96 suffers 1st big problem... In need of some good help!

[DangerRanger96]

Ok, gonna try to make it short and sweet, but there's alot involved w/ my problem. Too many people have too many ideas on what's wrong.

I'm being told to pull the motor and replace the oil pump/filter:

Ok, intake gasket blew. Tore it down. Found oil sludge build up in the valley on the top of the block. Sucked out all the crap, scraping it pretty clean. THEN, a guy told me to fill my block up with kero. He had me crank it over for like 10 - 20 seconds after it sat for about 20 mins. Drained it all, put the motor back together and refilled oil and new filter. Started the motor..... NO OIL PRESSURE. I will get good pressure for like 1 - 5 mins...then it drops to zero. Flutters back and forth a little...then nothing. I've flushed the motor multiple times removing a ton of flakey oil from the pan..even filled the pan with mineral spirits and added air thru the dipstick tube. Won't disolve it.

I'm being told its the oil sending unit. It's the filter plugged. It's the rear main worn out. I tend to beleive its the filter plugged with all the crap I broke loose with the kero and cranking! New pump, new filter? Bad gauge?

Really want to be sure before paying to pull motor! Thanks in advance!
This site is loaded with great guys and excellent advice!:fie: 203,000 miles

[smokey]

the oil pump/filter is plugged from all the crud that broke loose from the "cleaning"

pull the pan and clhange the oil pump and while you have it off you cna pull a bearing cap off to check the bearings while it is apart.

[Will]

What I would do is change the filter and sending unit and see if the pressure registers. If it does, buy a bunch of cheap oil and filters (some place like Tractor Supply or Rural King will have a store brand oil pretty cheap) and every few days change the oil until it starts looking normal again.

You aren't getting that pan off without pulling the motor.

[Ranger5.0]

wow, thats not good...all that krap that broke loose prolly pluged up the pick up screen, or got into the pump, or cloged the filter. Check the filter first, do an oil/filter change. fire it up, if no pressure still, shut it down and replace the oil pressure switch. there is a cheep and dirty way to check the switch tho.

[DangerRanger96]

Ya, I've flushed the motor 3 times since this happened. Changed the filter too. Each time I seem to get longer run time with pressure, but then...DROP! It will even bounch back and forth trying to stay up. I figure screen / pump???

I've been told I can pull the sensor lead and touch ground " quickly " to check the sending unit?? Is that true? The isn't any way to fluch the pan/screen? I've tried a air hose and long curved wand too.....SO MUCH FREAKIN CRAP IN THERE! That was so dumb to do.....

[F150hybred]

DangerRanger, sometimes our best intentions have the worst outcomes. Best and possibly the cheapest thing you can do is pull the engine and repair as required. Better to do it now then after you spin a bearing.... or even worse... throw a rod.

[rags]

If you are putting on Fram filters STOP!

On a dirty motor you can't use that filter. I had the same problem with my 88 2.9, I changed oil on a neglected engine and used a fram filter, I made it 3 miles down the road and no oil pressure, let it sit for 5 minuts and got some pressure to drtive it a mile at a time till i got it home.

I removed the filter and it was plugged! came to find out FRAM filters do not go into bypass when the get plugged.

I put a Motorcraft filter on and waas good to go, although I did change it twice in the next 1000 miles just for good measure.

I have asked around and i'm not the only person who has experienced the same problem with those filters on older cars.

Just my 2 cents

[krugford]

One thing I would never have done is fill the pan with kerosene and then run it. Journal bearings require a minimum film thickness to prevent damage and kerosene just doesn't quite have the same properties as 5w30. Even for 20 seconds. Did the engine knock while running the kerosene through?

I would say your problem is all the crap you broke loose running a solvent throght the oil system. Clean the screen, replace the filter, and might as well replace the oil pump while your in there. Any debris that's made it past the filter, if it has a bypass, is going to leave it's mark on the main and rod bearings. I would pull the thrust cap and check for grooves/lines in the coating on the bearing.

[DangerRanger96]

No, didn't knock at all while it cranked over. I've only replaced the oil filter once during the 3 oil flushes. The new filter I installed, when I looked at it, appeared fine. Didn't see ANY signs of debris in it. That is why I'm stuck on thinking the screen is plugged. ( or atleast gets plugged after running a few ) I looks as tho I'm stuck with the big job!! I don't feel I have the skills to pull it myself. Time to bite the bullet and pay someone to swap it out. AND TO THINK I ALMOST DIDN'T FILL IT WITH KERO. It didn't seem right to me!!! #@$%@#&

[Jspafford]

I had never pulled a motor before and I was able to do it on my own with just a engine lift.

