Digging in and it is not all good news

I now have definitive proof that my Dad taught me the tin can exhaust repair procedure long before the Internet spread it around…

I discovered that while cleaning out the engine compartment.  I spent probably a half hour vacuuming, and then blowing out a lot of dust, pine needles, sawdust and not sure what else from in and around things.

The next step was to climb underneath and start by opening the petcock to drain the radiator, which apparently was already empty, since nothing came out.  So I’m going to get something to flush the radiator and to run through it to try to clear out any build up, scaling or debris that may have accumulated before we fill it.

Next I decided to tackle the oil.  I moved the pan down under the drain plug, which on this truck is actually about two inches across.  I pulled the drain plug, but here is where the bad news starts.  Instead of gushing out like I had hoped, it just dripped, slowly, from around the edges of the hole.  So I stuck my finger up into the hole, which was a semi-solid chunky goop, that refused to slide out, just continued to drip from around the edges of the hole.

I decided to open the oil filter canister hoping to let some air into the system from above (yes, I know the breather should do this, but not knowing the state of the it…).  I decided to let it drip, and hope more comes out, but the new plan is to pull the oil pan (hopefully tomorrow) and take a look at the bottom end of the engine.  Depending on what I find will determine the next steps, but I think we will need to tear the engine down and rebuild it or at least seriously clean it now and try to take it apart and flush it out and do a top and bottom rebuild over the winter.  I’m not holding my breath, it was pretty chunky.

I don’t know how long it has been since K-Mart sold these oil filters, but I’m guessing it has been a while…

I also decided to pull the plugs, well at least on one side to see how they looked.  I already planned to put in new plugs, but I figured it might give me some hope if the plugs weren’t totally rusted, that the cylinders aren’t either.  Fortunately they don’t look too bad.  They are obviously pitted and showing their age and some wear and tear.

Tomorrow, time permitting, I’ll drop the oil pan and we will start trying to determine the next step where the engine is concerned.  I’m wondering if I can talk my wife into letting me put a lift in the garage… LOL Not much headroom as it is, but even a couple feet might be worth it.