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ed1 02-07-2005 08:02:08 198.185.163.6 12488 Report to Moderator	I have a Ford F350 4x4 pickup with a 351M engine. I had a valve ticking for a couple of weeks. The other day the oil pressure dropped real from real high to real low and more valves started to tick. The truck still runs but is now missing on one cylinder What do you think this is? [Reply]  [No Email]
ZANE 02-10-2005 16:00:29 205.188.116.199 12527 Report to Moderator	Re: Oil Pressure went to almost zero in reply to ed1, 02-07-2005 08:02:08   Blocked oil pick up tube screen! Ford engines are notorious for it. Screen is too fine to pass any small particles that the oil filter would catch and finally blocks the screen. In my opinion it is a design defect! Zane   [Reply]  [Send Email]
John McPherson 02-09-2005 15:45:13 216.251.171.218 12513 Report to Moderator	Re: Oil Pressure went to almost zero in reply to ed1, 02-07-2005 08:02:08   Every 351M or 400M crank I ever mic'd all came out bad. You did not indicate how many miles, but Fords are very tempermental normally, and the noise you might be hearing is actually a bit of slop in either the mains, or the rod bearings, or both. Usually the Modifieds are spinning on copper after about 70 thousand miles, and they can still run a long time that way, but at a very slow idle, you will hear the slop and see the oil pressure drop or the oil light come on in time with the rapping sound. If oil pressure is still low, you might be lucky and just have a collapsed lifter, or a nut came off of a rocker pivot, but it could be worse. at a minimum you need to pull the valve covers, and see if anything fell off and if it spits oil still. If it checks to that point, do a compression test, and you may find that you might be looking for a replacement engine.   [Reply]  [No Email]
Loren 02-08-2005 21:17:28 12.108.31.95 12508 Report to Moderator	Re: Oil Pressure went to almost zero in reply to ed1, 02-07-2005 08:02:08   Fords have a hex shaped oil pump drive that after time wears down and starts spinning in the bore. Could also be that the oil pickup screen has plugged and won't allow oil to the pump. I wouldn't think that wouldn't come on REAL quick though. I've seen more instances of this on Pennzoil run motors than any other brand of oil. The rockers will make substantially more noise when the oil supply is reduced. The M series engine's rockers tend to make noise as they wear and commonly need to be replaced when they get old. I'd pull the oil filter and dist. and run the pump with a drill or similar and check output into a pan or catch. Make sure you don't loose the pump drive shaft as it can drop when the dist comes out.   [Reply]  [No Email]
Bob 02-07-2005 08:19:21 66.163.134.177 12489 Report to Moderator	Re: Oil Pressure went to almost zero in reply to ed1, 02-07-2005 08:02:08   It is POSSIBLE, if a rocker arm breaks or a pushrod bends, etc., for one of the hydraulic lifters to pop out of it's bore, causing a big internal oil leak in the engine. You need to start by taking the valve cover(s) off (the one on the side of the engine that was first making the noise, if possible), or both of them and check out the valve action. Of course, it is also possible there is a bearing failure, or oil pump failure (could be a broken oil pickup tube) causing very low oil pressure, and the lifters have collapsed, causing the poor running and valve noise.   [Reply]  [No Email]