OT: F**d saga continues

Change the oil to Castrol 20-50 and forgetaboutit....

JT

Nate Nagel wrote:

Check out the valve lifters. They can "c*ck" in their tunnels and make a rod/bearing noise. Makes the oil level screwy, too. Rather common on 300's that sit for a long time.

I'd check your oil pressure with a real gauge before drawing any conclusions.

I am not sure about your truck but many 80s and possibly early 90s fords have a gauge cluster voltage regulator. Those things are known to go goofy after a while and result in the gauges wandering about. They are just a bi-metalic thermal relay like a christmas tree flasher. Flash rate is around once every couple seconds. The power to the gauges comes from there and will flip from 0v to 12v. The average is supposed to 5v. I have a '85 thunderbird turbo with the gauges and they frequently drift around because of this. There are articles on the web on how to take them apart and build your own solid state guts to replace the problem. I've not bothered.

Jeff in ND

I'd agree with Jeff. Check the pressure with a real gauge. This will either set your mind at ease or worry you more. I have an 88 F-250 with a 460 ci (gas guzzler) in it. It has the full complement of guages. The oil pressure gauge doesn't have numbers (wouldn't mean anything anyway), but it doesn't change alot from idle to 2500 RPM. It is always really low. The gas gauge is totally unbeleivable. It jumps around here and there and the oil pressure seems to go crazy whenever the gas gauge goes crazy. Over the

4th of July, I drove 1000 miles with a 2500 lb camper in the box and never heard any funny noises. I did however run 40 miles (5 gallons) past empty on the gas guage. Further destroying any faith I had in the gauges. (then switched to other tank).

I have noticed the 10-30 brings the oil pressure guage up better than

5-30. So I run 10-30 even when it gets cold in the winter.

Rob in ND

What's with all the ND posters lately? They're coming out of the woodwork... all two of them.

I'm heading to my hometown (Michigan, ND) in the morning. Looking forward to the $4.00/gal. gas by the end of the month.

Lee

Those motors are rather suceptible to clogged pickups if they've been in somewhat neglected "beater work trucks" for a while. Check the pressure with a real gauge, as others have suggested. Another trait they have is carbon breaking loose into the cylinders. This sounds just like a bad rod knock until it goes out the tailpipe. I believe it accumulates just above the valves and then breaks off occasionally. I've heard it a lot of times on older engines when under load. It is really bad if the head is pulled and reinstalled for some reason without thoroughly decarboning and cleaning. It sounds like the bottom end is going to explode the first time the engine is started. Pretty scary no matter how many times you've heard it.

Have a safe trip. Barry (like Nate, I'd rather be working on a Stude instead of on a F**d truck all of the %#*@ time)

You don't know how hard it was for me to keep myself contained... Thank You for a communication well expressed!!!

JT

Nate.I mechaniced for a construction company and we had a fleet of Ford vans with the 300 ci 6 cyl.We used 15/40 Rotella in all of them because its what we had on hand for the loaders and excavators and such.One thing you have to watch out for when using heavy oil in the

300 is the roll pin that holds the drive gear onto the distributor shearing from the resistance of the thick oil.Since it was used year around,if was more prevalent in the winter,but it is something to watch out for. I myself have had 1/2 dozen Ford pickups with the 300 and a few have had the death rattle on start up.The 15/40 really helped.I used a oil pan heater in the coldest winter months to keep the oil thin for start up. You will know if the pin starts to shear because the motor will get real tired acting,and gas milage will get worse.Also the exhaust will get real hot from the late timing.Had one get cherry red in 10 degree weather! Eventually it wont idle,if it starts at all.And figureing out this will DRIVE YOU BATSHIT! Another 300 six issue is the intake manifold to cylinder head bolts loosening and the gasket sucking out,or causing a real lean mix,which detonates like mad.Could this be the "death rattle" you hear?? Is the base idle speed even,or does it hunt around??? Been there,done that! When you get REAL bored,let me tell you how to change injectors on a 351 FI Ford pickup motor........

just my no-so-humble-opinion , BTW I sell an excellent engine flush in my AMSOIL line at

I'm still trying to figure out what if anything is needed... I have a "real" oil pressure gauge and some brass, but my nasty Real Job has been encroaching on my evenings this week, truck has been sitting in the driveway not moving or being worked on...

I suspect worst case scenario I will just have to drop the pan and replace the pickup. The engine seems fine most of the time and pulls fine. This is a great improvement from my initial impression of the problem... I dunno if that is a "driveway" job or not though.

nate

Hey Nate, what year is that truck? At some point, Ford started using a one piece silicone gasket on the 300s. I'm thinking 1990. If so, you can drop the pan down onto the crossmember, swap out the pickup tube through the gap, slip the new gasket around the outside of the pan and bolt it back up. You won't need to completely remove the pan. If you have the old style cork gasket and end seals, the pan has to come all the way out to scrape/jackhammer/dynamite all of the old gasket off. Take a look at what's between the pan and the block on your truck. The silicone gaskets had a lip that hung out down the sides of the block. Pan removal might not be too bad on the I-6, I don't recall ever completely removing one. The ones I did all had the silicone gasket. You likely just have to lift it up off the mounts until the trans hits the floor, (remove the fan and radiator hoses, watch for firewall clearance), drop the pickup tube into the pan, then weasel the pan out. The V-8s with Fuel Injection totally suck eggs to remove the pan. The whole upper intake plenum has to come off to get the motor high enough. They used the silicone gasket, but the pan usually had a hole rusted through the side, so it had to come out regardless.

I hope it doesn't come down to pulling the pan, but if it does, I hope this helps even a little bit. Tom Adkins

it's a 93. If what you're telling me is correct that is very good news! I'll have to look at it closely, it's dirty enough that it's not obvious.

nate

Jeff and I will be working on Studebaker's all weekend, if you need the garage.

Nate Nagel wrote:

I'll try to make it over, but if I come over I'd like to try to finally set up the rear end on the '55. I need a break from working on boring vehicles :)

nate

I have beer.

N8N wrote:

I'm over at JP's now, just taking a break from working on my STUDEBAKER... finally!

nate