Dirt poor, need to pull motor, need suggestions

[Camman]

I am so bummed right now. I have to replace EVERY freeze plug in my car. I did a compression check and with the motor cold and throttle blade closed(im such a n00b) i had 150-160 psi on all cylinders. Needless to say I had a big sie(sp?) of relief. Anyway, now the crappy part. I have to pull the motor and dont really have money to do anything to it . I have caring family members who will lend me money, but I dont want to owe anybody money for performance pieces, repair parts is another story. So so far I have decided to replace the oil pan gasket, the rear main seal,pcv, and the timing chain. Can anyone think of anything else I should do while its out?

Its a stock 89 5.0 m/t from the vert. its got a good sized oil leak thats been tehre since Ive had it, so the motor is so caked im not sure where its coming from. No oil hits the ground, but there is fresh oil on the underside of the car. I know... Ive owned the car a long time but Im lazy. Anyway, cant think of any more info to post, so let me know if I missed something. Thanks guys


Sorry for the long post.

 

[302RollinHard]

water pump/gasket. hate to pull her and put it back in and bang gotta dig in there and change water pump and gasket.

 

[Michael Yount]

The other thing I'd plan on is to replace hoses/clamps -- it makes it much easier to pull if you can mark and cut vacuum and coolant hoses; and if any of them are original, they need replacing anyway. I'd just buy an engine gasket set - cheapest way to go. The head gaskets are about the only thing you won't use.

 

[Zero_chance]

Definitely going to want to replace the rear lower intake seal, most of our cars develop a leak there that causes it to go down the tranny and then the wind will spread it out all underneath the car. If youre taking the engine apart at all, another good idea would be the intake and exhaust valve stem seals on the heads. Those two things alone will usually get rid of any oil leakage and/or oil consumption problems as long as your rings arent shot as well.

 

[v8only]

More often than not the leak is coming from the valve covers. WHile the intake is common, if it's a factory seal on that thing, it's more likely to not leak.

Replace your valve cover gaskets with the reuseable steel impregnated rubber ones from ford racing. The dealer may have them for cheaper than ford racing, as they were oem on 93 or so + mustangs.

As long as you're handy with a wrench, this won't cost you much at all, maybe $100 for gaskets or so. Get the fel pro one piece oil pan gasket (it's a lot cheaper than the ford racing piece, and just as good) get your new rear main seal.

 

[jrichker]

Before you pull the engine, take the car to the car was and wash the grime off the engine and underbody. Then use either non-flammable brake parts cleaner or a graden sprayer with mineral spirits and wash down the engine. Once everything is clean, run the engine and then look for the oil leak. Valve covers can leak oil in a manner that looks like a rear seal leak.

Other leak sources are power steering and the low oil level sensor (mine leaks). Both will cover the bottom of the car with oil and make a big mess.

Remove the 2 bolts from the block that secure the flex plate cover to the bellhousing. Spray the inside of the bellhousing down with the non-flammable brake parts cleaner. Put the bolts back in place and drive for a while. Put the car back up on jackstands and remove the bolts on the flex plate cover. A leaking rear seal will deposit oil all over the back of the flywheel.

Even if the rear seal is leaking, you'll be glad you cleaned it up first. It makes the job easier and not so unpleasant.

 

[Camman]

Thanks for all of the help guys, I will call summit and get a gasket kit. Does the one piece fel-pro oil pan gasket come in the kit or is it a cheaper version in there? Im still toying with the idea of taknig the heads off and getting them freshened up... but I dunno if the return would be worth it. Thanks again for all of the help

 

[trents99]

I just did the valve cover gaskets along with the intake. I used valve cover gaskets for a 2000 Explorer w/V-8. They are the rubber ones with the metal skeleton mentioned above fyi.

Also if you're going that far on the top end I would get new o-rings and pintle caps for the injectors . One of my caps was cracked but all I got were o-rings so I had to throw it back in there for now.