Al's 1993 Aerostar XL (Green)

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asavage
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#46

Post by asavage »

plenzen wrote: Perhaps the sealant or whatever is insulating from a proper/good ground.
While I've seen this mentioned before (specifically with the temperature sensor for my transmission), I think the sealant-insulates-sensor is BS. I'm not throwing invective at you, Paul, but I refuse to believe that a bit of teflon tape on a pipe taper joint is going to have any effect on the circuit resistance.

However . . . because I've been wrong before . . . I just put my Fluke 23 on it, and there is less than one ohm resistance from the sensor base to the PS pump bracket a long way away. Conclusion: the pipe tape has no effect.
The clear piece of Lexan will be cool :!: ( no pun intended) Picture of that please. :P
The stuff McMaster-Carr sells is about $7/lf. But . . . its operating range is only 40°F to 200°F, which isn't nearly wide enough range. It was a good idea, though.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
plenzen
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#47

Post by plenzen »

I said it was waaayy out there. ( no denunciation taken). How about hooking your meter (+) to the center pin on the sender and the other side (-) to the body of the sender and seeing if there are rapidly changing resistance #'s that might cause these rapid fluctuations in the gauge?? Will that work? Or have you tried that??? I have lost count

Paul
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Problem with being retired is that you never get a day off.
1987 D21-J SD25 KC
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rlaggren
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#48

Post by rlaggren »

However . . . because I've been wrong before . . . I just put my Fluke 23 on it, and there is less than one ohm resistance from the sensor base to the PS pump bracket a long way away. Conclusion: the pipe tape has no effect.
You sure less than one volt is not "significant"?

Anyway, if I understood correctly you had a test meter hooked to the sensor while you were driving; I assume that showed fluctuations congruent with those on the dash gauge. If so, you could try removing the harness lead from the sensor but leave the test lead connected - eliminate any panel voltage issues and see if the test meter still fluctuates. If it does, then double check the ground connection for the test meter - run it to the block next to the sensor and thus eliminate block/chassis ground issues for the test meter.

Maybe the warm-up behavior can tell you something. Does the dash gauge read normally (steady) up until the 'stat opens (I assume the drop after hitting run-temp is the stat opening)? If it reads steady (w/gradual rise) as expected during warm-up, seems there's a fair chance the electrics are OK and the temps really are screwy.

Rufus
82 Maxima wagon
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asavage
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#49

Post by asavage »

rlaggren wrote:
However . . . because I've been wrong before . . . I just put my Fluke 23 on it, and there is less than one ohm resistance . . .
You sure less than one volt is not "significant"?
OHM, not volt. Under one ohm resistance from the base of the sensor to an unrelated bracket is not significant, and is not within the ability of my Fluke 23 to measure accurately. That is, the Fluke will give me a reading under 1 ohm, but it is not really an accurate measurement. I do have a low-ohms meter that I use for measuring ESR in capacitors, where resistance under one ohm is significant, but I won't drag it out for this problem because one ohm resistance is not a factor in a circuit whose normal resistance is 10 to 74 ohms.
Anyway, if I understood correctly you had a test meter hooked to the sensor while you were driving
No, I haven't done that yet, but I plan to.
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#50

Post by asavage »

I went to use the rear wiper a few days ago, and it wiped, but made horrible grinding noise.

I tore it apart. In an application where the motor will receive lots of hard shocks (closing the tailgate), Ford specified a permanent magnet motor!

One of the composite curved magnets had broken and was stuck to the armature. I epoxied it back to the housing. Works a charm. Wish I'd taken a pic of the magnet while it was out, but only thought of it after I'd glued it back in.

Note there is no idle end brg on this motor -- the idle end of the armature just has a plastic thrust button! Cheap cheap cheap . . .

I lightly sprayed everything down with Tri-Flow before reassembly, to try to reduce the rusting in there.

(click on any image for larger)
Image Image Image Image
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
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asavage
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#51

Post by asavage »

As I was driving a couple of days ago, it suddenly started shifting oddly. And it got much worse over two days.

Upshifts were too early by far, and soft. And I was getting flare (engine revving) during shifts. Not good: that's the sort of thing that can fry a transmission fast.

It would upshift to 3rd by 20 MPH regardless of throttle position (up to 3/4 throttle, where the mechanical kickdown cable comes into play).

Thinking back, I recall a similar problem with a 1970 Coupe deVille, in 1987 in Salem, Ore. That one turned out to be a physically bent & damaged vacuum modulator.

