Hello everyone! I need help.. really bad. I recently got layed off from my job and got the bright idea to buy a camper and truck with my "life savings". It actually did take all of the money I had. My wife, four kids and myself are the proud owners of a fairly large camper a mini van and a 1982 ford f150. At this point I am taking a deep breath to relax knowing that all we have in life is payed for and this lay off will not kill me until I can find work else where. Now the problem. I noticed a knock in the engine when I bought the truck. After a "trust worthy" salesman assured me that it was ok I payed cash and took the truck as is. No warranty. You know where this is leading huh? lol I am not complaining at all. I thank God for everything in life I have been given. Time to man up and get this truck in shape on a very limited budget. I changed the oil and filter and that deep knock turned into a dinosaur trying to get out of my engine. Here are some things that I know at this point...

The knock is deep. At an idle it is very steady not to fast though. It get faster as I accelerate and when under a load. It appears that it may ease off just a little as the truck warms up. Not much though. Using a stick I think the sound is loudest at the passenger side closest to the front.

I have read so many articles on the web I am overwelmed. Can someone guide me through this and help me determine the source of my problems?

I am not a mechanic by any means but I am willing to try anything once. I dont have much of a choice in this situation. Thanks in advance.

Oh yea.. How to I determine the year and motor size? I know this engine is not the original because nothing from autozone fits when buying parts based on make/model. The oil filter fit. The Dist. cap, plug wires, plugs did not.

Also, what does the o2 sensor wires connect to? They are all cut a few inches before the sensor.

One last question for now...

There is a drain plug on the oil pan. On the driver side up a few inches on the side of the oil pan is another plug. After taking it out and looking at it.. it has a small piece on it that goes into the oil pan a few inches. It is not connect to anything as well. Any ideas on what it is and where it connects to would be great. Looks like a vaccume hose type connection.

Welcome to FTF, first of all. There are plenty of knowledgable people. Sometimes it is hard to diagnose noises over the internet. Do you have a digital camera to possibly make a video of the noise and show the location it sounds like it is coming from? Sometimes that makes it a little easier. If you are on a limited budget I would hate to see you throwing parts at it to solve the noise. To find out the year there might be a sticker under the hood saying so or a tag on the door and/or the VIN number. Where are you located?

take some pics please.. oxygen sensor??

i dont think EFI was offered in 1982

Is it fuel injected or efi?
Is it a v8 or i6?

Hi welcome to the club. find out more info on your motor and the correct year, you mentioned O2 sensor wires cut but if it is as old as you have posted it won't have an O2 sensor. If it is a fuel injected motor it could not be able to time itself correctly by wires being cut and not being connected to computor. If it is a carb motor it does not not sound like you got a very good deal. Do you have any knowledgeable friends or a friendly garage mech who could listen to it. Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies guys. Without a doubt whoever had it took parts from here and there and put on it. Including the exhaust that has the o2 sensors in place. I guess I should start with.. where are the serial numbers to find out what size and year the motor is? It looks like a 302 when compared to the pics I have looked at... not fuel injected. Gathering as much info as I can by your comments, o2 sensors only work on fuel injected motors? I know that may seem like a dumb question but this is without a doubt a learning process for me.

I live in Newton, MS. and bought the truck and camper in Tuscaloosa, AL. After doing all I could do to the truck to prepare it for the 1.5 hour trip to here... It literally took 7 hours for the trip. The motor was knocking like crazy up each hill and top speed up some of the hills was around 30mph. I was praying and had my fingers crossed at the same time. We made it without killing the old motor.

Without a doubt using a hose and going around the valve cover I can say that the knock comes from the area of cylinder 1. Passenger side all the way to the front and strongest when listened to from the top of the valve cover. It sounds like a diesel truck on a megaphone.

I will take my phone to the truck shortly and try to record it so you can listen. Again, I really do appreciate all the help. I am gonna have to fix this thing myself if possible.

Any ideas on the plug in the side of the oil pan? Vacuum type connection.

