Sad Day for me and HeavyD

[T-FIXER]

another possibility is the block cracked and let coolant into the cylinder and hydro locked the motor - i've seen this several times and ford suggests a coolant additive to prevent this - its called cavitation

[Dave Sponaugle]

Cavitation,
The vibration from the fuel exploding in the cylinders causes little bubbles to form on the coolant side of the cylinder wall. These little bubbles let rust spots form little cavities in the cylinder wall.
This turns to little pin holes that rust into the combustion chamber and let coolant into the cylinders. It also lets compression from the cylinders into the cooling system blowing antifreeze everywhere under the hood. Where cavitation and cracked blocks do come together is when the engine is turned off the radiator pressure pushes coolant into the cylinder. Then someone tries to start the engine and it will not turn over because it is hydro locked. So they hook up a chain to pull start the vehicle and the hydro lock has to bust something. The crank, block, cylinder heads, head bolts or head gaskets which can trash the engine completely.

Cavitation has nothing to do with cracks.
Cavitation has nothing to do with grinding noises.

At least not without help from outside sorces.

[BlueHeavyD]

Bilder, I had checked the radiator the day before and it was low, real low. I'm like you, I have had to many bad experiences to trust dealers.
When I drained the pan I waited til the antifreese changed to oil and put the plug back in. I got a clean bucket and draped a clean cloth over the top and drained the remaining fluid through the cloth. I will check the first bucket and the cloth for shavings with a magnet.
I was freaking out a little at the time so I don't know if I can accuratly describe the type of noise it was making. When it first started I was doing about 65, pulled over and shut it off. I checked under the hood so see if anything obvious was wrong. I then refired the truck and it started rght up, still making the noise and running a little rough. I noticed the I was only about a quarter of a mile from a rest stop so I drove to a postion where I could coast into the parking area and find a place where a tow truck could easily hook up. The noise was consistant, revolving, metal to metal sound. I don't think I can describe it any better than that. Maybe on a personal note, sickening. I think the place I had it towed to first started again the next morning to move it.

As far as the coolant additive goes it was supposed to have been added by the dealer in its earlier mileage and I put it in as well, even as recently as early this past fall.
I don't know if this will shed any more light on things, but as always I really thank you all for your responces. Bill

[fellro86]

well, if a head gasket or head cracked, or both, you can get coolant in the oil, more so with head gasket. However, you have more serios troubles as far as the metal sound. May be cam, may have broken a valve, (i had that happen once with farm tractor, valve head broke off, trashed the piston and head) the only way to find out for certain is teardown. It may not be all that bad, the only way to find out is open her up. As far as whether it is worth it, that's your decision. You obviously like the vehicle, and if it is in good shape, and you have no intention of selling it, I say go for it! My father's always pounding it into me that the vehicle just isn't worth it if it has high miles, but just because a vehicle has less miles doesn't always mean it won't give you more trouble. You know what has been done to yours, and how it has held up, how it has been maintained and such, but you don't really know this on a different unit, and unless you are looking new, which I'm not totally convinced is necessarily better, those are things to consider.

[willd]

Check around the salvage yards and the internet. I've seen these engines go for around 2500-3000 for a running whole engine. 8 G's is a little excessive. If you are any good at mechanics it's not that hard to do one of these engines. They take a few more tools than a gas motor, but it's not rocket science. Last one I did, all we had to do was replace the pistons and rings, bearings and oil pump. The heads were milled a little and new guides,valve job and pre-chambers were put in. All total we put about 2G's in a 6.9 that included a lot of little things that really weren't necessary, but were done for peace of mind.

If I had to guess I'd say that you got water in your oil somehow and it ate up the internals. All depends. If your oil was white and frothy looking then you had water in it. Otherwise I would bet that something let go like a head gasket, or a cylinder wall and the water seeped in after they shut it off overnight. I'd pull the glow-plugs and try turning her over. If water comes out, you know what cylinder is affected.

Good luck. And whatever you do, don't give up. The challenges we face today, make us stronger tomorrow. As long as we get smarter after each experience and don't repeatedly make the same stupid mistakes. We are learning.

[Adam Radloff]

Pull all the glow plugs out and try turning thr engine over again.
If the engine has a hydraulic lock it should blow it out the glow plug holes. It still means you will have to pull the heads @ the least ,but you have nothing to lose @ this point if your doing the work yourself or with a buddy(Except beer).

[redneckmechnic]

Ya could also look around for a cheap running enine if money is tight rite now. I bought my truck for 500 bucks with no tranny that would have made a perfect truck to steal the motor from. If you look on ebay ya see alot of running engines go for under a 1000. and complete rebuilt drop ins for under 5000. If you can do the work yar self ya will save even more moeny. pulling an enegine really isnt that hard. its just a few bolts and a couple wires and ya have it made. If ya do do it when yar done yall be like man thats was easy. Least its that way for me.