So I've always heard that with these old Ford trucks that if you don't drive them enough, they fall apart on you. When it comes to gaskets and seals, I get it - it makes perfect sense. Things dry out and become brittle.

But what about something like lifters?

My '77 F-250 just doesn't get driven very much - hardly at all in fact. I inherited it a little over 2 years ago and have honestly only put about 500 miles on it since then. I typically take it for a short drive if it's been a couple of weeks since I've driven it, let it get up to running temperature. It's a real shame, I know, but I have a 50 mile daily commute that I can't do with it (well, choose not too anyway; $$$ when you're getting less than 10 mpg!), so that basically leaves after work hours use, but I live near downtown Denver, so driving it around there is just a pain - it's just too dang big for Denver's 10' wide lanes and tiny parking spaces. I love it, but taking the Xterra to run errands is just plain easier. Plus I don't care about door dings in the Xterra. It's a laziness thing, haha!

I have a couple very minor leaks, oil from the distributor seal, oil seeps around the valve covers and I just had to replace the rubber fuel line coming from the pump to the hard line that was leaking. Nothing major at all.

Now - I'm getting what I really hope is a lifter tick and not something more severe. There's no performance changes, no smoke, nothing but a noticeable tick. I haven't pulled the valve covers to check things yet, so this is more of a hypothetical question at this point.

Would an engine not being driven enough cause a sticking lifter? It's a 351M that was pulled and rebuilt about 3 years and 1,000 miles ago. Maybe it's still breaking in?? lol....

 

Maybe since it sits alot .
But get out and run it hard one day an blow out the cobwebs , and since you thinks its just 1000 miles after 3 years ,,if its not been changed I would change the oil as even sitting is not the best on oil and I would find a good high in zinc oil as these newer oils dont have the zinc in them as they did when that motor was from the factory in the 70's and use a ford motorcraft oil filter , I would try that before pulling valve covers

 

When they sit a lot the fuel tends to go sour and varnish up, rubber parts take a "set". For lifter tick try one of the snake oils like Marvel, they do work good for stuck rings and sticky lifters.

 

That is what you get for letting it set. Do not feel bad I am in the same boat with ya. They just do not like to set.

Drive it at least every sat or Sunday, ALL day and damn the low MPG. Get outa town and take it out on a casual back country gravel road stroll and wheel it. Make it your breakfast run rig. Get some Denver area FTE members and link up with any Colorado Early Bronco club members and have a Ford G2G at a restaurant.

Or get out on the high way and once to operating temp, turn those carb cobwebs to dust out the exhaust. Tires get sun/weather cracker, oil pull moisture, fuel tank pulls moisture.

Front mains get drippy, mice like to get in there and make a home. Pinion seals get weappy. Brakes get sticky. Vacuum gauges get sticky, carb start to leak....and the headache will keep going.

 

Depends a lot on how it's driven when you actually drive it, too - if it just putts around, you could be sludging it up some. Keep the oil changed, and I believe the general concensus is diesel oil as they still have some zinc. Sounds like you probably have the stereotypical stuck lifter, which is one thing that snake oil is really pretty good at, or a quart of ATF.

Big thing on 'em is to run 'em pretty good when you do drive it, and keep the fluids changed - brake fluid seems to collect more water when they sit, as it doesn't get warmed up and pushed out, same with gearboxes and engine oil, they need to get hot every once in a while.

I try to work vehicles like that into the "rotation" every few months, to keep that stuff from happening (dry seals, gummy fuel systems, etc), for a couple days/couple tanks of fuel. Problem is, I've got enough of those now that it's all I drive.

 

Thanks guys, that's what I was hoping to hear.

I do make a point to change the oil every summer with conventional Motorcraft oil and filter. Probably should do it every 6 months, but dont. Also, I was wrong on the mileage - I checked and I've actually put on closer to 1200 miles in the last 2 1/2 years...still sad tho.

When I do drive it, I get on it but don't just abuse it. I feel like I drive as much as my dad did for decades. The truck just rolled over 90 miles this summer, so it definitely doesn't rack up the miles.

I absolutely love the truck, I'm just not driving it very much, which needs to change. I need to make it a point to drive it to work once a week.

