My 3.0 ranger's motor lost oil pressure and locked up, new motor help!

[Southenrfirewood]

I was driving on the hwy and I lost oil pressure. I pulled off, checked my oil, oil was fine. So I figured the sending unit went bad. So I drove on it. It started shaking I went to pull off and it locked up and no longer turns over. I am going to buy a rebuild or a new engine. What should I buy and what should I look out for?

 

[97RangerXLT]

sounds like your oil pump croaked.

I would grab a 3.0 out of a 97-99 Ranger/B3000 in a junkyard... This should be a pretty straightforward swap, and you can get a decent engine for 500 bucks, maybe another 100 or 150 for someone to install it.

If you go the route of installing it yourself, these years should go right in with minimal issues, maybe a sensor or two might be a tad different if you go 97 or 99, but nothing major.

I would spend some extra bucks and redo all of the gaskets while you have the motor out of the truck, and it probably wouldn't hurt to replace the oil pump and pickup screen too.

AJ

 

[Southenrfirewood]

I think I'm going to go the route of buying a rebuild. So I know it will hold up. Do you know of a good company? Are some better than others?

 

[97RangerXLT]

Dont know of any company offhand... for a rebuild I think I would go local to you. at least you can walk in the door and cuss the guy out to his face if he botches the engine... for anything that you have to have shipped, it can really be a hassle getting any warranty claims done.

Plan on spending some serious cash.. 2-3k worth. I would still get a junkyard engine out of a tboned Ranger/B3000. many salvage yards will let you watch the engine run before they pull it from the wrecked truck, and will offer a 12month warranty on the engine.

remember, you have a 15 year old truck, it is probably only worth 4k in great condition...

AJ

 

[Southenrfirewood]

I get what your saying but also Iv got a brand new transmission, rear-end, driveshaft, and many other new parts. At this point I think its worth fixing up right

 

[97RangerXLT]

with all of that new, you are probably right. As I said, I would look for local, at least they will be easier to get to honor any warranty work. you might ask around for anyone who does engines for the local race car drivers, at least you will know that they are more than likely experienced in what they do.

The other suggestion is to go to Ford and get a longblock and swap your intake and other stuff to the new engine.

AJ

 

[snake]

If you have an o'reilly's parts store around, they will sell u a long block about as cheap as anyone, I priced a '77 351/400 modified from them and it was slightly over 1200 with my discount... couldn't rebuild it myself for that- the best part about them is the no-nonsense warranty. Someone else builds them for o'reilly's but reputable and good warranty.

 

[Southenrfirewood]

I found one they claim has 61,000 miles on it for $700. Is there anyway of me buying it with out the chance of getting screwed lol

 

[RustedRanger]

Southern your best bet is do some searches online. Go on ebay...in the past I did searches and found companies who sell used motors with a guarantee. In 2001 I bought a 88 chevy 4x4 and the motor turned out to be junk...I did a lot of searching and reading before buying a new 350 since it was cheaper than rebuilding the one I had the right way. I'd be leery of a used motor without a guarantee unless I heard it run first.

 

[snake]

I found one they claim has 61,000 miles on it for $700. Is there anyway of me buying it with out the chance of getting screwed lol

I haven't looked but I'll bet you can do better- car-part.com is a network of yards and I haven't been screwed using them yet. But- ALWAYS buy a carfax account, get the vin off of the junked vehicle, and check it before you buy. I've caught a lot of yards lying about the mileage. The last engine I bought was for a customer's PT cruiser, '03 and had 10,128 miles verified... got it from LKQ off of car-part.com's website. That engine was immaculate...

 

[Southenrfirewood]

As an update, I look on that website you told me about, I found a motor picked it up that day and had the truck running within 3 days for around $800

 

[Andy D]

Thanks for the follow up, I'm giving you an atta boy for handling the situation. Sounds like a good outfit. I'm not a recreational gambler. I gamble too much in daily life. These days there is no sure thing with parts. Not with used, rebuilt or even new. Used is prolly the best bet. It worked at one time.

Just curious, did you ever figure out what killed the original engine?

 

[snake]

Nice. Find a nice low-mileage unit? That website kicks ass.

 

[Southenrfirewood]

The guy said he didnt know the millage but he said it was tested and has a 30 day warrenty, It was a huge risk but the truck runs better than it ever has

 

[Earl43P]

Thanks for the follow up, I'm giving you an atta boy for handling the situation. Sounds like a good outfit. I'm not a recreational gambler. I gamble too much in daily life. These days there is no sure thing with parts. Not with used, rebuilt or even new. Used is prolly the best bet. It worked at one time.

Just curious, did you ever figure out what killed the original engine?

Most likely this:
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/camshaft_position_sensor.html