Xr4ti... Sitting since 05..headgasket?

[John V]

The biggest issue I've had is replacing everything that's made of rubber.... suspension mounts, seals in the engine, tyres, tank (still have to do the gearbox, maybe the diff), as the rubber dries out, shrinks and hardens over time.

This is everyone's fear including mine. Leaking like a sieve.
I'm just going to drop the tank and throw a walbro in it. 100 dollar end all fix.
Any info on the dipstick?

Just a gentle, kind, thoughtful suggestion...
Sere I don't like working on cars... especially i don't like working on things that are poitlessly, stupidly more difficult than needed..
Some few things are needed to run the car, fuel in the tank needs to go to the injectors at the right volume and pressure.
The fuel pump is a NEEDED thing--needed to run the car..AC isn't. All the stupid BS "door ajar, pads wearing, ash-tray near full warning buzzer, tail,light out---all that crap is bullsh1t... But fuel pump, alternator, water that's NEEDED..
To me---ON A STREET driven car----I like the fact the main pump is just where it is.... I can get to it quickly and easily...

I am not thrilled that the lift pump is acessible only by fighting with the dirty crusty tank mounting junk, that the metal acess plate is a POS thing thing and that I really have to screw with that crap---when like a different version of our car---a nice fast 2,0 16V turbo version (ya know, the one with the much much nicer looking single back window , yeah, the one that did 150mph stock) it did away with the lift pump and had a simple 14mm barbed connection coming out of the bottom of the nicer, more compact tank direct to the bigger Bosch pump---with the NICE BIG 14mm dia hose connection, easily accessible..no muss. No fuss, no pins , no stays, no messy pads to change..

No my real interest in these cars is all about driving them down nice back roads with gravel surfaces and getting sideways in them..As it happens there are occasionally nast rocks in the gravel...I don't want to hike 40 miles back to the nearest asphalt road so IF there's danger of rocks pounding the pump to pulp, I move it into the spare tire well---along with a BIG herking Bosch filter...

In other words, why the fawk ---aside from every kid under 35 yapping on every stupid car forum yapping "I'm putting an intank WAl Bro, 250l/hr no wait 500 l/min-----why go to efforts to pump something indispensible in such a pain in the ass location when you don't have to?
You going to be driving where the gravel and rocks are gonna smoosh the pump?

And if its such a brilliant idea---well why not put the fuel filler under the back seat for the flush look?
Or the ignition switch in the ash tray?
And the coolant fill in the glovebox?

All the cool kids are doin' it...what could possibly go wrong..

And a final gentle thought..
OEM Bosch pumps are goor and the inlet sizes are good.. I've looked at the inner diameter of a good friend who was doin' what everybody says, and the ID of the inlet was SMALL..
Yuck..
There are many other Fords that use the same pump, why not a known good second had one and why NOT in the same location?/

Finally NOTE:

the internal lift pump is exact same unit on 1979-I don't know when Saab 900, Volvo 240, Volvo 740, plenty out there.

Just thoughts...

[T4EaterJonny]

........
Nevermind. So does the merkur and svo use the same oil pan? I need a dipstick.

[In XS 7]

........
Nevermind. So does the merkur and svo use the same oil pan? I need a dipstick.

I think merkur dipstick is different/unique,also just a FYI, a very, VERY important thing about the XR4Ti dipsticks is that ALL of them have the mark for the "TOP FILL LEVEL" wrong from factory, so they give a false or wrong oil level, what we do is drain the oil and when fill it up with new oil you go by the right amount of oil quarter/bottles and then we make a new mark on the dipstick which now will show the real and right level of oil, just use a scribe or anything to scratch a new line. you can ask one of our vendors I am pretty sure they have some dipsticks, here are the links.


http://www.merkurmidwest.com/index.html

http://www.merkurdepot.com/

[boost_is_fun]

I think merkur dipstick is different/unique,also just a FYI, a very, VERY important thing about the XR4Ti dipsticks is that ALL of them have the mark for the "TOP FILL LEVEL" wrong from factory, so they give a false or wrong oil level, what we do is drain the oil and when fill it up with new oil you go by the right amount of oil quarter/bottles and then we make a new mark on the dipstick which now will show the real and right level of oil, just use a scribe or anything to scratch a new line. you can ask one of our vendors I am pretty sure they have some dipsticks, here are the links.


http://www.merkurmidwest.com/index.html

http://www.merkurdepot.com/

Do the merkur dipsticks read high or low? about how much are they off?

[T4EaterJonny]

On my white merkur i drained the oil and filled with five quarts and it sat at the full mark. It didnt seem off and i knew about that. Always good info to repeat so others read it as well.
Dropped the tank tonight. Gas tank looks pretty bad inside... Its coke colored everywhere with black particulates floating around. This is going to be a project.

[Swanny]

If it's anything like this...



you will need to treat and seal the inside of the tank.

This is what came out of mine....





And what I treated the tank with....



It seals the inside of the tank, after neutralising and priming the innards, stopping any further rust.

[RichBaker]

Mine has a punch mark abt 1", 1 1/2" above the stock mark. Reads dead on after an oil change.

I think merkur dipstick is different/unique,also just a FYI, a very, VERY important thing about the XR4Ti dipsticks is that ALL of them have the mark for the "TOP FILL LEVEL" wrong from factory, so they give a false or wrong oil level, what we do is drain the oil and when fill it up with new oil you go by the right amount of oil quarter/bottles and then we make a new mark on the dipstick which now will show the real and right level of oil, just use a scribe or anything to scratch a new line. you can ask one of our vendors I am pretty sure they have some dipsticks, here are the links.


http://www.merkurmidwest.com/index.html

http://www.merkurdepot.com/

Do the merkur dipsticks read high or low? about how much are they off?

[T4EaterJonny]

Dear god that looks awful but brilliant after pic.

[Swanny]

Dear god that looks awful but brilliant after pic.

I ended up doing the job twice, the first time I replaced the pump and filters, but didn't treat the tank.

The second time I pulled the tank out and treated it, and had to replace the pump again.

That filter is the new one after I had to pull the tank the second time, when everything clogged up with rust particles.

So, as you have the tank out, if it's rusted like mine was it'd be a good time to stop that problem happening again!

[T4EaterJonny]

I don't think mine is rusty. Its got all that tar looking gunk in it though.