There wouldn't be any type of vacuum going to an oil pan. Can you possibly take a picture of that? Maybe you have a timing cover with a dipstick tube so someone plugged the other dipstick hole. Oxygen sensors are mainly for fuel injected engines, but a few had them with carburetors (I'm not sure about Ford), but I think in your case someone might just have adapted a newer y-pipe to fit. But if you can get pictures of everything you have questions about we can definitely give you some better info. If the noise is strongest on top of the valve cover when you listen to it you should pull the valve cover and see if the rocker arms are loose and check the springs on the valves.

Thanks for all the replies guys. Without a doubt whoever had it took parts from here and there and put on it. Including the exhaust that has the o2 sensors in place. I guess I should start with.. where are the serial numbers to find out what size and year the motor is? It looks like a 302 when compared to the pics I have looked at... not fuel injected. Gathering as much info as I can by your comments, o2 sensors only work on fuel injected motors? I know that may seem like a dumb question but this is without a doubt a learning process for me.

I live in Newton, MS. and bought the truck and camper in Tuscaloosa, AL. After doing all I could do to the truck to prepare it for the 1.5 hour trip to here... It literally took 7 hours for the trip. The motor was knocking like crazy up each hill and top speed up some of the hills was around 30mph. I was praying and had my fingers crossed at the same time. We made it without killing the old motor.

Without a doubt using a hose and going around the valve cover I can say that the knock comes from the area of cylinder 1. Passenger side all the way to the front and strongest when listened to from the top of the valve cover. It sounds like a diesel truck on a megaphone.

I will take my phone to the truck shortly and try to record it so you can listen. Again, I really do appreciate all the help. I am gonna have to fix this thing myself if possible.

Any ideas on the plug in the side of the oil pan? Vacuum type connection.

Sorry, I posted after the last post I thought. Heading to take pics and video now. TY

Update:

I tried several videos yesterday to let you guys here the knock. I dont guess my phone is so great because all you can hear is muffled engine sounds. Gonna try again using my wifes digital cam. I did go ahead and remove the rods and rocker arms. Cleaned them up and checked to see if any were bent. They had a nasty build up on them but otherwise were straight. I couldnt visually see any breaks in the springs even though I dont have anything to compress and remove them.I am going to get that video soon so maybe you guys can help me further. Until them I am curious... is there a distinct difference between a stuck lifter and a loose timing chain? I dont really have the money to buy a spring compressing tool but I have seen the pics of it on a website. Ironworker/Fitter/Rigger/Welder is my craft so making one of these should be fairly easy if this is what you think I should do.
Sorry for the noob questions. Yet another.. In most cases when the timing is to loose, can it be adjusted or is the fix to buy a new chain/sprocket/gear ? Thanks much!

You have a motor from a car that required rear sump. The two plugs are both drain plugs. The one in the front is just to drain the lower area under the oil pump, the back is the main drain. The pan was designed to go over a crossmember at the middle of the motor, and since the oil pump is at the front, it has the pan formed around it. This pan style first showed up in about 79 in Mustangs, Crown Vics, Grand Marquis, and Fairmont/Zephers. It is possible you have one of the early variable venturi motors, which were also computer controlled, which require O2 sensors. It doesn't have the be injected to have an O2, just computer controlled. With the swap done like that, it is hard to tell what all was kept and what was changed. If the distributor cap didn't work, it is possible the PO swapped it all the way back to points. Pics will realistically be necessary to help determine what all changes have been made.

On the knock, sound possible to be a rod knock, but if the bearing is spun, there is a high risk you will need to pull the crank to be ground, which requires engine removal. Trying to get the pan off in frame is a challenge for certain. If it is more of a sharp, loud knock, it would be rods. If it is a duller type knock, generally mains. A tapping kind of sound is lifters.

When you took the rockers off, was there any pushrods that had slack? If so, you have a bad lifter.

Sounds like a lifter loose. They should not move by hand. If they do then there loose.

