99 Ranger; 3.0L V6; 92K miles; one-owner; done all maintenance.
While driving oil pressure gauge dropped to 0 then up to normal then flickered. CHECK ENGINE light came on. Shut it off immediately; checked oil, oil was full. No evidence of oil leak or blow-out. Started engine, valve train tapping, shut down immediately, towed to dealer.
I suspect bad oil pump.
Dealer says $4,128 for new engine or $760 to pull oil pan and valve cover to check it out.
I plan to tell him to pull pan, replace oil pump, crank it and see what happens.
If engine is shot, the truck's Blue Book is only around $5,000 -- so
If you didn't drive it with no oil pressure, I'd try just replacing the oil pump. The 3.0 Vulcan is fairly durable. At 92k, if it's been maintained, it's not terribly worn otherwise.
OTOH, if you had a mechanic who could drop a used engine in there for you, that might be a better alternative, depending on the price of the engine.
The oil pump is driven by a shaft coming from the top of the engine. Three gear teeth at the bottom of this shaft, in the crankcase, broke off and rattled around inside the oil pan. Main bearings are scored from the metal shavings, oil pump and pump driveshaft are shot.
Options are:
-- $4,780 for a Ford rebuilt engine with 3 yr/75K warranty. Can't do it -- building a new house and I'm tapped out.
-- Park it in the back yard and rebuild the bottom of the engine -- line bore it, new mains, clean up the crank, new oil pump, etc. -- assuming that the metal pieces did not get up into the cylinders -- can inspect for that after tear down. Figure $500-$1,000 for parts and my labor is free.
-- Park it in the back yard, purchase a Ford long block for $2,446.64 and put it in myself.
-- Sell it as is.
Think I'll talk to my friend Mr. Jack Daniels and decide what to do. Meanwhile -- this is my daughter's truck -- she lives in the big city where she rides the subway -- I'll let her have my 97 Mazda B4000 until we decide what to do with the Ranger.
OOC, is that a rebuilt or used as-is? Seems you could do better than that. I got a used 4.6L with 58k miles for a '97 Crown Vic last year for only $700 from LKQ/A&R. A friend who owed me a bunch of favors installed it for free. And even at that price, it included a 6 mo. warranty.
The oil pump is driven by a shaft coming from the top of the engine. Three gear teeth at the bottom of this shaft, in the crankcase, broke off and rattled around inside the oil pan. Main bearings are scored from the metal shavings, oil pump and pump driveshaft are shot.
Options are:
-- $4,780 for a Ford rebuilt engine with 3 yr/75K warranty. Can't do it -- building a new house and I'm tapped out.
-- Park it in the back yard and rebuild the bottom of the engine -- line bore it, new mains, clean up the crank, new oil pump, etc. -- assuming that the metal pieces did not get up into the cylinders -- can inspect for that after tear down. Figure $500-$1,000 for parts and my labor is free.
-- Park it in the back yard, purchase a Ford long block for $2,446.64 and put it in myself.
-- Sell it as is.
Think I'll talk to my friend Mr. Jack Daniels and decide what to do. Meanwhile -- this is my daughter's truck -- she lives in the big city where she rides the subway -- I'll let her have my 97 Mazda B4000 until we decide what to do with the Ranger.
If it's not one damn thing it's another.
ONE MORE OPTION Put the new oil pump in it and cross your fingers that the filter did its job.
You should not have metal parts in the bearings. You could, but they should be too large to get in. Of course, if you drove for several miles with the metal parts flying around inside the motor, you can have significant damage, but if you actually caught the drop in pressure as it happened, the damage should be very slight and you might be able to still drive the truck long enough to sell it.
You're going to have to pull the oil pan to fix this, and you can tell the collateral damage pretty easily. The dealership might be telling you the worst case, but you might actually have the best case -- early shut down before siginficant other damage happened.
PS The saying goes, if it's not one thing, it's two things.
The $2,446.64 price is the quote from the dealer for a Ford-rebuilt long block. Of course, they'd probably charge me more than that then refund a core charge when I return the busted engine.
I no doubt could do better with a junkyard engine -- will start the search tomorrow.
Thanks for the suggestions; I'll keep everyone posted as to any progress.
The Ford 3.0L V6 is one of the most reliable engines ever built and usually wear out the vehicle in which it came. If it were mine, I would look for a low mile salvage engine. The failure you have is one that I have only seen in a few engines. Usually it is a result of excessive oil pressure for some reason. Most of the time you will find a faulty pressure relief valve and and engine that is drive hard from cold start. The oil pump drive shaft is usually the victim in the V8's. Again, I would have no qualms about getting a salvage engine. Many yards will let you see the vehicle it was/is in and some will also start it for you to see running. The better yards will provide at least a 30 day warranty. You stand the best chance of getting a good one if you are in a southern state. Beware of flood damaged vehicles from the past few years. You should be able to get a decent engine in the $4-600 range. I had similar problems when the trans in my truck went while we were buuilding a few years back. If it's not one thing, it's two or three!!
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