Newbie needing some help!

Hello guys, new guy here. I'm Ray and just recently bought a carbureted 1990 b2200. So I bought my truck about 2 weeks ago and been fixing a few things here and there every weekend since. It's a pretty solid truck all around just needed a little work. The seller told me right off the bat the rear main seal was leaking. I figured I'd keep an eye on the oil level and keep it toped off until I had time to change it. Since then I've changed the radiator, thermastat, spark plugs, fuel filter, valve cover gasket, oil, and 2 front tires. About $350 worth of parts.

So here is my problem. Today I took a drive to my mother's house which involved a 40 mile drive on the highway. Just when I was getting to her exit, I noticed the engine was getting louder. Tapping then knocking. The power was dying down too. I this point I was already pulling off the highway and just coasted it to my moms. She lives about a mile off the highway.

When I popped the hood, there was oil everywhere. In the back near the tranny oil spayed all over the place especially on the passenger side. And on the side of the engine, carburetor side near the front of the engine. And the timing belt was soaked with oil as well. The engine did not over heat and was not hot. It was knocking so I shut the engine off. Sounded like low oil pressure. I checked the oil level and it was it the minimum line on the dip stick. So I let it sit for 30 min then started it back up and the knocking went away.

Please tell me its just the seals needed and I didn't blow the engine? I'm probably going to call in tomorrow and pull the motor and change the seals.

Thanks for any guidance!

When you replaced the valve cover gasket, there's a small plug(like a rubber coated freeze plug) on the backside of the head that's part of the valve cover gasket system. These can fall out, if not kept in their proper location when the valve cover is reinstalled. Chances are, this is your issue.

Thanks for the info. I'll take a look and see. If that's what it is do you think that no harm was done to the engine? Would this cause loss of oil pressure and power? It's not knocking any more at idle. Haven't driven it yet. Wanted to pull the engine anyway and replace the rear main seal anyway and have a look over while I'm at it.

I think the loss of oil caused the low oil pressure. Maybe you got lucky.

You can feel for that rear cam seal at the rear top of the engine, maybe see it with a mirror.

So I noticed when I would start the engine now the exhaust pipe is spitting out like black soot? I never noticed that before. Anyone ever experience this? Is it normal?

It's normal. It's just startup condensation, and goes away after warmup.

Thanks. So I sprayed the engine down this morning with brake cleaner and toped off the motor with some 20w50 and started it up. Knocked a bit at first then went away. Drove it around for about 5 min and felt normal power wise but has a slight knocking/rattling that is speed sensitive. Not to bad but noticeable. I parked it and checked for leaks and nothing noticeable. I listened and it doesn't sound like it's coming from the valve train. It's sounds like it's coming from the front 1 or 2 poston. Bearing or bent rod? I've called around locally for used motors but no luck. Question is can I still drive this till I find something if I seal up any leaks? And if so how long? Thanks again.

So the engine is done. Tried to drive it home and I got stranded on the highway last night. Made it only 8 miles before it started rattling like crazy and smoking. Oil everywhere. Oh well the engine had about 225 miles on it. I guess it was it's time and time for a new one. Now to hunt one down.

All there is to do now is decide.... money in a same engine with same power, or upgrade for about 80-100 more horsepower?

Geterdun- Could you give me some examples of what type of engine swaps are budget friendly or not to complicated, parts wise for this chassis? I found another motor for sale not to far away from me. Dude wanted $600 and says it has 112k or 120k miles on it. I've talked him down to $500 so far. My plan on Saturday morning is to pull my motor and open the bottom end and have a look at the damage. If things don't look bad and maybe new bearings would fix it up I'll go with that but if not I'm probably going to pick up the other engine and fresh it up a little and just go with it. I've been thinking about doing a motor swap but this is my daily for the moment. I think I'll wait until I have some thing else to rely on and then I can get creative.