No slack. At TDC you can rotate them but no slack beyond that. I read that it is a process to dropping the oil pan but after looking under the truck i dont see a problem at all with getting the oil pan off. There is a good gap between the pan and the bar that runs under it. I know a picture is worth a 1000 words so I am heading that way with my wifes dig. cam now. Thanks much

Ok fellas. This is the best I could do as for video and pics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kt2CxgBaLU

and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29842&id=1837508837&l=5b4ca4fe9b

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Sounds like a knock in the bottom end. It doesn't sound like a tapping like a lifter would make. Nice looking truck though. The oxygen sensors are probably just there to plug the holes in the manifold. It looks like a slightly newer 302 since it has a serpentine belt. I have manifolds on my truck from an 85 or so and it has holes for oxygen sensors as well.

nice truck!! too bad on the knock tough!! really sounds in the bottom end a lifter tap is different sound that sounds like an blown engine

Sounds like piston slap.

Have you pulled compression numbers off each cylinder? It would be a good idea, when your troubleshooting always check everything whether it seems related or not

I payed $1200 for tax, title and all so I feel like if I can get it up and going then it would be a great deal. The motor made a 6 hour trip with a 32' camper full of furniture and a couple thousand pounds of tools in my gang box. Its funny now but at the time it was a nightmare. We hooked up the camper and pulled it to the apartment to load our personal items in it and the bumper folded under with all the weight. Time to take the hitch off bend it all back in place and weld the bumper to frame, weld the hitch on top of the bumper and then some iron from there to the frame to tie it in. Time to load my tools. Unhook from the camper, drive to the back and load my gang box. The shocks squat low, rehook to the camper and no good. We have to frame riding on the tires. I have to get creative and cut up my bar from my weight set in a couple pieces... weld them from the plate by the u-bolt on the back axle to the frame therefore not leaving any shocks at all. It was quite a trip. lol We were blessed to make it.

Ok fellas. So from here I am going to do a compression check for giggles and report back to ya. Timing chain is around $16... I can handle that. Should I go ahead and knock it out for giggles? After that I drop the oil pan and check the lower end? I am willing just tell me what all I should do. Thanks much!

Oh yea.. where is the numbers to find out what year the engine is?

I would probably wait on replacing the chain until you find out how bad the bottom end is. I'll refrain from commenting on the safety of the towing method. I think the numbers are down by the starter area for the block.

It does sound more like a rod than anything, but I couldn't hear it when you revved to tell it. The low profile pan may be able to clear since it was designed for a car rather than a truck. The oil pump does stick down a pretty good distance.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the O2 since you have an Edelbrock carb sitting on it. I'll do some looking to see what years came with that style distributor cap....

After looking at the pics (were a little slow to load for some reason) looks like it had a level sensor on it or something, possibly an oil temp sensor... still nothing to worry about.

The cap sure does look to be a points type cap, and with the carb/intake swap, it wouldn't be a big surprise if somebody went that way. There should be only one wire to the base of the distributor if it is points, 3 if it were a Duraspark.

When I rev up the knock speeds up with it. Does that make a difference?

Another thought.. when checking with a stick to my ear on the valve cover the knock is only strong at cylinder 1. Could bottom end cause that?

When matching the dist. cap with the one I took off, the guy at autozone said it fit a 70s model ford. I'll look for the numbers and maybe we can see.

Over course from the pics you can see the duraspark but I gotta look at the dist. to take note of what your talking about.

Alright, I have a checklist...

Check compression
Get numbers to check motor
Drop oil pan an go looking?

Correct me if I am wrong or missed something fellas.

As for the safety of the trip. We were in Gods hands even if we hadnt had the load. My fitting/welding wasnt the problem. The fact that I wasnt sure if my tired could take it and I was almost positive my motor couldnt.. that was the scare. Of course the average speed of 30mph was a killer. With all of my money gone on the truck an camper, no money for rent at the apartment and just enough money for gas to get here... I did everything I could do as safely as possible.