Please help with ideas

[kabledawg]

I sold my 2002 Ranger today and an hour and a half later the guy calls and said the engine stopped. He had it towed to a shop and they say it's locked up and won't turn over even with a breaker bar on the crank. It only had 63210 miles on it and I have NEVER had any issues with it at all. I offered him his money back and went and picked it up with my trailer. It wouldn't turn over when it was tried, so I know it seems locked up. Can anyone think of what this may be? He said it didn't make a sound. He said it was running beautifully and he was loving the truck, but it quit. I am literally sick to my stomach over it and plan to get it fixed. Any help will be great. It is the 3 liter flex fuel engine.

Sean

 

[kabledawg]

He said the check engine light flash 2 or three times. He said he didn't notice the oil gauge drop and he claims it didn't make a noise or knock. The sensor you mentioned, how dod you know it it went out?

 

[kabledawg]

I appreciate your ideas. I put my head under it and didn't see and oil leaking. They had it up on a lift before I got there and they didn't say there was anything wrong with the oil pan. There was an old mechanic there and he said that if it just went quickly as the guy claims then it may have just spun a bearing and jammed itself. He said I may be able to replace the crank bearings and crank and all would be fine. I guess I'll start pulling it tomorrow. It's just heart breaking to have this happen. I thought he was just kidding at first because he kept saying how much he liked the truck and perhaps was just kidding with me, but no such luck.

Sean

 

[kabledawg]

One other thing.... Is there any difference in the block between a flex fuel engine and a non flex fuel engine? Just in case I may be able to find one somewhere.

Sean

 

[Buggyman]

To my understanding, there is a slight difference in the bore between a flex and a nonflex 3.0. I blew my nonflex 98 3.0 and I put in a 2000 flex fuel 3.0. I used my sensors, fuel system and injectors and PCM from the 1998 and the truck runs very well. If your truck was a nonflex fuel and you use a flex fuel motor, make sure you put the injectors and sensors from your old motor onto the new motor assuming its also a 3.0.

I suggest you search Craigs list, I found a wrecked 2000 ranger for $300 and did my entire swap with it.

Best of luck!

 

[kabledawg]

I found a couple here in town. One is a flex fuel, but he wants $1000 for the engine alone. I'm sure I can find one cheaper. The other doesn't say what year or which engine it is for $300.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[FL_forlife33]

cam sensor

all this talk about the cam sensor going out of the blue, and seizing the engine is really scary. is there anyway to know if it will? is there a preventative fix? would it be a good idea to just replace it?

 

[RDRESSER]

I agree, the cam sensor problems are disconcerting. Are there specific model years that were affected?

 

[Beanmachine7000]

You gave him his money back? Wow, you're a nice guy, lol...

 

[kabledawg]

Yeah I gave him his money back. That was the right thing to do. Had it been a while later I may not have, but he didn't make it home before this happened. The only reason I sold the truck was because I bought a new one and didn't need this one anymore. I had no signs of anything was going wrong, so I have no clue what went wrong yet. I am taking my time pulling the motor. I really didn't want to have to pull it.
I have spoken with a couple of mechanics that have given me the worst case scenarios and I didn't like what they had to say. Does anyone know if all of the 3 liter blocks are the same and interchangeable? Obviously the intake and sensors will need to be changed over, but that is a given. I just want to know about the block and internals should I decide to just buy one and swap them instead of rebuilding mine.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[Rearanger]

Yeah I gave him his money back. That was the right thing to do.

You are a rare breed of individual that this world could do with more of. Live long and prosper.

 

[fourwheelford]

Its not the sensor that goes out and locks the motor. People always get these mixed up for some reason. It is actually the syncronizer that the sensor sits on top of that goes out and it is what drives the oil pump. It is basically the bottom half of the what the distributor woud be. They will generally squeal before they die but sometimes they just go out for no reason. I changed mine at 100 k because I didn't want to risk it, 135 bucks and a couple hours of time is better than a toasted motor. If you just change the sensor your not doing anything to help the situation.

 

[FL_forlife33]

Its not the sensor that goes out and locks the motor. People always get these mixed up for some reason. It is actually the syncronizer that the sensor sits on top of that goes out and it is what drives the oil pump. It is basically the bottom half of the what the distributor woud be. They will generally squeal before they die but sometimes they just go out for no reason. I changed mine at 100 k because I didn't want to risk it, 135 bucks and a couple hours of time is better than a toasted motor. If you just change the sensor your not doing anything to help the situation.

good to know

 

[kabledawg]

It would be great if I could change the synchronizer and all would be good, but that is very unlikely. I am wondering if something could have come apart and gotten wedged, but if that is the case then there would probably be damage just from the abrupt stopping of internal parts.

Sean

 

[wvfarmboy]

I had a chevrolet to do that once. Spun bearing no dought you best bet is get 3.0 from a car and change head gaskets