Can you hear me knockin! 2009 Ranger XL

[mike310]

Hey everyone, I spent some time under the hood of my recently purchased 2009 Ranger XL yesterday, shes got a 2.3L and shes knocking pretty good at running temp. Knock speed increases with throttle input so I'm confident its hurting a bit on the inside. There are no engine codes present and I'm doing my scanning with Forscan. I still havent become a master at the software but I'm confident its clean despite a small evap leak code. My question to you guys is, how should I approach repair at a shop? Does anyone have a place in CA (Los Angeles) that they trust with this kind of job? I'm ready to pull the lube off the shelf on this one because I just dont have the time to pull and overhaul myself right now. I'm really worried about my ranger in some shop for months or some BS disputes. The motor has 123k on the clock and really would like to have this ranger for the next 100k miles. I see motors on ebay that look 'sound' so I'm even wondering if that might be a good route.

Any advice is sincerly appreciated

https://imgur.com/Z7yyHPL

 

[Bill]

If you go to car-part.com sometimes you can find sources that will install used engines.

Also, I didn't know used engines are going for $2000+

 

[mike310]

Oh cool, I'll look into that, thats good info, thank you.
I saw something like 1700$, it was pretty, but yup its gonna be some shipping costs to expect. Blaa.
I want to take the ranger to grand canyon soon but its gonna be best to resolve this knocking first.

 

[pjtoledo]

it's not a good idea to drive anything that knocks for long distances, or at all.
get a mechanics stethoscope and try to locate the noise.
or stick a metal rod in a rubber tube, heck, even a plain 'ol rubber hose can isolate noise locations.

what oil is in it?
you can try switching to 20-50 or 15-40 but that is not a fix for worn bearings, it's only prolonging the agony.
be sure it's gas rated oil, SN or SP

these engines have a mechanical valve train. ticking or sewing machine noises are normal.

do not under any circumstances loosen the big bolt on the pulley/harmonic balancer.

 

[Rick W]

I hope you’re in a safe place out there, prayers.

Have you thought about swapping over to a functional used cheap engine? Oil consumption. is a lot more tolerable for a period of time than a bearing knock. Swap the engine and then rebuild the original and put it back in later?

I don’t want to sound grim, but would it be possible to find a truck from the fires with a good engine? I don’t know enough to know if the engine could survive something like what’s going on out there. Maybe contact all the salvage companies or the insurance companies?

I might be living in a fantasy world, but it’s My two cents, I hope it helps.

 

[pjtoledo]

I hope you’re in a safe place out there, prayers.

Have you thought about swapping over to a functional used cheap engine? Oil consumption. is a lot more tolerable for a period of time than a bearing knock. Swap the engine and then rebuild the original and put it back in later?

I don’t want to sound grim, but would it be possible to find a truck from the fires with a good engine? I don’t know enough to know if the engine could survive something like what’s going on out there. Maybe contact all the salvage companies or the insurance companies?

I might be living in a fantasy world, but it’s My two cents, I hope it helps.

not the Duratec 2.3
I doubt any engine could survive the intense fire. the intake is plastic so the valves would be exposed and when the
plastic PCV cover melts away a large hole gives direct access to the crankcase.
valve cover plastic too so cams gone for sure.
then there is the puddle of aluminum....

sad situation for sure.

 

[Rick W]

Duh, forgive me, my ancient stuff is made out of cast-iron and steel and silly things like that…

Plan B

How close are you to the fires? When I went through the 98 tornado, in addition to my insurance, we also got a federal disaster loan. Basically it’s a low interest SBA loan. Getting it was not the typical experience with the government, it was like borrowing money from your grandfather. They were very liberal. They are also so overwhelmed, that they probably won’t do a lot of investigation into a smaller claim. And if you make the payments on time, nobody’s going to check on the backside.

So if the truck got damaged while you were being a good Samaritan and helping your neighbors move stuff in the fire conditions…

I’ll guarantee you it’s worth the cost of a phone call to FEMA.. you might even get a rental car while they’re doing it.