Can you change out the rest of the plugs?
If so and have done that do the rest of the tune up, wires, cap & rotor and see how it runs.
Once running get it up to normal temp and then try and see if it will come out.
You may need a little help on the ratchet by slipping a pipe on it make the handle longer to break it loose.
Dave - - - -

 

I keep a short piece of old copper water pipe in my carry tool box to slip on a 3/8" ratchet for leverage. I keep a 4 foot piece of old water pipe around to slip on a 1/2" to really get rough. Won't hurt to keep spraying with penetrating oil for several days prior to remove to take advantage of diurnal cycling in hopes it'll wick some deeper into threads? Sometimes I smack my ratchets with a hammer to bust things loose.

 

If it was antifreeze the 'smoke' and water from your tailpipe would have a syrupy sweet smell to it.

Is it white or is it grey?

 

Min was rough too, especially with the AC in the way. If you have a big enough wrench you can slide it over the ratchet for more leverage, that's how I had to break loose a couple myself without a breaker bar handy.

 

After 3 days and 2 nights soaking in PB Blaster, the plug still will not budge. I read to put a small piece of rag around the plug and saturate with the oil to keep it in contact and have had it like that.I have tried it periodically throughout the day and then resprayed and there has been no movement EXCEPT for part of the porcelain on the plug breaking :(

The 13/16" socket I was using did not have the spark plug insert, so it must have wobbled with the extension on on one of the tries. All the little pieces are out after being washed away by numerous PB sprays and socket still grips plug, so have kept trying. Went to O'Reilly today and purchased a new 13/16" spark plug socket, so I don't have to worry about wobble when pushing at it. Still nothing.

I am not sure what to try now. I was able to get the other 5 changed and the new cap and rotor on. I can't run it now though with the porcelain broken on the last plug. I do not have a piece of copper pipe, so would need to see about gettin a piece. I am worried now with it part broken about breaking it more. Am trying to keep it as stable as I can when wrenching at it. I saw a $18 breaker bar at O'Reilly when I got the $7 socket. I don't know if that would make a difference or not. Or just keep spraying and trying. It's soaking again tonight for another try in the morning. Just updating and seeing if any other suggestions with porcelain part broken not to get it off......Thank you all so very much....it may sound dumb to some, but the help here makes me know there are some good people on this earth.

P.S. Odisvan- will look at the smoke closer when the plug is out and I can run it. In my memory, the liquid was not syrupy sweet. Seemed like just plain water. Smoke color seems white in memory. A few of the times it was the huge, ongoing, billowing cloud of smoke seen smoking out an intersection or following a car down the road.

 

Do you have an air compressor, or access to one? A pneumatic impact gun should make quick work of the problem.

If access is limited, here is your answer:


https://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...nch-68426.html


This is not to be confused with an ordinary air ratchet. This is basically a 90 degree impact gun. I have one and it is phenomenal in use. The only downside is you'll need to wear a paper bag over your head so nobody sees you shopping at HF.

 

If you have a hammer, you can beat on your ratchet to loosen if you're a bonafide hillbilly like I am. I won't hesitate to smack the hell out of a ratchet handle with a 4 pound hammer, that will work like an impact, shocking it hard. the longer the leverage you can get on it, the more torque you can generate to bust it loose. But, like with any ratchet, you have to (at least I do), keep one hand up near the head and extension to make damn sure you're going on straight. That's why your porcelain likely broke, if you angle any. Keep it straight in proportion to whatever you're removing. I can't recall if you're using 3/8 or 1/2 ratchet, go as large as you can, and if needed buy an conversion to plug a 3/8" socket on a 1/2" drive ratchet.

 

Temp dropped to 58 last night, so maybe the swing in the diurnal cycling helped. Got a longer piece of copper pipe that could fit the space to give it a try. And, lo, it broke loose. Took a pause to appreciate that before proceeding to see if any improvements from the tune up effort. Installed new. Still required carb cleaner spray to start, but seemed to start right up with it. Pressed at the gas to keep it idling a good while until it was fine idling on it's own. Tried to put in Reverse to go down the road and it cut off every time. Would not stay running when I put it in gear after several tries. Smoke was more than ever during the idling. Brought the neighbors out to see what that smell was and the cloud. It looked white to me. My son said it looked white with bluish in it to him. I asked if he thought it smelled sweet- he said it smelled like barbecue. Not sure if that is sweet or not. Last time I got it started the smoke cleared after driving to gas station. On only idling in driveway, constant, big cloud on this effort.

I also put a small amount of Seafoam in the gas tank (maybe an ounce) to see if it may help the gas in there. As said, only able to idle in driveway so far. Was running low on carb spray to keep starting again, so had to stop work for the day until I go get a new can to spray and start however many times needed to get out of driveway and see what happens on the road a few blocks. Glad plug out and will proceed with road test as soon as I get spray.

Also, the Oil Pressure gauge read almost to H during idle if any ithoughts on that. Prior to this issue though, this gauge had been inconsistent. Sometimes right at normal, other times an L, other times towards the H. Truck was running fine, so did not seem to require attention. Thought maybe gauge not working properly since whatever it was pointing at, truck was running fine then.

 

It's been my experience with these older Ford oil pressure gauges to register correctly at colder engine temperatures and as the engine warms up the sending units must have what's called a "temperature window" where once above that temperature they become unreliable and more often than not read low with a warmed engine. However sometimes when on the highway turning high rpms the oil pressure returns to a normal reading. It's intermittent. I trust my gauge when the engine is cold to warming up. After that I don't pay much attention to it.

BB2

 

At this point, I'd suggest checking on Amazon or eBay for "Magic Engine Pills". Never used them myself, but supposedly you drop one of these magic pills in the gas tank and it fixes ANY and ALL engine problems without the need for any diagnosis whatsoever. These pills sound like an incredible time saver.

