I have a friend with a cool Ford I want to buy. it is a '79 F-150 4x4 with a 400, granny low 4spd, posi 9" in the back and a posi somethin up front with 35s. The motor runs great but it smokes pretty bad, but it holds 93 PSI of oil pressure at idle. He said the P/O messed up the oil seals when he rebuilt it and it smokes and leaks but it runs like a champ. Are the 400s easy to rebuid?This truck is AWESOME in the mud. I figure some small mods like a carb, intake, small cam, and headers and it would be fun.

 

There is something more wrong with a motor that smokes as bad as you say than just oil seals. Rings, bore, valves, valve guides. 93 psi at a idle ? your already in the danger zone of blowing a oil filter. 25-50 is normal depending on the pump & condition of the engine.

 

I saw it on the gauge, and when he got on it about 1/4 throttle it would peg the 100 psi gauge. It smokes pretty bad, grey smoke. It doesn't start smoking until it gets warmed up. Is this motor on it's last leg? I'm not a real motorhead so I don't know much and I've never seen the insides of a Ford motor. Why would the oil psi be this high? Now this boy kinda gets desparate and he might be runnin 50W in it for all I know so it may be really thick to have the oil psi that high. It sounds good though. Would running on old gas make it smoke like that? I know the gas in it was around 10 months to a year old. I have no clue what it might need, but he said he would give me a deal and rebuild it if I paid him to and paid for the parts. I can't sleep it's 2 in the morning, but if the motor is seriously messed up I might come down o nthe price I was going to give.....

 

Running that high oil pressure no wonder it smokes.. Maybe a stuck regulator spring or something. That just aint right. If you buy it and want to work on it you can probably pretty easily spot the problem when you take it apart.

good luck

 

I've been looking through my new Summit catalog and don't see many 400 parts such as pistons, cams, valvetrain, or headers, may have them on their website. Buit it looks like it could get costly quick rebuilding one of these things just back to stock muchless puttign any mods to it Oh yea, gots to remember, I'm 16 and on a MAJOR budget......

 

yes, but you said your friend rebuilt this so hopefully most of the parts are good and dont have to be replaced e.g. pistons, bearings, oil pump, etc... so no need to go through all that. Make it breathe with a better cam, open up the ports on the heads a bit, definately put headers on it if it already doesnt have them, and a good true roller timing chain if it already doensnt have one and call it good!!! If you re-use parts, make sure you seperate all the parts and use them in exactly the same place they came from (#1 piston, bearings, lifters, etc...).

MAKE SURE YOU FIND OUT WHY THE SERIOUS HIGH OIL PRESSURE IS FROM!!!

But you could do mods like that pretty cheap. These are good motors if they breathe.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Oh, by the way, there are many more places to buy parts a LOT cheaper than summit. Take a look around.

 

Are you sure the oil pressure gauge is correct? I can't see your motor pushing that much pressure at idle even taking into consideration a stuck pressure release valve or 50W oil. Even with a high volume pump it would be tough to get it that high. I would start by ruling out the gauge. It may not have anything to do with your smoking issue and will just confuse you during diagnosis.

 

Actually, he said his friend told him that the PO before him rebuilt the engine, and apparently that guy screwed up in the process, so I wouldn't trust anything in that engine without a complete tear-down and inspection (and I have seen the insides of these engines many times). Since you know you're not a motorhead (yet), you have to assume the worst just to be anywhere near safe.

If you're not familiar with the Ford 400 engine, and you have some performance enhancement aspirations, you need to do some research on it so you know what you're getting into. BTW, most of the performance parts you find listed for the 351 Cleveland can be used with the 400. The only 351M/400-specific items you'll find are items unique to those engines (such as headers for those engines in a specific vehicle).

Here's a place to start if you want to learn more about the Ford 400:

http://home.earthlink.net/~bubbaf250/index.html

My advice is to forget about that truck, and go look for one that your budget will allow you to enjoy while you take the time to learn about its engine and figure out how you can modify it properly (and how you can afford to do that). I know it's hard to make a rational decision after you let yourself fall in love with a truck, but everything you said about this one makes it look pretty bad to me.

