All,

She died on me while driving to work. Awaiting the tow truck now. She will try to crank, but just spins.

I believe I have fuel flowing to the motor. When I run a jumper wire, the pump runs and I smell gas.

I don't believe I'm getting spark. I pulled a plug wire and grounded it and saw nothing.

I replaced the distributor cap, rotor and plug wires a while back. Engine ran fine since. However, I did not replace the ignition control module or ignition coil.

How can I go about testing them to figure out if they are good?

I'll also put a noid light on the injectors to ensure they're doing what they should be.

 

could also be the pip sensor under the distributor, or close to under it, i had that fail on mine once, would run for 15 minutes and die then restart in an hour, i would let it sit for a day or as long as you can and see if it restarts as that could be useful in determining the problem

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm at work now, so I should be able to let it sit all day and give it a go around 4

 

if it is the PIP sensor it will be fine then die let it cool off for a while then it will be fine again and so on and so forth. My last truck did that I replaced everything plugs wires coil cap rotor and lastly the distributor. Changed the distributor and all was as right as rain again.

 

You posted in another thread about a knocking noise in the engine. If the engine spins quickly like no compression the fiber timing gear on the camshaft has gone bad.

Usually the teeth wear out and no longer mesh with the gear on the crankshaft. Pull the distributor cap off. Crank the engine and see if the rotor rotates.

No damage is done to the drive train since the 4.9l is a none interference engine.

 

The rotor stays stationary. F150xlt, if you've solved both of my issues in one go, I owe you big time.

So I take it my next step is to pull the distributor and inspect the gear? Or is this fiber gear located elswhere? If it's been damaged, how to I go about cleaning any chunks of the old gear out of the engine?

 

The fiber gear is on the front of the engine under the timing cover. It's not super complicated, but it is time consuming. You'll have to take off most of the accessories, and probably remove the radiator to get enough clearance.

 

Timing Kit/Timing Gear Set (2766S) | 1995 Ford F150 1/2 ton P/U 2WD 6 Cylinders Y 4.9L EFI | AutoZone.com

So that's the kit I need? And I basically tear it down to get to the gears, then simply pop the old ones out and pop new ones in?

Should I consider a different kit? Anything else I should do while I have it that far torn down?

And is the distributor worth checking, or is the timing gear the most likely problem?

 

You can pull the distributor and inspect the driven gear but I don't believe the gear is bad.

The crankshaft gear drives the camshaft gear which drives the distributor gear and the oil pump.

If the distributor gear is good you need to replace the timing gears. You can get an OEM type replacement set where the cam gear is the fiber type or replace them with a set where both gears are metal. The metal to metal gears do make a whining sound.

It's a pretty big job. You need to remove the timing cover which means you need to remove everything that's in the way. You need a puller for the torsional damper, crankshaft and camshaft gears. Problem with pulling the camshaft gear is the gear starts to crumble. This leaves the metal collar still on the camshaft. Some people use a dremel or grinder to cut it off of the camshaft collar. Also be-careful if you try to pry the collar off of the camshaft which is a press fit. The camshaft retaining plate is held in by two bolts which are behind the camshaft gear. I believe the plate is made out of cast iron so it's very brittle.

The picture below is what the factory type timing gear set looks like. You can see it has two holes so you can use a puller on it. Problem is the gear material usually crumbles.

 

Ok guys, you've been a ton of help. Help me make one more decision:

Is it worth it to just replace the gears, or would I be smarter to just go ahead and pull the darn thing and rebuild it from the ground up?

My uncle gave me the truck this past September. Prior to that, it sat in his field for 6-7 years, not running. This is not the original engine; my uncle put in a junkyard engine when he fried the original by towing too many cows.

I want this thing to run for as close to forever as possible. I've already done a ton of stuff to this truck: new fuel tanks and pumps, new suspension, new brakes (pads/shoes, rotors/drums, calipers/wheel cylinders), new exhaust, new valve springs/retainers/clips, pushrods and lifters.

The truck is basically a 2015 1995 F-150.

Am I better off just doing the gears or rebuilding? And if just the gears, are the metal ones better? I can live with whine if I never have to do the job again

 

Just do the timing set - get the metal gears if you want to keep the truck for a while.

 

The fiber type timing gear last around 175k miles.
The other problem with the 4.9 is around 200k and higher miles you start to get blow by.
If you look at the small air filter in the air filter box that's the fresh air intake for the PCV system. If and see oil residue it's time for a rebuild.

You could do a compression and leak down test and if everything checks good just replace the timing gears.

If you rebuild the engine figure around $600 for machine shop work such as hot tank, boring the block, grinding the crank recondition the rods, pressing new pistons onto the rods, balancing the rotating assembly, install new cam bearings, resurfacing the head and a valve job. You may also need to replace some valve guides in the head. Then add on the new parts for around $600.00. New pistons, camshaft, rod and main bearings, gasket set, oil pump and screen, oil, antifreeze, paint for the engine, reconditioned or new fuel injectors, etc...
If money and time is no problem go for it.

 

I can't remember my compression off the top of my head, but they all seemed pretty close and in the 130s. Not sure about the leakdown. None of them lost pressure quickly, but I didn't leave the gauge on for a lengthy period of time.

 

F150xlt made a good point on all.

If you find the fiber gears have grenaded, its a tough call on deciding factor if you need to rebuild the engine. The noise could have been them on the way out or not.

Did you ever check timing on the engine? Reason I ask is that if it bounced erratically around several degrees, then it may have been a sign the gears were falling apart.

When I listened to your video, the noise seemed to be concentrated to the firewall part, #'s 5 & 6.

 

timbersteel,

Thanks for the advice. I'm on the edge, either way. I figure I'll let the labor involved in getting to the timing gear cover be part of the decision: if I've got almost everything out of the engine bay, I'll just pull the motor and rebuild.

I'm not a spendthrift when it comes to vehicles. I can sometimes be impatient, and waiting for a rebuild irks me, though I know I'd enjoy the project and end result. I just happen to also have a foreclosed home I bought recently and it takes a ton of time, too.

As for engine noise, I thought it was concentrated more forward, but I honestly can't say for certain.

Regardless, I have the gears in-bound and expect them Friday. I never did check timing, because once I had everything back together after the valve work, she seemed to run beautifully.

Any advice I should take into consideration?