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It has 100916 miles on it. I recently did the WP, thermostat. Timing belt, Balancer belt, cap, rotor, rebuilt carb, new fuel pump. wires and plugs have less than 10K on them.
The quest to find out what is wrong or How do I figure out what went wrong?
I haven’t taken many long trips since I bought it at 80K miles 10 years ago, only one I can think of a couple of years ago of about 130 miles. Today I was attempting a trip of about 200 miles and I noticed it getting near the redline hot at about 50 miles. I slowed down and it cooled down. About 15-20 miles later it got redlined and as I pulled off the hwy it started a rattling ruckus from the motor. When I stopped at the light it died. When I got it pushed off the road it refused to start. It had liquid oil flowing over the back of the motor and tranny from what must be the head. I walked and got some water and poured it over the motor, no luck, I called for a tow and have it home now.It has enough compression to make it lurch if I leave it in gear when I turn it over but not enough to catch as I try to start it. There is no weird noise or any other odd thing it just isn’t starting as if it can’t catch. You’d almost think the battery was low but it isn’t or shouldn’t be. (I’ll plug in the jump charger and try it tomorrow.)
I’d like to know how I might figure out what is wrong without wasting a lot of time trying things. I suspect it is probably the head gasket.
In the past this thing has gotten hot enough to cause vapor lock but since I replaced the water pump it was staying cool enough. I think the rad needs replacing.
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At best the head gasket is bad, much worse damage could have been done…
A rattling ruckus is not a good. When you overheat an engine, the oil viscosity goes to $#yte… A spun bearing is possible.
Recommend you run a compression test on the engine and see what you are dealing with…
Since this is an old engine (Lee Iacocca was at the helm when this was made), the best years of this engine is probably behind it…
Best of luck…
-Karl
How could I do the compression check since I don;t have anyone to crank it for me?
What would the results show?I was talkin to the tow truck driver and I’m gonna check harbor freight for a compression check tool.
Hopefully they’ll have this at my local.
http://www.harborfreight.com/compression-test-kit-8-pc-69885.htmlYou don’t need anyone else to do a compression test if the tester has a release button (the HF model does have one)…. Crank it up and it will hold the highest pressure it gets…
Worst case if you don’t have one that holds pressure, you can run it onto the windshield (or move it to an observable location through the windshield) and observe the gauge while you are cranking….
-Karl
That doesn’t sound good. Noise from an engine after overheat can often mean you’re going to have to replace the engine.
The first thing I try in those situations is to remove the spark plugs and try and rotate the engine by hand with a ratchet on the crank. If the engine won’t turn, or you have a lot of resistance, the engine may be done. You might remove the oil pan to have a look to confirm that.
BTW, if you crank the engine with it in gear, it will move forward no matter if the engine can run or not. In fact, I used to drive dead vehicles into the shop in this manner so I wouldn’t have to push them. It works the heck out of the starter motor so I don’t recommend it for prolonged use.
More info on overheats here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/what-to-do-when-your-engine-overheats
More info on engine noises here.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/diagnosing-noises-in-your-car
Good luck and keep us posted.
Updating so you know I’m not ignoring advice. Thank you for the help.
I didn’t do anything today I had to retake that drive in the truck I left home to save gas (Nelson from Simpsons says, haha) anyway I did pick up the compression tester and I’ll try it in a few days as I have to get some other work done first.
Thinking about it, I figure the sound was lack of viscosity and hopefully just the rods and pistons knocking or possibly the valves. I’m thinking it would make noise when I cranked it over if a bearing was thrown or something was broken in the crank shaft region. Last time this happened to me (70 or 80 something Monza!) the rod shot out the side of the block leaving no doubt. The Noise only lasted for maybe a mile or two before I stopped. If not its a project for someone else unless I can find a diesel motor for it.After posting I went out and tried to start it with the jumper box which had no effect.
I turned the crank by hand w/o removing the plugs and it turned normally.
