302 rattle thoughts anyone?
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Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 5,964
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From: Woodruff, SC
302 rattle thoughts anyone?
:-X23 I have looked through the posts here and hav'nt seen anything about this.I recently bought at auction my second 79F100 sb 302 for 500$ it runs well but! when i got it home i tuned it and gave it an oil change and to make a long story short it now has a weird rattle.I used a big screw driver to try to pinpoint the noise and have found that i can hear it in the pan and at the valve covers the noise sounds like a cross between a rod and a valve tap and it goes away under load and when the engine is cold you don't hear it but when it warms up is when it starts.I have being told that its not the original motor because of the dipstick location being in the front i have yet to look up the #'s on the block but plan to do that today.Just wanted to get some of your thoughts thank's
Postmaster
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 3,351
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From: Escondido, CA
302 rattle thoughts anyone?
If you can hear it in the oil pan and the valves I would put my money on a bad lifter. It's the only thing that is tied into the block and valves. Hydralic lifters use the oil to cushion the cam lift to the rocker arms. The seal inside the lifter is most likely bad. If the oil is cold it's thinker then hot oil. Hence the loss of cushion.
Tuned
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 405
Likes: 2
From: Ft. Walton Bch 32547
302 rattle thoughts anyone?
You have exactly described the noise I have found common to 79, 80, and 81 302's that I have had. I'm not sure of all the exact years involved, but a Ford expert friend of mine told me that Ford had a problem with the piston skirts fracturing for a few years. They redesigned the factory installed pistons, and it turned out to be a flop. I rebuilt an 80 302 that was making that noise. Sure enough, there were little hair line cracks barely visable on the skirts. In my friends words, that engine could last 6000 more miles, or it could last 60,000 more miles, or it could last 160,000 more miles. I still drive a truck with a 79 302 in it that makes that noise you described. I beat it with no worries. Of course your engine may have a different problem, but it sounds like what I just said.
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