I went by storage today and pulled a vacuum modulator off the trans that I'd had rebuilt for the grey '89 Aero back in 1999 for $1650 by Transmission Xchange in Portland, Ore. It failed after about 85k miles, but I kept it. Presumably, it has an aftermarket replacement modulator.

I pulled out the probably-original modulator from my '93. I don't have a Mity-Vac with a gauge handy here, so I just sucked on it using my mouth. The '93's modulator is much easier to suck the pin down, than the aftermarket one.

In the pic below, my presumably OEM modulator on the '93 is on the right, the Transmission Xchange with 85k on it is on the left.

(click on any image for larger)
Image

Swapping the modulator out solved the problem. I cut apart the OEM one, and find that it's got an aneroid in it.

Image

I'm guessing that's an altitude compensator.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
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Headlight switch replacement & connector repair

#52

Post by asavage »

For about a year, I would occasionally get a overheated-plastic type of smell when I'd drive a long time. I assumed from the stink (a smell I've encountered in other vehicles) that wiring was overheating.

Given the propensity of Fords of a certain vintage to melt their headlight switch connector down, I assumed that that was what I was smelling.

Well, last week the taillights failed my lights check (I do a walk-around and check all the exterior lights while filling the petrol tank). Fuse good.

So, here's the quick rundown on how to fix this on a 1993 Aerostar XL without automatic headlights (the auto-HL version has a different switch). AFAIK, this should be the same procedure on any Aerostar 1992 and newer.

(click on any image for larger)

All all of the screws to be removed were 7mm head on my rig.

The first hurdle is to remove the headlight switch knob. It's not obvious how that's done.
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Here's what you're fighting: a spring clip.
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Turn the dimmer knob to reveal the notch on the side.
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You'll need a steel tool of some sort to push that spring clip towards the back of the vehicle. I used this, but I've done it before with a No. 1 (or smaller) flathead screwdriver.
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Pull (or push) the clip toward the head of the knob. When you do it right, the knob will fall off the end of the shaft.
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The plain shaft. This will get transferred to the new switch.
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Remove the three screws under the knee trim panel (red arrows), then use your fingers to work around the right side and unpop the panel from the right side first. When the right side is free, work on the left side. The left end is nested behind the left kick panel, and has to be finessed a bit.
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Next, the radio surround must be removed. Remove the ashtray, then remove the two screws behind the ashtray. Carefully work your fingers around the entire surround, popping it loose one clip at a time.
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Leave all the wiring (cigar lighter, rear wiper switch, rear defrost) connected, you don't need to move the radio surround too far.
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You now have access to the two right-side lower screws for the instrument cluster surround. Remove them.
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On the left of the column, carefully unpop the left vent assy. No screws hold it in place.
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You now have access to the single left-side lower screw for the instrument cluster surround. Remove it.
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Remove the two upper instrument cluster surround screws. A 1/4" socket and ratchet works well here. Tilt the steering wheel down, turn the key to ON, shift to Low, then the surround can be removed. Put the shifter back in Park, turn key off.
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There's the switch in its adapter bracket.
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Remove the last two screws, and withdraw the switch from the dash.
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The bits laying all over.
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When I removed the switch from the connector, this is what I saw:
Image
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The contact for the taillights was burnt badly:
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Image

From left: old switch, new switch, new connector.
NAPA (Echlin) No. HL6663 headlight switch, $20
NAPA (Echlin) No. EC6 connector w/pigtail, $12
Note that Standard and BWD have connectors listed, but the years of models covered seem to vary widely.
NAPA had NO listing for my '93 Aerostar. However, I gave them the BWD No. PT767, which they crossed-referenced into the Echlin BC6, and when he used his computer to tell him what models that part covered, my '93 Aero is listed. Go figure.
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Image
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Use a 15/16" box-end wrench to unscrew the threaded retainer that holds the steel adapter plate to the front of the switch.

Transfer the shaft from the old switch to the new. I didn't get a picture of the release button, but here's someone else's pic. Pull the shaft out as far as it will go, then depress the button shown and pull the shaft out completely. To install, just push it fully into the new switch; it will self-lock in place.
Image
Image

Cut off the old connector
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Connectors comparison
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Soldering the nine wires
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Image
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Reassembly is, as they say, the reverse of disassembly.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
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asavage
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Re: Al's 1993 Aerostar XL (Green)

#53

Post by asavage »

Linking to the other 1993 Aerostar thread, which contains some maintenance notes and the post about downgrading (to sealed beams) the headlights.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
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