1990 2.3l valve clatter......wow

[Dan B.]

Was coming home in my 1990 2.3l truck today. About 3 miles from home I could hear a clatter starting and power started going away. I cautiously babied it home. Anything over 1/4 throttle it bogs terrible. Before this the motor was super quiet and ran flawless. Not even a sputter.

I changed the oil in December. Since then I've only put 400 miles on it. The gauge was starting to act wonky. Jumping or not moving at all. I suspected the gauge since it was perfect before the oil change. I changed it with a putolator filter and castrol 10-30.

What the heck would have made this thing go south so fast?

 

[Dan B.]

BTW......I'm using the search function now.

 

[Mark_88]

This happened to my 2.3 several times and I didn't actually find out what was wrong with it. I checked timing, removed the valve cover (which I don't recommend now because there is nothing to adjust or see other than oil coverage), checked the oil (which was low) and topped it up.

I started it up every time after shutting it down and letting it sit for ten minutes (and then added the oil) and each time it ran with a clatter for a few minutes and then suddenly smoothed out and I was able to drive it...without so much as a twist of a wrench...

Why? I have no idea...other than being a bit low on oil...OK, so it was almost out one time, but the other times (at least three that I can remember) the oil was fine....as was everything else...

The only time this turned out to be terminal for the motor was when I had the original 2.0 in there (carbed, of course) and the night before I drove it home in -35 weather and ran it dry...didn't realize the oil was low but then I heard the clatter...topped up the oil as I had fortunately went a different route home and had a gas station near the turnoff for the highway...

Even then, the truck made it home...the next day with the 2.0 I heard, what I could only describe as a "Death Rattle" coming from under the hood...sounded like a high speed zipper being undone ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...and even then I was able to drive it home...

EDIT: I should add that the 2.3 short block was only replaced once...after the 2.0 died...other times I had the head refurbed or replaced (3x) but I went through quite a bit of oil...it was blow-by...shooting the oil out of the dipstick and any other opening...so it was actually rings that needed to be done and I should have done that when I put the 2.3 in the first time...would have saved enough money to rebuild it again...

 

[tomw]

Search for plugged oil pickup or disintegrating oil pan gasket. I think your vintage was one of those affected by the exposed pan gasket coming apart into bits and being sucked up to the oil pump intake screen. They block the flow, and thus limit pressure developing.
If so affected two choices are quick to come to mind 1)use a coathanger or other wire to scrape the bottom of the pickup screen and sweep(ha!) the particles out the drain, or 2)drop the oil pan and clean.
You may have got away without cooking the cam bearings, but it can happen very quickly, followed by the other bearings.
tom
added: if you have real bad lifter clatter, you likely have very low oil pressure to the head. The clearance can affect how well the engine runs as the valve lift is limited on all affected cylinders.

 

[Dan B.]

if you have real bad lifter clatter, you likely have very low oil pressure to the head. The clearance can affect how well the engine runs as the valve lift is limited on all affected cylinders.

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking this is the issue. Need to clear out some other things in the garage and I'll be checking this out ASAP.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yep, that's probably the problem, my '90 engine was mostly plugged on the pickup tube when I pulled it the first time... the oil pan probably won't want to come off with the engine in the truck... Your only hope is to remove the oil level sender and undo the engine mount nuts and lift the engine as much as you can, then you MIGHT be able to get enough room to do something, but it still isn't going to be easy...

 

[Dan B.]

I'm going to lift the engine with a cross bar lift tool from fender to fender....if that doesn't get enough room I'll unhook the rad, steering shaft and cab bolts and lift cab a little on my Dannmar lift. That will certainly gain enough room to slide the pan out. Thanks again for the info.

 

[turbo91xlt]

Search for plugged oil pickup or disintegrating oil pan gasket. I think your vintage was one of those affected by the exposed pan gasket coming apart into bits and being sucked up to the oil pump intake screen. They block the flow, and thus limit pressure developing.
If so affected two choices are quick to come to mind 1)use a coathanger or other wire to scrape the bottom of the pickup screen and sweep(ha!) the particles out the drain, or 2)drop the oil pan and clean.
You may have got away without cooking the cam bearings, but it can happen very quickly, followed by the other bearings.
tom
added: if you have real bad lifter clatter, you likely have very low oil pressure to the head. The clearance can affect how well the engine runs as the valve lift is limited on all affected cylinders.

This ^^^ my '92 had this exact issue. After I bought and got 20 miles down the road its started making the noise & the oil pressure gauge went dead. Said screw it and drove it home 300 miles because I was gonna be swapping the engine anyways and didn't want to have to pay an expensive tow bill...

Pulled the engine out and sure enough the pick up screen was clogged

 

[turbo91xlt]

And there was nothing left of the pan gasket....besides what was in the pickup screen...

 

[turbo91xlt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qimF9JYEcJ4

 

[XLTsplash]

On my Dad's old 89 Ranger I was able to drop the oil pan down enough to remove the pick up screen and clean it. I didn't get the pan out of the truck, just dropped down enough to fix it.
On my 97 Ranger with a 2.3L I was able to get the oil pan all of the way out of the truck by pulling the trans and flywheel.

 

[Dan B.]

Thanks for the info guys. Going to start tonight.

 

[Dan B.]

Took four hours to pull the motor by myself. This what I found. I scraped away some of the material to see how tight it was jammed........it was tight!!

 

[tomw]

You can try to clean the screen .... or you can get a new pickup complete with un-plugged screen. I do not know of a way to get at all the pickup screen without taking it apart, or at least removing the metal shroud. I assume the shroud is to keep the pickup area full of oil on acceleration or deceleration, however, if your oil is that low, you should not be driving in my opinion.
Any other ideas on why the metal cover over the pickup other than 'slosh' prevention?
If you are adventurous, you could cut off the shroud, clean the screen and put it back together. I think it is not absolutely necessary. You could also run the pump in reverse using an electric drill to flush the particles. I do not think this is a 'brain surgery' level problem, but it sure could eat up an engine.
Along that line, I would pull at least one rod and one main bearing to check for condition. You can replace all the lower end bearings for < $50 if you shop. RockAuto has a sale on 'older' Ranger parts as some of their warehouses are not going to stock them any more, I guess. They sent me an email for my 85 vintage with a link to a 'sale' buncha parts. I can post the link if desired.
tom

 

[Dan B.]

I'm worried about the head more than the bottom end. Since pulling it is not a big deal I'm just going to get it back together. Ordered a Melling pump, pick up tube and gasket this AM. Should be here in a few days and back in after a few hours of work.