Ok guys. I am here to everyone for their input on why my truck broke down. I was not driving when this happened, my soon to be Ex wife was. All she told me was, "I was driving down the highway. I made a loud noise and I lost power."

She managed to get it to a parking lot so it wasn't on the side of the freeway. I showed up at the end of the day. I changed the fuel filter first thing hopping that was it. Started it up for the first time and it sounded like it was knocking super hard. I checked the oil and it didn't read on the dip stick (only 2k miles into this oil change). I added about 3 quarts and the 'knocking' sounded like it settled a little but it was still there. She does not like to idle, I have to hold the gas in a little to keep her alive. If she does idle it is super rough. She just start up and drive, but it has maybe 1/4 of the power she should.

So I left it at the mall. Today I got her towed to my house by a friend. Now the knocking sound is only there in the mid to high RPMs. She still doesn't drive very well. Tomorrow or friday I'll upload a sound clip for you guys.

 

You said there was nothing on the dipstick when you checked?
That noise isn't going to go away anytime soon.
I'm not too sure why it died, could be a couple of things.

 

when my ranger threw a rod bearing thats pretty much what mind sounded like and did.

 

How complicated is a rode bearing?

 

If it punched a hole in the block a new engine, if it didn't you need a machine shop to check the block for cracks. Be cheaper to get a new engine, by new I mean new to you.

 

x2. I was leaning towards this. running your truck without oil is pretty hazardous.

 

Yeah I know. But I wasn't there when everything happened and was just concerned about getting my wife and truck off the freeway. It was only 2k miles into the oil change so I didn't think anything of it.

 

I was thinking about looking into a new motor, you guys have any idea on prices? Rough estimation?

 

Depends on what you find. If it were me, I'd look for something with 80k or less on it. you can expect anywhere between 300-800 bucks depending on the deal you get.

 

Where did the oil go ?

 

I paid 600 for a motor from 2003 with 48k, also had the transmission and tcase. just needed the motor.

when it happened to my truck, I drove it probably 50 miles after everything started acting up before it threw the rod through the OIL PAN.. it will go through the oil pan before anything because its the weakest part. sure, I couldve stopped driving it, and fixed it for cheaper, but I liked the idea of a newer motor.

 

Haha lol. I'm going to open her up tomorrow and see what I can find. My grandpa says it sounds like it is running on only two cylinders. So I don't know. Keep you guys updated.

 

cheaper to take the heads off and inspect, than to replace the motor lol.

 

Well found out it is missing on a cylinder or two and those cylinders are not holding compression either. Going to take it to a shop and see what they can tell me.

 

did you pull the head and check the head gasket?

 

No I did not, a little beyond my comfort level in my mechanical skills. Though I do believe it needs to be replaced. I pulled spark plugs to make sure they were still good. A couple of them came out with stuff on them. Might be the head gasket blown.

 

ah, its really no big deal. whenever I pull a head, I just mark everything I've disconnected so I know where it goes. looking forward to seeing what the problem is, so keep us posted!

 

Pull the heads, nothing to lose.

Will be easier to remove the engine without the heads.

luck to ya.

 

So, I took it into a shop yesterday for them to check it out today. They called me and said there is spark and fuel injection, but no compression on cylinders 3 and 4. He said it needs a valve job and a new head gasket. He wants to charge me $1200-1400 for this. So I said I'll pick it up tomorrow.

Ok guys, what do you think, and how would I do said maintenance?

 

Go pick up a chiltons manual and a head gasket set.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-FORD-RAN...item27b6cd76a8

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-RANGER-...item562f15d09b

 

Did the shop find any problems with oil leaks or oil pressure; wondering how it happen to being with ?

With all of the rapping noise, and then bad valves, this is starting to sound like a broken rod and maybe more damage then that, i.e crank, rods and a bearing replacement is needed.
Just because you run out of oil does not mean the valves go bad, maybe the lifters but bent valves, wondering what the shop did to test things out ?
If one lifter is bad then should replace the set but wait, what about the cam and bearings !
I would not want you to let them start and find out they were guessing and the bill will climb FAST.

Anyway, take some pics before you start for reference later on.

Take off all of the little stuff, then the intake and then the heads.
Once the heads are off spin the motor and see what is moving.
After that look at the head gasket see if there are any locations where it might have blown through, maybe burn marks.

Look at the heads, how do the valves look, straight up or maybe off a little, just wondering if the valves are bent.

If all looks good, clean up the heads, look to see if the heads are cracked anywhere, between combustion chambers, maybe around the valves and then you need to get them worked on.
Take the heads to a good automotive machine shop and have them stripped, cleaned and checked for cracks and then the valve job and replace any bad valves.

Oh and that is IF all of the pistons are moving, is they are not then you may have a broken rod.

Now that you have the heads done, what about the RAPPING, where did it come from and what is your oil pressure going to be…

DO YOU SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING ? Once a motor starts rapping and stalling and there are bad components in the upper end, there is a good chance that the motor is BAD, gone south, kaput…
I would look into a low mileage replacement, a 4.0 if this is a 3.0, maybe a 5.0 (no a lot of work).

Think things through, look at the overall cost for repairing the existing motor and really not knowing the total cost and what a low mileage engine replacement might cost, maybe a remanufactured long block, good warranty on most of them. If you do all of the labor with the same engine you could come out of this for the same money just with a new motor.

Luck to ya,

 

I believe my 2.5 is over head cam. I saw some pictures on how to take apart the head and I believe I saw over head. I think you think i have a v6.

 

Yes, I had a 2.3, I did not know the 2.5 is Overhead Cam.

So back to the basic, double check everything, watch the lower end.

IF !, the rods are OK, none broken and there are no bent valves AND the head survives a short block might do instead of a long block.
If you do need a block the long block is the best value but the cost is there.

Again, luck on your findings.