2.3L ('83-'97) Incredibly pitted valves and seats on my 2.3L 150,000 miles

[worstranger]

I drove on this head with a dead cylinder only at idle for almost 2 years and assumed I just had a recessed valve seat. Turns out EVERY single exhaust valve seat was insanely pitted and my valves are pitted to match. Other than some sort of overheating, would this indicate that my engine is running excessively lean? All my injectors are new ( I replaced just about everything before deciding that the head was the issue) My best guess is that my fuel pump may be weak. Please feel free to chime in!

Here's the replacement head that came with valves ready to go. The engine idles nice and smooth now and I have a subtle power increase BUT I expected a drastic power increase after seeing these valve seats. This leads me to believe that there is something wrong other than this head having been overheated at some point in its life. This b!tch got hot.

Here's the new head after installing the old cam, rockers and lifters. The new head was sourced from Allied Motor Parts. I only paid 350 bucks for this head WITH valves installed, BUT the valve tips were haphazardly ground down. I wasn't too impressed, but I went ahead with the install anyway.

Please chime in and help me prevent that pitting from happening again!!!

 

[franklin2]

I had a engine like that. I had to tear it down because of a bad knock. But there was really nothing wrong with it except it was very dirty in the combustion chambers. I took the cylinder heads to have the valves reground, and they were pitted like yours. Without giving any history to the guy rebuilding the heads, he looked at the pitting and said "do you know what causes that?". I said no. He said dirt entering the engine. I started to get a better picture of what was wrong with this engine.

I got the vehicle from a school that trains young people to be mechanics. They had obviously had the intake off, and it was full of that black soot from the EGR system. I think the kids knocked a bunch of that down in the engine, which caused the pitting to the valves and probably a big hunk had been sitting on top of one of the pistons causing the knock.

 

[mikkelstuff]

Any chance this comes from burning ethanol/gasoline? I never use ethanol/gasoline in my 2002 3.0L Ranger as per advice from my great mechanic and I dislike that crap anyway.

 

[worstranger]

I had a engine like that. I had to tear it down because of a bad knock. But there was really nothing wrong with it except it was very dirty in the combustion chambers. I took the cylinder heads to have the valves reground, and they were pitted like yours. Without giving any history to the guy rebuilding the heads, he looked at the pitting and said "do you know what causes that?". I said no. He said dirt entering the engine. I started to get a better picture of what was wrong with this engine.

I got the vehicle from a school that trains young people to be mechanics. They had obviously had the intake off, and it was full of that black soot from the EGR system. I think the kids knocked a bunch of that down in the engine, which caused the pitting to the valves and probably a big hunk had been sitting on top of one of the pistons causing the knock.

Very possible. The intake was caked in carbon deposits. Carbon deposits entering through the EGR is a plausible theory.

 

[RonD]

Actually no, ethanol causes less carbon build up
Gasoline engines had issues with carbon build up LONG LONG BEFORE ethanol was being added to fuel, lol

Carbon build up is from the engine running too rich, in fuel injection that is usually caused by older O2 sensors or exhaust manifold leaks
O2s need to be changed ever 12 years, its only sensor that wears out
Exhaust manifold leak causes a False Lean on O2 sensor so computer runs engine richer than needed

Yes, carbon build up caused pitting on valves and valve seats
Pitting in cylinder head and piston tops is from pinging/knocking, pre-ignition which can also be caused by carbon build up, it raises compression ratio and also makes for HOT SPOTS that can pre-ignite regular gas

 

[worstranger]

Actually no, ethanol causes less carbon build up
Gasoline engines had issues with carbon build up LONG LONG BEFORE ethanol was being added to fuel, lol

Carbon build up is from the engine running too rich, in fuel injection that is usually caused by older O2 sensors or exhaust manifold leaks
O2s need to be changed ever 12 years, its only sensor that wears out
Exhaust manifold leak causes a False Lean on O2 sensor so computer runs engine richer than needed

