Engine Rebuild ?'s

Evil Inside

Registered User
Today, I tried to do some more take down of my engine...and got an inkling to check the oil pan. I loosened the drain plug, and green/brown sludge started pouring out. I brought the car into the Ford Shoppe a few hours after the head gaskets went, and I was told that the 3 & 4 cyls were hydrolocked. After being informed of this, I told Alan to get everything out of the motor, and therefore wouldn't have any lower end damage.

The issue is now...that the block has had an oil/coolant mixture sitting in there for 10 months...

Where do I go from here. I was told a complete engine rebuild, from the block all the way to the blower would need to be done, or an engine swap...

Any ideas, feedback,suggestions,etc.
 
Just sitting there shouldn't have done much damage. But you really should pull the caps off the connecting rods and check the bearings to make sure.

If the cylinders were hydro locked you'll already want to pull those connecting rods for those cylinders to make sure they are not bent.
 
Mike8675309 said:
Just sitting there shouldn't have done much damage. But you really should pull the caps off the connecting rods and check the bearings to make sure.

If the cylinders were hydro locked you'll already want to pull those connecting rods for those cylinders to make sure they are not bent.

The car didn't move more than a mile overall when the gaskets went. I know I'll most likely need to redo many of the bearings...throughout the motor.

Thanks for the heads up.
 
When the engine hydrolocked it either took out those rod bearings and or bent those rods, there's really no 2 ways about it.
 
Go all the way

MIKE 38sc said:
When the engine hydrolocked it either took out those rod bearings and or bent those rods, there's really no 2 ways about it.

I agree with Mike. When my head gasket went (right bank #3), I drove it home by stopping and adding water a few times. When I took it apart, I followed someone's advice about draining the oil, adding oil and turning the engine over a bunch of times and draining the oil and repeat, etc., etc.

Got it together, and it ran great. About 5,000 miles later at 30 mph - bam! A rod broke, which did in the block while blowing a nice hole in the oil pan.

Don't bother with a half way job. Pull the engine out and rebuild it.

Eddie
'90 5-speed SC
'97 4.6 LX sport
 
I agree, rebuild it now. It will save you time in the long run esp if the motor is high mileage.
 
Autozone

I just brought a 90 SC and I think that it has a bent connecting rod. The story behind it is a guy drove it though so deep water and it cut off. He pulled it out of the water right away and parked it. This was a year ago. Once it started there was a knocking sound he thought it was the super charger so he replaced it. The sound was still there so he replaced oil and filter and spark plugs. the sound was still there. The car still runs and drive ok but there is a knocking sound the gets louder as you speed up. I think one or more of the connecting rods are bent. I brought this car a project and only paid 350.00 for it. What do you guy think? Also what do you think about buying internal engine parts from autozone will they hold up? This thread was on topic so I did not want to start a new one. Thanks for the help guys.
 
What do you guys think about buying internal engine parts from auto zone if i am just doing a stock rebuild
 
What do you guys think about buying internal engine parts from auto zone if i am just doing a stock rebuild

Stick with Sealed Power and Felpro parts. You'll need to measure your cylinder bores before you order any pistons, as you may find you need to bore oversize due to ovaling of the cylinder walls. Otherwise you'd do better to just replace the rods, re-ring the stock pistons and run it.

Only down side may be finding rods as I'm not aware if they are even available in the aftermarket. Note that rods from 89-93 are different than rods for a 94/95 motor.
 
The car still runs and drive ok but there is a knocking sound the gets louder as you speed up. I think one or more of the connecting rods are bent.

Its more likely that one of your connecting rod bearings is worn out. The more you run it, the worse it will get, you will be wearing into the crankshaft and rod and those may need to be re-conditioned as well. You wont know for sure until you pull everything apart and check all of the specs.

- Dan
 
I just drove it home and tommorrow I need to take it on base about five minutes down the road. It will sit there until I have time and the money to tear it down. Do anybody know a good place to get a ford service manual for a 90 SC.
 
I would take the motor apart and rebuild it. When the headgaskets went on my black xr7 i drained the oil and pulled the plugs the next day. Upon tearing it apart cylinder 3 already had a bunch of rust in it. I would go through the motor with new rod bearings, main bearings and new piston rings and also get some arp head studs.
 
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