Howdy,

I'm new around here, but I've reading for awhile. Nice forum, with lots of helpful information! Thank you.


Anyway, I have an 84 F150 - 4x4, 6cyl 300, 4 spd manual with 176k. A while ago I had it out in the field (i was putting up snowfence) idling, and suddenly she started running kinda rough. I instinctively gave her more gas but to no avail, it died. I don't remember hearing any horrible loud noises or bangs, she did sound kinda loaded down, but other than that i didnt notice anything to unusual. When I tried to crank it over to restart, it rolled over a couple of times and then didn't move (it didn't fire, just cranked over). I could hear the starter trying to engage, but it sounded like the engine was too hard for it to crank. I waited awhile, and then tried several more times. Each time it would turn over slightly, then nothing. I figured the engine ceased up or something, so i ended up just towing it back to the house and since then it's been sitting in the driveway. I did go out once and remove all the plugs, when I did so she rolled over fine. Also, i drained the oil and didn't notice any metal chips or anything unusual.

I'm just a beginner at trucks, but i know the basics. i didn't know what the deal was here, though. Anybody have any suggestions or idea as to what might have gone wrong? Thanks in advance!

-Lincoln

 

Charge the battery. Remove, clean, & tighten ALL the terminals on both heavy battery cables, and the battery posts. Do a compression test.



Check the fuel filter & see how much is in the carb bowl. Test the ignition system using a Haynes manual & a digital multimeter.

 

Did u happen to notice if there was any coolant in the oil?

 

No, I didn't notice any coolant in the engine oil. Although I can't say for sure, it was pretty old.

Thanks Steve. I'll try to get a hold of a compression guage and test that out, along with your other suggestions. I'll start there, thanks!