Recently I discovered the exhaust leak on my 6.9L to be, less of an exhaust leak, and more of a head bolt completely missing and compression shooting out of the hole. I have no idea how that could happen without tomfoolery (sure as heck wasn't me)... Gave me an idea for a thread.

What incredable things have you guys found missing off your Bullnose, and the truck could still run or was still able to perform its duty, only to be discovered later (to the shock, amazement and/or horror of the owner)?

 

When I bought my truck, the shocks were...screwed up. In the front, wrong size bolts were used on the bottom, so the front was bouncy. In the back only one was attached by metal welded to the frame and axle. It was extended to far to really do anything. And the driverside rear was sitting in back of the seat.

 

Wrong type modulator valve in the trans. Nothing holding it in but the o-ring. Stayed put for 6 years, then just popped out one day........ Even more bizzare, the hold-down clamp was holding the modulator from seating fully, so it wasn't even all the way in the trans. Needless to say, putting the right type in made the trans work MUCH better.

 

Oh this is gonna be good.

When I bought the truck, there were two fuel pumps. The old mechanical one on the block, and an electric one on the inner fender. I guess when the mechanical one went bad, the previous owner crimped the lines down, and just decided to throw an electric one on. To make things even cooler, he robbed one of the carburetor control wires to power the new electric fuel pump.

When I decided to crawl under the truck and check for rust and what not, I found that the previous owner had made his own drain plug for the oil pan. To make this drain plug, he used a carriage bolt, a flat washer, and a castle nut. It leaked oil everywhere, and probably went through a quart of oil a week if he actually drove it like this. To make things worse, he ended up breaking the thread piece from the sheet metal of the oil pan, so even the correct drain plug would not fit. I ended up having to get a replacement oil pan from the junkyard just to get the truck to stop dripping oil.

A few weeks ago when I started to take the engine apart, I found that the carburetor linkage wasn't even hooked up, and that the throttle plate would not open up until 3/4 throttle. The truck still ran though.

And finally, upon inspection of the cooling system, I found that the previous owner used tap water for coolant. This ended up rusting out ALL of the cooling passages, as well as corroding the expansion (freeze) plugs to a point where holes formed.

I'm sure there are many more things I discovered throughout the last 3 years of owning my F150, however I think these few were the most notable.

 

Lets see :
1. The pin connecting the 4x4 shifter into the transmission
2. The bed flooring right behind the passengers side is gone
3. Part of the floor pan is missing, due to rust but its actually a bolt in piece i believe.