Bad ticking - motor quit - now everthing just spins

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Dan Vinke

Active Member
Joined
May 8, 2007
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Location
Chicago, IL
So I was on the highway today and out of nowhere I start to hear this bad ticking sound. Immediatly I checked all the guauges and everything showed normal, so I right away pulled over to the shoulder and got ready to coast and motor started to lose power and then just quit.



I coasted to an exit ramp and got out popped the hood and there was smoke, not steam, coming from around the intake manifold/injectors and out the dipstick tube. I checked the oil and it was a little low but nothing to worry about. Then I checked the coolant because my radiator started leaking a couple days ago and I've been having to add fluid to it about every 100 miles. Well, I can't see any fluid at all in the bottom of the radiator and the overflow is empty. So it must have overheated pretty bad and all the water turned to vapor and the temp gauge did not show it was overheating.



Well, I added some water, let it cool way off and tried starting it and the motor just spins. Sounds like no compression or anything, just sounds like everything is spinning. I can look down the oil fill tube and see the cam on the passenger side spinnng, but no way of checking the drivers side.



Any ideas?? I'm lost...
 
Several motors have had the followers come loose and slam a valve into the pistons...



Could be that....



Sounds like you need to remove the valve covers , or do a compression test.







Todd Z
 
I took a sensor out of the drivers side valve cover and both cams are spinning, but I can see a really gunky buildup on the cam, kinda crusty and slimy.



Should I start looking for a new motor?
 
If the head gasket went bad, the engine will still have compression in other cylinders...



I would let it get looked at.......



Without being there , it is too much to guess at to make a right guess...



Todd Z
 
I had a 97 Taurus and I hit some debris on the highway and unknown to me, all the coolant dumped within a mile or so. Next thing, the car starts sputtering and dieing. Like you, I immediatley checked the gauges and all were normal except for the "check engine". The temp was normal, but it was obvious it was overheating. The engine was toast. I asked the mechanic why I didn't get a high temp warning or why the guage didn't show high temp and he stated that the gauge registers the temperature of the coolant; I didn't have any left! I don't know if that was the case, but it sure was wierd.



BTW, I foolishly decided to replace the engine on this 80,000 mile car and had nothing but problems for the next 2 years.



The good news is that car's failure led me to buying my ST!



If you go with an engine replacement, get a good warranty (at least 6 months) and buy it from a shop you can trust.
 
I checked compression on 4 of the cylinders today and they don't even move the gauge, and I know the guage works cause I tested it elsewhere. They barely "puff" when I put my finger over the hole, and I tried spraying oil in the cylinder with no change at all.



I'm gonna start pulling the heads tonight and try to found if the rings are toast or maybe the valves and go from there.
 
is your motor oil milkey white? if you blew a head gasket that allowed water into the oil galleys, than the engine is toast, period. good luck
 
is your motor oil milkey white? if you blew a head gasket that allowed water into the oil galleys, than the engine is toast, period. good luck



What makes you say that. I have done countless numbers of head gasket jobs where this has happened and don't remember the oil issue ever being a concern. Now on a vehicle that has had a blown head gasket for a while and been running that way I have seen the coolant, over time, take out the cam and the main bearings, but that doesn't sound like the case here.



Just because you have no compression doesn't mean the engine is toast. What probably happened is that the head warped, that is why the other cylinders have no compression, the gasket is compromised on more than one cylinder, adn more than likely on both sides, plus coolant probably washed down the cylinder walls therefore the rings can't seal and the engine won't build compression. How many miles on this motor.
 
If it is well taken care of then I would pull the heads and measure the cylinders for excessive wear and taper. If all looks good then personally I would have the heads rebuilt, that's what I would recommend to my customers also.
 
Would be better off buying a used low milage engine from a wrecking yard, are tons of them to be had, make sure you also score the donors PCM.

would be alot less hassle than pulling your heads, having them rebuilt,BLAH BLAH BLAH,only to find later that the rotating assy, due to water is trashed.

keep us posted.

would never consider a bandage repair on an engine with 90K miles and the problems you have discribed, the engine is trashed, move on. good luck.

Question L1 tech, what would you charge for the work you recommend?
 
On the labor side of things you are looking at $850, Right off the top of my head I don't know what the head gaskets and such cost adn i don't know what kind of shape the heads are in. If the heads just need a resurface then I would guess another $450-$650 in parts...this is just a rough estimate.



I don't see how you can say that this is a bandage repair. As long as the cylinders check good and the vehicle hasn't been run excessively with coolant in the oil(which it doesn't sound like in this case) then replacing the head gaskets is a reliable repair. I have a 94 Explorer in the driveway right now that ran with blown head gaskets for longer than it should have, customer gave me the vehicle, I had the heads resurfaced adn it has been running strong for the last 4 years in which I have put on about 50,000 miles, doesn't use a drop of oil, pulls trailers all the time and has just turned 200,000 miles a few weeks back. In my line of work the last thing I need to do is a bunch of labor intensive work adn when it's all done find out that there are other problems, if I didn't feel comfortable with this repair then I wouldn't have recommended it in the first place.
 
Dan V., Forget a rebuild with the engine in the truck. Ford makes a special toolkit that you will need for removing/replacing the cams and the timing chains. This is a fairly involved process and won't be easy unless you're more than a weekend mechanic. Pulling the heads will also require a big breaker bar and a T-60 inner torx socket. I don't recall if there are 8 or 10 head bolts and I would suggest finding a "new" used motor and pay to have it replaced. If you don't already own the tools you it will be a bit of an expense, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ford-Tool-1997-thru-2002/dp/B000K2KZHQ/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1210607731&sr=8-13"target=top>here's a linkey</a> to the master cam toolkit which you WILL need for cam timing. Moreover, removing the passenger side head is extremely difficult due to space and leverage limitations. I again would recommend a swap. Will save you frustration and probably money. You can always bring the engine home and tear it down at your leisure and then rebuild.

 
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Well, I do all my own work - I've pulled plenty of motors, and or heads and replaced them, and rebuilt a couple motors, so no labor cost there.



I found a motor locally that only has 900 actual miles on it and they are asking $1000 for it, so I think I'm gonna jump on that and just pull and replace it this week.



Besides, I really don't think it's the head gaskets, because if you blow a head gasket the cylinder will still show SOME compression, but the gauge does not even move. The rings or cylinders have to be toast or burned up valves.
 

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