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Did a bit of investigation on the engine today. Put a breakover on the crank bolt and turned it. Boy, was it stiff. So, I pulled the plugs, as shown below. Some show it had run fairly rich, but not too bad. However, when I then turned it over w/the breakover gas shot out of some of the cylinders. I then pulled the dip stick and either there isn't enough oil in it or the oil is so diluted you can't see it on the stick. But, what you get on a rag sure smells like gas.
This kinda fits with what we noticed when we were loading it on the trailer. In one case we turned the key to On rather than Acc and heard the fuel pump running - continuously. And we smelled gas, but didn't see any on the ground. I'm thinking the way the pump is wired lets it run all the time and it filled the engine.
I'm hoping it didn't really hydro-lock but just had so much gas in it that it couldn't possibly run. However, I'd like your thoughts.
And, here are the plugs, with #1 being top left and #8 bottom right:
Here's the block #, which looks to me like D8TE-AB. But, is that what you see? If so, is that a stock block?
If its 'TE' it is a D9TE '79 & later truck engine
Everything prior was an internal balanced Lincoln block C or D with V as the third digit.
I'd figure out why the float valve isn't holding it back before I went about wiring it to a relay triggered by the stator.
Should be able to look down the carb and see gas pouring into the engine with the fuel pump running if that's the problem. If it is pouring in, and the carb doesn't seem to have any dirt in it, the fuel pressure may be too high and pushing the needles off the seats. I have forgotten, is this a holley? If so, you probably can pull the needles and seats without taking the carb off or tearing it down.
Right - it is an Eddy. I don't know what the pump is, but it could easily be supplying too much pressure. I do know that there's a fuel pressure regulator in the pile of new parts, so maybe the problem was known. Anyway, I'll turn the pump on and look down the throat of the carb - maybe tomorrow.
What do you think the odds are that the engine has been damaged?
Hard to say. If the engine has a miss to it that you just can't get to go away, or a slight knock, it may have bent a rod if it hydrolocked. But hopefully it didn't do any harm.
My truck was parked facing downhill in the summer sun for a few months.
The diaphragm fuel pump developed a leak and filled up the engine with a siphon of gasoline; I didn't know that.
Went to start it up... rrrrrrRRRRUMP...pause... rrrrrrRRRRUMP...pause... rrrrrrRRRRUMP
Sounds like a dead battery... hooked up jump starter... did one revolution and started right up but was running rough, feathered it to keep it running on its own.
Jump out of the cab and head to the front to disconnect the jump starter... gas + oil is squirting from between the block & pan. eeek!
Quick, back to the cab to shut off the key, the aftermarket oil pressure gauge was showing close to nuthin'.
Yeah, it ran fine later, but I kept it only a few more months after that (this was my original engine, had been "rebuilt" by someone fully lacking in clues (guy used RTV on the head gaskets(!)) and was burning oil on startup).
I had that all documented out here someplace, too, including pictures of the bearings.
Later disassembly showed a cracked head and worn-out (or otherwise damaged) block, so I got replacements from a local CL ad - some guy who was building one for his 70s truck and wanted to get rid of his extra parts.
Became my new, current engine.
Likely wasn't damaged.
it turned over but you didn't get it running.
Change the oil and plugs.
Fit the regulator and fire it up.
That's the plan, Stan. Gonna give it a shot tomorrow. I'm headed to my home town in KS on Saturday to meet my son and do some hunting with my brother and nephews. Would LOVE to take the truck up and show it off. As my son says, "we shall see".
Over the years I've encountered many cases of gasoline diluted oil. As long as it hasn't been run for an extended period of time I doubt it caused any significant damage. You might want to hold a stick magnet in the oil as its draining out to see if you catch any fragments.
Another question: Vernon was running Brad Penn oil, which is a high dollar oil that is said to be good for flat tappet cams, like the Edelbrock in the truck. And, he included over a case of it in the deal. But, I have some Conoco semi-synthetic I bought from Brandon a few years ago that I'm thinking of using for the change tomorrow. That way if there is diluted oil that stays in the engine I can get it out with another change in a few days.
