After 456,000 miles. I finally had something fail on the motor of the old 2002 F150. Driving to the airport a while back I noticed a wierd tapping noise. I thought for sure that was the clue to rebuild. We limped it back home when we got back and I deduced that it must be the timing chain set that has finally given up the ghost.
So, I toted into it thinking the guides or tensioners had failed.
So off we go…
Nothing weird here other than the guides worn down completely and the tensioners out of adjustment. No excessively loose chains. No matter, we're going to replace this anywhere. It's well past time.
A little beat down on the oil pump, perhaps this is the issue! New oil pump going in because why the hell not. Too many miles to roll the dice.
New timing set. Problem solved.
But not really. After reassembly I fired it up and it was better but not gone. Still rattles way too much to feel good about. So, I figured that maybe the internals are just worn and the oil pressure is to low even with the new pump. At this mileage, it has to be low.
Maybe not. Hot idle finally eventually settled out around 60psi. That's plenty of pressure.
Back in we go but I feel better about dumping more money at it. The only thing left is cam followers and hydraulic lash adjusters.
This seemed to be the ultimate culprit. 16 adjusters, maybe one was still relatively solid. All of the others were totally toasted. Cam lobes looked good, so with a new set, she runs quieter than she has in many years.
We're going to kick this down the road and see how far it will go!
Went ahead and did the steering box with a Blue Top, steering pump to get rid of a whine she has had since we brought it home from the dealer, ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks. Next on the list is replacing a leaking transmission cooler line and the oil pan gasket but I just put new oil in so I'm going to run that for a bit.
This is largely a game for me now. The transmission is still original and I had that rebuilt late last year just because I got nervous. But it was largely OK. I figured at this point, the truck owes me nothing.
If tombs finally dies some day I'm going to see if I can shoehorn a 7.3 Godzilla in it! Probably not.
So, I toted into it thinking the guides or tensioners had failed.
So off we go…
Nothing weird here other than the guides worn down completely and the tensioners out of adjustment. No excessively loose chains. No matter, we're going to replace this anywhere. It's well past time.
A little beat down on the oil pump, perhaps this is the issue! New oil pump going in because why the hell not. Too many miles to roll the dice.
New timing set. Problem solved.
But not really. After reassembly I fired it up and it was better but not gone. Still rattles way too much to feel good about. So, I figured that maybe the internals are just worn and the oil pressure is to low even with the new pump. At this mileage, it has to be low.
Maybe not. Hot idle finally eventually settled out around 60psi. That's plenty of pressure.
Back in we go but I feel better about dumping more money at it. The only thing left is cam followers and hydraulic lash adjusters.
This seemed to be the ultimate culprit. 16 adjusters, maybe one was still relatively solid. All of the others were totally toasted. Cam lobes looked good, so with a new set, she runs quieter than she has in many years.
We're going to kick this down the road and see how far it will go!
Went ahead and did the steering box with a Blue Top, steering pump to get rid of a whine she has had since we brought it home from the dealer, ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks. Next on the list is replacing a leaking transmission cooler line and the oil pan gasket but I just put new oil in so I'm going to run that for a bit.
This is largely a game for me now. The transmission is still original and I had that rebuilt late last year just because I got nervous. But it was largely OK. I figured at this point, the truck owes me nothing.
If tombs finally dies some day I'm going to see if I can shoehorn a 7.3 Godzilla in it! Probably not.
