Opinions wanted

canislatrans54

canislatrans54

New member
Hi guys,
Well, that 1st post didn't work, so I'll try again.


I am currently driving a '91 F150 w/5.8L EFI.
The entire truck has 136,000K on it.
The body is straight, & is just starting to rust.
And for the most part is mechanically sound.

However, the engine is getting "tired", & although it only uses 1qt of oil in 1,000 miles, there is an issue with oil pressure.

Because I am on a limited budget, I can not spend more than $4,000.
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*** What would you do....have the engine rebuilt & keep driving the same truck?....OR, try to find a different truck? ***
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Keep in mind the limited funds.
And, no, making payments is not an option, since my only current income is S.S. Disability.

Thanks for any opinions.
 
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Fix your truck. You know its history and if you've taken care of it you will get a lot more miles out of it. A different truck in the price range you mentioned would be too risky for me. You don't want a maintenance nightmare.
 
Originally Posted By: USAFix your truck. You know its history and if you've taken care of it you will get a lot more miles out of it. A different truck in the price range you mentioned would be too risky for me. You don't want a maintenance nightmare.

+1 I think you'll be far better off fixing your problems than inheriting someone elses. It costs a lot to get into that worry free category of used vehicles any more.

Nate
 
What's the problem with the oil pressure? I don't think I'd rebuild the engine. Truck value is less than the cost of the rebuild. I'd look around for a truck that some ol fart like me has with lo miles.

I bought a 97 crew 4x4 350 with 80,000 miles on it for a lot less than $4000
 
Jim,
I'll try to make the story as short as possible.LOL

Last January, I developed a pinhole leak in the intake gasket, so I started leaking antifreeze.
Being mid-winter, not having a garage to work in, & being too dang fat, I opted to have a licensed shop do the work.

Keep in mind, I bought this truck in '08, had no mechanically problems with it, other than a starter going bad.
And, when I dropped the truck off to get the leak fixed, the truck ran "perfect" oil pressure, ALL THE TIME...about mid-way on the "dummy gauge" (no numbers).

Of course, they pulled the intake off, & replaced the gasket.
While the intake was off, the mechanic noticed slight wear on the cam & crankshaft. But nothing out of the ordinary for 135K.
Once the motor was back together, they changed the oil & filter.
Called me, said "It's ready.".
When I picked the truck up, I didn't make it out of their driveway, & noticed, I had NO oil pressure reading.

I immediately stopped, & went back in to the shop.
The guys pulled the truck back in...changed the oil pressure sender, & again changed the oil/filter.
Still no reading on the gauge.

Wondering if the gauge was malfunctioning, they attached a mechanical hand-held gauge...and at idle only got a reading of 7 pounds of pressure.

To slightly shorten this story, we continued to mess around for a couple days, & never solved the mystery.

When you first start the engine, cold, it carries "perfect" pressure.
After the engine warms up, at any RPM lower than 2000, the pressure dips to the bottom of the gauge.
I have driven around town, during 2011, about 1000 miles since the problem started.
Making short stop & go trips the engine runs fine, except for that dang oil pressure.

Once, back in June, I had to travel to another town for a doctor's appointment. The trip was about 50 miles, one way.
And I drove 55-60 mph.
I made it to the appointment OK, but the engine was running terribly rough when I finally parked.
I was there for about 1.5 hrs.
On the way home, I drove about 60-65mph.
I got to within 15 miles of home, & the engine "died".
Fortunately, there was a rest area right at that spot, & I was able to coast into the rest area.
I tried for about 30 minutes to re-start the truck, with no success. So, I called a tow truck, paid his high prices, & had him deliver me & the truck home.
Next day, I decided to try once more to start the truck. To my amazement, it not only started within seconds, until the engine warmed up, it showed "perfect" oil pressure!!!
I haven't had any problems since, except the up/down oil pressure since. But, I also haven't left town, with my longest "trip" being about 8 miles, @ no more than 40mph.

It was after this 100 mile road trip & problem, that I asked about changing the oil pump & was told the engine would have to be removed to do it.


