1997 2.3 pit in number 1 cylinder

[BruceG]

I recently bought a 1997 ford ranger 2.3 5 spd. It had the symptoms of a blowed head gasket. After pulling the head it was revealed that number 1 piston had melted on right side to 2nd ring. Aluminum was stuck to cylinder. I had it bored .020 over, after getting block back , I found a pit where the aluminum was stuck. I think it is around .007 deep, about the length and with a the metal pen part of an ink pen. When piston is tdc it should be cover by the oil ring. I can't decide how much this would effect the truck.. Any opinions? Please, all are welcomed..

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Sounds to me like the injector was half way plugged and that cylinder was running lean causing it to fry that piston. I wouldnt run it that way you should be able to find a good block for reasonable. Just my opinion but the people who bored the block should have know this before they did the work and refused to do the work! Have you already purchaced the new pistons?

 

[BruceG]

Thank you! I thought about injector too. But, there was allot of stop leak in it, the 2 water port on that side was clogged. After seeing that, I decided that is what caused it


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[pjtoledo]

is it 1/4" , or 4" long?

for whatever its worth, 2 cycle engines run with huge holes/ports in the cylinder walls.

 

[BruceG]

It is about 3/32nds long

 

[kimcrwbr1]

You can get pistons .040 over as long as that gouge is not too deep. I looked at autozone and they only have .030 and .040 oversize pistons. A good machinist will want the new pistons and rings in order get the bore correct especially for the stubby pistons. Ring end gap is very important as well as skirt clearance to the cylinder walls.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

The holes in a two stroke are not on the top of the stroke! It may be alright but I would not trust it if it was my engine.

 

[BruceG]

I've checked allot of places and can't find a block.. They all wanna sell drop ins, but they're all high mileage.


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[pjtoledo]

The holes in a two stroke are not on the top of the stroke! It may be alright but I would not trust it if it was my engine.

I'll clarify it a bit.
if the rings in a 2 stroke can handle going over several holes 3/8" in diameter a small pit about 1/16" wide won't even be seen by the rings.
oil and compression will see the pit, but for a common street engine it won't matter much because the pit isn't really that much bigger than the ring gap.

Perry

 

[kimcrwbr1]

I still cannot find .020 oversize pistons and rings for that engine. Not that they are not available is the machine shop providing the piston kits?

 

[BruceG]

They're come from rock auto.com, I've ordered allot from them over the last 10 years and had very good luck


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[enjr44]

Ford did a bunch of testing with instrumented engines. Google it. Rings walk around the pistons as the engine runs and the gaps will of course line up at some point. They found that they go clockwise for a while, stop, and then go counter clockwise for a while. Some don't move at all. If you build racing engines that get torn down a lot you will find that the ring gaps are never where you put them.

They were testing what the effects of having the gaps lined up. What they found is that it had no effect on compression or oil usage. That the time available for compression leakage was so short that there was no difference.

So IMO, that pit will do nothing at all in the way the engine runs or how long it will run.

 

[Andy D]

Assuming the bore could be opened up .040. Will this affect cooling? I can totally see Ford starting off with little extra iron to begin with.
I used a used piston and rod to replace a melted piston on a run to death overheat on a '72 Datsun PU. I had the head from the dead engine that I got the piston from re-done and I bought a new radiator. I ran the truck another 3 or 4 yrs until rust took it. I used Castrol 20w50 and don't remember any use. I re-used the rod bearing shells. They were fine. It is one of the reasons I like 20w50 .

 

[sirrat007]

I would get that block magnafluxed before I spent anymore money on it..I learned a long time ago the hard way to stay away from blocks that originally had blown gasket/overheating issues. they are always a crap shoot. imho

pits can be welded, you need high nickel rods, you gotta get the block hot then weld, then keep it hot and cool it gradually. The only problem with this is that forever more anytime something happens you will wonder if the weld failed or if the crack or hole got bigger. I simply can not believe you cant find a good core online for a reasonable price.

Good Luck..mm

 

[jeremysdad]

Or a Pull-a-part 2.3 for 120 ish, complete and running...