Yes, carbon build up caused pitting on valves and valve seats
Pitting in cylinder head and piston tops is from pinging/knocking, pre-ignition which can also be caused by carbon build up, it raises compression ratio and also makes for HOT SPOTS that can pre-ignite regular gas

That's probably it then. My MPG was 18 and when I went to remove this head, 2 exhaust studs were missing. Probably a fat exhaust leak making the o2 sensor read lean. Well also due to loss of compression, but the o2 sensor probably was reading lean. I replaced it btw. I'm currently waiting to see what my mpg is. Whoever worked on the engine before me did piss poor job.. The records say a headgasket was replaced at 40k. I bought the truck at 80k and now its at 150k.

 

[LIMA BEAN]

View attachment 92740View attachment 92741

I drove on this head with a dead cylinder only at idle for almost 2 years and assumed I just had a recessed valve seat. Turns out EVERY single exhaust valve seat was insanely pitted and my valves are pitted to match. Other than some sort of overheating, would this indicate that my engine is running excessively lean? All my injectors are new ( I replaced just about everything before deciding that the head was the issue) My best guess is that my fuel pump may be weak. Please feel free to chime in!

Here's the replacement head that came with valves ready to go. The engine idles nice and smooth now and I have a subtle power increase BUT I expected a drastic power increase after seeing these valve seats. This leads me to believe that there is something wrong other than this head having been overheated at some point in its life. This b!tch got hot.

Here's the new head after installing the old cam, rockers and lifters. The new head was sourced from Allied Motor Parts. I only paid 350 bucks for this head WITH valves installed, BUT the valve tips were haphazardly ground down. I wasn't too impressed, but I went ahead with the install anyway.
View attachment 92744

Please chime in and help me prevent that pitting from happening again!!!

Dang son, you been feedin it bud light or what?

 

[worstranger]

NEW UPDATE.
My MPG on the old head was right at 18.
Now with the newhead its 19.25. Shouldn't I be getting close to 24??? I have significantly more power now without those rotted out valve seats. My cylinders looked fantastic. Good cross hatching and no striations.. There is no evidense of excessive blowby either. What the heck. There is some small thing I'm sure of it that is robbing me of the last few mpg. Anyways, I'm about to install a 4.10 diff anyway (which will obliterate my mpg) because I'm autistic and want a hilarious gearing ratio to emulate more power. If anyone has any ideas as to what could cause this lower mpg, please chime in.

 

[worstranger]

Dang son, you been feedin it bud light or what?

hek no brother, dont you know bud lights gay. I'd been adding a handle of jack every fill-up.

 

[franklin2]

NEW UPDATE.
My MPG on the old head was right at 18.
Now with the newhead its 19.25. Shouldn't I be getting close to 24??? I have significantly more power now without those rotted out valve seats. My cylinders looked fantastic. Good cross hatching and no striations.. There is no evidense of excessive blowby either. What the heck. There is some small thing I'm sure of it that is robbing me of the last few mpg. Anyways, I'm about to install a 4.10 diff anyway (which will obliterate my mpg) because I'm autistic and want a hilarious gearing ratio to emulate more power. If anyone has any ideas as to what could cause this lower mpg, please chime in.

After a drive, get out and feel each wheel. They may be warm, but they all should be about the same, the fronts may be a little warmer, but each side should be the same. If you find one that is hotter than the others, there is where some of your fuel mileage is going.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Gears don't change mpg unless you are cruising at high rpm... I've experimented with my '97 a fair amount with tire size (it has 4.10's), I've gone from stock height 27" tall tires to 29" tires and settled on 28" tires, MPG has ranged from 20 to 25, all terrain tires were what pulled the mpg down and car tires brought it up, if I cruise under 3000 rpm it gets better mileage and even not going over 4k on acceleration made a noticeable difference...

My best mileage on a 2.3L was on my '90 that still just used a MAP sensor instead of MAF but my '97 weighs like 400 pounds more...