Death of a Trac

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Jason Housman

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Feb 28, 2006
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Location
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I posted last night about my blinking c/e light and some performance issues and dropped the trac off at the shop. I got the call from the shop this morning and it was all bad news. Turns out there was no compression in cylinder 6 and when the head was removed they saw the valve was seared off and had fallen into the piston. There was damage to the piston and cylinder head. They told me that I need a new motor. I don't think they are lying to me being as they don't do motors there and I would have to take my business elsewhere for the repairs. I only have 135k on the truck and do routine maintenance. Unfortunately I don't have the money laying around to replace the motor so I have to figure some things out for the time being. Timing couldn't have been worse. I have to go to Rochester NY for 2 days next week and Harrisburg PA the week after for a week for work. Sucks to be me I guess. :(
 
Jason,



That does suck the big one :( . I have just begun looking into used Sport Tracs, and I see this more often than I'd like. What year is your Trac? If an '01, Job 1 or Job 2?
 
Jason,

Have you check around for a used motor? Not sure of pricing, but may be in your price range? Sorry to hear about your Trac.
 
That sucks,



Too bad you weren't closer, I am sure the 3 of us at Zabteck and you could do that motor in a weekend....



let us know the out come....



Todd Z
 
my Trac is an 02. I haven't done much searching for engines yet. me and the wife are still trying to figure out how we are going to get to work with only 1 car. Prolly gonna do a test run on the bus in my area this afternoon. Looks like I may start parting with some of my guitars and amps sooner than i wanted too.



PMcD- it's funny that you say that because the shop owner said that this is becoming a more common occurence with that engine.
 
We got 147,000 miles on our 4.0L SOHC engine the other has 89,000 miles.



It makes perfect sence that engines are starting to go now. The engines are older with more and more miles, therefore, more are going to break down and fail.



Jason, I am wondering if the cylinder walls were damaged any. A quick rebuild would have you running as good as new.





Tom
 
Tom I was thinking the same thing, Hone the cylinder, new piston and head rebuild.....LOL



there are in car things you can do, but the cost may not be worth it....



Todd Z
 
What I find odd here is that they have enough knowledge to take apart the engine. Then they say they dont do engines. Sounds fishy. Have you seen it your self? Did they really pull the head off? Or did they just do a compression check and assume?

I have and have had many friends and family run these motors 200K miles with no major damage. IMO, it is not common even if it is true.
 
These days, you don't need to take a motor apart to look inside of them. Remove a spark plug and insert a small camera and you can see inside. It isn't a good as tearing a motor down, but you can tell a lot.



I'm curious, Jason, were there any warning signs? A timing chain rattle perhaps? Maybe a funny noise coming from the engine itself. Doesn't really sound like a jumped timing chain, as only one valve was sheared, but maybe a collapsed/broken valve spring.



Very bad luck indeed.
 
A quick search on car-part.com found several complete motors 80k miles and lower from $300-$700.



Those below are distanced from zip code 18042.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I learned to ride the bus today. Before that i took a ride over to the shop to take a look at the truck. They had the engine apart and showed me the problem. The valve spring had broken causing the valve to fall into the engine. When the valve fell in it was hit by the piston and caused damage to the piston as well as the inside of the cylinder. There were no warnings when this happened. I was sitting at a traffic light and then all of a sudden the problems started. I considered the option of swapping out a motor from a junkyard and getting a new one. I plan on keeping the truck for a long time. It is still in good condition and i really like it so i've decided to get a new engine for it from Jasper. I prefer the comfort of some sort of guarantee. I don't want to swap it out with something from a junkyard just to get it done and save money. I want it done and I want it done right and I'm willing to spend the extra money for my piece of mind. Unfortunately at this time i don't have the money so I'm looking into ways of getting it. Legally. Until then I will drive the wife's Mazda Protege5(which is a fun car to drive) and she will take the bus to work. Now that's love.
 
This isn't the first report of broken valve springs on this board. While there aren't enough reports to warrant an all-out worry on other motors, it doesn't come as a shot out of the blue either. There may be a bad batch of springs, or that the springs weaken more then anticipated. Either way, a broken valve spring is a good way to ruin an otherwise good motor. Yet another reason I don't much care for modern engine management systems.



 
Quote "Yet another reason I don't much care for modern engine management systems."



I don't think engine management systems have anything to do with a broken valve spring. A 1963 Buick could suffer the same fate with zero engine management systems.
 
At least in a 1963 Buick, there aren't electronics making the motor run better then it should be, and at least a 1963 Buick will typically show signs of a weak spring before it actually breaks and causes engine catastrophe.
 
That's interesting about the valve spring. I posted today talking about how great my Sport Trac was with 185,000 miles on it. I went on to say that one of only two mechanical problems I had was at 125,000 miles I snapped a valve spring. Valve did not hit the piston, but it wasn't cheap to fix. Maybe there is some valve spring problem. Hmmmmmm?



...and Jason, yes, that is love!



GOOD LUCK!
 

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