Hoping that the Forum guru's can give me some suggestions concerning my V10...the shop suggests an entire engine swap...

History:
I bought a used 2000 Excursion with 106k miles two weeks ago, unknown service history, and had what I thought was a "drive line" vibration. Had a complete stem to stern fluid service and several shop inspections done on the drive line right away - determination was universal - the source of my problem was cylinder misfires in #9 and #1...

Current State:
Electrical ignition issues were solved, however compression tests on cylinders for half the engine show a little low on two, and #9 has next to nothing - with the sound of escaping air through the exhaust manifold. The other half of the engine has yet to be compression tested... Sounds like a pair of reman'd heads would solve any/all valve issues...

Concerns:
The engine oil showed discoloration with under 50 miles driven since the first shop changed the oil and filter, and when the 2nd shop performed a cleansing flush of the engine oil distribution system, a fair amount of sludge came out. Should I be worried about premature lower engine failure because of this, or simply replace the heads and be on my way...?

The shop (of course) recommends a full engine swap, to the tune of ~$8k with parts & labor...with the right warranty, it would be a nice "warm fuzzy" - but $8k is mighty steep for a truck that I just bought for around that same dollar amount...

Thoughts? Recommendations...?

 

Run some seafoam thru your intake system frst to see if any carbon buipd up is causing the problem

 

Through the air intake - throttle body...?

 

I bought my X with a JB Weld fix on cylinder 1 exhaust due to the stud/nut rotting away. It seals the leak so I'm waiting til I have another one go ,or this one starts to leak again. THEN, I'll fix it properly.

That doesn't solve all of your issues, but it will solve one. The 2 main issues with the 2000 V10 2V, are exhaust studs and spark plug torque. Keep those in line and the rest is easy peasy.

 

Lol, do you want him to JB Weld his leaking exhaust valve Charly?
His problem with no compression in #9 sounds like a burnt, bent or otherwise buggered up exhaust valve, all the broken exhaust studs in the world won't kill the compression, this problem is internal.

Dewy, Seafoam added via the throttle body or the master cylinder vacuum hose (slowly, as you don't want to hydro lock the motor) may loosen up some carbon or other schmootz in the cylinder that's holding the exhaust valve from fully closing. It's a cheap fix if it works.....
When it's running do you hear any lower end knocking, rattles or other odd noises? If not, I might be temped to just go with heads.

 

No other odd noises that I can tell...however I am new to a V10...and I hate to admit that I was unable to tell that two cylinders were misfiring and I thought it was a bad u-joint... If my six cylinder had two misfiring it would be VERY apparent what the vibration was...

The seafoam treatment is a good, low cost, thing to try...I'll report back in a few days when I have a chance to try that...

In an attempt to determine if I have a lower end problem, I plan to take it for short drives now and then - checking the oil after every one for discoloration... Perhaps if it gets brown/black just as quick as last time, I know there is some bad juju somewhere in that lower block...

 

No i DID NOT want him to use JB, just that MINE was fixed with JB, meaning ,more than anything, that air(a leak I presume) coming out of the exhaust doesn't affect his other problems as mine was repaired by nothing more than glue. I did say it didn't affect his other problems and in no way suggested it would. Since I'm fairly new to this engine, I guess it's not alright to try and help our unless I pass some test?

 

I'm sorry Charly, which one of the OP's issues would that solve? I think you misunderstood his description of air escaping INTO the exhaust manifold for the more typical air escaping OUT of it due to the common failed stud issue that someone used JB Weld on to repair your rig. I was trying to make a little joke, but I guess you missed it along with the smiley I used.

I read your original post as a suggestion to use the JB Weld as a fix for the OP's described problem, I took it as a simple misunderstanding, which as I explained I then tried to make joke out of it. Maybe I'm guilty of misunderstanding a misunderstanding....but now your second comment that you did not want him to use it makes this all more confusing.......... The OP never mentioned an exhaust manifold leak, only a lack of compression in #9 and the sound of air escaping into the manifold (I think your " presumption" of what was leaking and where and then my feeble attempt at humor is what derailed this whole mess between us). Again, I'm sorry for the confusion and any offense you may have felt, it was not my intention. . And no, you don't have to pass any tests to make comments here, I just took your suggestion and comments to be addressing a different problem than what was being discussed, my bad.

 

Ok then. My bad. Sometimes these posts sit there before many responses. If I see something that sounds like something I as a noob have been through, I'll try to address anything that sounds like something I have tackled. I am in no way a mechanic, just a country boy in the city trying to move the convo til the experts arrive. So what's the answer, I just keep quiet? and it's not really a mess between us. I sometimes sound offended when I just try to be succinct.

 

Never keep quiet if you think you have some info to share

When you post, some of the emoticons (smilies) on the right side of the post box can help portray some emotion that otherwise doesn't come through with plain text.

But no worries here...

 

Replace the heads, if the bottom end looks bad you will know when the heads are off. Anyone that recommends a full rebuild without "knowing" what the real issue are just wanting your $$ or they are lazy/bad mechanics.

Could it be a bad valve sure... Could it be a bad ring in the piston and getting blow by, sure. Without pulling the heads it's next to impossible to know without throwing parts at it.

Once the heads come off, your committed though, either new heads or get yours resurfaced.

I would highly recommend getting heads from the same place I received mine... They came time-serted and ready to bolt on minus a cam gear on the side with the balance shaft.

They were very reasonable considering the cost of stuff on the V10 and great quality. I believe I paid maybe $1200 for both?

ramscyl.com

 

Thanks for that insight...I have looked at that company's website before, and I like the fact that they state that all the insert work has been done... Others I have checked out were certainly cheaper, but neglected to mention fixing an inherent, known issue with them... I definitely want to get a set from this company when the time comes...

Just an update...

I tried the sea-foam trick (with the engine running), slowly pouring it into the intake throttle body...no luck, no change...after about 1/2 a bottle, over a 15min period... I drove it ~30 miles that night to be sure...

The strange thing is (I still can't wrap my head around it), while doing this, I had the intake hose disconnected (no air flow past Mass Airflow Sensor), and still no check engine light for either no air flow past the sensor, or the engine misfires...and the motor rev'd just fine, with great throttle response...

I see the "service engine soon" light come on when I turn the key, before the engine starts...just no indication from the dash that anything is wrong while running...

My Chevy S10 would throw a code, and the check engine light all the time when those valves were causing misfires...weird...

 

Read this
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...t-come-on.html

 

Awesome redirect...thanks!

That'd explain it...although frustratingly lame... Had it shown any of these problems when I went for a test drive, I would have likely passed on buying it...

It appears as though I should invest in a scanner...any suggestions...?

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...g.prowl.torque
then install this free plugin
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...owl.torquescan

and connect to the truck with one of these
https://torque-bhp.com/wiki/Bluetooth_Adapters