Gentlemen , what I’m attempting to do , may never have been done on this forum .



im going to need any input and advise you seniors may have . I’ve just read gamboni’s thread , and have become inspired .



alright so to make a long story short I’m going to list my problem , my proposed plan of action , and where I’m at in the plan.



Background/problem: bought this truck in October of 2019 2005 f150 lariat 5.4 3v 190k miles for 3300$. The truck was sold under the condition that that the truck “couldn’t breathe” and that the catalytic converters were clogged . I jumped on it .



After some consulting and good advise from f150torqued I wound up following ford tech mackulocos timing job and then to mr torqued’s credit I finally discovered the imrc valve replaced it and routed it correctly and have had my favorite vehicle ever for 2 years, no problems out of her , beautiful automobile .



UNTIL the beginning of september 2021. I was coasting about 40mph and as speed fell and I applied throttle to maintain my desired speed I felt a shudder /stumble / loss of power . A lack of throttle response.



So I’m looking at a problem with fuel, air, spark, and or compression . As I come to a stop, at idle I recognize the old ***** wonky idle. Damn. Through prior experience im thinking cam phasers locked out , I can just see in my mind that vct advance on torqued pro app stuck out at like 50 degrees while im idling .



so I pull over and pull codes (I keep a scanner in my truck ) and also unplug the vcts. Got a misfire on cylinder 3. Truck still driving like crap , get on home a couple miles away and park her in the driveway . Pull codes again , all of bank 1 has **** the bed now . Misfires on all but 1 cylinder on bank 1 and also 1 bank running rich and the other running really lean , can’t remember which was which right now but still have access to that info .



so I start throwing parts at it, mafs, egr, all new lash adjusters and lifters, spark plugs, coil packs, fuel injectors,throttle body. Then I Check vacuum , it’s low. Smoke the engine out with a cigar can’t find a leak , extensive carb cleaner test can find no leak . For some reason im convinced at this point there is an intake manifold gasket leak on bank 1 in the engine valley behind the alternator between cylinders 2 and 3 roughly .



I replace the intake manifold gasket with the dorman, did not feel that it fit on very good . Put the intake back on rather sloppily I’ll admit in hindsight . After messing with all the crap behind the intake manifold so many times Irmc linkages and the brake booster hose and knock sensors and engine harness and stupid retaining clips and what not , I just kind of threw it on there loosely got the wires routed behind the linkages and got it “seated” and torqued her down to sequence and spec . I do recall thinking the back left bolts on the intake manifold weren’t torquing right like I felt like they were going to break the bolt so I just didn’t dog her all the way down .



so crank her up , she’s still running like **** no change , maybe worse , this time start getting some white smoke. Finally after more researching analyzing live data , go ahead and dawns on me to do a compression test . Significantly lower compression 40-50% lower on cylinders 2 and 3 . Report findings to seasoned mechanic , tells me dead giveaway failed head gasket between those 2 cylinders , a fairly common diagnosis .



ok so that would make sense why I’m getting all these random misfires on bank 1 . So I’m in for a head gasket replacement on bank 1.



whilst going in to pull head 1 I pull off cam and realize that there is heavy scoring /gouging under 2 cam caps in cam journals and on cam shaft in those 2 spots . Looked like a thick grain of sand had got stuck in there and left like fingernail thick gouges . Keep in mind I had just been in here less than 3 weeks ago and replaced all roller followers and lifters and it looked fine , and the truck hadn’t left the driveway since or been running at idle , albeit a very rough one, for more than a total of 15 minutes total .



so after more research I realize that heads with the heavy scoring in cam caps and on journals in cam caps ,beyond being able to be polished, are FUBAR.



so now I’m in to replace the head entirely , but I understand that you can’t really replace one with a brand new one without replacing the other with a brand new one because it will throw compression ratios off .



so fast forward to about a week or two ago I get my two new heads in and am pulling off the old ones . As soon as I pull off the intake manifold I get to that back corner near cylinder 4 and the thing just barely is on there and pops right off with a couple 3 half turns of the bolt and coolant just showers everywhere . (To be noted I did drain the coolant at the plug days prior to this )



so heads come off didn’t really see any visible signs of head gasket failure .



