hi there. i just went to Baker City Oregon today from Libby Montana (about 400 miles) to pick up my new 79 f150 with a 300 straight six. this guy i bought it from was crazy. EVERYTHING on this truck is BRAND NEW. engine, tranny, transfer case, rear end, front end, everything. the engine has a sticker on it that says Jasper Engines and Transmissions. I have a couple of questions. How do you tell if the engine is original and rebuilt, or if its just a brand new engine? any identification marks? and its been sitting for about 3 years and the new motor has 25 miles on it. i tried starting it today and nothing. if you put gas in the carb it starts for a second, but then dies... what should i do??? i have to bring it home tomorrow but i need to get it started.... any ideas?? thanks so much!!

 

Well I would say the carb is gummed up, or fuel pump might not be working. If you have a wrench I would have someone turn the motor over, and crack the fuel line a very small amount to see if its pumping fuel. If it is then I would say there is something wrong with the carb. Did you check the local craigslist for trucks beford going to oregon though. I know where you could get an awesome 78 or 79 here in kalispell. How much was it. On the engine, you really need to do a casting number check to see if its the right vehicle/year for you to know if its the original. I would say its probubly a rebuilt one, and the original one was given back as a core charge. This isn't an issue, since thats what I did. Guess if you got it back to montana, I could help. LOL I am in Cfalls.

 

It may be as simple as bottle feeding it gas until the fuel system primes itself and starts pumping on its own.

 

my grandpas friend died and he gave the truck to me. It was free so hey. I just wish I could find out if it is the original engine. At least the block. And could it be bad gas?? And it would be great if you could help me

 

yeah we tried bottle feeding it for about 15 seconds....should we try longer?

 

I have had them take a little bit, you could crack open the fuel line as previously posted too. I would probably try the bottle again.

 

ok i will try that... anything else you could maybe think of that could be the problem??

 

If the engine came from Jasper it is likely a new remanufactured engine and not original.

 

You can also use a air compressor with an air blow gun, and a rag, and take the gas cap off and pressurize the fuel tank to get gas to the fuel pump. If its an electric one, it needs to be mounted low, so it get fuel from gravity. This ensures that the pump doesn't run empty, cause that can cause problems. Need to make sure you don't have fuel before bottle feeding though. If you have fuel at the carb, I don't think that bottle feeding it will solve anything. Does it have dual tanks, cause the fuel selector valve could be bad, and not allow you to get gas. I assume you put gas in the tank. Even if the gas was bad, I would think adding fresh gas should be fine. Might want to add some seafoam to be safe. Too, bad its not a 351m/400, cause I have an extra mechanical fuel pump, and stuff. You could always rent a car dolly from Uhaul to get it home, if you have another truck to tow it. Then you could take hwy 2 and avoid the passes.

 

so does it matter that its not the original engine? are there any marks to say so? or anything like that? does it decrease value?

 

Not on these. It wouldn't matter since its not old enough, and its not a rare engine or anything. My engine is from S and J out of spokane, and it definately adds value to my truck. I mean an engine with 3000 miles, or 200,000 miles. 3000 mile motor is worth more, even being a rebuilt one.

 

Where are the markings at? On the block? Because there are numbers and letters on the block

 

Yes numbers and letters on the block. Not sure about with the 300, to what ones you need to check, but its not important. Companys like the one you mentioned will only rebuild the engine that you bring if you special order it, and most people just do an engine exchange. You have a motor from another truck, and its not a issue trust me. Now if this was a 429 boss motor in a mustang, and someone might have changed it out for a truck 429 then yes this would be an issue, and its should be checked out, but this is just not the case with this truck. Its barely even old enough to be considered a classic. Hope you are not just careing about reselling the truck for money. This is something left behind for you to use and cherish. Anyways the 300 is rarely sought after, and will most likely hinder the cost reguardless if it was original or not. Most would like to have a 351w or 400, or 460 as far as a collector item.

 

No no no... I will never sell this truck. Just wanted to know if it was rebuilt or new and why it won't start

 

The easiest for you would be to call jasper, and ask them yourself. They most likely keep records on what they do for years, and should be able to tell you if it was replaced or rebuilt. Other wise it will take alot of looking up of casting numbers, and then you may have a engine from a differant vehicle from the same year, and there is now way of telling. Ford puts the factory of which the block was cast(by city), the year it was cast, and usally what vehicle it came from. Do follow up on the advice given, and I believe you will have more info for use to help you get it going. Worst case senerio, you need some fuel line, fuel filter, and a new pump, and carb. Since it runs on the bottle, the engine seams to be fine. Now since they replace the motor, I would guess the carb is the original, and it may have as many miles as the engine that was replace, and that might just need to be rebuilt too. with the air cleaner off, you should be able to see gas spraying when you manually move the throttle.