As for buying a different truck...both individuals & dealers are mighty proud of their used trucks around here, being a mainly rural place.
I've checked around, & the newest truck I could buy...that had less than 200K right now, would be between the years '93-'96, for less than $4000.
That's why I'm wondering if it would be worth starting over with a truck I know nothing about, that's not really much newer, & could have more miles on it than what I have.
While I don't want/need a 4x4 crew cab, I do envy your find!
 
Hey Will sounds like your screen on the oil pump is stopping up...or sludge has stopped up some of the oil passages in the engine..Late eighties/early nineties fords where know for that--I have used about 2 gals of kerosene--to flush out the engine..I would pour in about 1 gal with the oil(crank the motor) shake the truck for about 2/3 minutes--Drain oil dump out filter and reuse--pour in 2 gal of kerosene (again crank the truck) and shake truck 45 sec/1 min..drain add new oil and filter check for pressure.. Some people are not comfortable doing this But it has worked sometimes for me--sometimes not..never hurt anything for me..
If not then yes the motor should come out--and what I would do is replace the pump screen..check the main and rod bearings...I have replaced them with what was in there..std/std etc...also replace rear main/front seals check freeze plugs and any other gaskets while it is out...
If your motor was not smoking I don't see any reason to mess with the rings/pistons..
I'm like you SS disability here to so I no what your going through--Wish we lived closer would be glad to help you..I used to be a fair mechanic--still fair just not quite as fast or can last as long...

Good luck..Merry Christmas...

David
 
I would not rebuild the engine without good reason, ie substantial ring wear, etc.

More likely an oil pump or sludge problem as noted. I'd look into the cost of an oil pump replacement.

Also consider the oil filter. It's not common but it happens & happened to my best friend's truck a couple of years ago. Sometimes, brand new oil filters are bad & block the flow. He got one. You said they changed the oil & filter twice, so that would seem to be unlikely unless they didn't actually change the filter the 2nd time around.

My firends happened with a Fram filter. His father in law is a retired GM mechanic & he says it's more common with Fram than other brands. So a cheap experiment would be to replace the filter yourself & I'd suggest with a different brand, especially if this one happens to be a Fram.

I'm not picking on Fram, I've used them for years with no problems. But this *could* be the problem & for less than $10 you can try it.
 
i've got 180k on my GMC it need a cataletic converter and some brake work about 2k in work.
still less then buying something else and paying sales tax.
i'll fix it and drive it tell it falls down in a pile of rust.
 
Originally Posted By: canislatrans54

they pulled the intake off, & replaced the gasket.
While the intake was off, the mechanic noticed slight wear on the cam & crankshaft.

Will,

I've done a fair amount of wrenching in my time.

I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how the fender lizard that worked on your truck noticed cam and crank wear by having the intake manifold off?

I once thought I was pretty good at the trade. I darn sure couldn't diagnose cams or cranks the way he did. He's GOOD!.
 
It's possible to see a wiped cam lobe with the intake removed but the crank is impossible to check without removing the main caps. It does sound like you have a sludge blocked oilpump pickup. Good luck.
 
Originally Posted By: doggin coyotesOriginally Posted By: canislatrans54

they pulled the intake off, & replaced the gasket.
While the intake was off, the mechanic noticed slight wear on the cam & crankshaft.

Will,

I've done a fair amount of wrenching in my time.

I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how the fender lizard that worked on your truck noticed cam and crank wear by having the intake manifold off?

I once thought I was pretty good at the trade. I darn sure couldn't diagnose cams or cranks the way he did. He's GOOD!.


+1 on that diagnosis

---------------------------

I'd start searching Craigslist! There are decent pickups out there for less than 4 grand. I bought a 93 5 years ago for $3500, it had less than 40,000 miles on the engine when I bought it; yeah I've sunk a few bucks in it over 5 years time, but I've put 40,000 miles on it in that time too, and many of them hard miles.

For instance this one for $3000 only has 6000 miles on the engine... http://salina.craigslist.org/cto/2764554497.html

Or, you could sell yours for parts, take that and the $4000 you're going to spend on the engine and either borrow a grand or talk this guy down and pick up a 95 with 48,000 original miles for $6800... http://salina.craigslist.org/cto/2748106443.html

Personally, I'd talk to the last guy and see if he'd come down. Blue book on that truck is nowhere near that. Pull $5000 cash out of your pocket, tell him that's your last nickel and you really need a decent truck, and you could probably drive it home. There are probably better deals than that one too. Look Craigslist over good, its pretty easy to navigate.


