my broke ass 86 ranger 2.3

[ricardo93]

so i finally pulled the head off of my motor and as far as i can tell it's not cracked and the gasket is not cracked either... i was thinking that since when it was running, under a heavy load, there was a lot of lifter tap like alot! so i was thinking that with the head on the floor and a ratchet i could spin the cam extremely easily.

so i was wondering, would my block have been filled with gasoline because the valves got stuck open because of weak lifters?

 

[RonD]

I think you may have misdiagnosed the "noise" you heard.

Tapping "Noise" under load is usually pinging/knocking from fuel igniting too soon.
This is a common issue on the Lima engines(ford 4cyl.)

Did you try running higher octane fuel(Premium 93) in the engine?

If engine has an EGR(exhaust gas recirculation) system that is the usual issue for ping/knocking, EGR system cools the engine to reduce N0X emissions and also ping/knocking under load.

Since you have the head off was there any carbon build up in the head/valves and piston top?
Carbon build up also causes ping/knocking, it raise compression and holds heat in so a double whammy for pinging.


Did the oil pressure gauge or light show low oil pressure?
Usually valve tapping is more noticeable at idle because oil pressure is lower, at higher RPMs the noise will often go away as oil pressure is increased because oil pump has added more flow.

Valve train on the 2.3l can have it's problems, so worth checking since head is off.

Weak valve springs cause "floating valves" at high RPM, there is no noise with this, but there is a loss of power; once valves start to "float" the RPMs stop increasing so power band limit has been reached, this happens on all engines, just happens at a lower RPM if valve springs are weak.

You should be able to turn the cam with a wrench, on or off the block(with timing belt removed).
If you want you can remove a few random valve springs and take them to a shop with valve spring tester, they can compress the springs and compare the pressure it takes with the Ford Specs, and tell you if springs are weak.


And no, there is no connection between the valves and the block, so no fuel could get into the block that way; a valve train issue.
Gasoline in the oil can come from leaking carb or injector when engine is off, it leaks down into the intake manifold, passed an open valve and then passed the piston rings into the oil pan.
This situation would also cause carbon build up when engine was running.

 

[Kenneth S]

When the engine got the fuel in the oil was the engine fuel injected, or carbed?

 

[ricardo93]

Since you have the head off was there any carbon build up in the head/valves and piston top?
Carbon build up also causes ping/knocking, it raise compression and holds heat in so a double whammy for pinging.

there was a pretty decent amount of build up on the piston tops, and in the valves it looks like there was some build up

Did the oil pressure gauge or light show low oil pressure?
Usually valve tapping is more noticeable at idle because oil pressure is lower, at higher RPMs the noise will often go away as oil pressure is increased because oil pump has added more flow.

my oil presure and water temp were always high in normal warm weather, they were like at the edge of the safe range, they were only running in the middle of the range on a really cold morning or a lucky day.

If you want you can remove a few random valve springs and take them to a shop with valve spring tester, they can compress the springs and compare the pressure it takes with the Ford Specs, and tell you if springs are weak.

Would i be able to take to springs to, say, o'reilly auto, or would i have to go to a machine shop for that?


When the engine got the fuel in the oil was the engine fuel injected, or carbed?

It was fuel injected when that happened

 

[RonD]

Auto parts store would sell valve spring tester
Machine shop should have one for testing valve springs, they would also have the Ford Specs for your engine.

Your gauges seem off.
Coolant temp should run just below 1/2 on the gauge, at "normal" 200-210deg operating temp, it might run at 1/2 or just above on a warmer day 90+ degrees.
Most complain the 2.3l engines never get above 1/4 on the temp gauge.

On the '86 Ranger you could still have an oil pressure sender, Ford change to an oil pressure "switch" around this time, above 6 psi pressure showed "normal"(just below 1/2), and below 6 psi showed 0 pressure, so needle didn't go up and down with RPM unless there was a Voltage issue.

If you still had an oil pressure sender instead of a switch then oil pressure would go up in cooler weather, not down, so that is odd.
Oil is thicker when cooler which shows a higher pressure until engine warms up, then it should be "normal" again.

So you could have an electrical issue vs a coolant temp or oil pressure issue.
Example: if you turned on the heater fan when it was cooler weather then gauges could go down because voltage was lower, they shouldn't but if there was an electrical issue they would.
(fuel gauge uses 5volt pulse, so wouldn't be effected)
Voltage regulator in the alternator could cause that.

You can look up Ford oil pressure switch and Ford oil pressure sender, they look different, then look to see what you have, should be drivers side of the block, toward the rear, it will have only 1 wire connected.


Never removed a head on the Ford Lima engine, so not sure what you had to disconnect.
But if the fuel rail and injectors are still hooked up on the intake manifold you can pressurize the system and visually look to see if any injector is leaking.
Make sure alternator + wire is not touching a ground, then hook up the battery and turn on the key, fuel pump should run for 2 seconds, repeat on and off with the key a few times, then check inside the intake manifold for fuel, there should be no fuel in there, injectors only open when crank shaft is turning, not when key is on.

