The odds of this problem being related to the heads are not very high and a 460 can be beaten into the ground just like every other engine out there.
My feeling is that if you try to make the drive in that truck it will be fouling plugs and causing all kinds of grief. It would be easier to just rent a tow dolly and haul it home.
My view of AAA is not horrible but it’s also not very good either and lately they’re like a car warranty outfit; flogging me to death with insurance offers every week. Why would I want insurance with them when they’re twice as high as my current carrier.
I keep them, but I still have a couple of old cars from the 90’s, and it’s nice to know that I’ll get a tow if (that should really be “when”) they strand me.
Actually it paid off on my by-comparison new '07 TL when I snapped an axle a couple years back. It had rusted under the rubber dampener. Got it towed home and dropped into my garage so I could fix it. And that was the second time it paid off on that car, because when I ran over some debris and got a flat, they changed the tire for me. Yeah, I know, I could have changed it myself, but it was on a fast highway in the dark and it’s a lot safer to have a big truck with a light bar behind the car.
The seller (who has been very open as far as I can tell) says that he looked at a few cylinders through sparks plug holes, and saw a small oil puddle in #1, the cylinder with no compression. This leads me to believe that there are either bent/broken valves, or faulty valve seals. Because the oil would be leaking DOWN while the engine is off. If the piston rings are shot, I doubt oil would be seeping UP into the combustion chamber.
I’ve yet to find out if the exhaust smokes constantly (which indicates faulty rings) or only for a few minutes after startup, (which indicates a valve that’s not sealing)
Ok, I’m no longer planning to drive it back. I’m getting tow quotes. Seller theorizes that the longer the engine runs, the more oil pours into the combustion chamber, and it can’t burn it up quickly enough, so it ends up dying.
Can anyone offer some more mechanical advice? If I’m not mistaken, the listed symptoms definitely sound like a valve that’s not sealing to me. If I fix that issue, and it turns out that the rings are also shot, what treatments work best for revitalizing piston rings/oil burning? Thanks
Just as a novice non-mechanic, I’m having trouble understanding how a bad valve can cause oil consumption and eventual choking the engine to the point of stalling. I’ve had a burned valve before and never had any oil usage, just very rough running.
There is no way to rejuvenate worn piston rings. The general procedure is to replace the rings, pistons, and hone the cylinder after disassembly. Of course then you also have issues with the bearings and crankshaft etc., which is why it was suggested earlier to simply look at replacing the engine.
Rent an extended length vehicle carrier or hire a professional vehicle carrier to ship it. Its not THAT big; it’s an extended length 250, somebody will have something that will carry it. It will cost you a few hundred bucks, but you will get your truck, safe and sound. Forget AAA.
Bing,
If the valve is bent and not creating a tight seal, or if the valve seal is leaking, then it will allow oil to drip down into the combustion chamber. Usually it collects inside the chamber while the engine is off, and then is burned upon startup. The reason an engine gets choked up and stalls is because the leak large enough that it leaks quicker than it can be burnt.
I’m going to takes “texases” advice and do a leak down test. If the rings are shot, then I’ll buy either a long block or short block depending on the condition of the current heads.
I agree with @bing the symptoms sound like very worn rings. A bad oil seal on the valves would be indicated by a big cloud of blue smoke everytime you acclerate after an idle. A valve simply burned would not always leak oil, just run and idle badly, and neither would stall the engine. Worn piston rings on one cylinder would do most of that… except the stalling… that would take more than one cylinder.
Fixing rings means the engine must come out and be basically rebuilt.
A compression test before you buy it would tell you a lot…maybe you did that, or maybe the seller did that and told you the result… not clear.