goldwinger

I just bought a 1996 F-150 with the 300 6 in it and it has a A/C and auto tranny..it is bad on gas mileage and also it heats up real fast. it can set and idle with the A/C off for about 8 minutes and the Temp gauge starts to climb.After I drive it about 4 miles the temp gauge neddle is half way but does not go any further maybe just a little but does not peg into the RED..i did notice that the heater core was bypassed and one of the heater core hoses is not hooked up and the other one is connected back into the block.also when I pull the oil dipstick to check the engine oil the oil on the stick smells a little like gas but no water in oil its not milky looking..so can anyone help me with these problems??? Thanks Ted from Texas

joenup41

When it is cold. Before you start it for the first time of the day remove the radiator cap to see how much anti-freeze is in it. You should be able to see anti-freeze near the top of the radiator, if you don't then you need to add anti-freeze. Never open that cap unless you vehicle is cold though because that is a pressurized system and if its hot you could scald yourself.

garretturbof150

Sounds like bad head gasket to me I had the same problem. mine didnt have any water in the oil either. I did have bad bearring and piston wear from the heat. If you fix it get some ARP head studs they are almost the same price as the head bolts. As far as the gas mileage that could be any number of things mine gets 15-17. While you have your head off check the intake and exhaust ports and see if they match up to the gasket on mine the ports were about 1/4 in off on 2 of the exhaust and intake ports. It probably wont make much difference but it cant hurt to fix it.