Any Ford Master Mechanics on here

[kevin]

Well... Im being told ya got a bent rod !!!! No reason that piston shouldn't be just like the rest !!!!!

 

[Northwinds]

Well... Im being told ya got a bent rod !!!! No reason that piston shouldn't be just like the rest !!!!!

That's a very real possibility, vapors will compress, water doesn’t so that makes sense with a bad head gasket. I have to assume it also threw the crank out of balance... does the engine shake bad?

 

[kevin]

He said it ran fine !!!! The GM 3.8 was bad for the upper intake leaking water down on the piston...I've seen a bunch of them with bent rods !!! I hope thats not the case here...

 

[orange]

I think my father preferred my 2.8 FI but when the motor mounts would go he wasn't fond of changing them in the driveway. My '94 Pontiac Grand Prix had a 3.1 that was awesome but the transmission was a nightmare...they weren't kidding about if you accidentally hit both pedals at the same time (in reverse at maybe 3 mph) that it will screw the thing up. By the time I finally got it to my parents I had most of the bands slagged and it didn't occur to even my dad as to what it was doing until we took it to the transmission shop a month later with me crawling it over at 45-50 one the freeway to stay in third.

A Depends moment for the shop owner, who probably never saw it in a dragster even...

 

[eminence1963]

Went to a Ford dealer and talk to the service department. They never heard of such a thing. The one guy went about and talked to all his mechanics for about 15 minutes and came back with the same answer. There was no service bulletin issued for this motor to have a shorter connecting rod installed. He told me if it ran fine before I took it apart minus the head gasket leak then if I correctly reinstall all the parts back the way it was then it should run fine. He said if I was worried about it that much that I should pull the motor and replace the piston and rod in question. I cant pull the motor since I have no way of doing so. I will just put back everything and cross my fingers that it will run like it did for the past 2 years minus the head gasket leak. He did say that gas mileage will suffer some because of the lower compression on that cylinder. He also told me to put a hotter plug in that cylinder. There was no shaking stumbling anything when I drove the van, it ran fine. There is plenty of power before I tore down the motor, and it passed emissions here in my state. Gas mileage was 18 city 20 on highway. He did mention that due to the piston having a stamped number on top that it was more than likely replace at some point. That's the answer I got from our local ford dealership.

 

[Elite-ist]

Robert: Just out of curiosity, if you could copy down that service # on the #3 piston top, I would be interested in what it crosses over to.

Nando.

 

[eminence1963]

Robert: Just out of curiosity, if you could copy down that service # on the #3 piston top, I would be interested in what it crosses over to.

Nando.

sure thing will do in the am as its too dark outside right now and cold and I already got washed

 

[eminence1963]

On another note on the continuing saga Machine shop call and said 3 of the exhaust valves were leaking as well. They were not seating properly and not just a little but a lot. I am surprised this thing ran as nice as it did. I am definitely crossing my fingers on this thing ever running again properly. I just hope that I am not throwing my money away.

 

[laatsch55]

Did ya run a compression test before teardown Robert/Bob??

 

[eminence1963]

Did ya run a compression test before teardown Robert/Bob??

No I did not Lee. I maybe should have but I did not as there was no power loss. It ran strong and always fired right up.

 

[laatsch55]

No pucka-pucka out the exhaust eh??

 

[kevin]

looks like it should be sucking a little..... With those valves not seating ????

 

[Web Police]

Looks like either a bent rod, a replacement builders piston made for decking the block, or it could be a stroker piston/rod from a different displacement V6. While the piston would have the same bore the wrist pin sat a little higher in the piston thus giving you the excess deck height.

Good luck with the repair job and hopefully if the engine ran smooth before it isn't a bent rod.

 

[eminence1963]

When you work on jet engines for 20 plus years you become anal on everything you touch mechanical wise. There is no room for error when you only have one jet engine strapped to the seat. I know cars are a little more forgiving as it cant fall out of the sky like a plane can, but non the less I don't like doing things unless its done right the first time. It's ingrained into my brain for the last 20 years. I'm no stranger to engine building as I did that as well after I retired. I lost count many years ago how many cars I have worked on. One other thing is that I don't know everything, but I am not afraid to ask or seek out the answers.

 

[laatsch55]

Too much was at stake to pretend you did know...

 

[eminence1963]

Here you go Nando pic of the Part #

 

[laatsch55]

Was the carbon deposits worse on this one??

 

[eminence1963]

Too much was at stake to pretend you did know...

Got my Pee Pee slapped many times for incorrectly installing safety wire backwards As I got more years under my belt it was my turn to do the final inspection Scary isn't it!!

 

[laatsch55]

Nope. Give me a hands on guy any day over someone who just talksit.

 

[eminence1963]

Was the carbon deposits worse on this one??

yes as this pic resembles all the others were clean.