Well here is my issue, I have 1997 F250 4x4 and the rear main and pan gasket are starting to leak and are getting worse. My question is should I pull the motor and re-seal it? Or drop the tranny and do all the gaskets with motor in? I also am curious if I should just save up and get it rebuilt, it only has 115k but does use some oil. Let me know what would be my best option, thanks everyone!

 

If you are not scared to pull the transmission, then I'd have to say you shouldnt be too hesitant to pull engine instead.
You will be able to get at the pan gasket much better wih engine out. There isn't much room to drop the pan while in the truck.
Pull engine. It will let you change gasket and rear main easier and then you can hangs manifold studs and while it's out replace spark plugs. They are known for breaking off in the head and I've fixed a ton of these while in the truck, and it's not fun.

 

That is what I was leaning towards, I'd like to do all gaskets and maybe change the timing chain and oilP pump while in the motor. Thanks for your input UNTAMND!

 

Do not get an oem timing chain from parts store. I know it's a double roller factory but the cam gear is retarded. Get one from summit or jegs because you can install it 3 different ways. It will be a little boost if you install it with can straight up vs retarded like factory.
I always suggest high volume oil pump for 460s. They seem to need it more then others (except for the the fe, that needs a lot of oil) to keep oil pressure up at idle.

 

Good stuff thank you! Anything else you can think of while I got this 460 out?

 

What is your budget and how involved do you wanna get.

 

I have not worked on an EFI 460, just a carbed one. I agree about the timing chain. Not so sure about the HV pump though.

When I was reassembling my 460 I put a HV pump in it. One thing I found was that the pump gasket covered the pump discharge hole in the block. I got rid of the gasket obstruction and continued assembling. I put it back in the car, got it running good and there was plenty of oil pressure.

I put 7 to 8000 miles on it and winter came around. One extremely cold morning I started the car and was brushing off snow and scraping the windshield when the engine started to sound like it had no oil pressure. I quickly shut it off. I got all the snow off the hood and went searching for a trouble light. That took 15 to 20 minutes. I got the hood up and checked the oil. Full on the dipstick. So I started it up again and waited to hear the noise, no clatter it just ran fine. However it had somewhat less oil pressure. I put 33000 miles on that engine and it never did that again. I think that the HV pump emptied the oil pan and the cold oil didnt drain back into the pan quickly enough. Since then I have not used a HV pump.

 

Ya my concern with the timing chain would be pinging or smog issues afterwards, sense I live in California, but a cam would be nice too. Any smog legal cans for efi motors?

 

The timing chain won't cause the pinging, etc...Not in that little of a difference, if any is possible....It's the Distributor timing (Actually tells each cylinder when/how to fire, essentially)....That gets ya...But OEM Fizzy timing, and a timing chain bump.....You'll be fine...

 

I have Rebuilt a few motors completely and partially, and my partial rebuilds always include a hv oilpump. What I've noticed is that the main bearings and mostly cam bearings wear and cause low oil pressure at idle when the oil is hot. Or low oil pressure with synthetic 10-30 oil once warmed up. Not that the bearings are bad, just worn enough to cause low oil pressure. Granted, the sensor is nearly at the end of the oils path vs a smallblock, it still concerns me.
Anyway, it's weird that your pump filled the top of the engine before it could drain back, that's why I never use heavy weight oil. I use to use 20-50 oil for better hot oil pressure but I've changed my ways.

The stock cam is ok. Putting in a non factory timing chain won't effect emissions anywhere near a cam swap. If you need to change your emissions you can alter timing, or get a different ford smog pump that puts out more or less air then the one you have now. I'm assuming you have the big one, but with pulley swap or pump swap you can get a lot of air injected into the exhaust to change the emissions.

 

I will probably leave the stock cam just so I don't have to pull the intake off. I will more than likely do.the timing chain and oil pump. Thanks guys for the feedback, now the fun part, pulling that beast out!