stuck 35º sideways in a huge mud hole. I think I ran the oil pump dry and did a number on my 4.0l.

http://mybronco2.com/images/J9-5.jpg

what the engine is doing:

1, there's a knocking noise..seems to be coming from the bottom of the engine.

2, oil pressure is is fluctuating wildly. Jumps up when I rev it up but junps up and down. Sometimes almost falls right off at idle.

3, starts up no problem but idles a bit high.

4, runs and drives fine.

5, no smoke, oil isn't burnt, no shavings in the old oil..

6, rattling at about 3000 RPM...sounds very much like a diesel...


What I've done to eliminate it:

1, cleaned all the mud out of the clutch.

2, Changed oil pressure sending unit.

3, changed oil...little bit of mud in the crank-case.

4, added ¼ litre of 75/90 gear oil to the crank-case.


What I haven't done:

1, oil pressure test

2, leak down test.

3, compression test.

I'm a little surprised that the engine cooked so easlily. I've been off chamber before but never with such disasterous results. A freind suggested that I may have lost the pump pick-up or it may be clogged with mud but I can't really see that happening. What do you guys think? Wrist -pins slapping around? spun bearing?

Time to swap in a v8 i guess....
damn!

If you had mud in the crank case.. chances are your screwed.. you probably sucked in some water while you were at it..

pull off the oilpan and see if there is anything floating around resembling engine parts

your prognosis is really bad.

Yeah mud in the crank case is a BAD thing. Off chamber is fine, but once you get mud or water or pretty much anything in there and run the motor with it still there.....you're screwed. :(

Sounds like you wiped out a rod bearing. Unless you damaged the crank, you should be able to just pull the pan and stuff in a set of new rod bearings - I'd guess under $100 in parts, including oil and filter. If you hurt the crank, then the engine has to come out. Assuming, of course, that you just ran it dry on oil and didn't get crap inside the engine.

good news for you! now you can put in a 5.0! :flipoff2:

Originally posted by Lloyd
"If you hurt the crank, then the engine has to come out."

I've never worked on a Ranger (?) before, but a lot of vehicles can be done w/the motor still in them. I did a Caprice back in high school; it was a pain in the ass, but doable. There were actually instructions on how to pull the crank w/the motor in in the shop manual.

Pete

You've got a point there, Pete. I've done three cranks in-frame on 292 V-8 Fords and one flywheel/ring-gear job on a 240 I-6 in an old Econoline van - but, on those older ones there's a dust cover at the bottom of the bellhousing that's big enough to get the flywheel out, and you can put a jack stand under the bellhousing to support it with the transmission out. Unfortunately on most of the newer ones I've seen they've done away with that, and the "bellhousing" has become a solid aluminum unit with no access. On the ZF transmissions, it's even an integral part of the case - you can find a shitload of these transmissions in junkyards with broken housings. Even so, pulling the transmission will allow you to get the crank out with the engine in the frame, assuming you can support the back of the engine somehow, and get this big-assed bellhousing type assembly past the firewall (which I'm skeptical of). But, this means pulling the tcase, both driveshafts, etc. While it can probably be done I'm not sure it's worth the effort; Chinese hoists are a lot cheaper now than what was available when I was pulling wrenches for money.

Oh yeah, on the Ford Y-blocks they had one or two motor mounts at the front, and two at the rear on each side of the bellhousing; so the transmission was suspended from the engine, and you could pull the transmission, crank etc. without having to support anything at all.