| View single post by mhoward | |||||||||
| Posted: Thu May 9th, 2024 02:36 pm |
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mhoward Hey look ~ they ~ bounce!  Joined: Sun Oct 22nd, 2017
Location: Evansville, USA
Posts: 2732
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Okay, the truck is finally back on the road. After many dollars and many hours, I have eliminated the water ingress to the crankcase. Turned out to be the timing cover. The pitting at the large water jacket holes was just more than the gasket and #2 Permatex could compensate for. While it was down to the short block, I opted to replace the oil pump, valve stem seals, PCV elbow and of course, all the gaskets. Once it was back together, I put on a cheap Champion oil filter and filled it with 4qts. of Walmart SuperTech 5w20 and a quart of Amsoil engine flush. One little glitch when I first started it up: it was blowing back up through the intake on one cylinder, so I had to remove the upper intake and valve covers. Found the issue to be where I failed to get the pushrod properly installed on one valve lifter. So that was causing the compression stroke to blow back through the intake. Fairly quick and easy correction. I let it run (idle) for 45 minutes to clean out all the gunk the oil/water mix had created. I immediately pulled the drain plug and filter while it was fully warmed up and let it drain overnight. Installed a fresh FL400s Motorcraft filter and 5qts. of PennZoil Platinum High Mileage Full Synthetic 5w20. Ran it and checked for leaks, then took it for a 5-mile test drive. Rechecked everything and all was well, so I took it out a second time for a 10-mile test drive. Everything is looking good. I will say that it is a bit flaccid on performance (more so than normal on this 3.0L). I attribute that to the gunk that went through the intake and ended up in the exhaust (cats). During that 45 minute engine flush, the crap that came out of the tailpipe was disgusting to say the least, and it stained the concrete floor. I drove it to work this morning ~30 miles and I believe it runs better now than yesterday, so I think it will continue to improve. My plan is to stop by AutoZone on my way home tonight and pick up a bottle of CataClean catalytic converter cleaner to dump into the tank. Then, when I fill up next time, I will put a can of Sea Foam in the tank to help the cleaning process. I will give the engine compartment a bath this weekend, weather permitting, and hit the underside as well. Now, back to my '06+ mirror project...
____________________ -- Michael 2003 Ranger Edge / Extended Cab / Flareside / 3.0L FLEX / 5r44e Auto / 2WD / 8.8 LS 4:10 / Sonic Blue Pearl So many mods... so little time... |
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