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  • 1996 - 2004 SN95 Mustang -General/Talk-
  • SN95 4.6L Mustang Tech

HELP!!! seizied dohc.

  • Thread starter Thread starter coupeownerBE
  • Start date Start date Mar 21, 2009

coupeownerBE

Active Member
Aug 20, 2005
110
2
29
russellivlle,ar
Mar 21, 2009
#1
  • Mar 21, 2009
  • #1
Well this was my first 4.6.. its a 97 cobra with 87k on it.. everything looks great and stock on this car.. had my longtubes and h-pipe put on and went to the track just to play around a lil.. after my first pass it lost oil pressure at the very end of the track at low rpms and it died, while rolling, I tried to start it back up and it didnt turn over. tried popping the clutch and it wouldnt turn.. I tried turning the crank nut and it wouldnt turn.. so being hopefull I tried taking the belt loose and checking my pullies and all is good there.. still have all my oil.. everything looks great but no start.. help me out here. where do I start?
 

NO BRAKES

New Member
Feb 8, 2006
129
0
0
Avon Lake, Ohio
Mar 21, 2009
#2
  • Mar 21, 2009
  • #2
how much force were you able to put on the crank pulley? i had a car once that i couldnt get leverage on the crank and it wouldnt turn... but the power wire to the starter was corroded and broke off. maybe thats your problem.
but.... lack of lubrication is a big downer for mod motors. did your stock gauge show low pressure or was it a aftermarket gauge?
hopefully its just a bad connection on the starter
 

joshjwc9

Active Member
Jun 12, 2006
1,095
17
39
Palm Harbor, FL
Mar 21, 2009
#3
  • Mar 21, 2009
  • #3
Alternator still good? How about the battery? Start small with your searching, then work your way up. Next do a compression or leakdown if those turn out okay. First check the starter though like above.
 
B

bwahl602

New Member
Dec 13, 2008
30
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0
Mar 21, 2009
#4
  • Mar 21, 2009
  • #4
if u lost oil pressure first then you may have locked it up
 

trinity_gt

10 Year Member
Jan 31, 2003
3,125
81
99
Canada
Mar 21, 2009
#5
  • Mar 21, 2009
  • #5
If the oil pump gear(s) shattered, you'd lose oil pressure and if the bits are jammed up, they may be what's causing the apparent lock-up. Either way it's ugly.

You might want to pull the oil filter and cut it open to look for metal. If so, next up are the front cover, timing chains and then oil pump for a post-mortem.
 

coupeownerBE

Active Member
Aug 20, 2005
110
2
29
russellivlle,ar
Mar 21, 2009
#6
  • Mar 21, 2009
  • #6
The stock gauge showed no oil pressure then it died. I can hear the starter trying to turn it. Battery is good and the alternator should be fine. It doesn't seem to be a power issue. What about the oil pump are those known for problems and if so why didn't I get some kind of notice. No check engine light or low oil light.
 

bhuff30

Founding Member
Dec 11, 2001
6,037
35
129
Olathe KS
Mar 21, 2009
#7
  • Mar 21, 2009
  • #7
If you can't turn the engine by hand, by popping the clutch or with the starter, you most likely siezed a bearing... or several. If you choose to repair that engine, you'll definately have to have that crank ground for undersized bearings (expensive), or try to find a used or rebuilt crank that is in spec. You would be best off doing a complete rebuild, with new rings and seals and freshened heads. Or... if you want to be ultra cheap, I guess you could find a 4.6 shortblock from the junk yard for 100$ (from a crown vic, lincoln or whatever) swap it in, clean the heads very well and call it done. But that'd be stupid because you already have a teksid aluminum block, and forged crank.
 

coupeownerBE

Active Member
Aug 20, 2005
110
2
29
russellivlle,ar
Mar 21, 2009
#8
  • Mar 21, 2009
  • #8
Guess she will be down for a bit....
 

trinity_gt

10 Year Member
Jan 31, 2003
3,125
81
99
Canada
Mar 21, 2009
#9
  • Mar 21, 2009
  • #9
coupeownerBE said:
The stock gauge showed no oil pressure then it died. I can hear the starter trying to turn it. Battery is good and the alternator should be fine. It doesn't seem to be a power issue. What about the oil pump are those known for problems and if so why didn't I get some kind of notice. No check engine light or low oil light.
Click to expand...

The oil pump is a gerotor-style pump mounted directly over the snout of the crankshaft. Its gear elements are made from powdered-metal and are pretty brittle. In stock form these aren't known, as far as I know, to be a common failure even given their brittle nature.

Hypothetically, if you ran an aftermarket underdrive pulley set with a damper that differed from the factory design significantly, you can increase the chances of torsional crankshaft vibrations shattering those oil pump gears. If your pulleys are stock then perhaps this isn't the failure at all or perhaps you've got the one-in-a-million gears that'd fail even with the stock damper in place.

If the gears did shatter, you'd not really have any notice. One second they're working properly the next they're shrapnel.

The loss of oil pressure suggests an oil pump failure. Since the oil pump resides over the crank snout it's possible that bits and pieces have jammed up in there locking the crank. It's a possible failure scenario. I suspect the engine's coming out so you might want to do some pre-pull digging (e.g. pull the timing cover, chains and oil pump off and have a look at it...) If you do this, don't try to verify the crank still turns with the pump out unless you put the timing chains and sprockets in place and re-time the cams to ensure you don't hurt any valves...
 

coupeownerBE

Active Member
Aug 20, 2005
110
2
29
russellivlle,ar
Mar 22, 2009
#10
  • Mar 22, 2009
  • #10
thanks guys...anyone got a running fox for trade..lol...
 

GoBabyVroommm

Active Member
Mar 22, 2003
1,156
0
36
Chicago, For Realss???!!!
Mar 24, 2009
#11
  • Mar 24, 2009
  • #11
Oil pump that is what it sounds like.
 

NO BRAKES

New Member
Feb 8, 2006
129
0
0
Avon Lake, Ohio
Mar 25, 2009
#12
  • Mar 25, 2009
  • #12
coupeownerBE said:
thanks guys...anyone got a running fox for trade..lol...
Click to expand...

ive got a spare mark viii motor if ya wanna do the swap
 
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