Truck diagnostic advice needed [I suspect it is dead!]]

[JPSmit]

Had a call from my son tonight. His girlfriend has a '91 F150 pickup (5.0?) which she bought this summer for $900.

Tonight they were driving and it started making "lots of odd and loud noises" along with a burning smell - but still seemed to be running normal. They stopped - it continued to idle but not well. Then she tried to turn it off but it kept running until it died a minute or so later. There was no coolant (bone dry (do you think that is a clue? ) They tried to start it a minute later but, nothing and it started leaking oil quickly - not a full dump but a steady drip.

Apparently they last filled it with coolant in Sault Ste Marie in August and nothing since.

Any thoughts other than the obvious?

thanks all

 

[NutmegCT]

With all the symptoms you describe, after over 20 years of service, I'd say ...

"It's dead, Jim".

 

[waltesefalcon]

In my professional opinion, I'd say they have a coolant leak that should have been addressed at some time before they cooked the engine.

 

[mikephillips]

Unless it was some sort of catastrophic failure, which should have been accompanied by steam and such, she must have ignored other warning signs if the cooling was indeed dry. To paraphrase Monty Python, this truck has run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible.

 

[LarryK]

Somebody needs to buy her a lifetime bus pass.

 

[JPSmit]

And, to update, yes it is dead. actually it solved a few problems as they were going to take the car off the road anyways and, it could not have been licensed in Ontario anyways. So, it did what they needed it to do (Got them from BC to Ontario) and now Public Transit is their future. (which makes more sense anyways in terms of time and money in Toronto)

 

[Deleted member 8987]

Just a question to satisfy my mind...why could it not be licensed in Ontario anyways?

 

[JPSmit]

Two reasons. The most obvious was rust . There wasn't much left of the rear fenders, but, it would not pass the emissions test. While I am a big fan of clean air, we have had this tax grab for a number of years now where every two years we have to have the emissions tested. Last year they made it even harder where a check engine light is an automatic fail regardless of cause. And, the check engine light was always on.