Faults:
Have had to fix three leaks. Poured stop leak into the radiator and fixed the coolant leak.
Have to replace valve cover gaskets to stop the oil leak.
The tranny fluid was leaking, so I tightened the tranny pan/cover and that seemed to fix it.
Engine was missing some, so I replaced the spark plugs and cleaned up the contacts on the spark boot and the distributor cap; that fixed that problem.
A/C was outfitted for the new R134 coolant and that blew a hose a few weeks ago. Replaced the hose and recharged it. Now it's frigid.
A little surface rust. Power washed it off then painted over it.
Temp sensor went bad. Had that replaced no problem.
Radio display burnt out a few years ago. Sent that out to be fixed. Came back as good as new.
Windshield leaks a little in heavy rain. Put some clear epoxy sealant on the outside of the windshield to fix that.
General Comments:
This car has great creature comforts and was way ahead of its time.
It had a cassette player, A/C, cruise control, EFI engine, auto transmission, power windows.
Don't like that it doesn't have an arm rest in the center, and needs some cup holders.
Also has terrible visibility over the hood (has a big nose).
10th Oct 2009, 11:44
When I was building my house in 1986 one of the contractors, who was a friend of ours, had just bought a new 1986 Ford F-150. He finally traded it last year for a 2009 F-150. He had driven it for over 23 years and had put 365,000+ miles on it. He had had virtually no problems with it. He thinks the new one will be even better, and I'm sure he is right. He'll probably drive it until he dies of old age.