Did I toast my motor?

[bluecrew]

88 F-150 I-6 2WD ran good-ish. I replaced a leaking fuel injector and not the gasket under the intake (remember this is the newbie section, I know that was dumb to do-----now!) So that was leaking and causing the truck to studder and stall out. I drove it to work for a few days like this not knowing what the problem was. I just got done replacing the gasket and the studdering and stalling is gone. Good, but still got a problem. The truck won't climb above 2500 rpm's in any gear. Has very little power and I need about 1 1/2 miles to hit 55 mph! Did the leaking gasket cause some irreversable damage? What else could it be? This is usually my daily driver (most fuel effiecient). Please send some brains my way?

[bertha]

Look for the not-so-obvious first and this sounds almost like you forgot to attach a vacuum line or knocked one loose while working. If this hasn't done this before then I say you're taking in air form somewhere that you weren't before.

[350TBI]

Cam Chain??? check all of your timing basics............

[Hellbound]

TOAST too bad, u fawked it up Jack

[bluecrew]

I checked all the vacuumn lines and everything else a newbie can check, I've been told it's most likely my cat being plugged up. I got another one lined up and I'm gonna swap it in. Hopefully that's the only problem. The swap includes cat, O2 sensor, and resinator 'case you were thinking i wasn't Thanks for the input.
Don't worry, I'll be back with more problems and questions before you ever get the chance to miss me...

[800MJ]

tell me im wrong but what are the chances your cat got plugged up right after you replaced a gasket from another problem that was effecting the way your motor ran. i think it might be something goofed up from your injector relacement still

[bluecrew]

I pulled the cat off and it was full. Crammed full! had to jack the tranny up, remove the crossmember and curse at everything just to get the new to me cat and resonator on. complete pain in the ass. Got plenty of power now. Motor still idles a little funky, but that'll wait til I get to it. Anyways thanks for the input and help.

[bluecrew]

Well, the ferd don't wanna idle real good at all. Lopes real bad. Stalls out every now and then. Not sure where to look, what regulates, or what to do besides yell at it... (which I've been really busy doing!) I'm sure plenty of people know what I need to do and where to look, since this is got to be the simplist problem, but I ain't reallly accustomed to these newer computer controlled motor car thingies! Seriously, I don't know, and yes, I am embarassed to admit this, but a guy's gotta man up once in a while. This is not one of those times!
Is there a "sway/stabilizer bar on these trucks? Is it weird that the ferd likes to fishtail at 45 mph like a 1/2 ton with Star Jones on the tailgate???? It gets kinda hairy and the wife won't ride in it anymore. Dumb newbie questions, but whatcha gonna do? These things happen....

[tsmall07]

Originally Posted by bluecrew

Well, the ferd don't wanna idle real good at all. Lopes real bad. Stalls out every now and then. Not sure where to look, what regulates, or what to do besides yell at it... (which I've been really busy doing!) I'm sure plenty of people know what I need to do and where to look, since this is got to be the simplist problem, but I ain't reallly accustomed to these newer computer controlled motor car thingies! Seriously, I don't know, and yes, I am embarassed to admit this, but a guy's gotta man up once in a while. This is not one of those times!
Is there a "sway/stabilizer bar on these trucks? Is it weird that the ferd likes to fishtail at 45 mph like a 1/2 ton with Star Jones on the tailgate???? It gets kinda hairy and the wife won't ride in it anymore. Dumb newbie questions, but whatcha gonna do? These things happen....

I don't know why you think that weight on the tailgate would make the truck fishtail. Does it fishtail around turns or just randomly when you're driving? Is it when the roads are wet? There should be a sway bar in the rear, but that won't really have much effect one fishtailing. I need a lot more information. Its pretty hard to answer such an open ended question.

[bluecrew]

Well, when I drive above 45 mph, the truck rear sways back and forth real bad. Going around a turn does seem to make it worse. Dry pavement and conservative driving. I ain't no leadfoot, at least not in this truck. I've got a fiberglass topper (tall one) on it (heavier than hell) and the bed full of work tools. The tools cannnot be more than 300 lbs. and I have most of the weight to the front of the truck bed.
Just driving down the road the front stays good but the rear starts going left to right and gets more severe unless I slow down. I usually have to drop down a gear and let the rear slow me down. I can't believe it would be overloaded, I've had this much tools in s-10's and they handled it fine. I've tried just "locking" the wheel straight with my hands, and tried counter-acting the sway, to no avail. It just can't be normal...

Now, I've had a history of overloading my previous trucks(especially these little 1/2 tons), so I feel like a have a good idea as to how much is too much, and I believe this truck ain't overloaded. The rear of the truck isn't even sagging. As far as the star jones on the tailgate thing, it seems like the rear is top heavy. I couldn't see the fiberglass topper being all that heavy as I switched it from truck to truck by myself. I know the topper changes the center of gravity, but it can't be that much, can it? I'd take the topper off, but i need it to keep all them work tools dry and whatnot...anyways, thanks for taking the time to read this novel and any help.

'88 f-150 longbox, standard cab, 4.9 I-6 manual, 2WD and it was "free"

[tsmall07]

I wouldn't drive it again until you spend a good amount of time under it. That is not normal. Check the u bolts and make sure the leaf springs are in good shape. Maybe take it to a spring shop if you can't figure it out. A sway bar wouldn't help you, I don't think.

[bluecrew]

Well, i got some improvement. Not sure what the problem was, but it's kinda gone... I aired the rear tires up to 40psi and took EVERYTHING out of the truck bed except the topper. (Which took over 1 1/2 hours...) I checked the leaf springs and mounts, u-bolts, front suspension components... I have actually hit 55 mph!!! This is all I need. I don't care for them highways and such, but so far, I'm gonna run this truck til it dies. I'm still going to keep checking everything, but i need this truck for work. All the roads I take are 55 and under and hillbilly backroads anyways, so I'm not really worried. I did reload all the tools back in and all the heavier stuff up front. So, I don't know if it was the weight or the tires being under pressure, but when I figure it out, I'll post it as a thanks for your time. Thanks all of you.

[KiGrind]

Could just be shitty tires.

[bluecrew]

Yeah, them tires are shitty. I got two different brands, all different depths of tread and some of them even got some air showing through! No spare and no worries. I'm waiting til I find out more from work as far as $, so I plan to fix them tires within the next two weeks.

So, tires with less tread don't save me gas mileage?
less rubber on tires=less weight to lug around=better fuel economy?

The little 300's actually getting 18 mpg's!

[fordkiller187]

I have a question could your shocks possibly be bad and letting the truck bounce and move aroundbe cause if you put more weighton(i.e. the big topper) it could give you that riding the waves feeling. Exspecially from side to side. Good luck.

[crashnzuk]

I had a 72 F250 2wd that wanted to wander all over the road. It felt like the rear was squirelly. If found about half of the rivets holding the front suspension mounts to the frame were loose. Removed the rivets and replaced with 1/2" grade 8 bolts and all was good, like a new truck.
Travis..

[bluecrew]

No more wandering for me. Not sur ewhat it was, but it's gone. I aired up the rear tires and replaced one of them, and moved everything in the bed around. Now the sway is gone. Thanks for the ideas and help. The suspension and leaf springs and spring mounts are all good.

And as far as the idle: The idle air control valve ($75 and 2 minutes) was shot. now the (not-so) free truck runs good. Thanks for the help and advice.