Suggest you replace the thermostat and water pump while in there.

 

good point ill pick up a pump tonight! anything else? i did the plugs it has a bright blue spark and the wires are in good shape and not dry rotted at all. it still had the orginal plugs in it and they were clean and in good shape with the correct gap, but i figured might as well replace them since they are 23 years old. honestly im mostly worried about having a cooling line burst (although they are in good shape), or prolems with vaccum lines some where since there is so many of them on that motor.

 

Small vacuum lines aren't going to strand you

In fleet applications, I see a lot of regular interval replacement items get 'stretched' out mileage wise. Especially heater lines etc. Usually the first hose to fail will be the top hose at the water outlet/T housing since it takes the most heat as coolant exits the engine.

A lot of times with hoses, or even base cooling system components (rad./heater core etc), you may get an early warning, some but not all, choose to not look at coolant levels regularly, scan the complete engine compartment once in a while. What I tell owners of ANY high mileage vehicle is to try and check the ground where you have recently parked when/after backing up, more so in the hot weather season. Or, check ALL the vitals at least every other tank of fuel. Just extra insurance against a possible failure coming on.

Sometimes a bleeder will give you a heads up before a catastrophic failure occurs. I can't tell you how many upper rad. hoses I've seen swollen like a balloon at the water out housing that the driver wasn't aware of until it pinholed or popped, or weeping radiator tanks, engine gaskets and such. Or, as soon as you open the hood during a normal service you get a wiff of coolant smell that isn't a clear and present danger. If the hoses are pliable without being mussy, hard, then replace as needed if low mileage.

With any high mileage/vintage rig, trying to anticipate possible problems and make the old girl reliable is good, especially if a long distance runner, within reason though $$, a watchful eye probably the best tool in the box

 

awesome great info thanks! the van has a very well documented 30,000 miles on it with all the service/maintenace records in the book, but after sitting since 96 i think ill replace that upper cooling hose you mentioned.

Im use to keeping a eye out for small warning signs, i drive BMW with 31x,xxx miles on it for wok every day and eairly warning signs is how you keep a BMW alive!

 

Is it running?

 

Have not fired it up since i took it down to put in the injectors, I have not had a chance to work on it since sunday. I should be able to get to it this week or weekend.

 

Good luck. I know how it is to wait. I work on mine outside and it's been wind chills in the single digits here.

 

For what it is worth.
I have found that Fords perform best with Motorcraft spark plugs and Genuine Ford brake pads. If possible , keep an eye on the parking brake cables on the rear, they like to freeze up from non use. Then when you do use them they don't like to release completely. I don't know where you will be driving, but the wheel rims where the center hole of the rim rides on the hub can be difficult to separate if you need to remove a wheel on the road and a little neverseize will help prevent this problem. Only put it around the hole in the center of the rim .

 

Quick update,

I havnt had a ton of time to work on her lately between my job 9-5 job and my side business buying, fixing, and selling euorpean and Japanese cars and motorcycles. Anyway now that I am waiting on parts for the two BMW im working on (540i and 325i) I finally had time to work on it some more all new injectors are in they are OEM replacements with some sort of upgraded nozzle for better fuel mielage......so they say, new valve cover gaskets are in, finally got to the two front spark plugs on the passenger side that were such a pain in the *** to reach, intake plenium and new gasket is on, now all that is left is hooking all the emissions hoses and vaccum lines and she should be ready to fire up. I also have lined up one of the fold flat bench seats that turns into a bed from a coversion van to replace my bench seat infront of my dividing wall so that i have a place to sleep in this thing, after a very intense cleaning/disinfecting I will be installing it.

Here are a couple pics of the valve cover and underneath it, i did not clean these this is how clean they are........which was a pleasnt suprise compared to underneath the valve covers of the high mielage cars i usually buy.

 

I have found that it was much easier to remove the battery and the four 8mm head bolts that hold the air filter assy when changing those 2 R/S plugs. Since you are already into changing valve cover gaskets you probably have already done that.