180hp. 3.7 L

[Troublemaker]

Iforgot to mention inthe last message that in 2001 I lost the oil pan gasket plus it was running hot at full throttle. So I pulled the engine, and over the winter replaced pan gasket ,and the 460 head on it had a small crack. So I replaced the headwith a auto motive head ,machining a water inlet to match the original head. Had a mechanic with 35 years experiance do the valve job and put it back together. I used it for about an hour and it ran terrible for 15 minutes.Then it got alot better although there was a nasty clatter from the lifters. Then it froze the exhaust valve in the open position and off came the head for the second time. I put stable in the fuel tank along with heat . Well, yesterday I took it out on the water again, still the nasty lifter clatter. All new lifters and push rods, new head again It ran fine at good temps and pressures,but with a nasty clatter. Then it wouldn't idle and after about 3 hours it quit running altogether.

 

[chiefmike58]

Re: 180hp. 3.7 L

Troublemaker, although the head is the Ford 460 head, I would doubt very much that the valve springs are the same strenth and quality. You may be floating your valves because of weak springs.