Not a whole lot really....

I just got done the transplant on my 99 F250SD 2WD with 5sp manual. I have a lift in my garage, a cherry picker, air tools etc. so that certainly helps but I'd say it probably took 12 hours total to have the engine out and sitting on a stand and maybe 16 or so going back in. I was being very careful to label all connections so I could reassemble correctly.

The biggest tips I can give contrary to what the manuals say are:

- The hood does not have to be removed. With a standard leveling beam that comes with most engine hoists, bolted into the V at the same spots as the Ford lifting beam bolts to and keeping the chains short, you can pick the engine with the hood on no problem. Keep the chain on the hoist short as well.

- The A/C compressor can be placed aside and the condenser can stay in the truck. You do not have to break the A/C system to remove the engine.

- Pre-fill the oil filter/oil cooler housing with oil to save time building pressure by cranking before starting the engine. I filled the filter but I didn't fill the manifold all the way down from the block which probably would have sped things up.

All in all, it was a pretty straightforward job. I got a new respect for how well laid out these trucks really are. I race a Porsche 944 and compared to working on that, the truck was a dream. You can see a lot of places where Ford designed things for working access.

Here is a summary of what I did and paid for everything:

- Motorcraft rebuilt engine from my local Ford dealer (Sadler Ford in Franklin, VA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, NICEST PEOPLE I'VE EVER DEALT WITH and GREAT PRICE) $3650. The engine has a 3 year/75K mile warranty from Ford and had a $200 rebate.

- Engine came with intake and exhaust gaskets, exhaust bolts, oil cooler gasket and long block. No water pump or spark plugs. I spent another $260 at the dealer for a new oil cooler (about $150) and various gaskets, misc stuff, and a new expansion tank since mine was nasty. They gave me 15% off all prices after I bought the engine.

- Water pump (new at Autozone) about $80.

- New spark plugs and plug boots

- Machine work on flywheel and tank cleaning of intake manifold (the lower section of my intake manifold had a 1/4" of crud) - $100 or so.

- Thoroughly cleaned IAC, EGR, throttle body, upper intake etc. They were nasty.

- Had fuel injectors cleaned and serviced at WitchHunter performance for $15ea. They did a nice job and give a full before/after printout and all new o-rings and pintle caps.

- Clutch. I lucked out and found a brand new Rhino Pac clutch kit on ebay for $150 so I saved about $300 there.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something but all in all, it wasn't a bad job. The new engine runs much smoother and pulls with a lot more authority. Hopefully it will work hard for a long, long time!

Thanks for the advice prior to my transplant!

 

hi, how many mi. on the old motor? whyed it fail? thanks barry

 

You all give SamDog some love and reputation...just click in the upper right corner of his post in the "scales" icon next to the warning triangle

SamDog, thanks great report

Is this the non PI motor replaced with a newer PI or can you tell on the rebuilt unit?

Tell us more about the nasty crud you found inside the intake parts

 

Very nice post... Great info.

 

Reputation point given

GREAT info! Thanks a lot for that post!

Now, why did the original engine fail?

 

Thanks for the kudos.

The answer to why the original engine failed is that I don't know. I bought the truck cheap and in nice shape but there was suspect mileage and it ran decent but not perfect (lopey idle and missing some horses). The mileage when I bought it said 95K and Carfax checked out but it didn't make a lot of sense as it was 30K miles for the first 3 years and then 5K total for the next 3 years. I suspect it was actually 195K miles and one of the titles (there was a chain of titles since it was traded, sold to auction, bought at auction) actually said 195k. The owner (a guy with a dealer license who sells on ebay) was upfront about everything so I don't know who would have wound it back. Anyway to make a long story short, I suspect it now has 208K on it. It used a little water from the time I bought it but never ran hot. I towed my 8K LB tailer with it all race season and just had to add water. It didn't get into the oil and ran well enough. When the engine was cold, it used alot more water, but as it warmed up, the usage slowed. On long trips, it would use almost none. It did get progressively worse though. Credit to the durability of the engine, it made it through the season but I had to carry 5 spare gallons of water around at the end . I believe a head or the block was cracked and that is why it healed itself once the engine was hot. The water in the coolant reservoir was pressurized and smelled of exhaust as well. Compression was fine and I didn't do a leakdown test. It was at least a head gasket and at worst a cracked head or block. At the end, I had to pull the #6 plug to eject the water from the cylinder to start the engine so I could pull it into the garage to work on it I had already decided to replace the engine since water had started getting into the oil and with the unknown history and high mileage, it just seemed like the best way to go.

