Hey Guys. I have a newly rebuilt 390 in my 61 Galaxie. It only has 1000 miles on it, and has run great since it was rebuilt. This year I noticed some white smke out the rear and checked it out. Turned out the intake manifold loosened up a little and antifreeze was allowed to leak into intake tunners and into the oil. When I went to change the oil and filter, the old stuff I drained out was a thick brown sludge and drained out a lot slower than regular oil. After changing the oil, I tightened down the intake manifold and took it for a drive. There is no sign that antifreeze is leaking into the oil (No white smoke and the oil is still clear) but now I have an intermittant lifter problem. Occasionally 2 or 3 lifters will stick and along with that comes a lot of lifter noise and the engine misses. I do not want to wreck a good engine by running it too long with collapsed lifters Here are my questions. - Should I expect that the lifter noise will go away on its own? if so how long? - If the brown sludge mix gummed up the lifters, it there something besides plain oil I can use to loosen them up again? I can change the oil and filter several times if it will help. - Am I going to have to take the lifters out and clean them individually? this is a pretty big job on a 390 so I was looking for some other solution. Thanks -Dave
Yeah,as you see,glycol and oil mix into a gooey mess.My experience with this situation isn't good(lucky,not my own engines).Once it's a thickened up ,the oil doesn't flow properly,the bearings and lifters may go to shit and sometimes takes the cam with it..Maybe you got to it fast enough and a few oil changes will clean it out with no permanent damage.Keep an eye out for leakage,if it runs and sounds ok ,proper oil pressure,you might be fine.
I wonder if the mystery is that it is atf. We used mmo a lot in the 50's when hy lifters would give trouble. Oil has come a long way since then. I have alys used atf and ran for a few miles before oil changes in those days but stoped doing it as oils got better. Had a 50 olds coupe with loud lifters and put atf in it. Boy did it smoke after that. Should have used a little at a time but I used 2 quarts in that tierd old 303. Nice olds though and would love to have it now.
Change the oil again.remember most fe's have non adjustable rocker arms.if the problem persists,you can pull the lifters out with a long magnet without taking the intake manifold off.anti freeze may have ruined the seals in the lifters.if it has'nt run long,new lifters may cure the problem.i've had this problem before and got lucky there was no cam damage.good luck.
Ya I have , and my dad always did to. Its good at cleaning gunk inside your motor and lubricating as well, I guess it kinda does act like ATF. I dont think it would hurt to give it a try.
Throw in some cheap 5W30 with a quart of MMO or seafoam. Give it a couple gentle drives and a half dozen heat cycles and be sure to pull the dipstick in between and watch for signs of thickening. Change back to your normal oil/filter and know you've done what you can without teardown. Oh, and don't use fram filters, they're gaining a rep for causing pressure and ticking problems. Good luck
SEAFOAM is great stuff too. A lot like MMO. You can add it to oil & fuel. That will clean out the gunk.
I used that trick a few times and it worked for me. It will clean the engine out nice even if you have to pull it apart. Kerosene was my favorite mixed with oil as above as above stated.
I used to use bardal in my '49 Rocket 88 when ever the lifters started to make noise. Which was pretty often. Of course we are talking 50 years ago. haven't needed anything like that lately.
I get nervous when I hear crazy things being put inthe crank-case. My only experience doing that is putting some "flush" product in a '66 Ford pickup. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it wiped out the crank bearings. I've heard that Chevron's DELO 400 can help lifter issues. Even though it is mostly available as a 15W-40 people have reported good results. It's targeted at the long-drain diesel market -- so its detergent dispersant package is way more than strong enough for your spark ignition engine. It also passes the same qualification tests for the passenger car market as well (except for the fuel economy tests because the viscosity is too high). The same can't be claimed for the mix of 3 quarts of regular oil plus one quart of funky stuff.
I tend to agree with Matt. I would like to add something into the oil to help loosen things up, but it is a brand new engine and I do not want to add something "unproven" and mess up the bearings along the way. Sounds like the safest route is to take out the lifters and either clean them good or replace them. I think all of the sound is coming from the drivers side so at the worst it would be 4 lifters. I might be able to tell which ones are sticking once I get them out. Any ideas where I would get a lifter removal tool for a 390? I live in the Mpls area. Also, I looked on the web sites for Rislone and MMO and Rislone is acually made for loosening lifters without changing oil viscosity or oil pressure. MMO is made for the gas tank and make no claim about lifters at all. Even tho some of you have tried this I would rather use Rislone in this case Any comment on oil pressure? I have idiot lights in this car and all I know is that the light does not come on (which I think is triggered pretty low) Should I get an oil pressure gage hooked up so I know I am getting decent oil pressure?
I think the problem with flushing is most engines recirculate some percentage of oil unfiltered. So if you flush a high mile engine that really needs it, it's entirely possible to wipe out bearings cause of all the grit. This engine being newly rebuilt, I'd have zero concerns with a flush product. Shouldn't be grit inside it, only goo. If it were an older engine and the oil filter adapter was modified for full-filtration, no bypass, then I'd flush it without hesitation. Seafoam and MMO are far from "unproven". They are staples of the automotive chemical industry. If that engine actually needs taken apart to clean the lifters then the WHOLE thing needs to come apart. Not just the lifters. Which would encourage me to attempt a flush first. good luck
If the lifter is collapsing and the engine is missing you had better get this fixed in a hurry as the lifter is going to trash your cam. When the lifter loses it's prime the plunger goes all the way to the bottom and this gives the cam and lifter tons of extra clearance. The ex clearance will pound the camshaft flat in a quick hurry >>>>.
marvell is just a mix of atf and keroseen. like a few have said simply change the oil a few times . it should take care of the problem . use the cheapest oil for flushing . then put in your good oil and a good filter . its a ford use a motorcraft one . now if this was a chevy engine . they dont like antifreeze in the oil . youd probably have to put brg's in it .
My past experence tells me that once the antifreeze /oil mix hit the bearings, they are already junk. Lifter noise is just another inducation of the problems that already exist. Quit screwing around with it, pull the engine out now and tear it down before you spin the bearings and trash the crankshaft. At this point you may just get by with rod and main bearings, an oil pump, and a set of gaskets. Keep messing with it you can plan or also replacing the cam and lifters, and the crankshaft. Or you can just drive it until it pukes a rod out the side of the block, then you won't have to worry about it at all. Gene
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