Bought 1977 ford LTD II

[Whatahoot]

Hey everyone,
I just bought a 1977 ford LTD II it runs ok ($150). It has a 351-w which I hear is a hell of an engine. NO smoking or nothing. Just it misses on cylinder 8. The engine makes a small ticking noise on the right hand bank on cylinder 8. I've pulled the valve cover and discovered one of the rocker arms was off of the valve and a bent push rod on the other. I had to pull the intake manifold to get the push rod out. after I got it all put together It ran like a dream. But the ticking noise was still there. Though not as bad! I think it's a bad or worn lifter.And after a week or two its starting to miss agian. Any advice I could use it, I'm a little tight on money and any help will be appreciated. Thanks
:eek:

[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: Whatahoot ]

[Gearworks]

Well hoot,
Windsor's aren't known for an oiling system problem as bad as the 351C & M engines are. I would say that (Not knowing the mileage) a cam and lifter change would be in order. Check the cheap stuff 1st! For instance, pull ALL the rockers from that side and inspect the under side (pushrod dimple) for signs of wear or just abnormal galling. then (I'm also assuming it's a non-adjustable rocker equipped engine)check the wear surfaces between the rocker and the pivot. ANY large amount of wear will make them sing.
Try that and let me know!

Paul

[Whatahoot]

Hey Paul,
Thanks for the advice! I will check everything ASP. It has about 128,000 on it, but who, knows! When I pulled cylinder 8 rocker arms, I don’t recall seeing any major wear. But I will check again. I plan on pulling the intake manifold again, and replacing the lifter’s on #8 if there bad. But first I will check everything. If it comes to it, where is the best place to buy camshafts and other parts? Thanks again,
Jeremy

[Whatahoot]

Hey Paul,
I pulled the valve cover today. None of the rocker arms were off the valves. I didn’t find any major wear on the rocker arms either. With the valve covers off I turned over the engine to see if the valves were working properly, they were. So we started it with the valve cover off, to see if any of the lifters would collapse when running. The lifters didn’t seem to collapse, or at least not enough to notice. We put a lock washer between rocker arm and the nut, and put the valve cover back on. When started it hit on all cylinders but wouldn’t idle, as if one of the vacuum hoses was off or broken. I checked all of them, and none were off, or missing. We took a compression test on it and found it had none. I figured it must have been the washer, not allowing the valve to close properly. I took it off today, and put it back to gather. I did notice though, the push rod on that valve is a hair longer then the other 1’s. Could this be part of the problem? The guy at the automotive shop, told me, to replacing the push rod with a new one, and it might fix the problem, If not change the lifters. Thanks
Jeremy

[Whatahoot]

Hey,
I fixed the problem. Here’s the story: I pulled the manifold expecting to replace the lifters. Well I pulled the manifold, and ripped the cork seals, sadly. When inspecting the lifters and nothing was appeared to look odd, I tried to compress the lifter, and couldn’t! I had the push rod (which had was the valve giving me trouble) measured with another. It happened to be 1/16th of an inch bigger, so I replaced it with a new one, and slapped it back together. I started it up and, the problem wasn’t fixed. My stomach flipped backwards. I revved it up and the ticking noise went away, but when it came to an idle it hardly would run, but the ticking was still gone. I pulled the valve cover off once again to find I had a piece of the valve lock, and the exhaust stem cap, lying in the bottom. I felt a little better know this was the problem. I put some rope in the piston, and turned the engine over enough to hold the valve up tight. Then compressed the spring and took off the last lock clip. Then replaced them. I put it all back together. (By the way I pulled the sparkplugs turn the engine backwards with my hand). It fired up like nothing I’ve ever seen before, it sat there and purred. The engine stopped turning from side to side, and idled beautifully. Thanks Paul for your help.
Jeremy
:D

[Gearworks]

unfortunately it wasnt an "EASY" fix, but at least ya found it!

No prob for the help....

Makes me feel good that i can still help someone out.