hey guys, i just bought a 99 dual fuel f-250 off the state of texas. they said it had a motor problem , they were right.

engine starts right up but sounds like marbles rolling around in the bottom of the motor, sounds the same when you first start it and after its been run 20 minutes. oil pressure is good and does not change. runs cool, no mixture of fluids, race it up and it actually sounds better. im afraid to drive it like this, or should i just go ahead and blow it!! or try to!


truck has 97k on it and its a "Z" code motor. no history available, any ideas??


any help is appreciated, thanks, mark

 

Hi and welcome to FTE

Sounds like your truck has lost it's marbles.
Are you sure that it's not a cat. converter. They are really close to the engine and I have heard them sound like that before.
Get under the truck and bang on them. f you hear the rattle, then you more than likely do not have an engine problem.
I would also drain the oil and look for metal shavings.
Jimmy

 

thanks for your reply

that is not the problem even though i wish i was that lucky!!
truck has had regular oil changes, oil is pretty and clear, this change was done 3k ago according to the sticker.

something is definetely loose somewhere

 

I would go ahead and change the oil and check it for signs of something in the oil, like bearing material or something.
Jimmy

 

im having the motor tore into, ill let the group know what i find.

 

here is what we found on my 5.4.

left chain tensioner was loose, crankshaft nut was loose allowing timing gear to wander on the shaft and breaking the woodfuff key.

will have it back together by this weekend . bought all the parts except the woodruff key wich the parts guy said comes with a new crank. we will make a key and use locktite.

im glad i didnt need the new crank.


everything else in the front of motor looked good.

 

Sounds good considering it could have been a lot worse. Let us know how it turns out.
Jimmy

 

the truck is fixed and sounds great, and parts were less than 100. what a deal.


now for the other problem. the state complained of burning up coil packs on a far to frequent basis, any ideas? i think i may post a new topic.

 

Make sure that the hood to cowl seal is good. Water and heat are the most common reasons for failures. Make sure that it has either Motorcraft or Autolite double platinum plugs in it and that no water is getting into the spark plugpockets. You might check the heater hoses to make sure that they aren't dripping down on to #4 cylinder. This is a common reason for failure on the older trucks that have hose clamps above the coil pack instead of crimped fittings.
Jimmy