Your risk with a dirty engine like that, is the stuff clogging the pickup screen and starving your pump. I had a similar situation on a ford 302. I cleaned that engine the best I could, pulled the pan and cleaned it all out, replaced the oil pump. I got about 2 years out of it before it seized. The oil pump froze up and the pump drive shaft sheered. Not sure why the pump froze, the pickup was not obstructed.

I recommend pulling the oil pan and really cleaning it out the best you can. Drive it for a few months, and pull the pan again and see what things look like.

 

I'd definitely pull the pan and try to remove all the loose junk you can. Amsoil makes a cleaner to add to your oil just before you change it.http://www.amsoil.com/shopres/products/270px/FLSH.jpg

 

Hey thanks for the tip, by the sounds of the last few comments I'll run a cleaner/flush through.

So this part of the repair is all wrapped up. The vehicle is running again and the oil/filter has been changed. I'm waiting on the oil pan gasket to arrive and then I'll drop the pan after running a cleaner through and I'll change the oil again.

Here's a fun pic of what happened to the thermostat that arrived with the Dorman kit when I boiled it to test it:




The truck feels like it has way more pep now, it doesn't lose momentum so quickly when I take my foot off the gas and coast. The idle sounds way more consistent now too. I'm pumped to note any mileage changes because before this repair I was getting around 18-20mpg on the highway.

I'm currently in the process of heating up the exhaust and blasting the o2 sensor with PB blaster so I can take it out and change it. The cable looks a bit shorter than the one in there but I'll see if I can make it work by pulling it down off of the transmission a bit.

It's been really cold here the last few days (-10C) so I haven't done much but once it warms up on my list is:

• Front axle u-joints
• Front diff service including pinion seal (I hope the bearing is okay)
• Paint and put on passenger brake dust shield
• Change transfer case fluid
• Install transfer saver
• Change rear drive shaft u-joint at transfer case
• Rear diff service including pinion seal
• Test cat and if necessary replace

After all that is done there's some body work to do. If you guys have any other suggestions on what to do for maintenance work I'm all ears!

 

So I finally got the oxygen sensor out, it took two days of spraying the heated o2 sensor with pb blaster. Yesterday I really focused on whacking the wrench I had on it to break it loose.

I finally used a flat head like a chisel at the base of the sensor bolt and after a good whack it came right out. For the upstream sensor I ordered a 12" one but I would definitely recommend the 18" one as I had to manipulate the end of the connection a bit to get it to go together. When it's a bit warmer I'll play with it a bit more to get it in a better position.

Everyone likes pics:







My oil pan gasket came in so I'll go over the border to pick it up along with some Magic Mystery Oil so I can flush it before dropping the pan and redoing the oil at some point when this snow goes away....! I'm also going to look into replacing this rear main seal that I keep hearing about, any direction is appreciated.

 

Rear main is a two-piece feller, doing the lower part is simple, getting the upper part is a bit more of a challenge. I ended up loosening up all the main caps so I could drive the old seal out. Some have had success using a sewing needle, and running a bit of fishing line thru the new seal (not on the seal lip.....) and use that to pull it thru.

Might not hurt to replace the oil pump while you are there as well. It has to come out to do the rear main anyway......

 

What's been done since my last post:

Dropped the oil pan...






Cleaned that all out with kerosene and other products.

Oil pump was inspected and it seems to be in good shape. I'm a seasoned vet at pulling and replacing the pan now so if necessary I could get an oil pump in within 2 hours.

Replaced the rear main seal, here's a pic of the new in the bearing cap:




I didn't have any difficulty getting either out or in, but I did stab up into the crank when removing the upper seal a bit with a screwdriver... Whoops.

After doing it the first time I started the truck too quickly after changing the oil which de-primed the pump so I had to tear it all down again and re-prime the pump. Lessons were learned! The engine was only ran for a few seconds before realizing what I did.

There's still a small leak out of the seal, I tore it down and tried using sealant between the bearing cap and the block which I've read both good and bad things about but it seems to be slowing the leak to almost a halt - I'll keep monitoring it.

I did the intake manifold rear gaskets, oil pan gasket, valve cover gaskets, and the oil filter gasket and seal is dry - I'm thinking the bearing cap surface must be worn or it's seeping out of there somehow.

Another idea I read was that if the baffles in the valve covers were clogged it could cause blow-by and the rear seal would leak regardless of how well it was sealed?

Anyways, I'll keep working on that. In more exciting news I picked up a 99 RCLB 4x4 truck with a rebuilt engine, and transmission swap to an nv3500 that will be a parts truck for mine. I've paid for it and I'll be picking it up in a few weeks where I'll do an inspection to see if it's worth swapping in the engine or not, but I'm definitely taking the transmission.

If you guys want to hear a great story I stupidly started the donor truck while outside as I wanted to see it running and he hadn't hooked up the P/N safety switch so when I started the truck it MOVED and ran into the ditch with me hanging on trying to hit the clutch/brake with my hand before letting go and narrowly dodging a power pole. Luckily it went into the ditch and no one was hurt - could have been bad.

Anyways, I'll inspect it fully, swap the trans, and part out the rest to see how much money I can make back. Here's the truck:

 

Pretty thick goo in the pan. There is probably a layer of that stuff on the sides of the block as well. What did the pickup screen look like?

 

Yeah it was pretty nasty. Got it cleaned up pretty well and I've been running magic mystery oil in the engine.

Pickup screen wasn't too bad, bit of debris/sludge bits in it but it wasn't thick or blocking much of the screen.