newtruckguy3082

So here is my dilemma....
I just bought a truck 3 months ago. A 1991 F 150 Lariat Ext Cab, Ext. Bed w/ 351 V8 engine, automatic Trans with 4X4 and the odometer reads 33,127. When I bought it, it wasn't running like a top but it idled fine, drove pretty good, for a 20 yr truck it was in reasonable condition I thought. However, there was a noticeable amount of dried oil seepage from the valve cover gasket area on both sides. My belief was it really just needed to have the fluids flushed and changed, plugs, wires, "the basic" tune-up and I thought I would need to replace the valve cover gaskets sooner than later. Well I am just starting to learn about working on vehicles so I have pretty much no tools to even work on a car and even less of a clear idea of what to do if I had the right tool to begin with. So I brought it in...

I asked for a coolant flush, new plugs, new wires, oil change, 2 new tires (which where both installed on the driver’s side??), new PCV and that’s it. I got all those (so they claim...the coolant flush was missing on the bill) and without talking to me they added: a distributer, coil pack, fuel filter, air filter, belt, and R-134 refrigerant (the compressor clearly states "use only R12 refrigerant".

Since I’ve gotten it back the following is happening:
it started to misfire within a few days, then it was mysteriously loosing coolant with no puddles to be found anywhere, checked the oil and it's a pleasant white-ish, mayonnaise color (emulsification I’m told) it's idling at approximately 12k-13k RPM's and even with that high of an idle put any load on the engine, turn the wheel, put it in gear, anything it will stall out. The check engine light is NOT on. I am trying to figure out what happened, of course the shop I went to said it's not their fault "none of the repairs preformed, even if done incorrectly would cause the described problems" they are more than happy to attempt repairs though (jackasses!). If anyone has any ideas or a direction to point me in I would really like the help. Please understand I don't know what a lot of the abbreviations mean, and I don't really know the locations of key components of the engine. So any suggestions or ideas will pretty much need to be spelled out in very plan and newbie friendly terms. Thank you all for your help with my problem.

dr_bowtie

head gasket... you got coolant in the oil...which the shop is right they didnt cause that... probably from setting so long. when you change wires you change them all....

Never_Evil

Exactly what Mr Bowtie said, you have a head gasket failure. Do NOT drive this truck any more unless you want to replace the entire engine. You will need to take the upper and lower intake off, valve covers, front accessories, and the heads. Install new head gaskets with new head bolts, and reverse order of disassembly.

newtruckguy3082

Would a head gasket account for the high idle and stalling when the engine has a load on it.

smokinbutnotbroken

A head gasket would certainley cause an odd idle, and little or no power with load. these engines cannot spin at 12-13 thousand rpms ( im assuming you meant 12-13 hundred?) If it were me i would also remove the water pump since you will have the serpentine and most accesories removed already. When i purchased my truck (same barring 4x4, and with 175,000 miles) it had been sitting 6 months in the vegas desert, was and is a daily driver and a damn good one never missed a beat till i went up to the strip on a hot day with rush hour traffic she overheated got it back home tore off the water pump and there wasnt one all that remained was the driveshaft that turned the non existant impeller. Just my 2 cents.