So I have had some bad luck this weekend. Went to buy a guys truck off craigslist and paid him for it then found out I could not get the title in my name. Luckily he gave me the money back lol.

Then on my way home I saw this nice 99 ford f150 in great condition sitting at a shady used car dealers lot. The price was way to high for it but we were desperate for a decent used truck. Engine sounded great, everything was clean, had no problems. We drove it home and took a mini trip to a city a few hours away.

Truck was running great, came home and I changed the oil since I was not sure when it had last been changed. Drove around with my wife and daughter running errands and next thing I hear is a light tapping from the passenger side. Figured it was time to get home asap since any tap or knock can be fatal.

Was driving about 35mph and heard a very loud BANG BANG...Then a brief pause before I could see smoke from the hood and then lots of clanking and banging. Could not afford a tow so I limped home. Anything above 1k rpm and the whole truck/engine would shake and bang. kept the truck doing about 10mph the whole way home.

When stopping at lights it acted like it wanted to die and clunked more. When making sharp turns to my house the banging increased 10 fold.

Wont be able to check it out until next weekend but what do you guys think is going on?

Time to scrap a truck I paid 6k for after 4 days of owning it?

Guess I could hone my mechanic skills and strip the thing if its a blown engine. Also the oil was full after getting home I checked it thinking maybe it was a mistake I made changing the oil.

Sorry for the long sob story and thanks for any help!

 

After it blew I assume you opened the hood and took a look before just continuing to drive it. Could you see any plugs that were blown out, or any pieces of metal on the ground, or physically see anything like a hole in the side of the block or anything. A good external visual inspection is a good place to start for checking for problems like this. And when you bought the truck, did you get any information on it before you went ahead and purchased it. Like a carfax, or similar.

 

check it out to see if it is a cheap fix but i know in California if a car is purchased from a dealer and is not marked AS IS it by law has to come with a 30 day 1000 mile warranty most of the time if it is under 100k it is marked with a 30 day power-train warranty check out your local laws quickly! go back to the dealer should get a full refund or free repair whichever you and the dealer work out..

good luck man!

 

I signed a AS IS form unfortunately. Though I am still not 100% sure the engine is blown. Had some time before work and pulled the coil from some of the plugs and the plugs all looked good and were seated. Left the coil off the plug and started the truck, the ticking changed to a loud popping sound that shook the whole engine. Going to pull the plugs when I get some time, is it possible this could be from a bad coil/plug that has yet to blow? Or maybe even a fuel issue? Thanks for any info, will have a mechanic take a look at it once I get some more money.

 

I would never purchase an "as is" vehicle before having my mechanic look at it. Any legitimate person should let you do that.

 

If your engine is acting that bad you have to have a code. That will help troubleshooting a lot.

 

+1 see if any buddies have a scanner or a tuner and give it a look is your CEL on?

 

Turned out to be a blown plug, was able to remove it and get the shavings out of the engine. Put in a new one and runs like a champ, odd thing was there was not check engine light at all during this. Never would have thought a blown plug would give all the same symptoms as a rod going ect.

 

Glad you got it all buttoned up man!