I picking up a 96 F150 Eddie Bauer edition 2wd with the 4.9 and 5 speed. The seller told me the AC compressor is bad. I did some looking around and saw Rock Auto has kits that includes the compressor, orifice tube, o-rings, and drier/accumulator. Some have a red orifice tube and others have a blue one. I know the red one has a smaller orifice. Which should I go with?

Oil-
I know is takes 10w-30. The owner said he's been having a bland put in it. The truck has 173,000 miles on it. Do you think I could go with full synthetic without having to worry about leaks? I do know about it having flat tappets and needing an oil with high zinc or using a zinc additive to help with noise and wear.

Timing - the cheap performance increaser -
I usually like to run ethanol free fuel through my vehicles once in a while. The 90 octane is about the lowest rating I can find around me though. I figured I could take advantage of the higher octane by advancing the timing. From what I've found 10 degrees before TDC is the factory spec for 87. And idea what would be a good setting for 90?

 

Full synthetic is not what it used to be. It used to be PAO, polyalfphaolefin, a group IV oil. Now, it's Group III oil. No worries on the seals.

I used to mark the balancer so I could check total timing. If you can do that with your engine you can check to see what the timing advance actually is and may be able to adjust it to suit your engine.

 

Actually the oil spec is 5W20 but heavier oil won't hurt. If you are concerned about needing zinc, this is the oil to use:

https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...?code=AMOQT-EA
-OR-
https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...tic-motor-oil/

If you don't want to spend that kind of money, most "racing" oils are high in zinc.

Advance the timing a couple degrees at a time till you get spark knock, then retard it till the knock goes away. I would not exceed 16 degrees. Note that when you use a timing light, the SPOUT connector needs to be disconnected. The 96 4.9's timing marks are quite hard to find and see.

There's a procedure called a "6 liter tuneup" - while designed for the 5.0 and 5.8 V8, you can use the same principles on the inline 6. Use Autolite copper (not platinum) spark plugs, gap them at .054 (not .044), get a high performance coil, cap, rotor, and wires. It should be able to handle timing at 16 degrees BTDC. Put a 180 degree thermostat in it.

 

If the original owner or previous owner was using a 10w-30 oil, stay with it. The lower end of the engine actually wears in to the oil viscosity used. It's about the wedge of oil that the bearings settle on in front of the piston thrust. FWIW, by microns, the actual crankshaft bearings at the rods do not go around in a perfect circle. It actually goes around in an elliptic circle, not that it's important but that's why you keep using what the engine has been getting, viscosity wise. The best rated oil out there as of now is the Pennzoil conventional 10w-30. It has the lowest rating for stability- lower is better. It out performs all synthetics and is relatively cheap. Zinc or the reduction of zinc in the formulation is unimportant in your engine. Because cam makers cheap out on the metal used, you should use a zinc modified oil at break in. After that, it's not required. If you ever drop a cam on a concrete floor you'll know what I mean by cheap,crap steel- it'll shatter like glass. No piston engine aircraft engine can have zinc in the formulation of the engine oil and cams don't go flat on them, for a comparison. Neither will your engine. Zinc has been reduced but other and much better and stronger additives have taken its place. Zinc is cheap, not superior to the newer additives.

 

Thanks for the help. Hopefully the seller knows what weight oil was used.

I will have some other questions later on. I would like to do a disc brake conversion at some point. Maybe even a sliding rear window.

@glc I came across that "6 liter tuneup" on a bunch of websites. I didn't notice anything about it for the 4.9s but figured it would work. I wasn't sure if someone had better or different ideas.

 

There's something else I've been thinking about. I had a 95 F150 before I bought a 97. That truck looked exactly the same externally as the 96 I'm getting except for the running boards it had. It had the 4.9 with a manual trans and a 2.73 rear end. It had no problems pulling a pop-up camper even going through hills from Washington state up to Alaska. I'm not sure what the one I'm buying has in it. If it has 2.73s or 3.08s, I plan on keeping them. One thing I would like to do is convert it to LS. What's your thought on doing that?

On my way to work, I typically have to make a couple stops on a slope. One of them is to make a left turn onto a busy highway. I would prefer not to be doing one wheel burnouts on wet pavement when trying to make that turn.

