Well guys ...

The saga continues ....

My truck 'was' running a little better after installing the EGR
'restrictor plate' and bumping up the timing ....

and then 'Murphy' stopped by (only fitting this being
St. Patrick's Day weekend ...)

I'm guessing my thermostat stuck (closed) and although I
did not 'overheat' persay I did run my truck for about 30 miles
with it running 'HOT' and it appeared when I opened the
hood on Saturday morning that Anti-freeze was running down
the block from the head ....

so I dumped the oil .... .... not good ..... cup-a-chino, latte,
and a chocolate shake all rolled into one ... thick muck .... about
2 GALLONS of it!!! (guess I know where that coolants been
going ....)

but I just did the head-gasket 2 summers ago .. sent the
head out .. had it checked for cracks and resurfaced even
though the guy said there was no warpage.

but the book did talk about 're-torquing' after x number of
miles ... which of course I didn't do becuase everything
seemed fine .....

So I pulled all that fuel injection crap off the top of my
motor so I could remove the valve cover to 're-torque'
the head ... which I did .....

bought some cheap oil and 2 quarts of GUNK engine flush
and ran it for 5 minutes after I buttoned everything back up.

dumped that murky mixture and changed OIL and FILTER
again ....

So now I'm running with NO THERMOSTAT, and fresh
Anti-freeze and oil ....

I will watch for a few days to see if they mix in the pan
again or if the 're-torque' did the trick ....

BUT .... in the meantime ... there's all kinds of fluids seeping
out of EVERY WHERE ... making some decent size spots
under the truck when I first shut it off ... (doesn't seem to
be leaking after that??)

So my question is .... did that 'Anti-freeze/Oil' cocktail do in
all my SEALS ... I just put a new rear seal in last summer
when I did the clutch ... and since then my truck has never
been 'dryer' .... leaving almost no trace fluids behind ...

but now after this overheating, anti-freeze in the oil thing,
well like I said .. it's a mess under there ......

and one more thing ... being as this is a 1987 F-150, with
no trim, rubber mats, a TIN ROOF (no headliner) 3spd OD ...
2 wheel drive, basic 'work truck' .....

that I paid $2,500 for about 10 years ago .....

is it worth it for me to try to keep it alive!!?

The whole truck can't be worth more than $1,500-$1,800
right??? although tires are good, COMLETE clutch done
last summer, COMPLETE brake job, including new rotors,
done in the fall .... but still ..... it might be worth more if
I just 'part it out'???

Let me know what you think ... all comments welcome ...

PARTS ANYONE?????

Thanks,

doc brown

 

I'm not too much of an engine guru, but I do know this, if you do any major stop-start or long time driving, you're gonna want something in there to at least slow down the anti-freeze passing through the thermostat casing, try to fit a washer on it. Or else you'll probably see more overheating problems if you decide to keep it.

 

Well now that dont soung good. Now what i woudl do is yank off the head and see if its cracked. If it is go get a used one for 25 bucks. Now if the block is cracked i have a whole motor for the sale for 50 bucks everything but the carb. Now if nothin in cracked and u jsut need to put some seal in it cause those "Big Sixes" will stay with ya. I just put a head on mine(valves were messed up). And it was worth it. I put a 67 head on my truck and it gave her some real power. Now you could luck out and only have a bad gasket.

 

It's BAD NEWS guys .....

After '3' days of nursing this sick puppy I now have
anti-freeze in my oil AGAIN!!!

and I've been weighing my options and listing all the
'other' things wrong with this truck ... and I think it's
time to put her down ...

1) Cardiac arrest - won't run when HOT (ongoing)

2) Pollution pump locking up (2 weeks now)

3) A/C marginal at best - had problems last summer

4) Totally new clutch but still not shifting smoothly ...

5) and of course now I don't even know the extent
of my current and most pressing problem ... is the
head cracked? or maybe the block?? and what 'other'
damage has been done by driving with that chocolate
shake in my crankcase .... seals, bearings .....

So ....... remembering that this is a 1987 F-150, NO FRILLS,
rubber mat, no head liner, standard trans .....

I'm having a REALLY HARD TIME justifying putting another
PENNY into this truck ..... which at best if ALL of that was
fixed would still only be worth maybe $1,500?? (if that ..)

Would like to hear what you think???

and once again I say:

PARTS ANYONE??? (I live in NJ ...)

doc brown

 

If your motor is busted why not hotrod the thing I would. You could pull the engine, have it looked over good to see what the problem is. If it is just a head, get a knew one, boost compression a bit maybe, put on a racing intake manifold, custom headers to flow better than anything else, and all kinds of stuff. Since it is a "no frills" truck, then it would be great for racing. You could pull off anything that is just dead weight, maybe lower it just a couple inches at most, bolt on some beefier rubbers and take her to the strip That is what I plan on doing with mine if it ever decides to give up the ghost.

 

Another idea, if you got a 4wd, you can stuff the tallest boggers you can find under your rig and make it a nice mud truck I am full of ideas