That oil pressure sounds better

Newer cylinder walls and rings don't require break in like the older materials, I would keep RPMs under 3,500 for first 100miles and thats about it.
Break-in period was to get cylinder walls and rings to seal and build a ring ridge at the top of the cylinder.
newer materials and manufacturing processes are simply better and don't require this

See if you can ID the cylinder with the misfire and then check spark plug tip

 

EDIT: Looks like Ron beat me to it.

When it comes to the break in period, it's simple, don't over rev it and don't lug it, the idea is to keep the pressure in the combustion down until the rings are broken in.

Drive it gently until the engine is it full temperature, but that goes for a "broken in" engine too.

Keep the rpms under 4000, 3500 is better.
Letting idle isn't hurting it, but isn't good for it either.
Get it to temperature as soon as possible, you do this by driving it, not letting it sit and idle, but drive it gently. No lugging and no over revving.

 

so update on the truck.. started getting a bit of knocking/rattling and codes

316 misfire on start up
301 #1 misfire

listened around with a stethascope and the rattling sound seemed to be around #5 and #6 and #5 had an oily plug and the compression results deffinatly show an issue there

#1 - 170
#2 - 170
#3 - 170
#4 - 175
#5 - 60
#6 - 180

a leak down on #5 blows into the crackcase with almost no restriction just full air flow out the oil filler..

with both #1 and #5 being TDC at the same time just a different stroke i thought i may have the cam sync installed on the wrong stroke for #1 and sure enough after readjusting the camsync the misfire code 301 moved to 305.. surprising the truck ran with it flipped.. well was running.. could that cause mechanical damage to anything?

my thoughts are broken rings.. maybe a cracked piston.. going to pull the head and drop the pan to get out #5 and see what the deal is..

i should have just spent the dough and got a longblock.. would have been cheaper, faster and less headache.. i

 

Sorry, didn't realize it was you from the other thread.
If it's a broken ring, then maybe the ring gap was too small.
My machinist says it's not that critical anymore, but I do plan on checking it anyway, now even more so.
Maybe the ring was put in wrong, they do have an "up" position, I think the inside edge is chamfered, but I don't know if putting it in wrong would cause it to break.

My Hastings rings are chromoly steel on the top ring so I don't know how much expansion there would be compared to an all cast iron ring set.

What are your rings made from ?

But I guess we'll find out soon enough what the problem is.

 

rings are cast iron and came in the rebuild kit from enginetech. i read that if TOP(obviously) or any other marking on one side of a ring then that side goes up. if there is no marking and there is no difference between either side then it can go either way. these had a little dot on one side for the top compression rings and nothing for the second rings. so i put the dot up on the top ring and the seconds went in how ever they landed as they were right angles on all corners and had no markings. having a hard time trying to locate a single set of rings from engine tech for the 3.0..

oh and i forgot to ask how does this picture of the rear main bearing look? is that something to worry about? its not deep.. cant even feel it but not sure if thats something thats normal or not..




measured the gaps and dont remember specifically what they were but they were on the larger side of the allowable gap.. im not pulling the motor this time.. gona do this one in the truck but going to do another compression and leak down test before i start tearing into it.. again.... heres some pics i have from the rebiuild

 

so hate to admit it but it was an install error. seems the bottom the oil ring was bent over the center expansion (if thats what its called) and pinched between the piston and cylinder wall. after 30miles the block is back at the shop getting #5 sleeved. thats a $300 dollar mistake not to mention having to pull and basicly rebuild the motor again.. have to check my reciept to see when my 30 days is up so i can return the engine hoist to harbor fright. but could be worse a few more miles would have cost me a the whole engine when the piston wore through the cylinder wall.

 

Man, that that sucks !
Maybe your ring compressor didn't quite do it's job and when you inserted the piston into the block, the lower oil scraper ring got caught side ways in the bore.
Seems improbable that could happen though, but I can't think of anything else that would cause this.
When you installed that piston, did it seem to have more resistance then the rest when going in ?

 

i do remember one or two that stopped as they went it.. i checked and didnt look like the ring had left the sleeve yet and slid in with a little tap.. maybe a medium tap.... with the rubber butt of a hammer. didnt really think too much of it.. wont make that mistake again.. any hang up at all and the ring compressors coming off and getting reset..

now since i have the block getting sleeved i have a few questions.. i asked this one before and didnt get a deffinate answer..

which way do the rods go? i saw a picture about if theres an oil hole it goes where the rotation takes the oil over the piston side of the rod first and not towards the cap.. but theres no oil hole in the rod. only thing that doesnt seem semetrical is the is a little hump on one side.. maybe to sling oil up or something?

ive been reading alot about balancing.. some say its minor but seems like its pretty damn important to me.. just didnt know what it entailed before.. did a little weighing and these new .020 over pistons are a little over 4grams heavier than the original stock pistons and this crank is not the original. its an undersized 06 taurus crank.. so now i need to find a shop that does dynamic balancing before i put it back together... more time.. more money.. shoulda bought a crate from ford

 

On mine the machine shop put the "hump" facing towards the front of the engine _ that coincides with the arrows on the pistons _ also pointing to the front of the engine.

