Newguy351

I have a retired mechanic who has been working on my 87 4x4 351 f150 automatic. It was back firing and having trouble started so he recomended rebuild the carb, clean and reseal the intake manifold, and adjust the valves. Along with new vacuum hoses and oil.
After machine shop cleaning parts and labor it was $1300(good price??).

When I received it back it ran with trouble in reverse(stalling) and a little hesitation when starting from standstill. After driving less than 50 miles it was sounding good then threw something (maybe rod?) through the oil pan.

The mechanic admitted he had some young relative do most of the work, trying to help the kid. I don't know the skill level of this kid. Could his working on my valves have caused the catastrophic failure?

djfllmn

iTrader: (1)

Highly doubtful.

crzyjarmans45

Basing on what you posted, it's doubtful, but can't say for sure

JCR 56

Working on the valves should not have made it throw a rod. Was the oil level where it should have been?

GMW468

All the symptoms you described sound like a vacuum related issue to me and in theory a vacuum issue would have no affect or in no way cause a thrown rod.


For starters, how many miles are on your motor?? An 87 351 is now almost 30 years old and could potentially have a ton of miles on it if not rebuilt. Secondly, did you have good oil pressure?? Do you have a mechanical gauge or just an idiot light?? Was there any symptoms of low oil pressure? Tapping or knocking before hand?


And lastly, be honest.....were you hammering on it?? It's not uncommon for someone to get their car or truck back from being worked on and they "get on it" for the fun factor. If you were hammering on a high mileage motor with low oil pressure, I could see that as a reason for a thrown rod.

don-ohio

Something may have gotten dropped into the engine thru the intake job? don-ohio

MichaelInCalifornia

Something doesn't add up.

A "valve Job" does not equal "adjust valves". Nor should you be adjusting valves on a hydraulic lifter engine (I assume an 87 has hydraulic lifters).

A valve job involves removing the head, removing the valves, replacing all bad parts, then re-grind the valve seats, re-lap the valves and re-install (and some more steps left out for brevity).

So, what work was done?

Can you throw a rod after? Sure, if you drop a valve because it was poorly installed.

Without taking the engine apart you don't know. So, I'd suggest removing the head and finding out. If the valves are intact, it on you. If not, its on your mechanic. I can't tell sitting on this side if the internet, but you can.

gone postal

A 351 has hydraulic lifters, there's nothing to adjust.

A stock 1987 351 is fuel injected, so there's no carb to rebuilb. Backfiring would lead me to check timing first, none of which has anything to do with the lifters, valves or fuel injection system.

Something doesn't add up.

uzikaduzi

the 302 in 87 was definitely efi but the 351 was not for another year i believe

gone postal

According to wiki, which I know is problematic at times, the last Carb'd windsor left the factory in 1986. I use that as my cutoff when I'm looking around for older fords. (eventually the '04 is going to be sent to the rust pile and replaced with an older truck)