 

Assuming you are going to run the factory original 235/75/15 wheels and tires, the stock or standard axle was the 2.73. That's mighty tall for pulling any trailer. My uncle had one with the 5.0 V8 and 3.08 gears and it was anemic without a trailer. Might see what it runs like after you get it. While the straight 6 is a torque maker, my preference has always been to let the gears do the work and not rely solely on the engine for power. Torque from the factory was only 265lbs @ 2000 rpms. I'd probably be looking for more gears than even the 3.08, maybe even a 3.23. FWIW, I realize this isn't exactly the same vehicle but my Bronco came with a 5.0 V8, automatic and 3.55 gears. It's a land slug at best. It came factory with the 235/75/15 wheels and tires. I consider the max trailer weight at 2000lbs with it and in any kind of hills or like going across the mountains of Colorado, the truck not only struggled pulling a popup camper, it boiled the transmission fluid out of it.
FWIW, I took the time to look to see if I had the Trailer Towing catalog from Ford. I've cleaned out a friends Ford dealership a time or two getting all kinds of catalogs. On your YM, the trailer towing capacity for an F150 2wd 2.73 gears, any cab configuration, is zero. Not recommended at all. For the 3.08 gears, regular cab, 2wd, 2300lbs,... Supercab 1900lbs,... 4x4, any configuration, not recommended. For the 3.55 axle ratio 2wd 3700lbs regular cab,......Supercab 2wd 3300lbs. It shows the Supercrew not available with the 4.9. This for a truck with a 5 speed manual transmission. The automatic almost doubles the trailer weight. You would deduct any load or people from the numbers to get the net trailer weight. Ford required the Handling Package for any trailer over 2000lbs. That would be the larger sway bars front and rear. You might not have either or you might have both, you'll need to look. They recommended the Super Engine cooling which was a thicker radiator.

 

There is a good chance it will have 3.55's in it, and it may even have LS. What's the AXLE code on the door jamb sticker?

The tow rating limits with the manual transmission are due to the transmission, it's a light duty Mazda gearbox.

 

I picked it up and drove it home. Other than having to bypass the heater core which resulted in me freezing, I didn't have any problems driving home. The heater core was leaking and I already got that changed out. The inside of the radiator and the fluid looked nasty though. I drained it out and filled it with a cleaning solution. Once I get that cleaned out, I am going to replace the both radiator and heater hoses, t-stat, and radiation cap and fill it up.

It came with the original window sticker although it didn't have the price on it. Turns out it has the 3.55 which killed my fuel economy. It also has the super engine cooling. There is another line that says " 206 #2 P/L 2172/GVWR 6100 LBS."

The owners manual suggests 10w-30 for oil and I wasn't able to find out for sure what has been used in it. I'll probably go with that to be on the safe side.

I'm going to change out all of the fluids. I noticed the owners manual says 80w-90 for the axle. Seems like the options for that is limited. What would you suggest? I've seen some say use 75w-90 or 75w-140 and some of those results are from Bob is the Oil Guy.

 

I'm sure there isn't enough difference in 75w90 an 80w90 to matter. I'd stick with the manufacturers recommendation on the thinner oil. If you want a traction lock rear, it probably wouldn't be too hard to find a whole axle assembly in a salvage yard. What is the axle code on the door jam sticker or on the diff cover tags?

 

Traction lock 3.55's are easy to find. 75W90 synthetic is fine, if it has traction lock add a bottle of Ford XL-3 modifier, dealers have it just as cheap as you can find it elsewhere.

 

Thanks. So far I've changed the oil, and trans fluid. The trans fluid was as black as night. The cooling system is still in progress. I'm on the 3rd round of running the Prestone cleaner through it. The fluid still looked nasty as heck when I drained it. The radiator looks a look cleaner inside though.

 

I'm probably going to end up replacing the front rotors and pads. What brand would you recommend for the rotors? It's also been 20+ years since I've dealt with rotors like these. Are there any precautions I should take with the bearings? Should I replace the seals and dust caps? What about the bearings? Even if I do keep the bearings, I plan on cleaning them and repacking them with fresh grease.

I'm tempted to replace the middle seat with a center console. It looks like everything is mounted to a single bottom frame and the two side seats are mounted on tracks that are attached to the frame. Looking at the center consoles, it looks like the OEM ones were mounted using 3 screws. Any idea if those screws attach to the frame or did they go through the floor?

I noticed those "vent" things that are inside the doors near the bottom were rattling around. I pulled the door panel off and didn't notice any hardware around. Any idea what type of hardware was used at the factory to hold them on? I also noticed there was some sort of gasket. I've tried doing some searching. Without knowing the specific term used for that, I haven't had much luck.

I assume most of the dash lights are 194 and the lights for the high beams, air bags, check engine, etc. are 74s.

 

I use Centric Posi-Quiet ceramic pads and Premium rotors. Clean and repack the bearings, use new seals.

https://www.apcautotech.com/part-det...rd&model=f-150

https://www.apcautotech.com/part-det...rd&model=f-150 (rear ABS)
https://www.apcautotech.com/part-det...rd&model=f-150 (4 wheel ABS)

Rock Auto carries them at the best price I've found. They also carry the wheel seals.

 

I'm trying to figure out of I have 2 or 4 wheel abs. I see rear abs in the standard options on the window sticker I have. Nothing about 4 wheel abs in the options area. Following the lines from the master cylinder, I see one goes to something mounted on the frame. There is only 1 other line going to that. I haven't had chance to see if there's any electrical components on the front wheels.