Too good to be true?? Not always! I bought a 2003 PT Cruiser 3 months ago with 18,000 miles on it. Tires and belts were all replaced late 2008 because the old ones were dry rotting, new parts had less than 2000 miles on them since 2008. Has 2 door dings on it, and the previous owner ran into something with the front bumper that creased the plastic bumper, no airbag deployment. If you weren't told it's damaged, you probably aren't going to see it. Interior looks like new.

He was asking $7000, I paid $6800 for it.

Was in ND when I found it down here in Florida, called my dad up and told him to go look at it for me. He called back 4 hours late and said if I didn't buy it, he was going too!!

There are deals out there, just exercise the good judgement you have acquired over the years in looking for them!! You'll be far better off in a truck with only 48,000 miles than over hauling the engine in one with 130,000.
 
Im gonna take a guess and say that when they were taking the intake manifold off last time, they would of had to use a scrapper or a plastic wire brush attached to an air powered dremel tool(Cant think of what its called at the moment) to remove your old gaskets. Some of them are a real pain in the arse to remove. Wonder if some or a piece of gasket may have fallen down inside the block and is now restricting oil flow.
Just a thought...

Just trying to figure out what changed between pulling in the shop and pulling out of the shop.
 
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Originally Posted By: BowknuttHey Will sounds like your screen on the oil pump is stopping up...or sludge has stopped up some of the oil passages in the engine..Late eighties/early nineties fords where know for that--I have used about 2 gals of kerosene--to flush out the engine..I would pour in about 1 gal with the oil(crank the motor) shake the truck for about 2/3 minutes--Drain oil dump out filter and reuse--pour in 2 gal of kerosene (again crank the truck) and shake truck 45 sec/1 min..drain add new oil and filter check for pressure.. Some people are not comfortable doing this But it has worked sometimes for me--sometimes not..never hurt anything for me..
If not then yes the motor should come out--and what I would do is replace the pump screen..check the main and rod bearings...I have replaced them with what was in there..std/std etc...also replace rear main/front seals check freeze plugs and any other gaskets while it is out...
If your motor was not smoking I don't see any reason to mess with the rings/pistons..
I'm like you SS disability here to so I no what your going through--Wish we lived closer would be glad to help you..I used to be a fair mechanic--still fair just not quite as fast or can last as long...

Good luck..Merry Christmas...David

#1 does sound like a stopped up oil screen. i use diesel fuel and a long air nozzle stuck down the dipstick tube. drain the oil and put around a gal. of fuel in the engine then put the air nozzle down the dipstick tube, make sure the air is regulated then let the air bubble in the fuel for a few hours then drain the fuel.

Quote:It was after this 100 mile road trip & problem, that I asked about changing the oil pump & was told the engine would have to be removed to do it.



the engine does not need to be removed to do this, remove the upper intake horn and the motor mount bolts then put a block under the balancer and jack the engine up, you will get enough room to unbolt the screen and remove it with the pan,then you can remove and replace the pump.

Quote:It's possible to see a wiped cam lobe with the intake removed but the crank is impossible to check without removing the main caps.

#1 its impossible to see crankshaft wear with the intake off unless the mech. has xray vision
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you can see the cam lobes however.

Quote:Once, back in June, I had to travel to another town for a doctor's appointment. The trip was about 50 miles, one way.
And I drove 55-60 mph.
I made it to the appointment OK, but the engine was running terribly rough when I finally parked.
I was there for about 1.5 hrs.
On the way home, I drove about 60-65mph.
I got to within 15 miles of home, & the engine "died".
Fortunately, there was a rest area right at that spot, & I was able to coast into the rest area.
I tried for about 30 minutes to re-start the truck, with no success. So, I called a tow truck, paid his high prices, & had him deliver me & the truck home.
Next day, I decided to try once more to start the truck. To my amazement, it not only started within seconds, until the engine warmed up, it showed "perfect" oil pressure!!!
I haven't had any problems since, except the up/down oil pressure since. But, I also haven't left town, with my longest "trip" being about 8 miles, @ no more than 40mph.


when the engine died and you tried to start it did it crank over but no start? if thats the case it sounds like a tfi module acting up which is a completly different problem.
 
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