Ok guys since I got my truck (used) I've had a little bit of piston slap at the 3kRPM+ line. Using premium eliminates must but not all of this. The last few months I have have noticed a slow oil leak down the rear passengers area and I've had a high-pitched whistle sound come and go as well.. sounds like something under pressure mostly when I'm slowing down. And I've had a slow radiator leak. I checked my oil for water by freezing it on two oil changes.. nothing. Piston 4 miss fires and the truck rattles around 1600 RPM's now. I have a check engine light that shows I think bank 1 or bank 2 lean forget which. I suspect all of my problems are being caused by a bad head gasket would this make sense? I suspect the rear passengers head gasket is probably affecting the #4 piston resulting in the missfire which results in the piston slap... As for the bank lean not sure.

needless to say the head gasket needs to be replaced. Its probably the cause of the majority of my problems. I figure after all is said and done I might still go through and replace the O2 sensors. no big deal. I've worked with engines and such before but to a limited experience. I'll have a friend (ford mechanic) help me on it but before I order. do you guys think I should replace any of the head parts while I'm at it.. If so can anyone make up a list of what I should replace? I have not ran this across my friend yet I work opposite hours until weekends so I was going to go pickup everything tomorrow and be ready for saturday.

Anyone do a head before? If so how bad/easy are they on these trucks? Any proceedures to make it easier (IE rip off passengers fender?) My pickup is a 98 F150 with a 4.6 in it.

 

PS if anyone can make me up a list of parts I'll need for the head job it'd be appreciated just so I can have a full list to make sure I dont forget anything.. Seals bolts etc..

 

Here's another option that may work for you. It has for me and it has saved me money and time. Most auto parts places sell Bar's Head Gasket repair. You must follow the instructions exactly.

I had a head gasket leak in my Toyota truck at 375K miles. I opted to try the Bar's as opposed to replacing the gasket. I figured if worse came to worse, I'd replace the gasket or maybe even better, find another motor with much less miles to put in. However, the Bar's worked and the truck now has 420K on it. No oil or radiator fluid leaks. How long will it last? I don't know, but the Bar's was worth it to me.

I know "they" say there are no miracles in a bottle, but I know for a fact that this stuff works.

Just another option you may want to consider.

Best of luck,

Joey

 

Call me crazy, but it sounds to me as if you may have a spark plug that's getting ready to eject itself out of your head. You probably do have a bad head gasket, due to the oil leak, but I'd go through and ensure all your plugs are torqued correctly.

-Craig

 

Nah I've changed the spark plugs twice and they are torqued and gapped right. I've changed out plugs/wires last year and this year swapped out the coil packs as well. I think I'm going to stick a can of seafoam down my intake and stick another can of it in my fuel filter and burn the hell out of everything that may be gunking the system.