engine shot on and 02 trac - options?

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Ford SportTrac Forum

Help Support Ford SportTrac Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Greg Bellan

Greg Bellan

Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2002
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Location
Twinsburg, OH
so i'm sittig at a red light this AM on the way to work and all of a sudden the check engine light comes on... and starts blinking. during idle i'm getting a terribly rough idle.



rather than continuing to work i head straight to the shop. long story short i've got no compression in the #2 cylinder. so according to the shop i can get a used engine or a new engine.



i was considering selling this truck shortly, but i think i'm going to have to speed up that process. any thoughts? do i have any other options other than a new engine or trading my trac?



by the way, i've got a 2002 4x4 trac with 92k in mileage.



thanks in advance!

chewie
 
Chewie,



Did the ST overheat? Does the dipstick show signs of water in the oil?

If the truck did not overheat, and the oil is not milky white, (IE water in the oil) you may be able to get away with just a repair and not a new engine. Could be a head gasket, could be a valve. As long as the lower end is still good, (Rods, Crank, Pistons) the head should be able to be pulled, checked for cracks, etc.. and reinstalled with a new gasket. 92K is still relatively low mileage.



If water got in the oil, depending on how long you drove it that way, it is usually toast time for the bearings and an overhaul would be needed for long term reliability.



Good Luck, Keep us posted..



Dave
 
Probably broke a valve spring.... Maybe got lucky.....



Todd Z
 
thanks for the replies - here's what my paperwork said...



"we found the computer had codes in the system p0316 and p0302 miss-fire codes.



we found the engine running very rough and the spark plug wires shorting. after we replace the spark plugs (worn hard) and wires (arcing), we found low compression in number 2 cylinder. recommend r&i the engine to try to find possible internal engine problem.



customer is aware of the above and willbe selling the car and getting a new one."



i'm pretty sure i know the answer but at 92k i'm totally out of warranty right?



thanks again!

chewie
 
Maybe just a broken valve spring. If the valve hasn't hit the piston, it could be a fairly easy fix. Broken valve springs seem to be cropping up, lately. Not a lot of times, but a few.
 
curious - would you guys go directly to ford at this point or ask my garage to check the valve spring out? any thoughts on what it might cost to diagnose this? i guess i'm just not wanting to put thousands into it if i'm just going to find out that the engine is bad and needs to be replaced.



thanks!

chewie
 
Honestly, I would tow it to another shop, that is willing to take off the valve cover on the #2 side and inspect what is going on....





If just the valve spring and the piston or valve is not bad, for a couple hundred your back in business....



Todd Z
 
Honestly i would not drive it, IF the valve is hanging on there by the keepers, it could fall and hit the piston.. ( If it hasn't alreday)....



The valve covers are not a huge pain to remove, maybe 1 hour labor by you...



Todd Z
 
this just happened to me 3 weeks ago. except there was no compression in cylinder 6. turns out the valve spring cracked and the engine sucked the valve, tearing up the cylinder and damaging the piston. i also have an 02 4x4 trac with 135k on it. the shop i have it at is replacing the motor for me. it's been there for 3 weeks. i decided to take a loan out to do the repair with a new jasper motor. that was 2 weeks that it was in the shop, then a day for delivery of the motor, another day it sat in the lot and they started it last monday. it was finished on thursday. here's the kicker---the motor jasper sent was no good. it sounded like it was missing bearings or that the crank wasn't tightened. it really sounded like someone was laying underneath the truck beating the underside with a hammer. so they sent a new one. now i'm waiting for them(jasper) to determine whether it was a defective motor or something that happened during installation. in the meantime i still don't have my truck and i'm waiting for the shop and jasper to determine who is paying for the second r&r of the motor. just so you know in case you want to replace the motor it cost me $4461.38 for the new motor and "install kit"(new plugs, wires, hoses etc.) and $2070 for the r&r of the motor. apparently there are a lot of plastic parts that need to be removed from the old motor and put on the new one. i'm all paid up to both the shop and jasper so they are going to have to fight it out who is paying for the second motor replacement. good luck with whatever you chose. just thought i'd share my experience with someone who is having the same problem.
 
Todd, Here is a good question.. If there is an issue with valve springs cracking on the 4.0 V6 ST's, should I look at replacing the valve springs BEFORE this happens? My ST is an 01, with 97K on it, and its currently running great since replacing the plugs last weekend. Thanks. Dave
 
Dave it is hard to say.... Did the Germans get a bad set of springs??? is it some design flaw, to high a lift on the cam ???? Things we may never get an answer to....



I personally don't think i will go changing them for maintenance reasons... There are many factors that can lead to a spring breaking.....



It would almost be a $1,000.00 job to change them all.....



Todd Z
 
dre,

It is not the parts cost but the labor that is murder.....



The valve cover gaskets, springs and spark plugs are not the major cost, say around $200.00 bucks. The labor involved and special tools is the cost factor.... It is not easy to change them on the car. you have to pressurize each cylinder to hold the valves closed and then change the springs.... Some time the keeper stick, and what not...



Todd Z
 
How hard is it to get around the camshaft to the valve springs? I've changed valve springs on pushrod engines, but not on a overhead cam engine.
 
Dreman, there is a special valve compression tool that is used to remove the roller follower's(similar to rocker arms). Then you can remove the camshafts and then from there you can figure out how to remove the springs. Doing the job on the truck is PROBABLY possible but won't be easy. Complicating things will be which head you have to work on. Passenger side head is in tight confines.



Even if you were to succeed in doing this without removing the heads, you will then be confronted with timing the motor. Don't bother with your timing light, the SOHC requires a <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&category=43995&sspagename=STORE%3APROMOBOX%3ANEWLIST&viewitem=&item=120165477144"target=top>special tool kit</a> to properly align the camshafts. To do any real engine work, the engine should be pulled and put on a stand. Working on this engine is something of a nightmare for weekend mechanics.
 
On another note, anyone contemplating doing any of this type of work, I strongly suggest getting the Haynes manual for the SOHC (Explorer, ranger or trac from 2001 forward) and reading up. It is pretty involved and will help make this type of decision.
 
just wanted to come on back and give you guys an update. my trac (unfortunately) is gone. i took it to 3 garages and got the same diagnosis each time -- no compression in the #5 cylinder.



so, i traded it in on a 08 nissan pathfinder. quite a bit different than the trac, but so far i love it. even though i'm not a trac owner i'll still stop by from time to time if you guys don't mind!



chewie
 
Where's the obligatory "Rip out the engine and 'puter stuff and drop in a V8"?...

 

Latest posts

Top