I added water to the radiator and it seemed full then I tried to start it and it went down. I did this for a while. Seems like it took a pint or so at a time until I’m sure it took over 2 gals when I stopped and it still wanted more. A couple of times it felt like it wanted to catch, but only just. It sounded slightly better than it did before I added water.
I took the oil fill cap off and it smelled burnt.I’ve not forgotten you guys the stuff I need to do is taking longer than I thought it would.
No changes, I haven’t done anything since my last postThe engine rotating by hand is a good sign. The burned smell is not however. Perhaps your compression test will yield some results. You may also find this information useful.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-no-start-problems
I may get to it in a day or two. Can I safely ignore the disconnect fuel pump instruction since it carbureted and the pump is mechanical? I like that leak down vid I think I’ll go ahead and save money on a tester and use the easy method you demonstrated if I need to do that. Weird that the tester didn’t let air by on the 100% leak but did on the 60% leak. Did you figure out if it was broke, cheap or????
With a carbureted engine all you need do is disconnect the fuel line from the carburetor and block it off. Carburetor fuel psi isn’t that much and it should be that difficult to disable fuel delivery. That said, they’re still be some fuel in the carburetor that may be drawn into the engine. You want to avoid this because the fuel can wash down the cylinder walls and give you false readings. Once you disconnect the fuel, try and crank the engine for a bit to see if you can draw out the rest of the fuel. Once the carburetor is dry, you should be able to conduct your testing in the normal way.
Good luck and keep us posted.
So I started to do the compression test when I pulled the plugs 1-3 were wet with visible water and 4 was rusty & wet around the threads. I checked the oil and it was up a lot from the last time I checked it when this happened. Clearly the cooling water is getting into the cylinders. I am going to drain it as soon as I post. I hope my pan is big enough to do it in one go.
Do I even need to try the compression test now? How do I diagnose this leak? I would assume due to how it happened it was the head gasket that gave out but I do not wish to throw money at it.
Drained it, messy but no spills off the cloth. The first 5-10 seconds was clear coolant only coming out. Just because I’m worried about rust I had a quart of oil around so I put some in each plug hole and the rest in the oil fill on top of the valve cover and cranked the engine over by hand about 10 times. Nothing felt tight or stuck and I could feel it catching and hear air coming out of the top end almost as if there were compression in some cylinders.
Should I try the compression test? Should I drain the coolant which is mostly water now?
I really am stuck as to what to do next. Do I do the compression test or just tear into it and fix or replace the head?
I don’t wish to be a pain but I am actually stuck here. IDK what to do next.
After finding the wet plugs and draining the oil to find coolant in it I stopped and posted asking for advice. I need to know if I have to do more tests to determine exactly what is broken or ?????.
The assumption may be the head gasket but not knowing a lot about the inner workings of motors I am unsure. Heck I can’t even figure out how to get the valve cover off! there doesn’t seem to be bolts or nuts around the rim as you’d expect and the Haynes manual just assumes I know.I’d like to be able to diagnose this thing so I can decide whether or not to send it to a mechanic or sell it or junk it. It’s only got 109K miles on it so I figure it may be worth it to someone to fix for a work truck if its beyond me and knowing exactly what is wrong would help me sell it to the right person.
I was in getting my other rig checked and asked about a head gasket for this rig. They were very down on the idea of fixing it sight unseen. Then said a rebuilt head would cost $700-$900 plus install it would be $2K+ for the job!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I haven’t taken it apart as I haven’t gotten it up into the driveway yet but I know if the existing head is that bad I can get one ready to install for less than $400 and its only an hour away. They did relieve my mind about the cam and timing marks as I was worried about getting the cam mark reset. They said it would be set in the new head and I’d just have to line up the marks. When I asked how to loosen that cam bolt they said get a bigger impact wrench. I am using hand tools and I tried to loosen it when I was doing the timing belt a few months ago and I could not hold it still so that I could turn the bolt.
Any ides?
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