It's been a while.........

Well it's been a while since I've been around, lot's of things changing in my life. One of them is deciding to have fewer projects in my life. I had a nice 4 day offroad trip early June and when I came back I decided to clean up a bunch of the clutter I had laying around. Included in that clutter as a couple of you might remember was my turbo engine. The more I collected parts for the swap the more I realized I was getting ready to dump way too much into a rusty BII. So I sold the parts and in the process I luckily turned a profit. Now I'm moving on to fixing up the 2.9 that's already in the vehicle.

The project
Monday this week I took my first step in seeing if I could kick a little more life in to the old BII. Thanks to a lovely design I tore the entire top end off the 2.9 just to install new lifters. The project was success. I knew that an oil pump was needed also but I wanted to swap the lifters first so see what the effects of that alone would be. As a result, for the first time since I've got the BII, I can now make it to work (8min away) without the lifters sounding like they are going to explode my valvetrain.

While I was in there I got a good look into the condition of the internal cleanliness. This wasn't a good picture. I was scooping and scraping sludge out of that top end. I literally had a trash can next to the truck and was scooping and dropping the stuff out of the engine. I can only imagine what the pump screen looks like. I can only imagine what the previous owners did for oil changes. Once I got it all back together I fired it up with the valve covers off and it was a good thing too. The right side was barely oiling #3 and wasn't doing anything for #2 & #1. To check where the problem was I pulled the end bolts on the rocker assembly one at a time and started the engine again to see if oil was even getting up there. Luckily the oil flowed good from the bolt holes but this meant that I was taking the assemblies off again for cleaning. After pulling them I discovered this black sludge had blocked the oiling holes. I cleaned up both sides, reinstalled them and we were back in business.

My motivation only goes so far and now seeing that it was worth installing the lifters and that I don't have a shop (literal "backyard" mechanic) I started calling around for prices to get the oil pump changed by a shop. The pump has to be changed because after 5min of driving I'm down to 20 PSI @ 2000rpm and 12 PSI at 10min. Finding this quote turned out to be way worse then I expected. The average price I got was $600 and I just don't want to put that kind of money into this rig, at least not in that department. This leaves me with two options. One, I live with the fact that I just spent a day installing new lifters that will be starved with any distance trip and leave me hanging like I've always been. Two, change the pump myself, save $500 and have a vehicle that I can actually take on a distance drive and finally kiss the ticking goodbye. After reading up on the job, I think I'll take option two.

I've tried every engine cleaner, I run 20-50 to minimize the ticking, I've even back flushed the oil pump from the filter mount and they've all been band-aids. Changing the lifters and oil pump looks like my only option here to make this one right. I'll keep you guys posted on how everything works out.

 

I had the same problem. My solution was to tear down the engine and clean it. Everything in the engine was in good shape. So far the Bii runs fine.

A suggestion I got after finishing was to pour mineral spirits into the engine and turn over only long enough to distribute. Then let it sit overnight to disolve the sludge. I don't know if this would work or not.

Good luck with yours.

 

OS, the way I cleaned the oilpump screen on my Ranger was to drain oil and pour about a half gallon of carb cleaner in the pan and let it sit overnight. Flush well with diesel fuel,add fresh oil and then change the oil after a few miles of driving. I went from oil pressures you are stating to normal after this. I don't think the PO had ever changed the oil, but I changed a crank in a 90 Ranger that had 65K miles on it with 3K oil changes documented that was so sludged you couldn't see the rocker arms.

Jeff

 

I use a product called Rizalone. Do an oil change and substitue a quart of Rizalone for a quart of oil. Run this around for about 500 - 1000 miles then do another oil change, repeat if necessary.This will take care of poor valvetrain oiling and the resulting ticking problem. This will only work with sludge and not pieces of Fram oil filters on the screen or non functioning oil pump. I do this first off when I get a new B2, works everytime.

 

Besides tearing the motor down and cleaning it I tried all the tricks already boys. I'll keep you posted, I'm sure it has nothing to do with Fram either, lol.

 

Fram oil filters are well known to come apart and clog the oil pump screen.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/4...highlight=fram

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilters.html

 

Maybe you should start your own thread if you have a problem with fram

 

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with Fram either, lol."

Not just me, everyone that knows better.

 

Troll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Moderators, help get this thread back on track.

 

I must agree with OSin86 this thread is about changing the oil pump not which oil filter you think causes problems. This site has a separate thread for that so feel free to chime in. I'm not trying to rant or anything but it’s pretty petty to jack a thread from someone who is asking for help. I wish you the best of luck OSin86 on getting your ride going again.

 

Thanks bronco2454


Well I'm deep into the change now and let me tell you, it's total BS. I followed the Haynes repair manual and it's just not working. It's like they forgot to tell you a bunch of steps or simply forgot to tell you to pull the engine first. I have the pump in the pan and the engine spaced off the frame further then they said it would have to be and there's still not enough room to get it all out. I've been trying to get that pan out for an hour now and there is no way that I can see this will work. The only thing I can think of is to pull the ballancer and see if I'll get enough room to wiggle it out then.

I'll keep you posted........

 

The problem as I read it was that the lifters were not getting oil because of sludge buildup. A new oil pump won't help much if the oil passages are clogged. I offered advice that was smugly dismissed ("I'm sure it has nothing to do with Fram either, lol."), then backed up my claim with links only to be called a troll. Good luck, I'm out.

 

Well I have the pump out and the windage tray but the pan is still under the engine. There's a big baffle in the pan that won't let me pull it out no matter what way try. I'm pretty sure that I can get the new pump in but I need a way to clean that pan first. It's got too much sludge in it and I'm not that dumb to put it back together that way. There's barely enough room to get my hand in there and when I do it takes me a bit to get back out.


I'm done for today, looks like rain is coming. I'm open to ideas for cleaning that pan while it's stuck under the engine. Once that is done I'll start putting the new pump in. I'll keep you all updated.

 

Pull the engine. You will also have buildup under the intake manifold.

 

Covered that in my first post newbii. The top end is already cleaned up. Thanks anyway.