[FordeatinZ71]

well, today was D-Day for my 305...sort of...at lunch i fired her up to move around to my toolbox so i could tighten my alternator belt because in the rain yesterday it was slipping. when i fired it up i heard this scraping sound which reminded me of another 305 i had that seconds after hearing that sound spun it's rod bearings . even though my oil pressure was fine i shut it down immediately. i checked my oil and the dipstick was hard to pull out...because it was RUSTY! see, i had just started driving my truck again after about a month or two of sitting, so the oil hadn't been checked in a few months. i know, shame on me...but thats how it happened. oddly enough though, the coolant is green and uncontaminated and the truck isn't overheating at all...also the oil pressure (or water pressure, lol) is perfect on it...holds around 45-50 at cruise and 30 at idle...)

so i had my wife bring me oil and i put in enough to fill it...fired it up and the noise was still there. after work she met me to follow me home "just in case". she wanted to do it, i told her i didn't need her to, i had confidence in my ol girl. on the way home i ran her hard (figured the motor was toast anyhow) and she ran like a champ (heck, maintained 80+ the whole way back with pedal to spare). got home and the noise was gone! but i know that the motor is worn out, so i'm gonna prep my 350 and throw it in post haste, along with a rebuilt tranny...

UPDATE! turns out the "rubbing" sound is the harmonic balancer which has slipped and is now rubbing against the timing cover.