Got the engine out of the truck with the help of the lift and onto the engine stand. Then I turned it upside down and pulled the pan - while really ugly black oil ran out onto the catch pan. Unfortunately the stamp on the #1 throw that tells which crank it is was hidden, so I tried to turn the engine - no dice. But a tape measure said the throw was about 2", which is promising.

Given that I turned it right side up and pulled the heads. Or, maybe I should say "caught the heads" as someone didn't install the locating dowels so the heads slid right off the block when I pulled the bolts - after prying the heads loose. And, speaking of the bolts, one of the head bolts was so tight my air impact wrench wouldn't break it loose. I broke it loose with the breakover, but then it fought the impact wrench all the way out. Yep, this thing has never been apart.

And, what did I find when the heads slide off? What do you think?


Oh, can't see it very well? How's this?


But, you say, what about the crank? Well, I turned it back over and pulled the main bearing caps. Still couldn't spin the crank. So I pulled the #4 rod cap and the crank turned easily. And I was able to get to the spot where the book says the stamp is telling what crank it is. Here's what the book says about stamps:

• 351M: should be 4M, 1K, or 1KA
• 400: should be 5M or 5MAB

And here are two different shots of what I think the stamp is, and would like your thoughts:

 

All I see is a "B". Where is the rest of the stamping?

If that's all there is then you are going to have to Measure the stroke.

 

There's part of another character to the right of the B. Can't tell what it is, but if this is the stamp then it must be a 400 crank since the 351M stamps don't have a B in them. And, as said earlier, the tape measure indicates it has a throw of 2" which means it is a 400 since the 351M's throws are 1.75". But, that's not very precise, so I hope to have the crank out tomorrow so I can check it over closely for more stampings as well as how good/bad the journals are - although from what I've seen they don't look bad.

 

Look at T Meyer's site

He shows the cranks side by side.
You can see the 400 counter weights are much more 'square cornered' and where the rod journals cross the crank casting.



http://www.tmeyerinc.com/Fordvisualcompare.html

 

Yep....

And the dirt dobber nest above it.....





Gary, measure how deep the lowest piston is. You're looking for anything more than 3.5". Surely 1 of them is right at the bottom.......

 

Jim - I've been all over Tim's site and have seen that picture many times - but I forgot it. Thanks!

RW - Good idea - why didn't I think of that. I can spin the crank about 270 degrees before it hits #4's rod, so surely I can get something to the bottom. Or, for that matter, out. Then it would be easy to measure the wear marks on the wall. Duh!

Ok guys, I'm ready to check it out - tomorrow. I left a mess in the shop today with the oil that sprayed from the exhaust of the impact, the few drops that missed the tray on the engine stand, and a few parts that I may or may not have laid on the floor. So I'm not going back out tonight as I know I'll track it in the house and onto the carpet. I'll just have to wait until in the morn.

But, that work may get preempted as we are awaiting a call from the dealership to come pick up the GLK from service. Long story short, it gave us a warning that pointed to a page in the manual that said "Malfunction in the AdBlue system". Took it in and they said "Oh, the factory forgot to fill the AdBlue tank." I argued (my wife said heatedly) that the Germans are quite precise and the manual said "malfunction". They said no. So 2 weeks and 100 miles later my wife pulls into the garage and sees drops on the driveway. I look under and there is white cake icing about 1/4" deep coating the exhaust, with an ammonia-smelling liquid dropping out of it. Obviously there was a malfunction, but they had to have disregarded what the computer was telling them since it surely told them a lot more than the owner's manual told me. And they never bothered to look under the vehicle as the pure white icing was impossible to miss on the clean black underside of the new vehicle. So when we go pick up the vehicle we are to have a meeting with the head of Service, his boss, and a General Manager in the overall dealership chain to explain to them what we told the VP in MB USA on the survey he sent us - at just the right time. That may be tomorrow.

 

Gary - AdBlue - Urea after treatment "SCR", horrible stuff. If you've never dealt with it before, a couple of handy hints.
Don't buy bulk to save some cash, unless your vehicle use is very high. It has a short shelf life of 6 months at best and is very reactive to ambient temp, during summer it can be as low as 2 months. Just buy fresh stock from truck stops as required.
Even though it is just dissolved and filtered urea, don't be tempted to make your own using agricultural urea fertiliser, it contains impurities that will **** the catalyst in the exhaust.
If it all gets too much, there are emulators available to plug in and bypass the system.

I'd be asking some serious questions of the delivering dealer, pretty poor attempt at a pre-delivery service. Not sure about you but we pay a hefty ($1000 or more) dealer delivery fee to the slimy mongrels and most of the time all they do is give it a wash.

I'm trying to sell my Merc and you've gone and got one

 

I hate the new EPA mandated crap added to diesel engines. These items are typically a direct cause of serious (and expensive) engine problems. This stuff would not even be needed if the USA adopted the same fuel standards as Europe. Their diesel fuel is MUCH cleaner, therefore burns much cleaner. With the fuel standards in place, we could then adopt the same emmission standards, which would make it much easier for automakers to bring over their high MPG diesels sold elsewhere in the world.


Sorry for the rant, just had to get that off my chest......

 

That is the reason I am keeping my trucks forever. I don't want to deal with the DEF.

 

And the reason I am putting an 89 model diesel into an 80 model truck. Neither of those years had much in the way of diesel emission standards......

 

Gary, the High Performance Ford book you loaned me claims that the 31M from 75-80 and the 400 72-80 has no casting marks on the cranks. However, it does say the main journals should be 2.9994 and the rod journals should be 2.3103 on the 400 where the 351M is 2.9998 main and 2.3207 for the rod. According to this I cant see a 1/2" of stroke being made. The book also says the same rod length is used on both motors.

Maybe you can mic the journals? They could have been turned, but it would just be reduced ten thous.

 

Bruno, look at the pic above.
You can see where the offset of the rod journal is in relation to the 'slope' of the crank.

 

The following pic shows promise. The circular radius seam is what Tim mentioned as being representative of a 400 crank.

Bruno - Thanks, but the '81 Ford shop manual shows that every specification except for the crank throw and piston pin height is shared between M & 400. IOW, don't trust what you read in aftermarket books.

 

Well, it is a 400. Here's the TMI shot over again just for easy reference. Notice how on the 351 crank on the left the break where the throw starts to angle goes through the hole. And on the right the break is under the hole?




Now look at my crank.



More later or tomorrow as I'm off to meet with the dealership folk.

 

Is that a 30 I see stamped on the #3 piston, you know, as in .030 over?