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BAD vibration
I'm looking at buying an 83 f-150 later today, and everything is beautiful on this truck, except it needs a tune up and it shakes like mad. I can see that the harmonic balancer is wobbling, but can it make the whole engione shake that bad? I'm just worried that I'll buy the truck and fix it, and still have a potentially bigger problem. I used to work for Autozone, and I know a lot about cars and motors, but have no real experience with V8's. BTW, I think it's a 302.
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Well, I bought the truck for $1300. It drove home, and the body is straight with origonal paint and hubcaps. The motor runs like crap, and is knocking really loud. I'm not sure now if the harmonic balancer is what's wrong. The knocking sound gets louder and more frequent at high RPM's. I'll do all the tune up today, and see how it goes.
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From: Akron
I hope that ain't a rod knocking ......but this dude i know had a chevy 4.3 with a bad (like gonna go thru the block ) rod knock and he used 3 quarts of that lucas he is still driving it today and that was 6 months ago 
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I did the tune up two days ago, and it runs a LITTLE better. I also fixed most of the vacuum leaks, and it idles worse now. It dies when put into drive, unless it's cold and the choke is engaged. I didn't mention that there was no gas cap on the tank, and I think that might be contributing to the crappy running. The knock at idle sounds exactly like someone hitting the inside of the motor every revolution. If I rev the motor, it knocks up until I let off the gas, and then it returns at idle. I listened with a stethescope and it sounds loudest through the oil pan. Should I just buy a rebuilt short block, and rebuild? I was hoping to replace just rod bearings, but it sounds worse now. BTW, sorry about the long post.
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BTW, is there a website or book or something to decode this carburetor? I can't find any adjustment screws anywhere!
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Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2002
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From: Bend,OR
What kinda carb is it. I would look into a shortblock but talk to some machine shops first , maybe look into stroking that motor it will cost ruffly the same either way
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I'm not looking for any performance upgrades. Just a dependable truck. I did remove the smog pump to get a better look at the timing marks, but still haven't found anything. This engine is not very user-friendly. And the carb is a stock two barrel. I can get the number if you want.
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The carb is second on the list, because I'm worried the motors gonna turn it's internals to mush. I'm looking at buying a rebuilt shortblock and using all the rest of my parts on it. I did find the timing marks on the balancer, but I don't know where the pointer is. There is a metal thing that looks like a loop and then another that comes to a point. If it's the point that I'm supposed to use, then my timing is at about 20 BTC and that's not good, especially on 87 octane and no gas cap. Ouch...
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I turned it down to around 8 BTC, but now it idles worse, and the knock is still there. I think I'm gonna try some thicker oil, and some gas additive. How is the idle even adjusted on this carb? Is it in the linkage or what?
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