2.9l valvetrain issue?

[Spades]

the 88 ranger ranger i bought had a miss in the passenger side rear cylinder, the pushrod in that cylinder was bent, so i replaced it, and it promptly bent the new one. come to find out, something is stuck or messed up.

before I pull the head, has anyone had this happen to them before? I am trying to figure out what this will cost to fix...I am wondering if the head is damaged...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Big Jim M]

Dude if the pushrod is bending the lifter IS WORKING! The problem is the rocker or the valve.. You may be able to make the repair without taking the head off.
Big JIm

 

[low_five]

might be a bent valve not opening.

 

[Spades]

Dude if the pushrod is bending the lifter IS WORKING! The problem is the rocker or the valve.. You may be able to make the repair without taking the head off.
Big JIm

heh, sorry, the thing has been sitting for months...and i forgot the details of what was going on, and had to look at what i wrote down was going on.

basically, when i crank it over, i can see the lifter moving, and i can see the valve moving, i am thinking it may be bent and just not moving enough.

sorry for the confusion, i should have looked at my notes before making a post.

I will be pulling the head to see if the valve is bent or stuck...since the head will be off i am thinking about having the heads checked and decked, and replacing the valves and maybe springs while they are off.

 

[Big Jim M]

Tell us some more about the problem. Is it possible that the WRONG pushrod is in there...and it is too long. The pushrod will bend if the valve is compressed to the point where the spring compresses so much that there is no more play in it..called spring binding. I think I'd be for taking the rocker off and tapping the valve with a hammer to see if it moves and if it comes all the way back.
I wouldn't pull the head until I was sure I HAD to pull it.
Big JIm

 

[Spades]

Ok, so here is what all was happening. I was getting a no fire on the passenger rear cylinder(i am not sure of the #), it was dumping fuel straight in the cylinder and not igniting it, so it ran poorly and smoked and stinks of unburnt gasoline.

I found that the cylinder had no compression, so I pulled the valve cover to see if a valve was sticking, and unhooked the coil and cranked it over and watched the valve train. after pulling the valve cover, it was evident the valve is moving a bit, I am unable to tell if it is moving as far as it needs to, and the pushrod that was in it was bent. after buying a new pushrod, it promptly bent that one.

I will pull the valve cover off again and get a better look at it, because I really would rather not pull the heads off.

 

[Big Jim M]

This time pull the rocker arm and beat on the sprung valve with a bfh to see how free it is. Examining the rocker and rocker ball you might find the problem...but I highly doubt it. I'm betting the head needs to come off and maybe even the piston needs to be replaced.. You won't know for sure until you get the head off... unless the problem is that particular rocker arm..doubtful though.
Big JIm

 

[low_five]

yeah I agree with BJM, it sounds like something bad went on in that cylinder. I hope not though.

 

[Spades]

Ok, I got some more history about the problem. the owner before me had bought it (it was a fleet rig), at 110k miles. he had purchased it for his daughter to drive, and let it sit under a tree for a year or two. in that time, one of the valves stuck. in preparing it for his daughter, he pulled everything apart to un-stick that valve, shot the truck with new paint, and called it good. she never dove it for very long, and it sat for another year or longer, so he decided to sell it.

i bought it with 124k miles on it, and it had been sitting. he tried to start it after it had been sitting, and the nasty fuel took out the fuel pumps. he couldn't get it working, so he sold it to me cheap.

I replaced the pumps and fuel filter, and cleaned the lines and tank. after that i used a MotorVac machine to clean the injectors and fuel rail. after all was said and done, everything is good, except it looks like that valve seems to be sticking again.

I used a boroscope and can watch everything moving, and i can see the cylinder moving, nothing weird going on except i think that valve is stuck again.

I am going to barrow some stuff from one of the other techs where i work, and i will be able to measure how much the valve is moving compared to the others. If I have time to work on it, I should know if its a stuck or bent valve next week.

So far, total investment in parts with cost of the truck is $600, and the truck has a straight body, with new paint. I did a full inspection, and the only other things wrong with it is the drivers side sway bar bushing has some cracks, and the front brakes are at 30%...and I am going to have to put new belts on it(already bought them)...one of the u-joints on the front drive line might be binding slightly, but this is the best shape I have ever seen one of these rangers in...so I figure even if I have to put heads on it and it brings the total cost to around $1k, for the shape its in that is pretty good i would think.

the other techs in the shop I work at can't believe the shape it is in, so even if there is more to this than a sticking valve, the truck seems like a good investment.

 

[cody93]

imo, rebuilding an engine in a truck thats good and solid is worth it if you got the truck for cheap. with rebuilt engines, you know what you get, with used cars that you pay a litle more cash for, you could get a nasty surprise. any pics of the truck?

 

[Spades]

well, I tore it all apart and found out the lifter had catastrophically failed, and the way the shattered pieces were positioned made the lifter too tall, so it bent the pushrod.

As of today the truck is back together, I purchased all new lifters, pushrods, gaskets, seals, ect. We removed, stripped,and cleaned the heads, then installed the new parts and buttoned it all back up. It took a few days work, and about $200 for all of the parts needed to overhaul the heads and for a full tune up.

The truck runs great now, all that is left is to change the oil and start driving it!

I am still well under $1k for a daily driver in excellent shape with around 100k miles on it, so I can't complain.