1988 Okanagan Econoline 250 Question

Our 3spd auto - 351w powered 1985/6 falcon isn't a "powerhouse" by any means. It does great on fairly level highways. I've had it up to 79mph quite easily. It loves to travel around 70mph though. I can imagine that some really steep passes would have it in 2nd gear going 45mph.

I would just do the full tune up including air filter and see how it feels after. You might as well buy a reman holley 600cfm 4 barrel carb for it for $189 on ebay. That'll surely give it some more pep and better MPG.

I can tell you things about that generation of vehicles, based on trucks and cars I've owned and raced. First, the 3:54 gear in back is a good compromise for that vehicle, but with the weight and aerodynamics of a large brick, it's going to suffer uphill and against a stiff headwind. I had an 87 pickup with that combo to tow a car trailer with and it did fine on rolling hills and flat roads, but throw a 40 mph head wind and I had to drive in 2nd to stay above 50mph. Never took it to mountains, but I'm pretty sure you got all it has to offer. You can get a little more grunt out of it with a cam upgrade and with a better intake. I owned about 30 Mustangs that ranged from ''86-91 and raced most of them. The intake on a truck and a full sized car is opposite of a Mustang with the location of the throttle body, but if you can find ( not hard a few years ago) an intake to fit a '93 Lightning pickup, it ran a 351W and made about 300 hp, even aftermarket would be good, either the stock Lightning cam or a rv cam from Crane or similar. Stock Ford cams are tuned for emissions not power. You might also check the catalytic converter, I'm not sure if a van has 1 or 2, my pickup had 1 Mustangs had 2. Anyway, a free flowing cata will help along with a free flowing muffler, the stock setup on my pickup was stupid restrictive. Where I live there is no emission inspection or testing and back in those days, we also bypassed the air pump, there were kits you could use for that.
It takes some work to get decent power from that generation of Fords. I think the compression ratio is low too, about 8:1 different heads can bump that up some and still run regular, there will things you can do with the ECU as well, but I haven't kept up on that for a long time, we used chips, then they went to flashing the ECU, but I have no idea what is availed for a truck.

Has it got the big bloated turtle top some of the Okanagans had ? That'll slow you down some.45 mph on passes doesn't sound out of line to me.

For all who would like to know, here are some more helpful details:
- OKanagan conversion model number: VC2RT-111
- 8,100 GVWR
- 138" wheelbase
- Gear ratio: 3.54
- Rear axle code: 23
- Overall length: 236"
- 3 speed automatic

stan909 wrote:
I forgot to ask what passes you are talking about. Tejon pass on Interstate 5 is tough for any rv.45 mph with your setup would be about right. Oh and we need pics.

First off, thank you to everyone who has responded with advice. Secondly, in reply to "take it to a good mechanic"; I am a mechanic. I can perform a full tune up, I was just curious to see if anyone could recommend what to look for/upgrade to increase low end torque.

Our Class B won't be seeing mountain passes very often, but once a year we make the trek up to the Rubicon trail, in the Sierra Mountains, off I-80, which fluctuates in 8-10% grade.

There are a lot of things that could restrict your power. Dragging brakes, partly plugged exhaust and so on. Personally, I'd hook a vacuum gauge up to it and check that first. You might just need a tune up. Maybe even a new air filter. Check what you can and then let a mechanic look it over. My B isn't a hot rod but it does head up the hills okay and will stay with traffic at 70.

ol' grouch wrote:

Kyle1228 wrote:
Hi all - my Grandmother and I just returned home from picking up a 1988 Okanagan Econoline 250, with 96k original miles and extensive service records. We paid a good price for it, as it needs some cosmetic work, but it has good bones. With that said, I had a quick question about the 5.8L 351w and 3-speed transmission combo. How easily should these rigs drive through the hills/mountain passes? On our way home, going over a couple hills, the 5.8L really couldn't maintain 55mph. It seemed happiest dropped down in second gear doing 45mph. All gauges checked out, and the engine didn't sound like it was struggling, though there was a high pitched squeal that kicked on a couple times, that sounded like the belts at higher RPM. Is this normal? I know that the conversion kit adds quite a bit of weight and I wouldn't be surprised that chugging along at 45mph over mountain passes is normal, I just wanted to get some insight, considering I'm a newbie.
If everything checks out to be fine and dandy, are there any recommendations on gaining a couple more horses and low-end torque? I'm pretty mechanically inclined, and any thoughts, questions or concerns would be much appreciated!
Thanks

Does your shifter have a circle around the D for drive? Maybe another D next to it? If you have that, you have a 4 speed transmission. Ford used the AOD transmission in cars with that motor starting in the early 80's. Slowing down in the hills while in overdrive isn't surprising as it's intended to keep engine speed down on the open road. Dropping down a gear is normal. If you have the 3 speed transmission, second gear is passing gear and that's normal.

I've got a Coachmen Horizon based on a GMC chassis and hills slow it down every time. Cross winds get really interesting too in cross winds.

Now, you may just need some maintenance. Simple things like an air filter make a BIG difference to economay and power. The 351 we had in the police cars I took care of back then had the variable venturi carburetor until fuel injection came in.

Guys I gotta tell u that my van had problems going uphills from vegas to new mexico, I had to put in in gear 2 to climb hills because regular gear it would not go up hill and struggle to get over 55mph. Just to let you guys know. N I dont have overdrive in my rig. Driving on flat roads is just fine.

Kyle1228 wrote:
Hi all - my Grandmother and I just returned home from picking up a 1988 Okanagan Econoline 250, with 96k original miles and extensive service records. We paid a good price for it, as it needs some cosmetic work, but it has good bones. With that said, I had a quick question about the 5.8L 351w and 3-speed transmission combo. How easily should these rigs drive through the hills/mountain passes? On our way home, going over a couple hills, the 5.8L really couldn't maintain 55mph. It seemed happiest dropped down in second gear doing 45mph. All gauges checked out, and the engine didn't sound like it was struggling, though there was a high pitched squeal that kicked on a couple times, that sounded like the belts at higher RPM. Is this normal? I know that the conversion kit adds quite a bit of weight and I wouldn't be surprised that chugging along at 45mph over mountain passes is normal, I just wanted to get some insight, considering I'm a newbie.
If everything checks out to be fine and dandy, are there any recommendations on gaining a couple more horses and low-end torque? I'm pretty mechanically inclined, and any thoughts, questions or concerns would be much appreciated!
Thanks

Does your shifter have a circle around the D for drive? Maybe another D next to it? If you have that, you have a 4 speed transmission. Ford used the AOD transmission in cars with that motor starting in the early 80's. Slowing down in the hills while in overdrive isn't surprising as it's intended to keep engine speed down on the open road. Dropping down a gear is normal. If you have the 3 speed transmission, second gear is passing gear and that's normal.

I've got a Coachmen Horizon based on a GMC chassis and hills slow it down every time. Cross winds get really interesting too in cross winds.

Now, you may just need some maintenance. Simple things like an air filter make a BIG difference to economay and power. The 351 we had in the police cars I took care of back then had the variable venturi carburetor until fuel injection came in.

I forgot to ask what passes you are talking about. Tejon pass on Interstate 5 is tough for any rv.45 mph with your setup would be about right. Oh and we need pics.

The hp ratings for a 351W is the same if carbureted or EFI. 210 hp but EFI made 10 more ft lbs 305 or 315. 2 other things you need to know in order to determine if it was running properly, 1 is rear axle ratio, and weight. The axle ration will determine engine speed and weight will determine how hard the engine will need work to move the van. 351w are not high rpm motors, and make peak power around 3000 rpm.