My '91 E-250 with 207,000 miles sounds like a diesel when I start it in the morning. Is there some sort of 12 volt external oil pump I can mount on the engine to pressureize the oil system before I hit the starter. I know they make such a thing for race cars, but, they're probably not in my budget. How much damage is my engine doing to itself?
Thanks
Lloyd

 

The first thing I would do is throw away the Fram filter you are probably using and install a Motorcraft FL1A in its place.

 

Maybe run an engine oil flush and then change the oil and filter

 

Say Silver is that because the Motorcraft FL1A has a check valve to hold the oil from draining back tru the pump? cause on my 240 w 78,000 I get that start knock also. I using a NAPA filter and its better than the Fram I had from Wally's.
thanks Cy

 

My dad's 87 just started doing this ever since I changed the oil couple weeks ago. It sounds just like you described. His has 150,000 miles and I used castrol 10w40 and one of my purolator pure one filters, he uses napa gold but he was out so I stuck one of mine on there so I wouldn't have to run back out. He thinks his oil pressure gauge is the allmighty and he will not listen to me when I tell him it's an idiot light with a needle. I know in my truck sometimes I look down and it's pegged all the way over on high and he says maybe you just have that much pressure... yeah right whatever. Anyways mine has 110,000 miles and I use mobil 1 10w30 with pure one filter and no rattle. Any ideas on his? I know quite a few people on here use rotella 15w40 and I thought about putting that in. It's gonna be getting colder here soon so I used the 10w40 because I didn't want to put something in that was really thick. I thought maybe his oil pump was going to the bad.

 

first, use motorcraft filters.

never use fram on these trucks.

second, new filters even motorcraft sometimes fail. a post on after oil change bad pressure had this problem.

 

I never use fram and I know well enough to stay away. Purolator makes motorcraft filters and I've never had any issues using these filters before.

 

Why do y'all like the Motorcraft filters so much??
Just curius!

 

I like MotorCraft, filters because they seem to eliminate my cold start rattle problem. Back when this subject first came up on this forum, I was using Fram filters and I disagreed with the forum members who said the cold start rattle could be eliminated or minimized by simply changing filter brands.

To test their theory, I pulled the Fram filter and installed a MotorCraft filter. I did not change the oil. I just topped off the oil level to make up for the oil I lost changing the filter. The cold start rattle problem disappeared while using the MotorCraft filter. Two weeks latter, I pulled the MotorCraft and installed a new Fram filter. Again, I just topped off the oil. The cold start rattle was back. Two weeks latter I pulled the Fram and installed a new MotorCraft. The cold start rattle again disappeared.

I recognize that there are a lot of variables involved and my experiment isn’t exactly scientific. But, I have been using MotorCraft for about a year now and I have not noticed any cold start rattle during that time. It is very possible that I simply had two defective Fram filters.

It appears that some filter brands may have better anti-drainback valves. I understand that the anti-drainback valve prevents the upper engine oil from draining backwards through the filter and into the oil pan. It has been reported on this forum that the MotorCraft, NAPA Gold, and Wix filters may have better anti-drainback valves

There are forum members who don’t like MotorCraft and report just the opposite results. Some of those members say that they use Fram filters exclusively and they never have problems with cold start rattle. I would recommend that you try several filter brands and try to decide if you can see a difference in your particular engine.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions.
Lloyd