My 1991 F-150 with an EFI 302 has developed what sounds like lifter noise. Have tried some gunk similar to Rislone with no real improvement. Lifter replacement is about $500, plus or minus a few.

How much should it cost to have the engine rebuilt? Anything I should change in the rebuild to make the truck pull better?

Engine has 82,000 miles of hard use. Seems a little soon to be replacing lifters...

Thanks for any replies,
-Mike

 

5.0's are not real well known for lifter problems. HOWEVER, check the exhaust manifolds over real close for cracks. Also, check the EGR tube and all the other little exhaust tubes for the like. They can realy sound like lifters.

 

common dude it has 82 000 miles hard at that just rebuild the engine and save your money trying to repair it i bet those cylinder walls have nice ridges on them too lol

 

Exhaust manifold turned out to be the problem. Left manifold cracked... probably awhile back... and must have broken entirely in half recently. Had two pieces to look at today when the mechanic showed me what he'd found!

Having both sides replaced... Mech says rest of engine sounds/looks fine and should go much longer before a rebuild is something to even consider. Will be happy for the new manifolds to last another 11 years. Not too expensive to fix.

Sure is nice to have only a repair bill here and there on a nice truck, vs a new truck payment every month!

Thanks,
-Mike

 

Mike,

Have you thought about getting a set of headers, since you need new exhaust manifolds any ways? The guy I bought my truck from said one of the exhaust manifolds cracked so he replaced both with a set of Gibson shorty headers for the same price as buying OEM exhaust manifolds. (Probably cheaper-- only like $300, $400 if you have someone else put them in).
If you haven't gotten your exhaust manifolds yet, that would be something to consider. Just my 2 cents, though...

[This message has been edited by TF (edited 02-02-2001).]

 

For a stock engine, my mechanic told me to just stick with the standard exhaust manifolds. I have been considering supercharging, but not anytime soon. As a matter of fact, I'd sooner settle for a quality rebuild with lifetime warranty. Considering a Grooms 302 rebuild on my truck, although my mechanic says my 302 sounds very healthy. Only 83,000 miles.

Can anyone comment on the quality of Accel 8.8mm wires? I had 1 or 2 go bad--darned near stalled me on a hill on a trip I'd planned to take today (came home and replaced wires--doing okay now.) I've never seen a speedo go from 55 to 35 so fast in my life, and that's not a comfy feeling when the throttle's floored... Was having spark knock... thought maybe I had bad fuel...

Only got 17,000 miles out of the Accel wires. Paid $65. Replaced 'em with a set of Bosch wires for $20 (before labor!) Not at all impressed with the Accels--could have caused an accident today if there had been traffic behind me on that hill.

-Mike

 

Well, I don't know if you'll find any rebuilt engines with a "lifetime warranty", mine has a 60,000 mile warranty, but if you do decide to get a blower, it will probably be a great idea to get an engine overhaul or swap any ways. A good Paxton supercharger can add something like 80 hp to your engine, and some free flowing heads and a more aggressive cam with with a K&N air filter and some headers and free flowing exhaust can add another 60-70 hp. At any rate, it's not a good idea to pump up an engine designed for about 200 hp to approx. 300 hp after 100,000+ miles. My suggestion to you would be to invest in the F-Series Owner's Bible. It has tons of info. on every aspect of your 1948-1996 F-Series truck including engines and rebuilds, supercharging, exhaust, suspension, brakes, body work, transmission, etc. It's very thorough and informative, and it will really point you in the right direction as far as what you need to do. I got is as a gift and as soon as I began reading it I couldn't put it down. I suggest you check it out!!!