Angry midgets in motor after startup!!!

Strokersace

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Ok, so just picked up a bone stock 2010 6.4. Nice truck but PO had motor troubles a few months ago and didn't want to mess with it. He said he was pulling his horse trailer down the interstate and all of a sudden the truck lurched/stumbled/shuttered and died instantly. No smoke or running bad previously. Couldn't get it restarted. The local ford dealership by where it broke down looked at it and said it needed a new motor so he said don't proceed and towed it back home. It sat in his back yard since.

I checked it out closely. All fluids looked good and full. No major leaks or issues under the truck. One small drip coming from the bell housing inspection hole. Get it home and charged batteries. Turn the key and the motor turns over fast and smooth with no abnormal sounds while cranking. It fires right up on the 2nd to 3rd crank but after starting it sounds like 100 angry midgets with hammers are going to town in the motor. It sounds horrific!! No excessive smoke that I can see from the tailpipe. I didn't let it run for more than a few seconds because it sounds like chit is coming apart!

Haven't pulled codes as I don't have an ae yet. Surprised it starts so strongly and doesn't smoke when running so bad. I'm having trouble understanding what it could be without tearing into it fully. Any other motor I've been around that broke a rod locked up and added a nice window to the outside resulting in heavy fluid loss. However, this is the 1st 6.4 I've ever been around much. Any help would be much appreciated.

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78f100

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Compression test will help you diagnose it best. Does it have excessive blow by? You might be lucky enough that its just broke rockers or something up top. But if it shut down on him I would suspect it has a fuel injector issue or hydro locked a cylinder maybe bending a rod or breaking a piston. The bottom end on these things are tough and they will continue to run with serious issues. I have one at the shop that sounds just like a turkey gobbling when you start it ...lol the bearings are shot from a cavitated front cover mixing coolant and oil. But it doesn't miss a beat running.
 

Strokersace

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I plan to do a compression test soon. Honestly not sure on blow by. I was in the drivers seat and it sounded so bad that I didn't want to leave it running long enough to jump out and check! I'll look further tonight when I have help.

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Sideswipe505

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Compression test will help you diagnose it best. Does it have excessive blow by? You might be lucky enough that its just broke rockers or something up top. But if it shut down on him I would suspect it has a fuel injector issue or hydro locked a cylinder maybe bending a rod or breaking a piston. The bottom end on these things are tough and they will continue to run with serious issues. I have one at the shop that sounds just like a turkey gobbling when you start it ...lol the bearings are shot from a cavitated front cover mixing coolant and oil. But it doesn't miss a beat running.


I can second the toughness of the bottom end on these trucks. Mine ran fine with a melted piston. Threw an injector code one time and that's how I found out.
 

Strokersace

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Did a compression test last night. Numbers were all low but not exactly sure what normal is for a 6.4. Used a harbor freight kit with a modified glow plug and used the starter to spin it over. #'s 1,2,5,7,8 all registered 260psi. #3 showed the lowest at 200psi. #'s 4,6 were around 230 to 240psi. Mind you this motor has not ran more than a few seconds since late February. All cylinders holding pressure tells me no holes in pistons.

I did start it and let it run for 30 seconds or so to check for blow by. The vapor coming from the oil fill opening isn't chugging but it putting a healthy strong steady stream. As it ran longer the deep growling midget with hammer noise lessened but till ran horribly rough an sounded like metal on metal squelching. It wasn't constant though.

Also when I was running the compression test, I pulled the air filer to gain better access. When turning over with the starter, I could hear a "ticking or knocking" sound while cranking. It was very slight, but there.


Going to pull valve covers as soon as I can. Unfortunately its going to be a few weeks as I go in for sinus surgery Monday morning and have to get the 7.3 back on the road this weekend.

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Powerstroke Man 6.4

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Did a compression test last night. Numbers were all low but not exactly sure what normal is for a 6.4. Used a harbor freight kit with a modified glow plug and used the starter to spin it over. #'s 1,2,5,7,8 all registered 260psi. #3 showed the lowest at 200psi. #'s 4,6 were around 230 to 240psi. Mind you this motor has not ran more than a few seconds since late February. All cylinders holding pressure tells me no holes in pistons.

I did start it and let it run for 30 seconds or so to check for blow by. The vapor coming from the oil fill opening isn't chugging but it putting a healthy strong steady stream. As it ran longer the deep growling midget with hammer noise lessened but till ran horribly rough an sounded like metal on metal squelching. It wasn't constant though.

Also when I was running the compression test, I pulled the air filer to gain better access. When turning over with the starter, I could hear a "ticking or knocking" sound while cranking. It was very slight, but there.


Going to pull valve covers as soon as I can. Unfortunately its going to be a few weeks as I go in for sinus surgery Monday morning and have to get the 7.3 back on the road this weekend.

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Keep us updated on the truck. I would like to find out what went wrong.
 

DieselSD

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Would also like to hear what Angry midgets in motor after startup sound like. Post a vid?
 

Strokersace

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It sounds about like you can imagine...

I'll keep updating this when I recover from surgery and can get back to work on it.

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HeavyAssault

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This reminds me of an email about Air Force maintenance write-ups and corrective actions.

Hope it's a simple solution to get it back to spec.
 

Mbatten

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I would put in corrective action removed midgets engine requires R&R if I were working that NRI. Haha
 

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