'99 ranger 3.0 help

[stingray]

hello, i have a '99 ford ranger ext.cab 4x4 with 3.0 flex fuel engine,motor has knocking noise,worse when cold,get's quieter as it warms up. i've been told that it sounds like lifters.i removed lifters and rocker arms,pushrods. can't seem to find any problems with any of those parts,i believe that it's a wrist pin or broken skirt off of piston. can anyone tell me if the 3.0 engine had wrist pin problems? i'll probably install new engine but used one might be a choice too. does anyone know what years will fit and since it is flex-fuel i'm guessing that i'll need to go with flex-fuel right? any answers would be very helpful. thank you.

 

[graff104]

The 3.0 is know to be a very strong engine. I have never heard of anybody having wrist pin problems with it. Headgaskets from time to time, but never heard of a wristpin problem... When you say knocking does it possibly sound like a really loud pen clicking on and off? Thats just a shot in the dark, but the injectors can get rather loud sometimes. Btw this should be in the 3.0 section not the 4.0 section lol.