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I have my eye on a truck. 1990 F350 with the 351. I know something about most components on the truck...but, nothing about the motor.
It has ~ 70k miles and has had fleet maintenance.
Any common issues I should be concerned about?
Thanks,
Roy
5.8L engine is pretty reliable. Exhaust manifolds cracking due to age is common. Like any 25+ year old vehicle, anything is possible. Gaskets and rear main seal a the most oil leak causes. If it still has the factory vinyl vacuum hoses, plan on replacing them.
Coolant leaks around the timing/waterpump cover & the bolts that hold them rotting away/break off. Intake manifold bolts around the front water passages that do the same.
If it still has the factory vinyl vacuum hoses, plan on replacing them.
"Coolant leaks around the timing/waterpump cover & the bolts that hold them rotting away/break off. Intake manifold bolts around the front water passages that do the same."
I could not figure out how to do multiple quotes.
Those vac lines go to the heater control, and stuff like that?
Right...are those leaks/rot caused by old gaskets, resulting in leaks, resulting in corrosion?
A 1990 would have the wonderful TFI ignition module mounted on the side of the distributor, right? I never had a truck with a TFI, had a car for one son that did... of course the TFI died far from home.
Not Engine - but it won't go without it - 1990 seems the most trouble-prone year of the link that connects the ignition key cylinder to the actual ignition switch.
....Those vac lines go to the heater control, and stuff like that?
Right...are those leaks/rot caused by old gaskets, resulting in leaks, resulting in corrosion?
Plus the EGR & air injection solenoids.
The gaskets around the timing cover start to weep into the holes the bolts pass through & corrode. "You also get the common complaint of loosing coolant, but no puddles" or "I smell coolant but can't find the leak".
Snapping them off is the most common complaint when someone goes to replace a timing chain or water pump. If you get them out without breaking, best to change out both pump & chain at once. Take a good look at the balancer too & see if the rubber is separating from hub or the seal is cut into it.
The gaskets around the timing cover start to weep into the holes the bolts pass through & corrode. "You also get the common complaint of loosing coolant, but no puddles" or "I smell coolant but can't find the leak".
Snapping them off is the most common complaint when someone goes to replace a timing chain or water pump. If you get them out without breaking, best to change out both pump & chain at once. Take a good look at the balancer too & see if the rubber is separating from hub or the seal is cut into it.
Thanks. I once had the water pump bolt problem with a SBC. Seemed to me, the small bolt diameter contributed to the problem.
Mine stunk like coolant for a long time till I found this. Essentially wax that was left after the water cooked out:
The front two intake manifold bolts broke off in the heads with about 20#s of torque as well when I went to remove them. Luckily I went back with GT40 heads so it didn't matter.
I'm on my third 351w. The first two (not assembled by me, an internet savy researcher) leaked coolant exactly like that, plus they leaked oil out of the front "china wall" between the block & lower intake. It didn't cause me any real trouble but when I built my recent 351w I made sure to use some RTV in critical areas to prevent that stupid leakage issue. I also threw the lower intake-to-block seals in the trash and used a big bead of RTV to prevent the oil leakage (both ideas from lots of forum research).
The 351w has bigger main bearings than a 302, and are reasonably more HD than their 5.0L counter parts. My local machine shop said "I really like these 351W engines, they're nice engines". He mostly works on Chryslers & Chevy's and has been in the business since the early 70's. I'm a fan of them too, never had a Ford caused issue.