I count on this truck to pull my race car trailer to far destinations and I didn't want to take a chance with it. I didn't do any exploratory surgery on the old engine so I don't truly know if it was just the head gasket or not.

Whether I got a PI engine in exchange is still a question. How can I tell?

I asked the dealer if I would get PI heads in the exchange and he said that he thought it would be the newest design of 2V engine as Motorcraft normally updates for their rebuilds. The reality is that I still don't know. When you buy a replacement for a 1999, you can't ask for a 2003 in return for your 99 core without eating the $1000 core charge. It wasn't worth $1000 for me so I just ordered the 99 and got what I got.

If someone call tell me how to check, I'll take a look.

The stuff in the intake was just years of PCV oil crud and carbon I suspect. The throttle body, ICS, EGR, upper plenum etc were dirty but nothing crazy. The lower intake manifold was absolutely nasty. I had a local machine shop run the upper and lower intake through their cleaning process. They use a high pressure cleaning solution in a cabinet with hundreds of nozzles. It came out like new after 2 passes in there.

Most of my injectors actually looked pretty good on the Witch Hunter report but two were pretty bad. All are perfect now.

I think that about covers it. I'm going to a 2 car trailer next year so I'll be towing around 10K LBS. I've got to get some miles on the truck for break in so I can go get my new (used) trailer. I'm going to get at least 500 miles on it and change the oil again before I bring the trailer home. It weighs 5100 LBs empty. After that, I'll try not to tow again until I get a couple thousand miles on it. I already changed the oil after I ran the engine to operating temperature to get all the build lube out of it. Probably overkill but I'm being extra careful so I'm not doing this again any time soon!

Now a question for the panel. What is the metallic vibration at around 2100 RPM. I know I've read about an inspection plate on here before but I'm too lazy to research it right now. What is the fix?

Let me know if you have any more questions or need me to post more info.

Thanks!

 

The heads will have a raised "PI" cast into them towards the rear, if I recall correctly. You can see it plainly through the wheelwell on the passenger side (at least, on my '01).

The buzz at 2200RPM or so, probably more like 1600-2200, that's the inspection plate on the bottom/front of the bellhousing. Take it off, put some foam/rubber/RTV on the upper forward edge and reinstall. I actually made a custom plate with thicker sheet metal, which almost completely solved the problem.

 

I'll take a look at the heads and see what I can see.

Mine is a manual transmission. The plate on the front of the bellhousing is all one piece and sandwhiched between the engine and trans except at the bottom where it is held to the trans by two bolts. I suspect this is the source of the noise however.

It can't be removed without removing the trans. Maybe just shoving something in there will quiet it?

 

Got off my lazy butt and did a search. Sounds like the plate between the trans and engine on the manual trucks warps and actually can rub the flywheel. I'll bet that is what this noise is. Sounds like some creative bending might be in order

 

So did you put in a manual from an auto?

 

No it was always a 5sp manual. I found and fixed the vibration noise. It was not the clutch cover but one of the heat shields on the Y pipe. A little bend and it was done.

I looked best I could at the heads and didn't see PI anywhere. I'll take a better look next week when I have it on the lift to do the front brakes and put some Firestone air bags on it.

 

Sweet post! Good job samdog!

 

i had heard that you have to lift the cab up a little to get engine out.not true?

 

Great post and info samdog. Left a positive mark for your great work. Tim

 

You absolutely do not have to lift the cab and I can't see how that would possibly be easier. I asked the mechanic at the dealer where I bought the engine that does their engine transplants and he doesn't life the cab either. There is plenty of room with the transmission off to get the engine out through the top without even taking the hood off. I have the luxury of a lift so that certainly makes things easier but I take the wheels off and put some wood blocks under the lift at the point where the brake rotors just about touch the floor. That gets the truck nice and low where you can lean in and work on the engine without breaking your back. With the radiator, fans, etc out, you can stand in the engine bay with a lot of room to spare in front of the engine.

I've put about 300 miles on it so far and everything is going well (knock on wood).