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Question for "lugnut" re: oil pressure, etc.

Sir:

I started a thread a few days ago about my woes with a 99 Ranger. Let me recap what's happened to this point then I have some questions for you.

99 Ranger 4X4, 5-speed, 3.0L V6; 92K miles; serviced religiously. It's my adult daughter's truck and she is a fanatic about service -- probably because her old man taught her to drive on an old VW Beetle and made it clear to her that if it blew up, she wouldn't get anything else.

She was driving along minding her own business -- she's also fanatic about observing posted speed limits -- CHECK ENGINE light came on, oil pressue needle dropped to zero, came back up, flickered, and she shut it down.

She waited a few minutes and checked the dipstick -- oil was full. No sign of oil being flung out anywhere. She cranked it, heard tapping in valve train and shut it down, towed to dealer.

Dealer told me he "tore down the bottom of the engine" -- I asked what that means and he said -- dropped the pan, pulled two mains and two rod bearings. He found:

-- three teeth had broken off the "synchronizer" which drives the oil pump

-- minor scoring on mains and rod bearings

He quoted $4,780 for Ford rebuilt engine and advised against simply repairing the broken synchronizer.

I consulted with my son -- who is a Jeep nut and has lots of experience pulling and replacing engines. He suggested that we tell the dealer to put it back together, pull it to son's house, and think about it -- he was going to talk with some gearhead friends of his about either replacing it with a junkyard engine, or, replacing mains, rod bearings, align bore crank journals, and slap it back together.

So -- I called the dealer and told him to put it back together and I would come get it.

Few minutes later, the service advisor called me back. He said the "shop foreman" suggested that they replace the busted synchronizer and put the truck back on the road, without any guarantees.

I am somewhat suspicious that perhaps they inspected the engine and figured that all they needed to do was replace the synchronizer -- but

-- they thought they could sell me a new engine.

Now, granted, they are probably wise to be defensive -- if they slapped it back together and it blew up in a few weeks, they would have to be concerned that I would be a very unhappy customer, hence their push to put in a new engine.

And that's where it sits. They told me the new synchr QUOTE

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!!

END QUOTE

I'm intrigured by this statement: " . . . 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. . . "

Questions:

  1. Where is the pressure relief valve and can I replace it myself?
  2. Does the pressure relief valve require periodic replacement?
  3. Should I tell my daughter to crank it and let it warm up for a few minutes before driving off -- to avoid hard driving on a cold engine?
  4. What and where is this "synchronizer" that had three broken teeth?

If this engine fails, we'll go for a junkyard replacement.

Finally, being an ol' Mississippi redneck now lost in Virginia, I appreciated your comment about finding more engines in Southern states!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you.

Reply to
Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
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This takes me back to when my fathers oil light came on. Brother in law told him it was probably just the sending unit, and it was. It leaked enough oil that nobody noticed it till the bearings went. Guess who rebuilt the old mans engine? Wasn't the in law.

You are too late to see what was in the oil, so I would say have a look at the bearings by family. The mains and rods in the front are the first to go. If those look ok I would replace the stripped gear on the pump or whatever and drive it.

Reply to
Scott

From what you are describing above, I think I would take a chance on replacing the bearings if the crank looks good along with a new oil pump and drive. I am a bit of a gambler on things like that if it is my own. You tend to gamble less when it is a customer vehicle because your reputation is always on the line. It would lean even more toward repairing the current engine if you have family help doing it. At least you won't have much money in it.

Two years ago, the coolant reservoir on my wife's Sable ruptured. It also has the 3.0 engine. She drove it another

30 miles home. It got so hot all the water was gone and the sender didn't even show hot because it had no water. Given a choice of a new engine or another car, I replaced the $100 reservoir and filled it with coolant. Kept an eye on it for a few days. It has since gone over 40k miles with no indication of increased oil consumption or other problems. As of today, it is over 97K miles.

I think the key to your situation is having a clean crank. The debris from the failed drive is not likely to have gotten back into the lube system after it broke. The big problem would be bearing/crank damage. If the crank is slick and the bearings not lube starved, it should be OK. Make sure you check all the rod bearings and journals. If it does go down, you are out a couple hundred in parts and some time. You may win the bet.

Lugnut

Reply to
lugnut

Going to go really old old school here. Ist fill the oil pan with 5 quarts of cheap 20 or 30 weight oil, pull the distributor and the shaft and gear that messed up, rig up what ever you need to rig up to spin the oil pump with a drill and let it rip to flush the engine out. Then drain and disgaurd the oil and the filter. As has been said check the bearings. If the crank journals show light scoring there is a way to sometimes reapir in vehicle. Fine crocus cloth wrapped around the journal about four times, which is then wrapped with two or three loops of rawhide boot lace, you pull the ends back and forth and repolish the journals. The last three or four pulls though have to be in the direction of reverse rotation, or it will chew bearings on start up the polishing creates very fine for lack of better words fish scales, you want the edges of these facing away not into the bearings. Clean the journals with a rag soaked in gasoline and dry with a clean rag. Soak the bearing shells in dexron tranny fluid (not F style ie friction modified) while doing all this and then liberaly coat berarings and crank jouranls with engine oil when you assemble.. If you want to go really deep, use platigauge. Usually you only remove about 0.003 inch, but if the journals are worn a bit to begin with you may want to go with over size bearings. The other option is put in a crank kit. in it, most can be had for under $200, comes with corect bearings and can be done in vehcle most times.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

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