Ford 6.9 IDI sat for 25 years, 72k kms but has issues.

[lukewarmt]

So I picked up a low mileage old ford with a 6.9 IDI, had to replace the valley pan (it had turned into a puddle of rust and fell down into the valley) and glow plugs and I've done two oil changes on it now. It has a strange noise coming out the air horn and from the research I've done it's likely a lifter, rod, rocker, valve spring or valve. It also smokes a lot, but both problems seem to go away if I crack the passenger side rear injector. I've replaced the injector with another one I had, but the problem hasn't changed. When I rev the motor it intermittently pops through the intake too.

Any suggestions? What tests can I do to narrow down the source of this rough running, etc.
Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wbmSSqBskE

 

[IDIoit]

your rings are stuck like chuck. - massive blow by points to that.

what i hear, i would guess a lifter that wont pump up.

things that sit for that long tend to get gumed up,

i would try an engine treatment first, let it run for a while at a high idle get things nice and warm.
it may just need a good work out.

perhaps getting her to a really hot temp would help, but would be sketchy.

 

[chris142]

Get some fresh oil in it and make it work. Maybe that will free things up. If not it needs a rebuild or engine swap.

 

[icanfixall]

Welcome to the forum. You have a bad intake valve in that offending cylinder. Best remove that side valve cover and have a look see. Last thing you want is the valve hitting the piston. Kind of sounds like it has already. Probably will end up removing the head to see if the valve is bent or worst case.. Missing

 

[lukewarmt]

I pulled the cover and checked the push rods they look good what next?

 

[lukewarmt]

So I'm at the point where I'm guessing my two options are:

1 - use some voodoo engine clean and see if it frees any gummed up stuff
2 - pull the heads and have a look

Any other suggestions?

 

[lukewarmt]

Question for ifixall - if the valve hit the piston would I expect to see a bent pushrod?

 

[lukewarmt]

Okay so I ran it for a bit with the valve cover off and the rear pushrod on the offending cylinder is GUSHING oil at idle. None of the others gush oil this way, is this a problem or normal behavior?

 

[bbjordan]

Welcome to the forum. What is the back story on this vehicle? Why was it put away for 25 years? I'm surprised it even started!

 

[lukewarmt]

It was owned by a crazy old guy who owned a lodge and when it went out of business her parked it along with a few other vehicles and they just sat there. He only bought the best and took great care of everything. It came with extra filters, repair manuals, etc. He finally passed on and I picked it up from the estate mostly because of the Gear Vendor and the Turbo kit.

I suspect the lifter that is gushing oil is not pumping up and is the root of at least some of my issues. But I am by NO means a diesel mechanic, this is the first one I've owned so I'm learning as I go!

 

[lukewarmt]

I also forgot to mention during the valley pan replacement I removed the injector pump tower (doh) so although I'm pretty sure I got it back right I may have missed it by a tooth.

 

[junk]

If you missed a tooth I don't think it would have started.

How long have you let it run? Have you let it get good and warm? I myself would try some voodoo in a bottle, but fully expect to pull the head.

Truthfully if you have to do further surgery i would wonder about pulling the engine and doing a good reseal on it and inspection. Head jobs in the truck sound nasty from the ones I've read about.

-Jeremy

 

[IDIoit]

If you missed a tooth I don't think it would have started.

How long have you let it run? Have you let it get good and warm? I myself would try some voodoo in a bottle, but fully expect to pull the head.

Truthfully if you have to do further surgery i would wonder about pulling the engine and doing a good reseal on it and inspection. Head jobs in the truck sound nasty from the ones I've read about.

-Jeremy

i was off 2 teeth in the negative direction, she ran ok.
alot better when i had it timed correctly.

 

[icanfixall]

Ok thanks for the update. From the post is sounds like that cylinder lifter is not working if that much oil is gushing out the top. Sorry to tell you this but the valley pan needs to come off. Then remove that lifter and replace it. Some might tell you to open it up and clean it but.. Lets say you do clean it and it still wont pump up??? Now you will be removing the valley pan a third time. A new set of lifters are cheap insurance too. figure around $150.00 for 16 of them. Also you will find our lifters fit many engines. Not just our idi. they fit many psd and many chevy diesels from way back. Sadly we do not have a forum post telling us all the different engines our lifters fit. They are very easy to find on ebay and they seldom fail. Some of the first lifters were a bushing bearing and not the newer better needle bearing roller lifter..

 

[lukewarmt]

Thanks everyone who has replied! If I JUST have to pull the valley pan off I'm a happy camper, I just want to make sure I have all my bases covered before I do that in case I put it back together and realize I still need to do the heads.

It smokes like a freight train and runs fairly rough so I think I may have air intrusion (I am still running the old water separator which I have read can be a problem) and I think my return lines may be leaking (I didn't think return lines would matter since I have a new electric lift pump by the tank). Also my timing MAY be off a tooth or two so I will see if there is any way I can rule all of these issues out first before I go into the motor again in case it needs more serious repairs.