I am running with 7 cylinders on my 74 460
I think I am going to have to get pretty dirty here but I want to start now that the weather is warming up. What steps do I need to take to get the job done? I've helped many people build engines from scratch but never had to tear on back down to make repairs other than the normal break and fix items(plugs are newer, coil newer, dist. cap and rotor approx 2 years old. other than that nothings ever been changed on the engine.

 

First off you need to find out why it is running on 7 instead of 8. You could just have a bad plug wire or you could have a hole in a piston two very different problems with different solutions.
-John

 

Ive checked all the wires and all are firing. Pulled all the plugs and made sure all were gapped right and not burned or gunk on them

 

The truck only has 52,945 miles on it if that helps. How does a hole get into a piston? that sounds pretty damn bad

 

Pull the wires one at a time until you find the dead cylinder that is dead, and check the compression, to see what you are dealing with. It could be as little as a bent pushrod or bad rocker.

 

I would do a compression check next. Do you have any signs bad head gasket or cracked head like coolant disappearing or in the oil?
-John

 

Is that normal for such low miles? But I'll try that first I always like to start with the easy steps first and use deductive reasoning from there. Thanks

 

No nothing like that at all. It actually runs Great. One person told me its not worth messing with right now but come on this is my Baby. I still have to make sure which I love more, My kids or my truck! HA HA HA

 

What makes you think its only hitting on 7, having a dead cylinder is pretty noticeable. Does it do it all the time? If not when does it do it?
-John

 

same questions a johnboy. my 76 ran on 7 most of the time and only on 6 part of the time but never on 8. pulled the wires one day to discover the one to the number one cylinder was shot. put some new wires on it and it ran OHSOMUCH better!

 

I was changing plugs in my 400 and did oneside at a time did the pas side first put wires on then moved to dri side changed plugs, stated the truck ran on 4, forgot to put wires on. put wires on and ran great.

 

Hi. I'm looking to get a newish F150 and I found a nice '97 3 door 4x4 for $1200, but the owner says it's only running on 7 cylinders. Is it worth it for me to get this truck? Everything else looks immaculate. Are there some things I can do when I go to look at the truck to see what the cause is? So far I see check plugs and wires. Is there anything else? I'm not a very engine savvy person, the most engine work I've ever done was a tune up on my 88 a couple months ago.

Thanks

 

you would probably have better luck askin this in the the year appropriate section instead of the 73 to 79 area. yes, plugs and wires are things to look for, but how the spark is generated, controlled, and distributed are by very different means. beins it is a 97, with your rather limited mechanical experience, the plugs and wires are gonna be about the only things you can look at yourself, i think. i hope this helps you.

p.s.: if you ask me, i would hold off on that 97 and find yourself a 73 to 79 model truck. probably for the price youre lookin at for that 97, you could get a pretty dang sharp dentside.

 

I know it's not the right thread but it's the same topic and I know a lot of people on here have expertise on all years.

I have an 88 and I have enough problems with it. I need a newer truck (I like the new look and the nicer interiors) that I can reliably haul 6,000 lbs across country with. That's not going to need a lot of upkeep.

If I have to I can just have a local shop swap the engines for me, I found a junk truck with a good engine for $500.

Thanks

 

I would not drive it until it was fixed. I had a 428 with a miss in it, it ran good otherwise. I ran a compression test and found a dead cylinder. When I pulled the head , the piston had a hole in it. Good luck.