gonna need some help on this!!!!

[12Ounce]

Some general info that may be useful to a fella that has not rebuilt an engine in a few years. Forgive any "repeats"....

GASKETS
Years ago you could buy an all inclusive total engine rebuilt set ... would include everything ... but not for today's engines .... now you have to buy a "lower" and "upper" set. (This is because a lower engine shortblock can be sold with many different upper arrangements .... single, dual cams, turbo, variable cam timing, etc, etc.)

You will need the upper set. Will include the headgaskets, the water pump gasket, the intake manifold gaskets, may include the exhaust gasket ... the exhaust gasket is probably reusuable. It will also include the front cover gasket as well as the front crank seal.

If you decide to remove the pistons, you will also need an oil pan gasket. The oil pan gasket is included in the lower set, but you don't need the crankshaft rear seal ... buying the single pan gasket should be cheaper. BTW, I would not plan on removing the pistons ... its up to you! Unless you have 200 kmiles on this engine ... the rings should be OK. The brief exposure to overheat did not hurt them!

HEADBOLTS
You will need a new set. They should be lightly oiled before installation. There is a rather rigid procedure of pre-torqueing and then turning. Be sure to understand the procedure before starting. You will need a 1/2" torque wrench. Before the final "turning", mark all the bolts at the same spot using correction fluid ... this will help you keep up with the turns. If you ever miss and overturn a bolt a little ... do not back up, just leave it be. I had to use a mirrow to see the rear bolts as I was doing the final turns.

I started to buy gaskets and headbolts at AutoZone, but found them much cheaper at the Ford dealer .... go figure!

[12Ounce]

...oops:

HEADBOLTS
I forgot ... this is a VEE engine ... 2 heads ... you will need 2 sets of new headbolts!

[12Ounce]

WATER PUMP
Since this engine has been overheated, you likely will have to replace the water pump. They are available as kits or whole pumps. The whole pumps cost little more and are the better deal. The pulley may have to be moved from old to new ... I don't remember. Would require a puller. Ford says to replace the bolts with new ... I didn't ... these bolts are so accessable, they could later be replaced if a problem arose.

[ldelisle]

okay sounds good, good, good, info, i was wondering about the gaskets i found some decent prices on line. Is there any major quality difference or is it worth it to pay the extra for local service. I was planning to replace the water pump too, i still have not found the initial cause of the overheating but there is one suspect. The manual also tells me to remove the oil pan, i didn't really think it necessary but i wannna now just to see whats in there

[12Ounce]

Yeah, I'd probably remove the pan also. To clean it out ... and then keep it off until the very last, just in case something small falls and finds its way down in there.

Nothing wrong with ordering the parts on line if you've got the time for shipping. I've used RockAuto a little.

The coolant reservoir bottle and the radiator (my problem) are both leakers on this model. Be sure to check them.

[ldelisle]

yeah i had a pretty good day today i got the fuel lines off and that let me pull the fuel distributor and the imrc housing. i also pulled the coil and all the plugs and checked them out. I started on the water pump but only got as far as the belt ....it looks pretty well shot too, i'll try and finish that tomorrow, and i'm waiting on a friend to bring over a battery charger, then i can finish the comp check. The reservoir and the radiator look okay, i'm a little worried about the fans don't know why just figure whats the worst that could go wrong and start there. Have you ever performed a resistance check on them, all they show in the manual is a voltage and amp check. I just think hooking my ohmmeter to them would be a whole lot easier. anyway thanks again.....lar

[12Ounce]

The fans failing would not cause the temp to rise to the point that the engine would be destroyed ... at least not directly and in the short term ... if the fans being off led to coolant expansion and loss, then OK, maybe its somewhat possible ... but even then, this would never happen if the car was moving fast enough for normal radiator cooling ... say, 50 mph or faster.

[12Ounce]

BTW, you need to pull the fuel pump relay/fuse before cranking that engine now!

[ldelisle]

yeah pulled the relay this morn. the fans were only off for maybe 10 or 15 min. at least thats when i shut down the a/c and i was doing at least 65 or 70 all the way. Is there like a target psi i should be looking for the manual just says if they're within 75% its okay. Their chart shows just about all the ranges, i was wondering if there is a certain number i should be looking for. Also the book says if a cylinder is low put a little clean oil in there and run again. I was thinking of doing this and recording both pressures. what do you think?......lar

[12Ounce]

You need to crank the engine, usually 5 or 6 turnovers, until the gauge max's ... for each cylinder. Record the max gauge reading you get for each cylinder. Please do not try dropping oil in the cylinders and retesting ... that is just a great way to screw up a test gauge ... and really proves nothing (you would get great test pressures even if there were NO rings on the pistons, after putting oil in the cylinder!).

On a clean (not too much carbon built-up) gasoline engine that does not have burned valves or broken rings ... you would expect a reading somewhere around 175 psi. On such an engine, that is in pretty good shape, the highest reading cylinder will not be over 20% greater than the lowest cylinder.

The "beauty" of testing an engine before repair, and then using the exact same gauge to test after repair ... is you will be able to get a really clear picture of the impact of the repair. A recording of the after-repair readings becomes a base-line to use for determining engine wear over the next (100's of) thousands of miles usage.

[ldelisle]

Thanx 12 i will do that....well will ya lookie there i just got a brand new compression guage for christmas.....let ya know the results after the test....lar

[ldelisle]

Well I just finished the test when i cranked it water and oil and maybe a little antifreeze spewed from some of the cylinders but when it stopped i did the test. #1 190, #2 0 #3 75 #4 15 #5 30 #6 45 no doubt i'm at least ripping off the heads......any input will be appreciated .....thanx....lar

[Bach4660]

reading through the posts (alot of great info) the engine is still in the PV, how much body if any did you remove for access? Fenders, hood, front grille?

[12Ounce]

From the info you posted ... I would say you have both blown head gaskets ... and maybe worse, I've never seen 0 psi without a broken valve stem or something like that. You didn't mention any terrible mechanical noises ..??... good if there were none.

You must take the front cover off before the heads ... and you've been warned to be careful to remove camshaft caps in correct order.

Be sure to drain coolant if you have not already. I would remove front plastic bumper and radiator for more room ... remove and tie-up the ac compressor and condensor. Drain the oil ... and save a sample . In fact, you may want to send an oil sample to Blackstone Laboratories so they can do a metal and coolant analysis ... not really necessary, just good info.

Stay in touch!

[ldelisle]

Hey Bach.....good you could join us I haven't removed the engine or much of the body, just the splash guards underneath, and the front grill , but if 12 oz. says yank the bumper and radiator i'm gonna consider it.
Yeah the #2 bothered me for a bit but i remember when i pulled the imrc i could see into the valve ports and it looked like the exhaust valve stem was bent. i got a flashlight and jammed a finger in there and it was just built up carbon crud on the valve stem and had broken loose. I think i remember some air coming from there as i was running the test too. Maybe the valve is stuck or some of the crud is stuck in there. Tomorrow or Monday I'll start on the right hand side of the engine. I also still have to pull the W/P oil pan cover. Do you remember if the bolts on the front cover should be labeled?

thanx .....lar