[Ranger5.0]

you need to cut the filter OPEN with a fiter opener so you can see inside, THATS where all the krap is traped, in between the pleats. I agree on ther fram filters, they all suck.pulling an engine isnt "easy" but it sure isnt hard either, its not labor or brain intensive, just a bit time consuming. Buy a hayns or chiltons manual, read it over a bit, and then have at it. dont be overwhelmed by the efi and al the other wireing, they are just wires, they wont bite you. Im not being sarcastic, thats a line my ems teach' uses when hes treaining us about "anaconda" which is his name for a 35 ft long wireing harness out of a loader..

[DangerRanger96]

Ya, I actually pulled the harness off to take the intake manifold off. Just made things easier. I've swapped trannies before on my own too. It's just breaking the tran loose, and the damn exhaust manifolds....IT'S A FREAKIN 96!! ***SNAP*** I just wish that I could buy cheap oil and filters and keep running it till it cleans up! Life is never that easy for me. I have the Haynes manual...one of the first things I buy with a vehicle. Anyone in Ohio want to pull a motor? lol... wanna buy a truck? lmao

[Will]

I have an idea.

Instead of flushing it while it's running, maybe you can flush it while it isn't running. You need a pump that kerosene won't eat. To go the the hardware store with an oil filter and rig a hose from the center of where the oil pump screws on to the external pump. Pump kerosene in and watch what comes out the pan. When you pump oil in through the center of where the filter screws on, it goes through the engine's lube system and drain-backs. It doesn't go through the oil pump. If you bought an oil filter relocation kit you could also flush the pump and screen backwards by pumping it through the part that the outer part of the filter sees.

Head gaskets alone and $100 I think. then you need the bolts because they are torque to yield--meaning they deform when installed, and can't be reused. If you bother to pull the motor, you better take it all apart. I would try to flush it as I described and see if you can get the gunk out.

[Ranger5.0]

dont worry about seperating the engine and trans, use the engine hoise to lift the engine once all the bolts are out, use a pry bar and some brains, and it should wiggle lose easy enough. Dont fuk around with trying to flush it out, odds are some shits gotten into the oil gallerys and ya, better save then sorry.

[woodyedmiston]

Those darn transmission bolts.

Borrow a couple extra 12" long 1/2 drive extensions from a friend or two. Get a "wobble" or universal drive for your 13mm socket. Make a 36-40 inch extension by adding them all together. This puts the end of the extensions out past the transmission crossmember. You can keep the socket in place, stick on a 18" breakover bar (and maybe a cheater and a friend to help) and you can break the bolts on the transmission relatively easy. If you have a good electric drill, pick up a 3/8 drive that will plug into the six sided drywall screw driver socket. (Lowe's - Home Depot) Adjust up to 1/2" and screw the tranny bolts out right quick. I also used an impact wrench but the socket jumps off and lands who-knows-where and you have to get out from under the truck to find it.

On the exhaust flanges. Go topside and splash around some penetrating oil the night before you start this project. They will come off a little easier - but you will still need a couple of the 12" extensions and a 18" breakover.

That's what I did. The others are right - there is noting in the wiring on my 99 that can be plugged in the wrong place other than the spark plug wires and maybe the two water temp plugs - and the oxygen sensors. Everything else has specific plugs. You can disconnect the wiring harness at the osygen sensors and remove the entire harness with the engine and/or set the intake and manifold aside with them still attached. I even left my AC hooked up and swapped out long blocks. Didn't leak (yet) and cools well.

[DangerRanger96]

I'm hearing all the advice... I just can't imagine the room to drop the pan to clean it and replace the stuff with the tranny connected? Again, I have NOOO idea, never did it. Local Ford shop mech. ( a buddies co-worker ) tells me that it has to be broke and pulled. ????????????? anybody want to buy a used ranger???

[Will]

dont worry about seperating the engine and trans, use the engine hoise to lift the engine once all the bolts are out, use a pry bar and some brains, and it should wiggle lose easy enough. Dont fuk around with trying to flush it out, odds are some shits gotten into the oil gallerys and ya, better save then sorry.

That baked on crap is most likely from running with a faulty PCV valve for a long period of time. Breaking it up that rapidly was bad, but there's no reason it should be in the oil galleries. It's going into the pan and clogging up the oil pump pickup and possibly the filter. If you could spend $100 and get most of it out, the additives in oil will dissolve the rest of it. Taking it apart without trying to simply wash the crap out through the sump is a waste of money and unneccesary. There's a lot of risk involved in an amateur pulling apart this complicated of a vehicle. You snap off a stud in the exhaust manifold and you are fawked, for instance. There's a hundred different things you could bump on the firewall and break, you could damage the tranny input shaft-converter-tranny pump whatever, screw up the fuel line connections, put something back together wrong and it won't run--or it gets really damaged. You don't do investigative brain surgery for a headache.

I would flush that bastard with a home-made flush device I described. Maybe even put a 5-gallon pail under the sump drain and run it overnight through it. All you have to do is get it where it will keep pressure and it will take care of itself. The screen and filter are not going to let that stuff hurt the motor. Once it will hold pressure then you can change the oil every couple of days and see if it's getting clear.

