A Few Misc. Questions

[Titleist16]

I have just been thinking a lot latley and have a few questions about different things:

1. My fuel pump was leaking so I put a new one in and my windshield wipers go a lot faster now but I noticed when I start to drive the speed of the wipers goes way down. Is that normal?
2. The last few weeks I've had trouble with my headlamp switch. The dash lights, dome light, and running lights wouldn't work. I replaced the fuses in the headlamp switch and then i noticed that apparently one of the wires is loose because the headlamp switch has to be in a certain way or else the lights won't work. When I do get it in the right position all of the lights work except for the dash lights. Could there be a short in one of the wires? Are the dash lights sequential so that if one bulb is out they all go out? What should I do?
3. If I wanted to put lower gears in my rear end can you just replace the gears or do you have to get a whole new rear axle? What rear end and tranny do I have if on the identification plate it says Tranny: 3, rear end: 3?
4. How come there doesn't seem to be anybody reproducing the Aussie heads since they're so good for performance?
5. When I put my car in park, if the car is on even the smallest slope it will continue to move unless I put the emergency brake on. Why is that?
6. Is the screw that is on front of my carb the screw to make the mixture more lean because it says lean on it and an arrow pointing to one direction? Would it be ok to mess around with it to try and save some gas?
7. Has onebody made what is supposed to be the "perfect" 2bbl adpter which is a mixture of the Stovebolt and Clifford?

Sorry for all the questions but just some things I had on my mind. Thanks.
I can't wait to install the new freeze plugs in my car tomorrow in auto shop. I love working on my car!

V8's are like a$$holes, everybody's got one!

 

[Anonymous]

Whooo! You're asking a boatload here, but I'll help with what I know.

1. Windshield wipers. If they are vacuum operated windshield wipers, that's a relatively normal problem. I had the same thing happen on an old car of mine, and the only solution I found was to install an electric drive. I suppose there is some replacement part available for the OE system, but someone else on the board would have to tell you where to find it. What the fuel pump has to do with this, I don't know.

2. Headlight switch. Sounds like you've got a bad wire somewhere, like the one you found, or just a bad switch. The dash lights may be wired together. It's hard to tell, since I don't know your car. On one of my cars they are, and on the other, they're not.

3. Rear gears. You can just replace the gears themselves. Be sure to read up on how to shim them, and set the backlash.

4. Aussie heads. There's no one producing them because this is a pretty specialized market, with limited potential for sales. The tooling costs for producing heads are quite high, and manufacturers probably don't see a potential for enough profit to make it worthwhile.

5. Moving while in park. Sound's like your tranny brake is pooched. I'd get that to a shop ASAP. Unless of course you've got a tranny that doesn't have a brake built in. I've never seen one of those, but it's possible.

6. Mixture screw. That's probably the idle mixture screw. It pretty much does what it's name implies: adjust mixture at idle. It does have some effect, I believe, when driving, but I can't say how much.

7. Carb adaptor. Again, the other guys on this board seem to be the authority on this sort of thing. From what I've seen you can either buy one of the manufactured models, or make one yourself. What specifically are you looking for in a carb adaptor anyway?

Hope this helps a little. My knowledge is a little limited on Ford product thus far, but some things are universal.

Jim

 

[Titleist16]

I thought of another question this morning when I was warming up my car. I turned on the heater to let it get warm also. I let it run for a few minutes but the heater didn't really get warm. As soon as I started driving though it got warm. Is that normal?

 

[Anonymous]

I thought of another question this morning when I was warming up my car. I turned on the heater to let it get warm also. I let it run for a few minutes but the heater didn't really get warm. As soon as I started driving though it got warm. Is that normal?

Well it depends......... how long was it running? A car gets warmer faster when you are driving it, so maybe........ now if it was running for like 20 minutes and it didn't get warm I think you might have a thermostat stuck slightly open.

 

[Titleist16]

I don't think the thermostat is stuck open because I just had a new radiator put in a few months ago. Would it help if I put a different temp thermostat in? my car never really gets warm either. The needle on the gauge hardly moves. The only time it starts to get hot is in the summer when I'm sitting in traffic for a long time.

 

[Falcon62]

1. My fuel pump was leaking so I put a new one in and my windshield wipers go a lot faster now but I noticed when I start to drive the speed of the wipers goes way down. Is that normal?

Yep, especially if you have vacuum operated wipers.

2. The last few weeks I've had trouble with my headlamp switch. The dash lights, dome light, and running lights wouldn't work. I replaced the fuses in the headlamp switch and then i noticed that apparently one of the wires is loose because the headlamp switch has to be in a certain way or else the lights won't work. When I do get it in the right position all of the lights work except for the dash lights. Could there be a short in one of the wires? Are the dash lights sequential so that if one bulb is out they all go out? What should I do?

There is a variable resistor built into your headlight switch. Turn the knob all the way right and your dash lights should get brighter, all the way left and they should go out. Also, all the way right past the "bump" should turn your dome light on.

3. If I wanted to put lower gears in my rear end can you just replace the gears or do you have to get a whole new rear axle? What rear end and tranny do I have if on the identification plate it says Tranny: 3, rear end: 3?

What car are we talking about? Year, make, & model please.

4. How come there doesn't seem to be anybody reproducing the Aussie heads since they're so good for performance?

Previously answered.

5. When I put my car in park, if the car is on even the smallest slope it will continue to move unless I put the emergency brake on. Why is that?

The parking pawl is broken. You can live with it as is, just so long as you remember to put your brake on. It won't hurt your tranny to drive it this way as the pieces are so big they just drop to the bottom of the pan. Depending on which tranny you have, you may be able to replace the pawl with the tranny still in the car. If you have a Fordomatic 2-spd, the tranny will have to come out to install a new pawl.

6. Is the screw that is on front of my carb the screw to make the mixture more lean because it says lean on it and an arrow pointing to one direction? Would it be ok to mess around with it to try and save some gas?

Not unless your engine is running rich at idle. This screw will have no affect on off idle fuel consumption. I say leave it alone if your car is running good, at least until you get a little more knowledge about how to adjust it.

7. Has onebody made what is supposed to be the "perfect" 2bbl adpter which is a mixture of the Stovebolt and Clifford?

Not yet.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought of another question this morning when I was warming up my car. I turned on the heater to let it get warm also. I let it run for a few minutes but the heater didn't really get warm. As soon as I started driving though it got warm. Is that normal?

I've run into this one before. Now, it could be a stuck open thermostat, but there's another factor that's not often considered. I just consider it, because when it gets to -40 here, car heat is a big issue.

When you're running your heater, it's like running a second radiator (heater core) and the engine will run that much cooler, for that much longer.

On one of my cars, if I have the heater or defrost activated on anything over low on a cold morning, the car takes about 1/2 hour to get anywhere near warm. Mind you, this car takes a long time to heat up anyway. Damned efficient radiators! It is a problem with a lot of cars however.

Jim