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rod knock ? help please


WNY964x4

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okay guys , this is my second time on here with troubles with this 3.0 , so here goes it , i have a 2000 Ranger 4x4 , 156k miles , 3.0 V-6 , recently (Jun/Jul) i had both of the cylinder heads replaced , the guy had blown a head gasket and continued to run it. well things had been running smoothly until about mid september , about a month after i changed the oil in the truck (that oil change i switched from 5-30 to 5-40 synthetic) i started to hear what sounded like a exhaust manifold leak , i wrote it off as an improperly tghtened bolt. then about the end of september my oil pressure guage started to flick a little bit , i wrote that off as a bad switch , since when i changed the oil again it stopped. now my truck consistently makes 0 oil pressure , the guage will randomly start having seizures and then go back to zero , so today i was driving back from class and all of a sudden my engine started knockin , i had another kid with me and he said it sounded like a deffinent rod knock , the sound increases with rpm and it does not go away , it sounds horrible and i am afraid that if i drive it it will sieze the engine , i was told by another auto student that if the truck spun a rod bearing that it could possibly damage the head , is that true , and how do i tell if the problem is actually with the connecting rods and the bearings , has anyone else had this problem , i am very frustrated with this truck and need as muc help as possible , thank you very much , this problem just made a bad day worse today
 


Wicked_Sludge

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a spun rod bearing will not damage the head.

it does sound like you have an issue though. i would start by verifying the oil pressure with a mechanical guage. if it is indeed low oil pressure...the bottom end will have to come apart (easiest to pull the engine out).
 

WNY964x4

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a spun rod bearing will not damage the head.

it does sound like you have an issue though. i would start by verifying the oil pressure with a mechanical guage. if it is indeed low oil pressure...the bottom end will have to come apart (easiest to pull the engine out).
is it easiest to pull the engine , the truck is being taken out of service for now and put in the barn so i can pull the engine , i figure i might get a low mileage replacement on form a friend of my stepdads , or i may swap in a 4.0, not sure of how difficult that is though , but i will prolly test the oil pressure this weekend , but for sure the truck is off the road for now and i am gonna drive the explorer
 

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the oil pan can be removed in the truck, but the engine mounts need to be unbolted and the motor jacked up in order to snake it out. even after its out, there isnt a lot of room to work between the engine crossmember and bottom end...i would hate to try and torque rod caps in this position...much less try to keep everything clean during assembly.

i would certainly pull the motor.

a 4.0 swap would involve an entire longblock 4.0, belt driven accessories, transmission, wiring harness, motor mounts, and PCM.

if it were me...i would plop a "freshened" or low mileage 3.0 in there and go.
 

WNY964x4

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the oil pan can be removed in the truck, but the engine mounts need to be unbolted and the motor jacked up in order to snake it out. even after its out, there isnt a lot of room to work between the engine crossmember and bottom end...i would hate to try and torque rod caps in this position...much less try to keep everything clean during assembly.

i would certainly pull the motor.

a 4.0 swap would involve an entire longblock 4.0, belt driven accessories, transmission, wiring harness, motor mounts, and PCM.

if it were me...i would plop a "freshened" or low mileage 3.0 in there and go.
well right now i am in college for auto and i have an old friend who is in the senior shop this year and he is in engines , he said if i get the motor pulled this weekend and get it to him next week , he would do the bearings and the oil pump for me , since i figure the pump is the root cause of all my problems , is it possible to pull the motor out in a day , how dificult is it to pull the 3.0 out of a truck.
 

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if you knew what you were doing and have the proper equipment you could pull the motor out in a day. i once drove a ranger into the shop and had the engine sitting in the bed 5 hours later.

a bit of advise....dont try to remove the exhaust manifolds from the heads. unbolt the 4 (2 per side) big bolts holding the manifolds to the y-pipe. these bolts are much larger and stouter (not to mention easier to get to), so your chances of snapping them off due to rust is lower.
 

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Before You rule the pump as the cause of the lack of pressure check the camshaft bearings. It is rare but I have seen in the past that you can lose oil pressure due to a lot of different things. But The bearings in the engine are the most common things. And if you are pulling the engine... Take Wicked's advise... Trust me... Trust him.
 

WNY964x4

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if you knew what you were doing and have the proper equipment you could pull the motor out in a day. i once drove a ranger into the shop and had the engine sitting in the bed 5 hours later.

a bit of advise....dont try to remove the exhaust manifolds from the heads. unbolt the 4 (2 per side) big bolts holding the manifolds to the y-pipe. these bolts are much larger and stouter (not to mention easier to get to), so your chances of snapping them off due to rust is lower.
well i have pulled motors before and i do have all the tools needed and a chainfall in the barn , but i do plan on removing the manifolds from the heads , the heads have only been on this truck since july of this year , and the manifolds were taken off the old heads and put on the new ones.
 

WNY964x4

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i got confirmation today that it is a rod problem , does anyone know of a company that makes a crank kit for the 3.0 ranger , or where i can get a new crank , other than from ford
 

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any auto parts store should be able to get you a bearing kit...and they can probably get you oversized bearings too, meaning you can have your crank turned (a lot cheaper than buying a new crank).
 

WNY964x4

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i figured i would have to have the crank turned since it is cheaper , the guy that deals with the college i go to does them for 120 bucks , and he does a phenomenal job , but how would i know what size bearings to get , the autozone i went to ( only because they sell mahle/clevite engine bearings ) has 2 different size oversize bearings
 

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the bearings should have a size on them (in thousandths of an inch). give the sizes to your machinist and he'll start turning the crank. if turning it down to the first size isnt enough, he'll have to turn it down further to the second size...then you just need to get whichever bearing he stopped at.
 

WNY964x4

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ok , that sounds good , no i just have to get up bright and early tommorow and roll the truck into the barn to yank the motor from the truck , and then put it in the bed of my new truck for the week , 00 F-150
 

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take lots of pics and have fun :icon_thumby:

let us know if you run into any snags. i check TRS pretty often so i should be able to help you same-day.
 

WNY964x4

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well it is a success so far , the engine is out of the truck and on the pallet ready to go to alfred , hopefully it will be going back in the truck next weekend , pics will be posted as soon as they are on the computer
 

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