Cranks are balance by themselves, the crank weights are there to balance the rod journals on the crank, not to offset the weight of the pistons.
As long as the piston/rod assembly all weigh the same.

The piston/rod assembly adds rotating weight, so having those parts lighter is better, but we're talking 4 grams here _ not that much.

You can have the crank checked if you want, it's up to you, if it were my engine, I would get it done, but I'm OCD about things like this.
To do it proper, the machine shop should do it with the flywheel/clutch and damper _ on and off the crank.
Doing it this way is probably one of the most costly parts of rebuilding an engine.
On my bill it was around 500.00$, but they did the pistons too.

 

got the rods all balanced but im still waiting on 1 piston and new rngs to finish the static balance of things... i thought that the point of the weights was to counter balance the weight of the rods/pistons? the big end of the rod/cap and bearing add to the rotating weight and the small end/piston/pin/ring the reciprocating.. 100% rotating and 50% reciprocating determines the bob weight for balancing..or is the crank/harmonic/flexplate balanced and the pistons/rods are evenly spaced to balance out themselves and im over thinking into it since it will never hit 6k anyway? i want to do it right since ive already wasted $500 just fixing my own eff ups on this build and dont want anything else to come back and bite me again... not looking to dump more money into it if i dont have too..

 

After doing some reading, I think you're right about the counter weight issue.
The question is, is 4 grams extra on each piston going to upset things ?

 

well i was thinking i could just try to remove the weight from reciprocating weight but this isnt even the original crank its an undersized 06 taurus crank so i dont even know what weight its counterbalanced for.. hoping to save a few bucks and do the static balancing myself and have the shop do the dynamic..

google found this on from some chevy forum. i have not checked these figures myself but everything on the internet is true right? lol

"1. If you do the math, a ¼-ounce of unbalance 4-inches from the center of rotation creates crazy amounts of forces: 7 lbs at 2,000 rpm, 28 lbs at 4,000, 63 lbs at 6,000 and well over 110 lbs at 8,000 rpm. This can be detrimental to the bearings and severely reduce your engine’s lifespan."


the example uses 1/4oz which is 7grams and +4grams for 6 pistons is close to 1oz at 24grams..

what a pita... i cant even balance clothes in the washer let alone an engine

 

got the engine back from the machine shop from getting #5 sleeved and while he had it he managed to chip the bore lip on #4 in 2 places. one was hid by filing the lip but you can tell and the other he played dumb like he didnt know it was there. he also honed all the cylinders just to be nice guy.. i think after damagine #4 he couldnt just hone #4 & #5 so had to them all..

so how serious is the chip? it doesnt look to be in deep enough for the rings to hit or interfer with the head gasket sealing surface.. just plan on hitting it with some fine sand paper to remove any possible hot spots and find a new machine shop..

FYI dont go to East Bay Machine

 

Man !
You're certainly having your share of bad luck...
I don't think that small chip is going to interfere with anything though.

Ordered myself one of these, I have the cheap spring tension type, but I never liked using it, it was always a bit of a nerve wracking experience wondering if I was going to damage the rings.
Yeah, it's a one time use/purchase thing, but when I watched videos on how easy it made the job, I couldn't resist.

Go to 1:45 on the video.
Note the dorky little electric drive the guy is using to torque down the rod bolts with _ doesn't seem very tight.

The Official ARP Web Site | Kits

 

yeah doesnt seem tight at all and makes it look so simple.. takes me that long to flip on a light switch lol..

so i got my replacemnt piston.. weighing in at 391.1 grams and all my other pistons are 397.3.. where the **** am i going to take 6.2 grams from? i took off one of the humps on the bottom of the pin bore and that was only 1 gram..
if i add the wrist pin to the weight can i take from the inside of it? wouldnt need to take as much since its much denser metal just not sure if that works out to balance right since its basiclly part of the rod not the piston..

going to call and talk to the place where i got them and see if i can get a piston with a specific weight cuz this sucks

 

Hmmm.
Not sure what you mean by "pin Bore" ?
That's allot of difference in weight between pistons, are they the same type of piston _ different aftermarket manufacturers may have different weights ???
And if you had the damaged bore sleeved, I'm going to assume that it was put back to spec, so your new piston would be standard size, so if anything it should weigh less then the rest of the pistons _ something isn't adding up here.