But I definitely need to address some leaks that are bothering me. It leaks break fluid from between the booster and the master cylinder. I'm thinking about just replacing both with new parts, along with all of the rubber brake hoses. The brakes aren't the best on it, the front end tend to wobble at higher speeds, not a warped rotor wobble, more like a loose steering linkage wobble. There's also a bit of play in the steering box, I can turn the wheel a good 10-15 degrees without the wheels turning. Need to swap out all of the fluids too, front to back. I have some wiring issues too, maybe I should just re-wire the whole thing....screw it, let's do a full frame off resto!

 

and that's how it begins......

You should be good if you're changing the oil that often - but you might want to change up what oil you're using. There's lots on here about oil choices, and to beware the "new" 10W-30's and such. I run regular old Conoco 15W40 in all mine, partly because I have it on hand for equipment, and partly because of the additives more closely matching what was supposed to be in these old dinosaurs when they were new.

Brakes seem like the worst part if they sit - I think bleeding them every year is fairly important, they almost seem to collect more moisture if they don't get used. I can't hardly believe that the fluid could eject more water under use than sitting, but it sure seems that way, and then you get rust.

There was a thread a while ago on the newer brake fluids, what's compatible and what's not, but some of the newer ones will mix fine with the old DOT3 but aren't as hygroscopic - probably not bad stuff to be adding during a bleed rather than the old.

And yeah, you probably will need to change both your booster and master - why they made that (IMO) dumb design where the master cyl. can leak into the booster and wreck the bladders as long as they did is beyond me. But, you're probably at the point your booster is close enough to failing that changing both is a pretty good idea (and not that much more money if you're doing a combo).

As far as the steering, everybody has an opinion on what parts are best, and I think everybody's been burnt by a no-name "rebuilt" box, so it's kinda guesswork if you don't want to kill your wallet. I've been known to slightly tighten a steering box to take up the slack in the bearings, without really "adjusting" anything. It might be worth a shot if that's where the slack movement is, not really in the gears but slack in the output shaft. As far as the rest - hard to go wrong with MOOG.

 

I've heard that Type F tranny fluid in the brake system lasts forever compared to DOT3 due to higher resistance to moisture. Some systems come with Type F in brake system from factory. I've yet to figure out which ones do and which don't. It says it on the dipstick.

Start every vehicle at least once a month. Make sure you drive it as well to re-coat the drivetrain bearings and gears or they will pit away.

Non ethanol gas at all costs even if 100 miles away to nearest sales person it it's going to sit for any length.

I've heard it's not good to keep starting a motor and not warm it up over and over as well due to piston ring / piston wear, dry bearings and such.

 

Does Type F not thermally expand as much as other ATFs? I once had an old mechanic tell me about a '63-or-so Chevy II, whose brakes would mysteriously lock down after being driven. He said they discovered automatic transmission fluid in the system, and theorized that the ATF was expanding under heat, and imparting hydraulic pressure on the brakes!

 

Got me there! Just referring to something I've heard. I'm still trying to figure out why some systems ask for it on the dipstick and some ask for brake fluid. I've always just stuck to what was on the dipstick of what pump I used. Seemed the best way to remember what to refill it with later on. And who's to even know if a dipstick got swapped????

 

No production cars use ATF as brake fluid? That's news to me if they do.

Remember in a relatively open system, glycol type brake fluid absorbing condensation is a good thing. If it didn't do this the brakes would freeze solid in cold weather and boil in hot weather, either of which means no brakes, just a tiny slug of water would be enough to cause trouble. Absorption also prevents localized corrosion. Flush your brake system every two to three years to be safe.

 

You are correct. It's power steering systems that flip flop. Brake fluid is a whole different fluid. But some Ford power steering systems call for ATF.

 

Here's a thread on it I found.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-ps-fluid.html

Still haven't figured out what the difference in the systems that call for it and which DOT3.

 

OK, power steering, yes. My Mustang uses ATF in its manual transmission, and my Corolla uses it in its differential! ATF is also a darned good rejuvenating agent for things like a ratchet which has laid outside for a year...

But I'm pretty sure you don't want any ATF in any brake system.

 

I really don't think there's a gob of difference between generic power steering fluid and ATF functionally, it's got to be mostly additives - and they're both getting used as hydraulic fluid in a power steering situation, so it all comes down to additives, and what's going to wreck the seals, or something of the like...... I know I've dumped ATF into quite a few power steering systems on different things before, with no noted ill effects (they were leaking already, so who's to say if it got worse, right?)