I think I got screwed, please help me out!

[flint_knapper]

yep check the modulater valves vac. line. if it is in place <br>then go get a replacement for it. when you take the clamp off be sure to have a drain pan under it I think there is a small spring or some kind of UFO behind the valve becareful not to loose it this will lower your fluid level also. be sure not to be under it when you pull it loose, nothing like hot atf fluid in the face. be sure to use atf fluid rated type F. the price you paid for a clean bronco sounds fair. ;D edelbrock and carter are the same nowadays. the kick down rod can be had at any of the bronco venders that have used parts. the carb might need what is called a ford kickdown bracket, it mounts to the throttle lever on the carb if it doesn't allready have it they are under 20 at summit.

 

[luvmybronco]

This may be a stupid question, but nobody else has asked...Make sure you have a tranny cooler, (lines from tranny going to either, inside your radiator, or an external cooler...)
I've seen some people do some really stupid stuff to old cars so they can get rid of them quick...Like make a loop in the tranny lines, and not even have a cooler....
BTW, I'll give you 4,000.00 for it right now
J/K you got a good deal...Even if the trans is shot, you can pick c4 trannys up at a decent price...

 

[supermottl]

YEah man! I think you got a score!! I would've bought it too. These problems sound like little quirks that will be worked out over time and you get to learn all about your ride. To me, a good body/frame/paint is good to have when buying, because a lot of the other stuff, I can do myself. Painting/body work is expensive. Try not too beat yourself up about it, and I wanna see some pics?!!<br>Rock on , good luck, and have fun. <br>Life isn't so bad.. ;D

 

[74bronc]

First, why not drain fluid by disconnecting the dipstick tube at the pan? Drain the amount you need and then hook it back up. Seems easier than dropping the whole pan or siphoning out of the dipstick tube (I have done that before).<br><br>As for the shifting, if the C-4 has a fairly new rebuild, I was told by a Ford tranny guru that the C-4 is notorious for the not shifting back down to first right away when coming to a stop. Apparently this is due to the seals inside the tranny not releasing pressure when they should. This exact thing happened on mine when I rebuilt it last summer. Sometimes it would drop back into first and other times I would have to start out in manual 1 then shift through the gears. After about 3 monthes, this problem is totally gone.<br><br>I don't think you got screwed at all. These are just little quirks that are bound to come up on a 30+ year old rig. Work them out the way you want it and then you will have a reliable rig the way you like it.<br><br>As for the carb, this hard starting problem is also common on Edelbrock/Carter carbs. Every one that I have ever dealt with has this same quirk. I would change it to a quadrajet or stock 2 bbl if I were you. I am not a fan of that carb myself but some people like it. When you start it when its cold, you should just be able to give it a few squirts and then start it without touching the gas pedal. When hot, it should start right up without touching anything. I would also check the choke adjustment.

 

[boatbldr]

Outshine,<br>Where are you in town? I'd love to come over and check out your new ride this week after work.<br>Kent<br>

 

[Outshine2]

Alright, today I'm going to head out and get a pump and tackle the fluid level. My Chilton's manual does not describe an auto tranny at all, so I'm really at a loss on what to look at (modulator valve) but I'll just follow some lines from the manifold and see where that goes. I'm not so upset that things are broken on the truck, I mean it is almost 30 years old, it just seems like the seller did things to conceal the problems, I thought I was getting a truck that was pretty good to go from the start... Thanks again everyone. Kent, I actually moved down to Loveland, right near 287&34th, if you seriously want to check it out let me know.

 

[merciless]

I asked about a kickdown as well before this is what im going to buy for mine from summit lokar cable part number ( LOK-KD-20C4HT) $51.95<br><br>http://store.summitracing.com/defau...keyword&Part=lokar&Search.x=1&SearchType=Both<br><br><br>As far as the shifting also make sure the kickdown linkage is in the pushed back position. I accendental left my non working kickdown bar in the foward kickdown position and it was shifting erratically.<br><br>Good luck, I bought my 76 for 5500 as well and had to get the tran rebuilt and a new ignition system. I already had people offer me 10k for mine. So its been a worthy investement.

 

[Outshine2]

Could the seller have been trying to cover something up by overfilling the tranny that far? I mean it's WAY past full... I don't know how anyone could put that much in and not know it was too much, he definitely knew a good deal about the bronco and cars in general, I can't imagine he would make a mistake like that, seems on purpose... Would that temporarily hide a poor shifting or noisy tranny?

 

[Jeepster]

If your going to the parts store. Look for the Haynes Ford auto tranny overhaul book $10 or so. It has the C4 and a couple other ford trannys in it. Might help you figure it out.

