I might have lucked out but when I went to the machine shop, the guy had a used crank there that he got from the junkyard. he sold it to me for $100. He then of course had to machine it down. That costed about another $120. He did the mains .010 and the rods .010. I bought oversized bearings .010 and it worked perfect. I was lucky there was nothing else gone inside. I had to pull my motor out completely because it is a 4x4 and I could not even get the pan off without lifting it. If you can do it without pulling the motor it would be a huge bonus. It would probably only take less than a day. If you have any more questions then feel free to ask. Good Luck!

 

Thanks Adrienc9,

I went to Advance Auto and bought a premium reman crank .010 OS with matched federal mogul rod and main bearings for $211.00 and a $45 core charge. I am going to have replaced (by my mech) the crank, bearings, rear main seal, and timing chain. His labor charge is 400$ to pull motor, replace the parts, and put it back in. I didn't think that was too bad. I don't have the tools to do it myself (but I will someday).

Thanks for all your help.

I always try to buy my own parts, then go to the mechanic. That way I know what is going into my engine and don't have to worry about him using inferior parts. (or if they are, it is of my choice)

I also always buy my own oil and filter then take it to my local farm supply store and they change it for 5 bucks.

My truck goes in for the repairs next thursday. Until then, to avoid doing any more damage, I am driving my parents car. A black 100th anniversary FORD Focus. I like the car, but already miss my truck.

Until then,

 

good luck!!

 

Well, my mech pulled the engine today. I got to his shop just in time to watch him pull the bearing caps.


All I can say is WOW 'o ' WOW. Two surprises, One , the Rod bearings were OK except the rod journals seem to have grooves in them and taper to the front of the motor(at least the first two rod journals felt that way). None of the rod bearings were worn to copper. They were not knocking! The Crank was!

Second, (not as much of a surprise) The mains were totally shot, the 3rd main was in the best shape with only a 1/4 of the bearing showing copper (at the edges of each half ). The next best (none of them were good so to speak) was 5th bearing, worn to 7/8 of the copper showing, but much more even wear. Bearing 2 had worn all the way to copper all the way around and had very even wear.

Bearings 1 and 4 were a total surprise. Each of them were worn through the copper to the backing in several spots ( he even found a flake of copper on the crank journal when he removed them. He said in 40 years of rebuilding engines, he had never seen bearings flake off like that. Its almost like the bearing got shaved real thin. None of the bearings were spun, but my mech said that it would have been one of these two.

The rest of the engine looked like it had lots of varnish on it. Very dark brown, but not sticky, smooth on every part that had it on there.

Wrist pins were not loose, rings were good ( held compression when pushing the pistons down in the bore to get the crank out.)

The cam looked ok, but did not grab it and try to move it. The lobes were absolutly dry (I touched one), but not worn, had some varnish on the lobes however.

I'd say that I stopped driving it just in time to save it from certain destruction.

I'll report in couple days about how the repairs went and the final outcome.

I would like to say that these Windsors must be very tough engines, to have still ran that good and not blow up when driving with zero oil pressure for a couple of months and then replac e the oil pump and drive another 2500 miles with only 2 psi at idle and 20 crusing down the highway. And still never heard a lifter tick the whole time!!!!

Talk later,

 

This is very similar to what I was talking about! I found the same kind of things as you did and was just as surprised that it did not wreck more. Keep us posted. I have been driving for about 3000km on my new bearings and still have excellent oil pressure.

 

You say it knocked only at idle and after it warmed up? Or did it knock at all RPM hot or cold?

Now I may go ahead and crack a cap open while the pan is still off.

 

Yes, it knocked only at hot idle, very softly. The first time I heard it, I put it in drive,stepped on the brake and revved to 1100 rpm for a few short seconds to confirm what I was hearing.

The new crank and bearings, rear main seal, timing chain and gaskets will go in today, with any luck I'll have my truck tonight when I get home.

He is also installing another new oil pump (no charge) since I just had it replaced a month and a half ago.

I will tell you how it runs on monday, if I get the truck back today.

See Ya,

 

Bought a truck last year w/107K miles on it. Seller gave me receits for new oil pump, valve cover gaskets at around 90K miles. Oil pressure gauge read HIGH. One morning the lifters started ticking, louder and louder. Oil gauge still reading HIGH. Pulled over, checked dipstick and nothing on it! Add 3 qts, go home, Gauge still reading HIGH. Pull valve cover and barely could find the V springs in all that crud!
Similar engine sounds...rattling when I back off the gas...Thought it was pinging all this time till the rattle got louder. Almost have the engine out. Just have to remove a rounded nut on the converter to flexplate bolt. Always the last one!

 

Got my truck back this afternoon!

Everything seems good, I still have to put a real oil guage on it tomorrow night. It is MUCH quieter, so much that I did not realize how noisy it was before. After he found the bearings he pressure washed the inside of the engine to remove all metal shavings and sludge. I will post pictures of some of the shavings found in the oilpan in a later post. He also took the time and degreased the outside of the engine and painted the whole engine with Ford Blue high temp engine enamel. COOL! Free of charge!!

He also diagnosed my check engine light and plugged the vacuum line to the EGR valve because it had full vacuum to the EGR from the EVR valve. Free of charge!! Everything works just like it did before and the idiot gauge stays pegged all the time, not even a quiver!

THE RUNDOWN:

Removed engine, , cleaned engine inside and out, painted engine, replaced crank, rod and main bearings, re-installed engine.

PRICE: Parts: 211.09 crank and bearings*, 36.67 gaskets, ~$20 oil, filter, coolant.
LABOR: $400.00 on the nose.

* does not include the $45 core for the crank.

This is the advantage to getting a very good repore with your mechanic, When your good to him, he will be good to you. I help him by bringing all the parts he needed to do the job including the oil, filter and coolant. In return he did some extra things (I.E. paint engine, fix egr etc.) And still knocked it out in 2 1/2 days.

 

I got the guage on it tonight. At cold Idle, 65psi.
@ hot idle, 40psi. in gear, 50psi in park 61psi @ 40mph. (2000rpm).

I think it solved my oil pressure problem, ya think?

go look at my gallery named Bearing Problems.


Thank you for all your help, everyone who posted on this topic.

 

Cool!
Looks like it should last you awhile.

P.s.- there's no pics.. ;-)

 

yeh I know about the pics, having problems up loading,, I will try again tomorrow night, too late tonight to try again.,

thanks though.

 

Yep Hope your as happy as I am with mine!

 

Just an update, I have now driven 7500 miles on the new bearings and crank. All is well with my 351w.

65psi @ cold idle, 30-35 psi @ hot Idle in gear, 35-40 in park, 50-55 psi any where else in the RPM range. This was a very effective repair.

Thanks again to all who contributed, especially Adrienc9.