I think my motor is going south . . .

[Zero Signal]

Well in looking at all my parts and trying to figure some things out, I'm starting to think I may need to rebuild the shortblock

I pulled the spark plugs and they seemed fine untill I pulled the #1 plug and it was drenched in oil and totally blackened. I'm not even sure if this one was firing properly if at all I DO know that the valve covers were sealing just fine, no leaks whatsoever.

Here is the bad plug . . .
View attachment 470116

Then I basicly dipped a magnet in the oil and got ferrous dust (grey stuff) and metal chunks gallore . . . Rings? Bearings? Both??
View attachment 470118


Now I DO have a problem with the distributor gear wearing out pretty quick, but it's definitely not coming apart is chunks like you see on my finger there. I've been finding metal shavings in the little puddles of oil left in the valley and on the heads too. There aren't all tiny either, they are definitely large enough to cause some serious damage.

SO now some symptoms I had before taking the motor back apart . . .

• Ticking sound (got worse the more I drove it)
• Lost 1/2 quart of oil in 100 miles (but no smoke or leaks)
• Had a mean squeek/squeal coming from the motor that went away
• Low on power big time
• Motor had a tendancy to sputter and putt once I shut it off
• Coolant is looking dark, but it's hard to tell if it has oil in it
• Oil isn't brown anymore

Do all fingers point to fubar'd rings on #1, or maybe bad bearings?

If so, I'm cancelling the car insurance and saving up for a 331 or 347 kit or whatever I can afford I guess.

 

[tmoss]

You've definately got a serious problem. Bearings are non-ferrous, so if they are involved, it won't stick to the magnet - that must be rings or something else. A major trear down is in order.

A leakdown test will tell a lot in a hurry.........

 

[Guero]

thta sucks. but 331 or 347 sound good though

 

[blksn955.o]

My # 3 and 4 cyl. plug looked like that, I took it to a local pref. shop and they did a leak down/comp check and found a 33% in 3 and stoped (as they found a big problem right there). When I took it apart after I put in the DSS 306 the #4 piston just fell out (when un-bolting the rod caps and pushing out the pistons). I mean like the others took some tapping....the #4 fell right out and hit my foot on its own

The pistons were fine, the cyl. still had cross hatch marks, the bearings were just starting to show some copper on a few (it had been running hotter than normal and I think this and the 120k miles were the cause of this).

The longer you wait the more its going to eat itself up.

 

[MysteryMachine]

ah yes another one. I was hearing a weird whoosing noise that went away now knocking. I'm thinking that if it comes down to needing done I'll just buy a motor and swap out some stuff like heads and cam depending what i get

 

[wytstang]

Wow that sucks man sorry to hear/read that man good luck.

 

[Zero Signal]

ah yes another one. I was hearing a weird whoosing noise that went away now knocking. I'm thinking that if it comes down to needing done I'll just buy a motor and swap out some stuff like heads and cam depending what i get

The sound I was getting sorta sounded like a vacuum leak that I couldn't pinpoint, but the more I drove it, the more it evolved into something worse. I'm thinking the vacuum leak sorta sound was the cylinder loosing pressure to the crank case.

I'm going to pull the passenger side head and take a looky.

 

[Grn92LX]

347 time

 

[MysteryMachine]

mine was like a exhust leak. ya know like how it sounds like a metal woosh

 

[xr8d302]

My god.....hearing all this hurts me....

my engine's having alllll these symptoms....

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

it your down on money, do what i did and get an explorer motor from the junk yard....same short block and better heads.

 

[slow50sally]

I think I am having the same problem. I already took my insurance off and now just saving my money for a new motor. Just sucks cause shipping out here is going to be a lot.

 

[xr8d302]

lol slow50sally, you're right, it would be

Kyle, it's a real b*tch to find a V8 explorer up here at any of our local salvage yards, i've been looking for a while now

 

[Zero Signal]

I just read in another post by 95cobrguy that running too rich can kill the rings. I'm wondering if that's what happened in my case since I KNOW for a fact I was running extremely rich at idle.

Side note . . .

I didn't think the Explorer bottom end was any different I already got the gt-40 (non-P) heads from an explorer though.

 

[tmoss]

So you'd have another set to sell............Good used factory engines are a good buy imho - it's the way I'll go for sure if it comes to that........$1,800 - $2,400 vs $600, no brainer in my book.

 

[xr8d302]

I still require GT40's to complete my HCI swap....somebody please tell me they have a set for cheap

 

[MysteryMachine]

Well I diped my fingers into the oil in my heads and didn't pill out any big metal chunks liek you got. Seems like normal oil so I guess thats a good sign for me. Guess I'll try a compression test and see what happens.

Question about that though will having the VC's off make a difference in a compression and leak down test?

 

[Zero Signal]

It won't make any difference since any pressure lost through the valve seat will end up venting through the head into the crank case and through the PCV.

 

[94gts]

I still require GT40's to complete my HCI swap....somebody please tell me they have a set for cheap

i do

 

[94GTLaserRC]

Subscribing, because I wanna see the outcome!
Good Luck!
RC