88 f250 rebuild.

oldred1988 · 02-27-2008, 03:25 PM

hello, so basically i want to restore my old ford F250 which has the 5.8L 351 Windsor. it has a slight knocking sound seems to be coming from the lifters...but i am not sure. i was just curious because i am thinking about rebuilding the motor, but im not sure if that would solve the problem. what would anyone else do? rebuild the motor or throw a crate motor in it? and then have the transmission rebuilt also or if the crate motor option is used what is a good crate motor for this truck and also a good transmission to combine it with?....this is a just for fun project something to pass a little down time. any suggestions would be helpful.

until then this is my truck i drive daily, and i am having some trouble getting the transmission to shift. in drive it wont shift at all but if you put it in first and shift to second it shifts, then wont shift anymore if you put it in drive. this all hints the reason why i want to just rebuild and restore the whole truck for fun. any suggestions would be very helpful thanks a bunch!

jonmark1985 · 02-27-2008, 07:07 PM

Find out where exactly the knocking noise is before you get too anxois to pull the engine.

oldred1988 · 02-29-2008, 04:51 PM

the noise seems to me to sound like a stuck lifter. could that be it? any suggestions how to solve the problem? i put some lucas oil in it on this oil change, done yesterday. hoping that will help...but not really sure. was just an easy idea that came to mind.

jonmark1985 · 02-29-2008, 06:02 PM

Yeah try the lucas, its great stuff. Next time you change the oil use seafoam or transmisson fluid in the crankcase to clean out the lube system. Keep the rpms down till you figure out what is making noise.

oldred1988 · 03-01-2008, 12:51 PM

ok so just for future reference how many quarts of sea foam or transmission fluid do i put in and how many quarts of oil? how would i go about doing that. i was told previously to go half and half with it. 3 quarts oil and 3 quarts tranny fluid.

jonmark1985 · 03-01-2008, 05:09 PM

I put in either a quart of tranny fluid or 1/3 bottle of seafoam into the oil directly before I change it, then I let the car idle until it warms up and change the fluid. Tranny fluid does foam more than oil, so don't rev the engine.

oldred1988 · 03-01-2008, 07:49 PM

i have been driving the truck since adding the lucas oil, and i can notice a little bit of difference in the sound. it has started to quiet the noise a little bit, but it is still noticeable and seems to be getting better. more to come later

77FordF250 · 03-01-2008, 09:06 PM

check for a bent pushrod or bad rocker arm ,bad lifter, sticky valve, broken spring, worn cam lobe, bad cam bearing, bad rocker arm bracket.... you may not have to rebuild the engine and the lucas oil may not cure it.

oldred1988 · 03-02-2008, 07:30 AM

well i have recently replaced the pushrod and rocker arm because it threw one threw the rocker arm. after replacing that is when i noticed the noise. it is not a loud noise just a slight knock or a tick.

jonmark1985 · 03-03-2008, 06:10 AM

Was the lash decent (to bad they aren't adjustable)?