Hey so I just picked up this 89 D150 long bed with a 360 5.9L v8. I’ve noticed the slightest knock noise on the passenger side near the front of the motor. It’s inconsistent at times and can be faint at other times and then speed up and slow down even at idle. Worse fear is it could be a road bearing that’s bad which would mean a total engine rebuild basically. I was told when I got it, it had recently been rebuilt (year or two ago) and the engine does seem fairly clean on the front end of it so potentially, no paper work for that was provided. The odometer shoes 23k (5 digit odometer) so I’m assuming it’s 123k based on some paper work I found in the truck from 2014. I’ve also discovered one of the valve cover gaskets is leaking at one of the nuts so plan on replacing that soon as well as the oil pan gaskets and get the transmission serviced. Overall the truck is pretty straight and clean.

my questions at this point are if the engine does have a bad rod bearing, would it be better to rebuild the motor or to buy a crate motor and replace it that way? If so, where would you get a crate motor and what engines work for it? Transmission is also stock. I’m not looking to go in the hole for this thing but would be nice to get the important things solid.




This is my first real “project” and mainly got it as a work around the house truck and fix it up when I can to make it somewhat nice. So any advice would be appreciated.

 

Think I would go lookin' for where the noise is really coming from first. Mechanics stethoscope, or even a length of hose can help with that.

 

Yeah I’ve been taking a medal rod and placing it in certain areas and I hear it mostly on the front right near the pulleys and I crawled underneath it to the oil pan and didn’t hear much of anything from that but didn’t go to the front due to clearance.

 

Take the belt(s) off, run the engine for a bit. Is the noise gone?

 

Not really, Drop the pan remove the rods and find the one that's making the noise. If the crank is ok replace the bearings and you are good to go.Even if you have to remove the crank and have it ground it's not a total rebuild. It can be done in the truck just not as easily if it was out. You may just want to just want to put a magnum in it.
http://www.magnumswap.com/