98 4.2L rebuild or replace

[garmar60]

i have 98 150 with the 4.2l. have gone tru all the stuff pcv elbow, upper and lower intake gaskets, hydro locked 2 times before i found out about the gaskets. i had run fine for about 6 months since i did the gaskets. all of a sudder about 5 miles after leaving teh house. it got a very loud knock at all rpms and it is rpm related. i think it is a rod bearing. is there a way to check this. i have not looked to see if i can drop the pan with out lifing the engine. we are not gong to keep the truck for long so i dont know that i want to rebuild the engine, i am thinking about a junk yard swap. any thoughts and also is there anything else that i may be overlooking. i can do all the work myself so thats not an issue.

thanks
gary

[BlueOvalFitter]

You will have to pull the engine to remove the oil pan! If you do that and look inside and see which rod is bent you might just get away with replacing that rod and bearings and save alot of money!

[monckywrench]

I have a friend with the same problem. I'll be fixing the thing for him.
Any recommendations for low-priced sources for rebuild kits and parts? I expect this will turn into an exercise in doing it for minimum dollars, grabbing good rods out of a core, etc.
Tricks and tips welcome!

[monckywrench]

Found a 2000 with low miles for three hundred bucks!

Warning:
Save the original engine with harness and injectors if you use a 2000 donor so you can do an orderly swap.

The engine harness pinout doesn't match at the firewall plug so ya need to use the original harness. The injectors and IMRCs are different, which means you get to swap in the original injectors (use new O-rings!) and IMRCs so your original harness will work. The 2000 has a blank Allen-head plug near the oil pan rail, where the 1997 (and maybe your 1998) has a sensor under a steel shield. I shifted the round 2000 plug with a hammer and chisel (sucka was tight...) and swapped in the 1997 sensor.