 

[DPM77]

Seems to me that every used car I ever bought had some kind of repair necessary. Figure you have to spend another 500-1,000 to dial it in, you still got a great rig. Just take a few minutes to list why you bought the rig, and balance that against the problems. Also, you have the resources available here for help with Q's, I never had that with any of my rigs before, and it makes all the difference. <br><br>Something as old as what we drive always has minor quirks, you will figure them out. <br><br>Congratulations on owning the best there is for 'wheeling!<br><br>Roll On, <br><br>Dan

 

[t2jeff]

that feeling really sucks...I felt the same way when I bought mine. Like, what did I do????? Hang in there, everything is fixable and somethings fix themselves!!!<br><br>jeff

 

[Jeepster]

I would like to make a comment in general and its not intended to disrespect outshine or anyone else, just an observation:When buying used, be it 1 yr old or 30....what you see is what you get. Things do happen so count on it. If the ride was perfect the person wouldn't be selling it. What seems to good to be true prob isn't. Never listen to a sellers hype . Assume that everything is bad. Everyone is honest till they get your money. : If you find something that you didnt check before hand, its your fault (the seller dont have to tell you anything). Never pay top dollar. And "In God we trust" everyone else is suspect ;D

I really dont want to seem so hard and untrusting but sometimes you got to think that way. I have delt with some very honest people (some from this board) but its the buyers responsabilty to know what hes looking at to help keep everyone honest if you know what I mean.

 

[boatbldr]

Shine,<br>That's not far from me. Fire me off an e-mail at boatbldr@peakpeak.com and let me know when is a good time to come down.<br>I'm sure I can give you some ideas to spend more money on! When you get it set up, we can go wheeling.<br>I'm free evenings all week-anytime after 4:00.<br>K<br>

 

[Outshine2]

Jeepster... I know it was all my fault, I did have the chance to look it over and to drive it around alot. I'm not so pissed that the seller lied to sell the vehicle, just pissed that I didn't catch it. Usually I am the one to see a vehicle, drive it for five minutes, and buy it right there, complete impulse buy... but this time it was different... I took the better part of 2 hours completely looking over and checking everything that I could. I'm just confused how it could run so well for the long test drive and most of the way home, and now be pretty useless...

 

[Jeepster]

Outshine, I'm not saying its your fault. please dont take it that way. Those were just general comments of observations that I have when buying something. Buying a vehicle is hard, something that certanly cant be done quickly unless you do it all the time and have experence. To get experence you got to get burned to know what to look for. It may not be a situation where anybody lied or that there was anything to "catch" Its a machine where things "happen" Your just bumed out now but I'm sure its just something simple that needs to be tweaked. Vehicles dont just turn to crap that fast, It was running good. right? Hell when I brought mine home it didnt run at all. A little TLC and some pocket change its running sweet. Yours might be the same way. Just got to be smarter than the Bronco

 

[Guest]

Outshine,<br>Just make sure when you drain out some of the trans fluid, you make sure to put back in some sawdust. i think when the guy added some to sell it to you it may have already wore out. Let me know if you want to trade the c4, I have a perfect 3 on the tree I will trade you for. Once you get it dialed in, they are really cool trucks !

 

[Outshine2]

Alright, I drained a bit of tranny fluid (about 30 oz!) and got it to normal level. Drove it around a bit and at first it again didn't want to shift out of first automatically... but after driving for about 10 mins it started acting much better. It would shift from 1-2 and back from 2-1 just like it's supposed to... but I don't think it ever made it to 3rd... I would get going and start to wrap the engine out at about 40ish and it still wouldn't shift for me :-U Oh well, I guess it's progress right now eh. What would make the tranny perform so badly when cold?

 

[Rustytruck]

Relax the tranny is working so it is a minor fix. You don't need a kick down lever for it to work properly except if you floor it you wont have a passing gear. you will have to pull it down manually. But you do need to put a spring or tie up the kick down lever or the tranny wont shift properly it will just kind of do its own thing. go down by the pan on the driver side and you will see the shift lever next to that lever you will see another one with out nothing hooked to it. this lever must be held in the up position except during passing gear application. so hook a spring on this lever and hook it to anything to hold it up. The C-4 doesn't like being over filled or under filled and if it is under filled by I/2 a quart it wont move. It sounds more to me about being over filled it was airaiting the fluid. The shift points for the tranny can be controled by the modulator which is at the back of the tranny just above the pan on the passengers side. this unit is vacuum operated and any vacuum leak can cause this thing to go haywire some screw in and some use a metal piece to clamp it in place. Broncos should have the clamp in piece. Remove bolt and wiggle out but tranny fluid will dump from the hole so have a catch pan available. If you remove the vacuum lines from this unit and they apear wet inside the modulator is screwed get a new one. sometimes just the oil around the out side eats the rubber and the hose needs to be replaced. The modulator comes in several varities so get the same one you remove. There are about 8 different models depending on where the tranny came from and since this is an old truck it may have had several trannies in there. Dont worry they are also available in an adjustable unit where you put a screwdriver in the largest vacuum port and adjust the shift points. So trace the Vacuum lines and make sure they are good if you have a severs vacuum leak it can give you your hard starting problem. But i think that is eithor timing related or a carb problem. The carb gets my vote there.

 

[Outshine2]

Awesome Rusty Truck, thanks, that's just the info I need to keep troubleshooting! Jeepster - It seemed consistant and had no particles in it... not sure how ATF is supposed to smell but it didn't smell "burnt" or anything like that. I'll poke around and you you guys know if I find anything...

 

[Jeepster]

should be a nice red, not muddy looking.

RT your da man.......see if you hang out long enought someone will come up with good stuff