could get access to the pcm and under the carpet. Plan was to open the floor, check the 02 sensor wiring harness and connections. I checked all wires at the pcm, all looks good.

So more inspection from under the truck, I decided I could at least unplug the wiring to the sensor and have a look at it. So using some bent needle nose plyers and a long flathead I was able to depress the tab and pull the wire connector apart, giving me access to the wires. As soon as I did the grey wire came off the back of the sensor...... it corroded away. Okay this is good! I love it when I can actually see the problem. 02 sensor is bad because the wire failed.

Now how to remove the sensor.
I decided I had a few more tricks up my sleeve before I actually had to drop the exhaust pipe.
First I tried this special "crows foot" 02 sensor socket I have.... I was able to get the socket up and over the 02 sensor and in place.....I could get a 3/8" extension into it, but no way I could get it to turn. Dang.
7/8" wrench open end is a loose fit on an 02 sensor, it just kept rounding. Tried 22mm, little tighter but again kept rounding.
I decided I could use the box end of the wrench, the 12 point would actually grab. 7/8" wrench I found a way to get it up and over and into a position that would work..... 7/8 box wrench kept rounding it off. SOB. Tried same thing with 22mm...wrench is too long to fit!
So I cut the wrench in half.

this is the access to the sensor, tight! 22 box end in place finally!!

Now I was finally able to get the 22mm box end over the 02 sensor and into position where I could slip a cheater pipe on it. I had to dent he body of the 02 sensor pretty good to get the wrench to go into the right spot and all the way seated onto the sensor.
It worked!!!
I was able to unscrew that sucker with a cut in half 22mm box wrench and a cheater pipe.
FYI you cannot cut a 02 sensor in half with a sawzall, the ceramic insides just laughed at my milwaukee torch metal blade

SUCCESS!! New/used 02 sensor installed with some ant seize on the threads
Now putting the interior back together so I can go road testing

wont cut

failed wire

Now I have a 21 and a 22 half wrench. Note to self buy a new 22mm wrench

washed up! need to re coat bumpers and whole truck..... I hope to be doing a new coat of monstaliner later this year

 

[410Fortune]

Hmmm well the saga continues
Yesterday am I started the BII up, took a few extra cranks over what I am used to but she started and ran fine. I assume its because I cleared the computer memory she is re learning....right?
Drove 12 miles to my folks house and picked up my dad. We took his Jeep out to his boat and then took the boat out!!! Wooohooo that was fun. The boat needs to be ready for the 4th of JUly so this was the quick test run, all is well. I came back to my bronco in the afternoon, hot out, she was parked in the sun. Turn key, fuel pump sounds off, not like normal. Started her up, she chugged a little then died. Tried about 3 more times, same result. I had to LEAVE THE BII at my folks!! I had to borrow a JEE*^%%#^$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I believe my Walbro fuel pump has bit the dust??? Sheesh. I wonder if the failing 02 sensor had anything to do with this?

I have only had a no start situation with this bronco like once before I could not easily fix and get home....in 25+ years!! last time it was the in tank fuel pump (boost pump) and I think that was like in 2002? Sheesh
I have an access panel in the BII hatch which allows me to change fuel pump on the trail........20 minute job. So I plan to pickup a new pump and go get my truck back!!!!!!!!!! poor baby

 

[CDW6212R]

Hope it's another simple fix. Do check the power to the pump before R&Ring it if it's not too old yet. Recall my last 98, the inertia switch connector was pulled out slightly?

 

[410Fortune]

yes my thoughts exactly
Plus I just had the rubber floor pulled back, the inertia switch wiring in my hands. Also I cleaned the contacts in the PJB for the fuel pump fuse and relay
The pump sounded like it was struggling, glug glug glug......... normally it is a crisp/sharp spinning noise wwwwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
These walbro pumps are tough, I think this one is about 7 years old? That is when I deleted the two pump system (boost in tank, high pressure on rail) and converted to a single in tank pump