what I do think happened is when I replaced the intake manifold that coolant from the intake crossed over into the air ports going into the combustion chambers due to no gasket being seated or torqued there , thus why I got my white smoke .



so here’s where it really gets interesting . So I prep my block surface for installing new gaskets and heads , and I’m turning the engine over with my ratcheting breaker bar on the crank shaft , watching the pistons come up and go through their cycle, cleaning the piston heads a little and the cylinders and oiling them and what not .



that’s when I realize there is an unequal amount of pressure that it takes to rotate the crank shaft through about 35 degrees of the rotation. The pistons/crank are taking an even consistent amount of torque to rotate the crank through the cycle , except it’s hitting a rough spot from about 9:30 to 11:30.



I drop the oil pan and look at the crank and find the in tact forward upper piece of thrust washer in the pan and the 2 rear pieces fallen down hanging loosely in the bottom half behind the back main bearing boss all chewed up .



so I’m thinking that when the coolant entered combustion chamber I had mild hydro lock , putting more force on crank, creating more lateral movement/end play and crushing the thrust washer which sent the metal pieces back up into the cam caps scoring them up .



I’ve got new rod bearings and main bearings on the way as well as new crank shaft . I’ve got most of the side bolts from the main bearings out .



what I’m proposing to do is take off the oil pump , drop the transmission , take out the crank shaft main bearing caps rod caps , pull the pistons out the top of block, undo the 8 bolts from rear crankshaft to flex plate , and with the oil pump put just pull the crankshaft out . Then put in a new one and reinstall all bearings rods and main and thrust washers , button everything back up and be good to go .



what I’m concerned about is if I find a bent rod . I noticed here nobody seemed to give gambino any flack about checking his cylinder bores .



if I do have a bent rod can I just put a new one in and put everything back in and call her good ?



im really not wanting to spend money on bore gauge and do all that , though I’ve already got some micrometers and dial gauge and am willing to check bearing clearances with plastigauge and check crank end play with dial gauge .



im wondering if I should just send the block to the machine shop have them check it and the rods , or can I just put all the new pieces in and she’ll be good to go ?



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It sounds like you are doing a rebuild, just a little at a time. I didn’t read the entire post, but did catch the part where you talk about measuring the bore. IMHO, if you are going to do it right, you should be measuring all of the bores just below the bottom of piston ring ridge. This is the point where the top compression ring stops wearing the cylinder. Then take another measurement at that same point 180 degrees from the first. Rinse and repeat at the middle and towards the bottom of the bore. Compare these to specs to know if the cylinder should be bored oversize or you could just hone it to break the glaze. You will also have to measure the piston clearance as well. Of course as previously mentioned you could have just get either a long block or reman and been done with it. Best of luck to you.

 

what I’m proposing to do is take off the oil pump , drop the transmission , take out the crank shaft main bearing caps rod caps , pull the pistons out the top of block, undo the 8 bolts from rear crankshaft to flex plate , and with the oil pump put just pull the crankshaft out . Then put in a new one and reinstall all bearings rods and main and thrust washers , button everything back up and be good to go .

Pull the motor and rebuild it right, or you will doing it over and over and over..

 

I've said this from the beginning. He thinks putting new heads and 2 year old oil pump is a rebuild.
this is an abomination bandaid repair. Oil passages not cleaned properly, 200,000 miles on the rings and pistons. Freeze plugs?
2 year old oil pump in an engine that has had a thrust bearing failure is no longer a good oil pump
2 year old timing set is nothing more than junk yard parts at this point
as sensitive as these engines are to oil pressure and cleanliness this will be a time bomb. I know it's not what the thread starter wants to hear but nevertheless the block needs to be pulled out, tanked, bored, throughly checked by a professional. Maybe even assembled by a professional as I don't know his skill or experience level. But there are a lot of checks to be sure such as bearing clearance, ring end gap, line bore, deck for flatness and all these checks cost money to repair to get into specs and doing all this in the truck is ridiculous
happy new year!

 

If anyone is reading this please follow the thread my other thread entitled “ do I need to measure bores when replacing bent rod ?” It is a duplicate thread , I wish the mods would delete this thread .

the mods wouldn’t approve this thread so I posted another one , then several days later they approve this first one I tried to post and is only creating confusion to an already confusing thread .