Help on Why my 1964 V8 F-100 keeps bending 4 push rods
 

I have a 1964 F-100 with the original 292 V8 at least I think its the 292 as the person I bought it from didnt know either but it looks original. It ran fine at first but then started to smoke and I found that 4 of the push rods had bent. So I replaced all 8 of them and then a week later 4 of them were bent again! Has anyone ever heard of this or had this problem? I have heard of an additive that should be added to the oil that was around in 1964 but isnt in the oil today but eveyone I ask has not heard of it. Also how can I tell exacly which motor it is?

thanks

Welcome to FTE Ki- Valves could be adjusted to tight,,,, is it the same 4 bent again,, I would suggest checking adjustment,,, probably don't need to add an oil additive,,,, just good clean oil,,, you might be thinking about a lead additive for the fuel, as the older gas used to come in leaded and unleaded,,,, wow, remember those days, when gas was red and smelled good,,, anyways, Welcome to FTE and I am sure more info will come along.
Joe

You say you replaced all 8 pushrods which leads me to believe you are only talking about one side of the engine, What is the condition of the rocker shaft and arms? Sounds like it could be an oiling issue. My son bought a 63 with a 292 and one of the first things worked on was cleaning the sludge from the valve train. Amazing how much crud was in the valve cover, rockers, and shaft! As I remember there used to be an extra oil line kit for the y block engine

The inside of the engine is very, very clean, the arms are in great shape and yes it is just one side giving me problems

Pukk the valve cover and run the engine at fast idle you should see oil seeping around the rockers at the shaft, I would be willing to bet it is an oiling issue.

I've seen the same thing happen numerous times with trucks that had sat for years with old gasoline in the tank. I don't know if todays gasoline will turn to varnish, but the stuff we had 25 years ago did and it forms a layer of black goo at the bottom of the tank that will mix with fresh gasoline and cause the intake valves to stick.

Most recently, I put rebuilt heads on an IHC truck that hadn't been operational in years and had stuck intake valves. I didn't clean out the fuel tank very well, and the intake valves stuck again and bent some pushrods after only running the engine for a few hours. When I pulled the intake manifold off of the engine, the inside was coated with a baked-on, reddish-brown coating as were the intake ports on the cylinder heads. I had to disassemble the cylinder heads and clean each intake valve and valve guide with acetone to get the varnish off. I also washed out the intake manifold, fuel tank, and fuel lines with acetone at the same time.

Obsa, after he pukes on the valve cover...then what??

Sorry that trick only happens when having to work on a Chevy.

actually it was more of a case of crippled hands and worse eyesight, the k and the l keys seem to get closer together each day.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I usually hit the ; instead of the l. Truth be told, bowtie that is the only engine I am very familiar with. Never worked on a Ford, although same basic principles apply.

No big deal I try to proofread before I post but missed that time. And your right about most engines sharing basic principals. Unless you are talking about desmodronic Ducatis or those old torsion valvesprung Honda 450s then the valvetrain becomes a bit mindboggling !:-X14

Double check your firing order. You may be off.

I had one where the valves were sticking in the guides. It had tthe oillines going to the rear v/c bolts but one was plugged

Hi KI-Adi-Mundi: I had the same problem with a 289 engine in a Mustang. It turned out to be old gasoline. It did it three times and ceased the intake valves. Put new gasoline in the tank and freeing up the valves, adding new pushrods and I never had that problem again. Joe

Thanks for the help. This truck had been sitting for a while with very little gas, that little bit must have been very bad. Now that I have run gas through it several times and replaced the push rods for the 2nd time it hasent bent the puch rods again and no more smoking. I have driven the truck about 120 miles since and havent had a problem.

I'm pretty sure ur valves are getting stuck closed usually when that happens here at the shop we take the heads apart and stick them on a special oven that we have crank it to 550 degrees and it Burns all the sticky and oily stuff on it.then we put it in a bead blaster and they come out new looking . Then we basically do a valve job and check the guides. Maybe that's what's wrong with yours