[AllanD]

Ok, you want the unvarnished truth from someone who really KNOWS?

Here goes:

You NEED to pull the engine from the chassis.

The oil pan CANNOT COME OFF of a 4.0 in the chassis even with the transmission removed.

What is your problem?

It's like this, the "varnish" and "sludge" buildup inside your engine
(and for that matter inside ANY engine) is composed of materials that are the result of chemical reactions between combustion products and lubricating oil.

If they WERE oil soluble they would stay in solution with the oil.

Kerosene won't dissolve them, why? because kerosene is OIL!

The reason they stick to the inside of the block and pan is because those substances are NOT "oil soluble".
They are somewhat water soluble, so when you have an "event" that allows water into the crank case and sump the water "washes" the varnish off the inside of the block where it settles in chunks in the oil pan.

This plugs the oil pump pickup screen.

NOTHING short of removing the oil pan and HAND CLEANING the oil pickup screen
will accomplish anything worth of note except to increase your basic frustration.

In the engine bearings MAY actually still be servicable.
(don't borrow trouble, you'll get your own share soon enough)

I have seen THREE 4.0's that experienced plugged pickups
and all ran for a considerable time (in one case 80K miles)
after their plugged screen "incidents"

Trust me, you can keep diddling around with "shortcuts"
that are only wasting your time or you can dig in and do
what needs to be done and get it over with.

The pickup is clogged and it must be cleaned.
There is no "mechanic in a can" or solvent that will dissolve
it in place.

AD

[DangerRanger96]

Well put! I've come to that same conclusion myself. I'm looking to find a local mechanic to do it, without bending me over and having me grab my ankles! (good luck huh?) I am really considering doing it myself. I have all the tools needed, and feel I am inclinded enough to handle it. Been reading, looking and learning. I already had the top half off and harness off... To me, the biggest problems will come from the headers and time it takes to unbolt and drop the tranny. While I'm in there, I will change the pump, replace the timing/water pump gaskets, belt and put new valve covers on it. Might as well do it all one time, WHILE ITS OUT! Thanks to all the guys and their info. Wish me luck in either that i do. I'll post back once I've done it, or slit my wrists trying, J/K.
thanks again,

[DangerRanger96]

UPDATE THE PROBLEM...
I've found a 95 4.0 with 31,000 miles locally. Gonna buy it for $675.00 Waiting for price to swap em out. I couldn't see putting money into that older motor with 203,000 on it. Maybe if I was the original owner and new the maintenace record, or the type of miles it had. So, I'm wondering your guys opinion? Did I make a good choice here? Is that older motor worth selling for a couple buck? I plan on dropping the pan, cleaning it up, replace oil pump and screen along with all gaskets. It will have 203,000 miles, new valve/intake/waterpump/timing gaskets and new oil pump/screen. Thanks for all the help and input. Waiting for your opinions now..

[woodyedmiston]

Now you are on the right track. Listen to Mr. AllanD. You can take the engine out and R&R w/o taking the trans. Get a book - get help - go slow. Most of the wiring has specific connectors that you can't do wrong. Be sure the water pump is good on your new motor esp. if it is from a wreck. I changed out mine when I did what you are about to do - but it was not noticeable at first that the water pump shaft was bent on the old one. I'd remove the valve covers and the pan - just to make sure some bug hasn't made a nest, or . . .

If you were closer to Texas I might be interested in the motor - but Ohio is a bit off of my regular schedule. Someone might want it - the heads are worth a little money even as cores if they aren't cracked.

[DangerRanger96]

Hey woody... what is a decent price for the engine if I was to do those things too it? Or, should I just let it go as is?

[DangerRanger96]

UPDATE
Thanks to all the great advice I received in making my decision. I went with a used 95 4.0 with 31,000 miles. Cost me $720.00 out the door. Found a local shop to make the switch for me for $500.00. Truck is there now... thanks again guys!!!

[DangerRanger96]

Truck is done today. Put the 31,000 mile motor in it. Had a local shop do the swap. Let you know how it is later!

[AgPete139]

Update? How's the "new" motor running?

[DangerRanger96]

New motor purrrrs like a kitten. Can't beleive how smooth things went! Only had to buy a new belt and it runs great and throws NO codes!! I've starting pricing parts for it now... never was going to sink money into it... but hell, its paid for...31,000 miles on the motor, and the body is great if not excellent for a 96. So, I'm going to paint it a metalic pewter... raise it 2" ( leveling kit ) put some black teflon rims and some 32's on it. Bucket seats will be in this weekend ( with center consol)... I'll get some before pics...and then put up the afters. Paint won't happen till last ofcourse! Thanks again for all the great input......KICK ASS PEOPLE ON A KICK ASS SITE!!!