Did I damage my engine????????
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Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 2
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Did I damage my engine????????
2008 F150 5 spd, 4.2 liter v6.
Was starting out from a stoplight the other day, and rather than using 1st I accidentally had it in 2nd gear. Well by the time I noticed this, I was moving a bit as I was on level ground. Rather than try to shift to 1st I continued on. The engine was brought down to a VERY low RPM, so I obviously gave it pedal gas to keep going. I believe it was almost at the point of dying, but barely made it, and continued on. It didn’t sound good.
That obviously wasn’t a good thing for it, but it made me wonder if I had broken something on the truck. I’ve paid very careful attention to it since then and done some testing. It idles naturally around 1k rpm like always. When I bring it to 1500 or 2k, it SEEMs like the sound of the engine is a bit different, a bit rougher. (maaaybe more vibration? Hard to tell as I obviously didn't test this rt before the event) Also it SEEMs like this follows to driving, like it sounds a hair different. Now, I could be imagining this though I guess...
As I don’t know everything about engines, is there anything I could have realistically jacked up? Could I have messed up the timing, or or timing belt, or bent a rod, cracked a ring, or something with the computer? I've assumed with a gas engine that unlike a steam engine, it will just die before something breaks... I have no idea, but would like to see if anyone knows about stuff like this. If I jacked something up I would like to get it fixed…Trying to figure out what if anything could have possibly happened and if there is a way to test for those things. It's not blowing out smoke or not starting etc, nothing obvious.
I do occasionally start from a stop in 2nd gear, but i usually plan for it and give higher rpm and use a downslope to help. I possibly heard a "click" during the episode?
Was starting out from a stoplight the other day, and rather than using 1st I accidentally had it in 2nd gear. Well by the time I noticed this, I was moving a bit as I was on level ground. Rather than try to shift to 1st I continued on. The engine was brought down to a VERY low RPM, so I obviously gave it pedal gas to keep going. I believe it was almost at the point of dying, but barely made it, and continued on. It didn’t sound good.
That obviously wasn’t a good thing for it, but it made me wonder if I had broken something on the truck. I’ve paid very careful attention to it since then and done some testing. It idles naturally around 1k rpm like always. When I bring it to 1500 or 2k, it SEEMs like the sound of the engine is a bit different, a bit rougher. (maaaybe more vibration? Hard to tell as I obviously didn't test this rt before the event) Also it SEEMs like this follows to driving, like it sounds a hair different. Now, I could be imagining this though I guess...
As I don’t know everything about engines, is there anything I could have realistically jacked up? Could I have messed up the timing, or or timing belt, or bent a rod, cracked a ring, or something with the computer? I've assumed with a gas engine that unlike a steam engine, it will just die before something breaks... I have no idea, but would like to see if anyone knows about stuff like this. If I jacked something up I would like to get it fixed…Trying to figure out what if anything could have possibly happened and if there is a way to test for those things. It's not blowing out smoke or not starting etc, nothing obvious.
I do occasionally start from a stop in 2nd gear, but i usually plan for it and give higher rpm and use a downslope to help. I possibly heard a "click" during the episode?
Last edited by ABC; Feb 10, 2012 at 05:57 PM. Reason: minor update
5 Year Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,628
Likes: 151
From: Buffalo, N.Y.
Yep motor is shot! Trade it in while it still runs!!!! Jk It's fine if your going to hurt anything it would be your clutch.You would have to do it everyday for a long while before it affected anything.
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Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 122
Likes: 5
From: Wichita, Ks.
Like everyone else said, I wouldn't even worry about it....AND, I used to drive a truck that normally I'd start out in 3rd gear, sometimes even 4th (unloaded)...it did have a 500hp Cat with 1800lb/ft of torque....lol
