Long Term '87 Ranger 4x4 Project Build Thread

[jhammel85]

Nice truck. Looking forward to updates. Great color! Same as my B2 . Lol

Thanks, I appreciate it! There should be more soon..I need to do the other fender and get ready to do some fun stuff. I just got rear leaf bushings, A Pro Comp Add a Leaf and radius arm bushings. I'm hoping to get a set of leveling coils soon too along with more body work done as time permits during it's daily driving duty....


Does anyone know if it's possible to find inner fenders for the back? When I welded in the arches, I got to see how bad those inner fenders are so I'm a little worried about rigidity back there now. I've only seen replacements for the newer Rangers.

 

[jhammel85]

Welp...The ol' 2.9 ticker is starting to live up to it's name.

For the longest time, years actually, It's ticked at start up as they all do. it goes away in about 5 seconds. The truck sits for a few days at a time and I'm starting to see that it really doesn't like to sit...... I've found that when I'm driving it around town, when 1st started, it'll tick pretty loud after being quiet for a while. Just around operating temp. This happens every now and then and it doesn't always happen.

Then this morning, on the highway, it started out of no where. It was a very, very loud lifter tick that sounded like it's completely stuck. The truck didn't quiet down for a few miles and once I let it idle a bit at a stop light.


So I'm wondering what my options are. As much as I'd like to, I can't pull the heads off for a lifter. If i was to do that, I'd be swapping in the better castings too but I'm out of cash at the moment. I'm thinking about dumping in a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil to hopefully loosen it up a bit before changing the oil. Another idea is to dump a quart of ATF in there and drive it home before changing the oil. I'm currently running 10w30 Mobil 5000. Looks like I'll be trying 10w40 next. Probably back to valvoline....

That's about all I have...Does any one have any experience with this? The last thing I want to do is wear out the cam lobes or something with this lifter how it is. Even if it's not very consistent.

 

[dangerranger83]

How is your oil pressure via manual gauge? Sounds like dirty oil passage to the lifter or a weak lifter.

 

[jhammel85]

Man.. You know... Thats the thing. I wish i had one and i dont. Looks like I'll be looking into a mechanical gauge for OP and Temp. I shouod of gotten it a long time ago.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I would run the ATF for a bit then change the oil. I always ran 5/30 and a bottle of Lucas oil stabilizer in my 2.9s. Once they started ticking I'd change the oil. I usually got 3,000 plus per oil change.


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[jhammel85]

Yeah why not..I'll give it a shot! My old man has always sworn by the ATF trick and so did my grandfather. Thanks man.

I've used Marvel's Mystery Oil with good results too. Especially on the mowers around the house...Damn Ethanol likes to really gum up the works...

 

[jhammel85]

...and I have Antifreeze in my oil. For what it's worth, it's ALWAYS looked like that from my memory. I always figured it was because I used the same oil pan for everything. This is a clean one from work.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. If it's been like this for years (literally) and I'm right, then fine. Run it till it blows. It'll probably keeping going forever. If I'm wrong and its dead in no time, then I don't know what I'll do...I don't really want it sitting around immobilized. I don't know when or if I'll ever be able to afford a project truck. I'm afraid that if I got upset and sold it, I'd regret it like I always do... especially this one. I've put way too much into it to give up...after all, this was going to get a v8 after this motor blows. I just expected it to last much longer than this given the fact that it's still so strong.

The radiator is almost always losing a small amount of fluid. It's been like that since the day I got it. The oil always looks clean on the dipstick without anything on the cap. Even when I did the valve covers, It looked fantastic in the valve train. It's most likely at a jacket and seeping it's way in.

I put in 10w40 and a bit of mystery oil. It's very quiet now though. I drove it for over an hour with no ill effect and no more noise.

I guess we'll see what happens...Stay tuned. I'm pretty bummed out about that..

 

[dangerranger83]

If you are wanting to do a v8 swap, nows the time to start researching.

 

[jhammel85]

I know man...Sucks...

I have absolutely no money at all. Especially to replace it with something to daily drive. I can't see this being anything but a crack. Like I said though...I'm almost 100% sure I've seen this in my oil for a very long time. I remember seeing some time last year for sure. Still doesn't make it OK, I just confirms my suspicions.

 

[dangerranger83]

Cheapest and easiest is to get another 2.9 and rebuild it.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

It could be just the intake manifold leaking. I've had numerous issues with my old 2.9 leaking. It didn't help the PO ran it so long with plain water that a channel was formed by the corrosion.
But it's cheap to try. Just replace the intake gaskets.


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[jhammel85]

Thanks bud. It's worth a shot! I forgot about the lower intake gasket.

What were your symptoms? Lost coolant with a tiny bit in the oil? I'm not sure exactly how to determine if this is it without pressurising the system. Once everything is off, How can I tell if the gasket is at fault? I'm hoping to find that it's broken or something, I'm just not sure.

It's been disappearing since day one. The other thing worth mentioning is that the oil is clean on the tube, clean exhaust (just passed inspection a month or so ago) and the valve train looked fantastic when I did the covers.

I think I'll start by doing a compression test and a glove test on the rad cap and see what happens. Hopefully that little glove doesn't move at all....

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Yeah I'd do the glove test also. The gasket will be detached and I'm betting there will be some white crusty or flaky corrosion. Also look for cracks, eroded channels and holes between the ports.


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[jhammel85]

Thanks man. I appreciate the input. I'll throw a glove on 'er tonight and see what happens.

 

[jhammel85]

Good news. Absolutely no movement from the glove. I ziptied it on, pulled the coil off and turned it over multiple times. No movement at all!

Looks like the intake is at fault. Im relieved but I'll feel better when its done and it's clean again.