Or you can see this previous message:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post18629308


Your call.

 

roadkill just did a episode on a car they used the head gasket stuff in, and it fixed it, cant remember the brand tho. go to motortrend and watch the video of a camero with a 350

 

I got a valve cover gasket and am going to replace that as part of the "tune up" effort prior to testing. (That has been leaking since I got the truck from my Dad when he was dying. I noticed it was pretty significant leak when changing the plugs.) If anyone has a link to thread on valve cover gasket replacement(I tried searching) with any needed info, I have never replaced a valve cover gasket. It looks to me like a few bolts, lift the cover, replace. I don't know what kind of sealant if any for the cork gasket. I was told to use Indian Head on the thermostat gasket when I did the thermostat. Don't know if Permatex or what kind for this one. Or anything to be aware of.

I am working to see if the "almost running" could turn into a decent drive before compression test. That is based on reading this in a post on leak down vs compression thread here:
Those numbers don't look good, but I've always been taught not to condemn an engine based solely on a cranking compression test. If the other way around and the numbers had looked good on a cranking compression test, then yep, that's fine to say the engine is okay. But when a cranking compression test comes in low? There are just so many variables. Battery health and state of charge? Tired starter? Marginal battery cables? Those are just a few examples. All your results mean is you should run a leakdown test for confirmation. More specific, and less chance for error. In addition to what Ted mentioned, not only should the battery be fully charged, but I even keep it on a charger as I move the tester between cylinders. You don't need misleading readings as the battery slowly runs down as each cylinder is tested. Another thing I like to do before starting the test is to disconnect and cap the fuel line at the carb inlet. Then I run the engine until the carb runs dry. My intent is to prevent any fuel from being drawn into the cylinders and washing oil from the walls. Probably a moot point, as there is virtually no suction with all the plugs removed, but I like to give a tired engine the best odds for an accurate test.

It seems like a decent drive (some fresh gas) may stabilize things after having been sitting so long for the compression test since it looks from the post like battery low from sitting could impact test. My understanding is these forums are for sharing knowledge with all kinds of levels of knowing. My knowledge is very limited and I am grateful to be able to put together enough to try out some things on my own without money to take and hand over to someone. This is a needs based project. Seems maybe being the butt of the "experts" jokes is cost the less knowledgeable like myself pay kr98664 style Post Gurus when you need a little hit of feel good about knowing a lot more than I do. As said before, grateful for a place to ask very basic questions and learn from the generosity of those sharing what you know for good. Thank you.

 

On valve cover replacement, depends on whether you are EFI or carb. For Carb models secure the gasket to the cover with RTV to hold it in place if necessary. For EFI place the gasket on the cylinder head making sure the tabs of the gasket face down, towards the head. No sealant is required.

Install the valve cover on the cylinder head making sure the bolt holes line up and the gasket seals evenly all around the head. Install the bolts and tighten to 72 to 108 in-lbs.

Before installation make sure the valve cover is not bent and is perfectly straight. If not replacement or straightening may be in order. My preference is to tighten the bolts incrementally so that the cover snugs up evenly. You don't want to twist or bow the cover when snugging. Poco a poco as they say south of the border.

 

Friend, I'm not trying to bust your butt or make you feel bad about your experience level. I certainly have been throwing some cheap general humor to hopefully get your attention to really look at the fundamentals of your poor engine before digging in too deeply elsewhere. I've lost track how many times I've suggested to hook up a cooling system pressure tester, and to also check for combustion byproducts at the radiator neck. Won't cost a penny if you borrow the tooling from Autozone, etc.

I would try those two tests before doing the compression test. A compression test is also free, but it's also a lot of work. I'm lazy and cheap, and darn proud of it. I'd suggest doing the easier stuff first. If it fails those tests, a compression test may still be warranted, but you can decide at the time. And yes, you will need a battery charger, so factor in the expense for that. Do the lazy and cheap stuff first.

Previously you had asked about stop leak. One point I wanted to get across is please note how many responses have been along these lines: "I tried some stop leak, it worked great and saved me a lot of money". Per my math, the total is zero. With snake oil stuff, at best you may just end up wasting some money. At worst, you may also clog your radiator and heater core, so consider those possible expenses in addition to correcting the still unverified root cause of the problem. The risk/reward ratio is not very promising.

The valve cover gasket? I'd even suggest holding off on that for the moment. Should you find you've got a blown head gasket, you will have to pull the valve cover again. More money and more work versus cheap and lazy. Once again, your call. But this brings up my personal philosophy to do as little as possible, for as long as it takes. (That's the Latin in my sig.) Consider this scenario: You replace the valve cover gasket anyway because you're just itching to fix something, even though it has nothing to do with the engine running so poorly. In the process, maybe a vacuum line cracks or something else like that happens. Meanwhile, the engine already wouldn't run reliably, so you then set about diagnosing and fixing that. You find and fix the original fault, but this new fault you inadvertently introduced is still present. The new fault may mask the fact that you fixed the original fault, and before you know it you're swapping the carb and distributor and who knows what else.

My over-rated opinion, offered for free, and worth every penny.

 

A compression test may not show a bad head gasket.
I would start with the cooling system psi test. Pull all the plugs when running this test and fill the cooling system to the top.
If you find the cooling system will not hold psi crank the motor over with out the plugs and see if coolant exits one of the plug holes.
With the plugs out you can then run the compression test but if coolant exits a plug hole I would skip right to pulling the heads and hope it is a gasket and not a cracked head or block.

Have you checked the oil to see what that looks like? Is it a milk shake or normal?
Dave ----