I'd hate to see you make an impulsive decision, and start down a road to heartbreak that turns you into a Chevy man.

 

brother your gonna get screwed by this "friend"
one of 2 either
he has it full of REALL thick oil/gear lube
or
he has plugged the oil pump pressure bypass so she builds up
" it has 93 psi it cant be blow by" sure chuckles
now if its cheap enough buy it and plan on tearing it down or out n out rebuilding it

hey if ya like it takes about 7 quarts of oil be a but and change his oil b4 u think of it
and the pressure guage should be screwed it behind the carb or between the oil filter and fuel pump although what maked 90 psi other that compression that he could have it hooked up to i don't know

better than not getiing screwed is figuring out what is been done to it

 

Holy smokes... Took me an hour to decipher that one!!!

Anyway, I just rebuilt a 400 and with a HV pump we are running max about 55PSI and about 35 at idle.

Only time I have ever seen the pressure this high is when someone put a bearing in backwards. Make sure you run a compression test as well before you think about buying this vehicle and make sure you are getting what you pay for. If the price is right, the 400 can be a really good motor but I wouldnt trust this one as is. Like everyone said here, it would have to be gone through.

 

Me and my brother in law run a 400m in our race car and run 75psi max with cold 20w-50 race oil in it. What buubaf250 says i agree with most of the clevland parts are the same as the 400.

 

Thanks for all the advise guys. I need it. Now what I know about the truck. One of my other friends went with the one that owns the truck to pick it up in a junkyard. It was bought for $400. They brought it home, unloaded it, changed the plugs, changed the oil, put some fuel in the tank, changed the filter, and it fired right up. A different friend went with the truck owner to the parts store and bought a new master cylidner & power booster, 4 wheel cylinders, 4 pads/shoes, new front hubs and bearings, and a new electric fuel pump. Supposedly all that was $220 and some change.

Well I've heard from the friend that went when the truck was purchased that one time he got stuck and the big Ford pulled him out and in the process shot out a blue flame about a foot long out of both tailpipes ( straights ), still can't frigure that one out. The owner currently told me he put 5 different oil psigauges on the truck and they all read within 3-5 lbs of each other. I forgotto mention, that he has to run the choke on it about 1/4 to 1/2 way to keep it running,so that could account for some smoke. But it doesn't smoke right off, it takes about 2-3 minutes to really starts smoking. The engine is stock I think. It looks all stock externally.

Let's see what else? Oh yea, the tank is rusty and cloggs up the fuel filter, the power steering pump squeeks. I'll have to find him sometime and ask for detailed info. He told me it was a special order truck with white spoke wheels, 5.29? maybe gears and posi front and rear, and no A/C. Thats all I can think of for now. Thanks

P.S.: BTW bubbaf250, your site is VERY informative and helpful on my learning about the 400 and other 335 series engines

 

I have a 400M in my race car and use 20/50 oil with a HV pump too. Pushes about 75 psi cold. Great motors if you don't mind spending a little more money building it.

 

>>'70F100Owner>> crap should of asked first (LOL) have you still got the parts for the brakes? if so return / exchange them
and get this
79 f-350 vacuum booster and master clyinder 2wd(cruise if ya got it) cardone #50-9337
73-78 full size ford(t-bird will do) front caliper cardone #18-4083 #18-4084.
aeroquip #FCM2929 (adapter)
areoquip #FCM3513(crush washer)
russels #630117-14 (new hose)
aero again #FCM2936 (inv flare to 3-an)
78-79 F-350 4WD wheel clyinders

now ya got some killer BOLT ON brakes only thing needed was the ss flex line and adapters for the hose
calipers are interchangable and take the same pads but with a bigger piston

the wheelcylinders are direct replacement and bigger(notice a pattern here)

the master has a bigger bore and the booster is smaller diameter but a dual diaphram
now the price is higher but not bad for extra stop the stock bronco/f150 booster/MC is ~72 core~45 the f350 is 130 and 36 core

it will stop and how bigger tires not a problem still stops
hope i aint too late

 

I didn't buy the brakes, the current owner did. It stops great, it has 33"s not 35"s but it will lock all 4 of therm up if he wants too. Almost put me through the windshield.