Hey all. I've had this truck for a bit now and I've been reading this forum a lot even though I haven't posted (or even registered, for that matter) At any rate, these are the specs:
4x4, 5.8, 232k miles, carb, C6 3 speed auto
So far, I've changed the oil, put on some new tires, swapped wipers and hung a skull air freshener (now that's what I call an upgrade in performance!)
I'm still haveing some leakage issues. I have some transmission fluid leakage that seems to be coming from around the pan. I also have what looks like a front main leak and some leaking around the pan. I haven't had the truck long enough to really figure out much leakage-to-mile-ratio it works out to be, but it looks to be moderate so far. Other than that, the truck runs really well, all things considered. I'm thinking about trying some simple fixes on these problems but if they don't work, I'll probably turn to a rebuilt or reman engine. Anyone have any idea how much I should expect to pay to get this done and installed?
Thanks for the input! I love the forum and will continue hanging with you guys for a while!

 

First thing, it sounds like you've got two issues...two leaks.
The tranny...you could degrease it and hose it off, wipe dry, then watch for a leak.
Remember gravity makes any leak go lower.
Engine...it sounds like you're ready to replace the engine all because of a leak or two.

 

Agree with him, dont be in too big a rush to rebuild the engine, it isn't cheap. Your rates may be better but for me to yank it myself and put it in, do my own heads and just have the local machine shop do the lower block rebuild is about $900.

Add about another few hundred on that if they do the heads. Add a bunch more if you have someone else yank it and put it back in.

Add to this, that a leak is a leak and it can happen on any engine. I have a POS GM I am selling that insists on leaking no matter what. I have had it rebuilt twice for other problems over the years and it has leaked since the day I owned it. Soon as I fix one leak, it starts a new one somewhere else a couple months later. Things leak, new or old.

Besides, got to have an excuse to go work on the truck to get away from the Mrs right?!?! My garage is my sanctuary.

Just clean her up real well then watch it. As he said, leaks run downward and if driving fast, move towards the rear a bit so just trace up and forward until you find them.

The pan is likely either a pan gasket or since it is a 302, the rear main seal. 302s ALWAYS start leaking around the rear main after about 75K miles or so. Not a big deal. My old 85 Grand Marquis had a leak like that that went another 80K miles before I traded it in and it still was running fine.

Lee

 

definitely not READY to replace it. I just wanted to know about how much it would run if I did. As far as the leaks go, I think I'll try your suggestion first and see if I can locate them exactly and then figure out what would be required to fix them. Would the steam thing at the car wash work for that? I there anything in particular I don't want to get wet. I would imagine that the distributor needs to remain dry, but I don't know exactly. Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

 

One other thing. I noticed today that the oil pressure seems to run pretty low. The needle sits right on the "n" on the guage. It did it even after changing the oil. I used 10w40. Doesn't go up with acceleration. I thought maybe the sender was bad? The truck doesn't run wierd or anything...

 

What filter did you put in? people have been sayin' that fram's will make the oil pressure look low. And also, the stock guages stink and get some real guages to see whats realy goin on.

 

hmmm... I put in a Fram Xtra-Guard. Wonder if that could be the problem? Also, as far as regular gauges go, where would I find a manual gauge and how do I use it?

 

You can find them at your local parts store, and they have all the fitting so you can plumb them in place of the factory sending unit.

 

I bought an 86 with 302 EFI engine which appeared to be leaking from the front, rear, and points in-between. I replaced the valve cover gaskets (no small job on EFI) and cleaned the motor (careful not to get the distributor wet). All of my leaking problems were resolved except a leak in the low pressure side of the power steering pump. Since I did this, I have had zero leaking and the truck has 114K miles on it. If you replace the valve cover gaskets, I recommend that you use steel reinforced (thin steel gasket with cork overlay) which is rigid and will not slip out of position. This is especially important if your truck is EFI because the right bank is a booger to get at and you wouldn't want to do it twice. The gaskets are quite expensive but worth the security, in my opinion.

 

Thanks guys! I'll definitely drop in a new oil gauge. I'm going to clean the engine and see if I can actually locate a leaking part. If anyone else has any input, I'll take it

 

Rear and front mains on any older Ford engine simply leak. I've rebuilt 302's, 390's, 360's, 428's, and a few M blocks and 400's and a couple of c blocks over the years as well. The leak seems to be inherent to Ford, and nothing to really worry about. Just check your oil, and then engines live a long healthy life. I had almost a million miles on my 69 Ford 4x4, prior to yarding out the old 360 in favor of a fresh built 390. Regular maintenance is the key to any engine, any brand of vehical. Oil changes become your very best friend, as well as pulling the dipstick regularly. As a former professional driver, I pull it before I start the vehical, every day. I check it more than once if driving long distances as well. Something I can seriously recommend here. Loc-Tite 515 Gasket compound. It works great for all gaskets, never truely hardens, and flexes with engine heating and cooling. It's solved more than one leak for me over the years, especially when installing a new gasket and filter in the trans, or valve cover and intake manifold and oil pan gaskets.

 

Do you guys recommend any type "stop leak" oil or transmission additives? I've heard differing opinions and was hoping you folks might have some experience with them.

 

DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF STOP LEAK UNLESS IT IS AN EMERGENCY! "Stop Leak" of any kind, will eventually make you wish you didn't use it. Find and fix the leak - stop leak cloggs up more than just the hole.

 

I agree, don't use ANY Stop-Leak additive, esp. in the transmission, I did that and now the front pump leaks like crazy, (I have to add a quart everyday, no matter how much its driven, it'll leak out, sometimes more so when it was warm) Now the transmission has to be pulled to replace the front pump seal...transmiision stop-leak made it leak more....and get rid of the fram filter unless you like to starve the engine startup with no oil...learned it the hard way.

 

Hey y0 diggity

You asked about what to use to clean your engine, and I used this engine-brite stuff I got at Crappy Tire. It was in a big orange spray can, and it worked great on my truck. Only thing about using that at a carwash is they'll give you trouble for degreasing there. After I used it, it was much, much easier to figure out where leaks were coming from. I even went so far as to use my exacto knife and scraped off all of the collected oil gunk from the oil pan and surrounding area. I must have removed enough to fill an XL timmy ho's cup! I figured it was a good idea to get rid of as much of the gummy oil residue as possible, since when the engine warms up, that stuff will eventually loosen up and drip on the ground too, won't it? Either way, it really cleaned up the parts and made me feel better about the whole deal.

Enough people have given me grief over how everything loosens up in Ford trucks over time, but I found that lots of leaking in my 85 F150 was resolved by simply tightening up bolts. Sure I changed some gaskets too, but my oil pan was leaking about a quart every few days, and now maybe a tablespoon per week after just retorquing those bolts.

My power steering pump went from leaking enough to spray fluid all around inside the compartment to not leaking a single drop just by cleaning up and retightening the clamp on a hose. Just making sure all connections are snug as a bug in a rug seems to help with alot of issues I've personally had since owning this truck (which has been the first vehicle I've taken an active interest in maintaining).

Anyways, just adding whatever I can from my own experience as a novice.


Aaron