 

[Road Angels]

engine

Machine shop, for the springs, if you had alot of gas in the crank case this could cause the lifer or other noises due to thinning of the oil, if the engine was running ok but made noise, and the crankcase was full of gas like a lot not just smelling like it, it could be a bad fuel pump on a carbed engine that is letting gas into the crank case, or if it was running bad and had a carb then a bad float could cause the engine to pass the raw extra gas into the crank case

 

[Kenneth S]

To get gas in the engine oil its more than likely the engine is tired, piston rings not sealing very good, worn out fuel injectors that are dribbling fuel rather than spraying (poor combustion), injector(s) could be constantly leaking, injector(s) leaking down when the engine is shut off letting raw fuel go into the cylinder if the intake is being held open by the cam then going past the leaking piston rings. Bad lifter(s) wouldn't cause fuel to get into the oil.

 

[ricardo93]

To get gas in the engine oil its more than likely the engine is tired, piston rings not sealing very good, worn out fuel injectors that are dribbling fuel rather than spraying (poor combustion), injector(s) could be constantly leaking, injector(s) leaking down when the engine is shut off letting raw fuel go into the cylinder if the intake is being held open by the cam then going past the leaking piston rings. Bad lifter(s) wouldn't cause fuel to get into the oil.

There is a nasty score mark on the cylinder wall for #1, I had my uncle look at it, and he said it might be that the ring might have blown on that piston

 

[RonD]

Does your fingernail catch on the Score Mark?

If you just "see" the scoring but can't "feel" the scoring then it would be ok to reassemble as is.
If you can "feel" it I would think the engine was overheated and ring expanded too much(end gap closed) and scored the wall, broken ring would show up as many marks.

If you can "feel" it, then I would pull the oil pan and remove the piston in that cylinder, inspect it for why there is a mark on the cylinder, then use a "ridge removal" tool and hone the cylinder to remove the most of the scoring(I like the bottle brush type honers).
These can be rented pretty cheaply.
If it is a deep "gouge" not just scoring then shop for a used 2.3l engine.

If you have a good stock ring from the piston, remove it and place it inside the cylinder, down about 2 inches from the top, use a feeler gauge and find the ring's "end gap"(measure how wide the gap is)
Your bore is 3.78" so gap should be about .020
If gap is larger get a slightly over sized ring set

 

[Kenneth S]

A scored cylinder wall is usually caused by broken piston ring(s), if your fingernail can hook on the score either find you a different block, or pull the one you have, and have it re-bored, and get new pistons because chances are the cylinder bores are also tapered (bigger on the top than the bottom). You could just hone it, and put new rings in it provided if the ring lands on the piston aren't collapsed (that's really more of Band-Aid than a fix, but if your low on funds it would be ok just not as good as it could be), if you have a hard time getting the rings off the piston don't re-use that piston. If it's big time scored it's just time for another block

 

[ricardo93]

I looked at it today and felt it and it was more of a sludge mark then a score mark, I slid my finger on it and it came off like the grime outside the block, so I was wondering now what should I do?

Oh I was also thinking about putting a 2.5 crank in, what would I need to look for to do that, as ode from the obvious 2.5 crank, how would I go about getting the rods for that project?

 

[Kenneth S]

I looked at it today and felt it and it was more of a sludge mark then a score mark, I slid my finger on it and it came off like the grime outside the block, so I was wondering now what should I do?

Oh I was also thinking about putting a 2.5 crank in, what would I need to look for to do that, as ode from the obvious 2.5 crank, how would I go about getting the rods for that project?

Clean the sludge out of the bore, and take a closer look at the bore.

For the 2.5 crank swap besides the crank you need the 2.5 connecting rods (they are longer than the 2.3 rods), and pistons for a 2.5 (they have a shorter compression height than the 2.3 pistons, the wrist pin is closer to the top of the piston).

 

[ricardo93]

So basically the whole bottom end of a 2.5 has to go in?

I plan on taking the block out and honing the walls

 

[Kenneth S]

Just so you know the 1988 and earlier 2.3's had a bigger main journal diameter 2.3986". The 1989 and later 2.3, and the 2.5 use a smaller 2.2055" diameter main journal so you may want to measure a main journal on the crankshaft to make sure. You can use the smaller diameter main cranks in the earlier 2.3 blocks using these spacers http://www.needhp.com/ford23bearingspacers-smalljournalcrankinalargejournalblock.aspx

So if you can't find a small main 2.3 block with a distributor hole (if you want to use a distributor), all is not lost.

 

[ricardo93]

Well I like the distributor set up, because it seems simpler to me so if this block is usable I'm gonna use it for all its worth

Also, would I have to change the oil pan for clearance, or the the oil pump?