 

You should be fine with the 6 gram difference, most piston makers allow 5 gram +/- as allowable, but this is 2+% on 390gr weight, which is alot IMO
That's why "balancing" an engine takes time and money, all the parts weight "about" this much, there is no exact weight off the shelf, lol, so you have to make all the parts equal

And yes you may be able to exchange that piston for one from another batch closer to the 397
Not sure why you would be taking weight OFF the piston??
391 is 6 grams LESS than 397

If you were balancing the whole engine then you would want to be closer to 1-2 gram +/-

Also wrist pins vary in weight a bit, you could hit parts store with scale in hand and look for heavier wrist pin.
Reciprocating weight is important but not as important as rotating weight, so I would leave the connecting rod on crank end alone

Also make sure you are comparing apples and apples, 397 piston weight stripped?

 

the workshop manual doesnt say jack about connecting rod orentatikn just install exactly how was removed.. wtf i dont know what way it was and theres no oil squirt hole just a little hump on one side.. so should ii just figure i got a 50/50 chance of gettinit right nust hope for the best?
i took about 3.5grams material from inside the wristl pin since there no way to get that much off the pistons.. brought me within 2.2 and checked balance of small rod ends and matched reverse matched high to low with pistons..

i did make my own crankshaft balancer but not sure if it was a wasted effort since im afraid to drill into anything.. i used weighed sections of chain around the journals for bob weights. The old bearings in the main caps and the ignition system for my vw for timing the out of balance wobble.. i found that adding 100 grams to 2 of the crank pully bolts its made a dramatic improvment.. theres a lot of room for error and i know that and probably wont even notice 200 grams anyway..

 

I think I mentioned a few posts back that the "bump" on the rod faces the front of the engine, I would put all of them in that direction.
(Post 34)

 

thanks for your advice but the bump on the rod doesnt face front to back it faces side to side..
from inspecting and researching ii noticed that one side of the rod is a hair wider that the other making it slightly off set. .002 from what i read.. so if it was backwards ith would be .004 off and cause piston slap and excessive wear. installing the wider side against the main bearing make one bank be opposite the other.. installed this way leaves the bump facing out away from the cam on eitherside.

 

Here are some photos of what I was referring too, my machine shop has all of these facing the font of the engine.
That also coincides with the arrow on top of each piston.
I wasn't even looking at the bump you were referring too, but you can see it in the photos.
The pictures are a bit over kill, but I'm sitting here killing the day making Sunday's dinner.

Got my ARP ring compressor the other day too, man does that thing work nice, I just used the flat of my fist to push the piston in place.
I just gently tapped in by hand.

 

sure wish i had one of those the first time.. well actually the second time since i had to pull the motor the first time to find out i missed a oil plug and do it all again.. at least the last time went ok.. so got it installed and is running great.. thanks everybody for all the input throughout this messy rebuild..

now the issue is the transmission

it starts out driving ok until the freeway and it feels like its just not going as fast as it should and then the O/D light starts flashing and it starts shifting hard. no MIL but i checked got stored code

P0741 - Torque Converter Clutch Circuit Performance or Stuck Off

from what i gathered possibilities are
-low/dirty fluid
-damaged wiring to the transmission
-damaged internal wiring to the solenoid
-bad solenoid

has new fluid and filter and wiring looks ok just before i go pulling the harness to check for shorts is there a common cause for this i should look into first?

 

Ron will have to help with your auto trans, but I do know that air locks can develop which cause hard shifting.
If that were the case though you would probably having difficulty getting into reverse.

Glad to hear it's up and running though _ finally eh !

I think it would have been less painful at the dentist with out the novocain.

 

thanks you 2 for stickin it out through this you have been a big help.. now next time im know it will go much smoother.. just hoper later rather than sooner..

off to check some wiring..

oh and oil pressureis steady at 50psi when it cold but after the engine gets warmed up the needle bounces super fast from about 22-28 psi..

 

Hello all...
I just joined your group after googling my lifter problem...
I bought a 93 Ranger with the 3.0L Vulcan engine...
I am rebuilding the engine but when I removed the roller lifters I didn't take note which direction the oil hole was facing...My bad.
Can someone tell me if the lifter oil hole faces outward or towards the center of the block?
The cam and lifters are great and don't want to run the lifter roller backwards from the direction it was originally...
Thanks in advance...
Steve