Hi, I have a 95 F-150 4WD (5.8, E4OD, 150k miles) that we use for towing. It's done well, and I've fixed a few annoyances, but it has some mechanical items I would like an opinion on. I'm accustomed to doing nearly all my own work by myself and w/o air tools, but since it won't fit in my garage, I fear some of it may be unreasonable. At least I don't need to jack it up to get underneath it.
Here's the laundry list:
- Ticking sound from right bank under throttle, in time with engine RPM. It's perfectly consistent and around 2 ticks/second when near idle speed. I wanted to check the EGR tube but stopped short of attempting to disassemble it when I saw it resembled heavy plumbing. As well, the manifold didn't show any cracks but it looked very tight and very rusted to attempt to unbolt it for inspection. I looked into checking the timing, but it seems there is no timing adjustment on these 95s. Any tips, or suggestions how to diagnose and repair as a DIY or how bad$$ it might be at a shop?
- Oil collecting around oil pan. It's not enough to generate a puddle, but has begun marking the parking space. I suspect pinhole corrosion leaks in the pan, or dripping from the mainseals. If it's any of these problems, it sounds very messy to repair them on my back in a parking space. Any help for diagnosing this and determine how urgent this job is.
- ATF collecting around tranny pan. Again, it's just enough to wet the pan. I was planning to drop the pan to change the fluid and install a basic Transgo shift kit. But this could become one massive mess even with a 3'x5' metal catch pan. Is there any way to do this without messing up the parking space?
- Fuel tank leakage and/or bad check valves. The rear tank just pumps to the front tank, and when it's full it seems to have a slight leak near the rear filler neck. Is the filler neck, valves, etc easy to see when I have the tank dropped? (I can drop the tank myself, but removing the bed sounds like a 2-3 person job, and obviously less convenient).
Tips, links, advice appreciated.
Dave