Hi,
I woke up to go to work to find the engine seized in my 1986 F350 crew cab 4wheel drive, 4 speed manual transmission dually. It had no oil in it, and when I parked it it was running perfectly. 800 miles ago I had an oil change. I am clueless as to what happened, but I need to get it fixed. These are my questions:
1. Should I order a long block or attempt to rebuild the block I have. (if it can be rebuilt) If your advice is to order a long block, who would you reccommend to provide a good product. I dont know if there is anyone in the New Orleans area that can do it.
(my engine had an rv cam, msd electronic ignition, and was used for towing a heavy boat)
2. If I attempt to find a used engine, are the 460 car engines the same as the truck engines. If I find a later model 460 with fuel injection, (mind had an edelbrock carb), can I use it?
3. Are there any other ford engines that might bolt up that would be a good choice and give me better then the 9 mpg mileage I got with the old engine.
Thanks for any advice you can give me. (besides to check the oil after I have someone change it==I've figured that out already.
Jim

 

I think you should try and figure out how all that oil ended up vacating the block. That's negligence if it falls on their behalf.

 

I wouldn't do anything until I notified the folk that changed the oil. I am basing that on "800 miles ago I had an oil change." They will be in denial but are liable for the engine. Take many photos of the tear down.

A new engine would be faster to get the truck going again. IMHO

John

 

John and Road Virus,
Believe me, I have thought about the possibility of the liability of the folks who changed the oil. But I know that is a long and possibly fruitless endeavor, and I have to assume its all going to be on me to get back on the road again in a reasonable time. I am going to be examining the engine closely on the teardown to see what happened. I just know the oil is gone, and there is not any apparent reason why, unless it just leaked out over a period of a week or so. It was parked in the grass and did not leave any obvious signs of heavy leaking. Maybe blowby? It did not appear to be coming out the tailpipe a smoke either. Like I say, it ran perfectly smoothly. If I had the mechanical knowledge, I would rebuild it myself, but I've never done an engine rebuild so I'm afraid of that job. Therefore my questions.
Jim

 

You could use a EFI motor, but the heads are different than a carbed motor. You would have to get an adapter to put a carb on the EFI intake since you cant just bolt a carb intake to the EFI heads. I think you would also have to use the EFI exhaust manifolds as well.

 

If it's the crank bearings that are seized, you may be able to get away with pulling the crank, having it ground down on the main and rod journals and put new bearings in and run. It will depend on how long the engine ran, if it just seized on startup due to lack of oil, you should be able to get away with just doing the crank. You might actually be able to do it in the truck if you don't have the TTB axle. It'll depend on if you can get the oil pan out and drop the crank. When you pull the crank, look for any discoloration on the rods or crank, if everything looks ok you can probably get away with a cheap fix.

 

Jim, Don't mean to be harping on you, but when someone is in business and is providing you a service while charging you a fee for that service, you have reasonable expectation that the service will be done without causing you harm.

You let them know that there is a failure, and invite them to look at it. Take pictures and document the tear down. You might find that something happened that was no fault of the oil change, or it could point directly to them. If they are at fault and would not compensate you, you take them to small claims court, and let a judge decide.

Most businesses have liability insurance to cover things like that.

John

 

what's a TTB axle?

 

Twin torque beam (the front IFS ford used), mine has it and I don't think it'd be possible to drop the crank with the engine in the truck. With the I-beam axle or in a 2wd, it might be possible.

 

I agree with those that believe this business may have some liability. Before you do anything I would call them and ask them what they want to do. As I see it, it is for them to prove they did right. Even if you go ahead and fix it in the time they are trying to get out of it. I would have a qualified mechanic verify the cause. Because in small claims court it will come down to the facts and having a qualified mechanic testify what he finds will be fact. Believe me I have taken & been taken to small claims court. The he said, she said, crap is out any good Judge will sort out the facts and rule according. Small claims court is an experience everyone should try out at least once. Most of us who have been in business have at one time or another been there. You just reassured me of why I do my own servicing. If I have a garage work on my truck I research their reputation. One call to the BBB will give you a pretty good idea. If they have been in business for 20 years with no complaints unresolved, it gives you a pretty good idea they are reputable. Today in this world of FAST FASTER & FASTEST. we forget the little things like checking to make sure they did what they said they did. Less than 2 minutes and you would of known if they put in a full amount of oil. Now 2 minutes will cost you several hours & maybe several dollars. I hope you learned from this.

 

The 460 shouldn't run more than a few minutes at most without oil in it. It has an oil pressure cutoff switch that shuts off the fuel pump if the oil pressure drops below approximately 4 1/2 psi. So the engine should quit as soon as the carburetor fuel bowl runs dry. No way could it run 800 miles without oil. So where did the oil go? Possibilities include: oil filter leaking, drain plug not tight, bad crankshaft oil seal (front or rear), leaking oil pressure sending unit, leaking oil cooler or lines (if so equipped). Also, if you have an aftermarket oil pressure gauge installed, look for a broken line especially if it's plastic. If the oil escaped while driving then I would think the whole underside of the truck would be wet with it. Bad rings, broken piston or other problems internal to the engine should have resulted in clouds of blue-white smoke while running.

 

If you decide to replace your motor I'd like to say, stay away from remanufactored motors. I bought a reman 302 from my local Autozone store. I had to return it because it had a mecanical defect and started rod-knocking 2 months after I installed it. Recon, the company that made the reman didn't want to stand behide their warranty because I installed their motor myself raither than having a certified mechanic do the install for me. After-the-fact, my local engine shop could have rebuilt my motor for a couple hundred dollars more but, I think that I would of had a better quality rebuild in the end.