Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Terry Dean
New Member
Last week I was driving my '95 2-w/d Ranger (3.0 eng) and the engine shut off as I was in neutral, coasting down a hill. Put shifter back into 3rd gear and immediately heard a loud grinding noise.
Put immediately in neutral, slowed to a near stop and tried again. Same deep grinding sound. Stopped and pulled to side of road. Tried to start with starter and heard only a click as the starter tried to turn engine (it's not a starter/solenoid problem), but could not. I was 70 miles from home, so I had truck transported back home to my garage.
Coolant was not visible in radiator (had a very slow radiator leak in the last several weeks, but nothing really bad), but the temp gauge was reading in safe zone. Truck never overheated. With clutch pedal depressed, I could put the shifter in all five gears without difficulty (at a stop & obviously without the eng running).
Using a breaker bar on the front bolt, I cannot rotate the engine (crank) in either direction. Nothing obvious on the dipstick, no rods hanging out of the block, no oil on the ground, or other external clues.
I'm a fairly good mechanic, having restored my current '64 Ford Galaxie and numerous other performance mid-60's cars. Do all my own V-8 rebuilds, R&R engines, 4/5-speeds, rears, etc.
Never worked on a V-6 before, but have read a lot about them; much on this website. I'm going to drain the oil this evening for a start.
I must assume there's nothing in the bellhousing that's keeping the engine from turning, but am only surmising here (and the fact that the clutch edal seems to function ok).
What might I expect to find as possible causes? I'm considering crank/rod breakage? Who knows what else at this point. I'm just beginning to assess the problem. I'm in no rush as this is just one of my extra vehicles; athough a really nice, rust-free one. Has no modifications to the running gear. I think about 125k miles on it. Has been a terrific truck for several years and I keep it well maintained.
Any knowledgeable opinions will certainly be appreciated and followed-up on.
Thank you,
Terry Dean
Put immediately in neutral, slowed to a near stop and tried again. Same deep grinding sound. Stopped and pulled to side of road. Tried to start with starter and heard only a click as the starter tried to turn engine (it's not a starter/solenoid problem), but could not. I was 70 miles from home, so I had truck transported back home to my garage.
Coolant was not visible in radiator (had a very slow radiator leak in the last several weeks, but nothing really bad), but the temp gauge was reading in safe zone. Truck never overheated. With clutch pedal depressed, I could put the shifter in all five gears without difficulty (at a stop & obviously without the eng running).
Using a breaker bar on the front bolt, I cannot rotate the engine (crank) in either direction. Nothing obvious on the dipstick, no rods hanging out of the block, no oil on the ground, or other external clues.
I'm a fairly good mechanic, having restored my current '64 Ford Galaxie and numerous other performance mid-60's cars. Do all my own V-8 rebuilds, R&R engines, 4/5-speeds, rears, etc.
Never worked on a V-6 before, but have read a lot about them; much on this website. I'm going to drain the oil this evening for a start.
I must assume there's nothing in the bellhousing that's keeping the engine from turning, but am only surmising here (and the fact that the clutch edal seems to function ok).
What might I expect to find as possible causes? I'm considering crank/rod breakage? Who knows what else at this point. I'm just beginning to assess the problem. I'm in no rush as this is just one of my extra vehicles; athough a really nice, rust-free one. Has no modifications to the running gear. I think about 125k miles on it. Has been a terrific truck for several years and I keep it well maintained.
Any knowledgeable opinions will certainly be appreciated and followed-up on.
Thank you,
Terry Dean
Last edited:
