Driving back from Charlotte, NC right after Christmas. I had two cases of stall out. One from rest (at a rest stop) on the way down, and another, after being at rest at a stop-light on the way back home, four days later. In each case, the only noticeable problem was oil pooling in the bottom of the air filter "holder". the air filter itself was NOT clogged/filled with oil. This could have been related to the PCV issue we addressed earlier (I had purchased and installed a new PCV right after the temporary repair we did at your shop. In each of the two stall cases squirting carb cleaner into the carb "helped". In the first case, the battery was already so weakened by the time I tried that (from repeatedly trying to turn the truck over) that this was insufficient. I needed a jump. After I got under way there were no further symptoms of any kind for 300 miles and 4 days. The second time, four days later, I AGAIN sought a jump but the jump was not enough to get me turning over, but the combination of that plus carb cleaner being sprayed in at the same time got be back under way. That was in Lynchburg, on the way back north on Rt. 29. In Lovingston, about 45 or 50 minutes later there was white smoke billowing out of the exhaust and a tapping sound coming from in front of the firewall. I immediately pulled over and got towed back to Charlottesville. AAA towed me to Chris Cole's shop. He checked blow-by, the air filter (with the pooled oil in the base of the filter holder) issue and removed the valve cover. No damage and nothing out of the ordinary. That led him to conclude that the problem was rod, bearing, or piston related, in the "bottom end" and that it would be cheaper at that point to consider the existing F engine a write-off -- without even opening it up to see what was going on -- and to look for a replacement.
So, I still can't say exactly what went wrong. Once I pulled off the road on 12/27, and once it was in Chris' shop (he inspected it on 12/31), it continued to turn over and start, but the metal on metal banging sound coming out of the engine signaled that something was clearly amiss, so we turned it off again quickly each time.
Is a 2F an exact drop-in or are motor mounts or other mods necessary? I have heard that the oiling architecture is better in a 2F (and a bit better power I think), but otherwise, are there other things one would gain with a 2F? You know me, I'm inclined to stay stock unless there is a good reason not to. I did get about 340,000 miles out of that motor so I can't really complain, though I still don't know what failed. I would like to know if there was anything maintenance-wise that I could have done to avoid the engine failure. I would welcome your thoughts. Reid
