Alright, now we're talking......it did not go through the bearing material, but does look about half way from the ID. I read some where that something has to be done to make up for some possible lost material on the rods due to the spinning so thanks for the shim stock idea......I was thinking of pulling the next rod over to have a look and possibly mic everything there for comparison....The OD of the bearing does look like it rotated, but I can still read all the markings.

I bought some 1500 grit paper to polish up the journal and they said to wrap the journal and use shoe string to keep it even.....use a little oil with it and plug the oil hole before doing so. I figure I would start high and go lower on the grit if I needed.

I bought some plastigage as an additional inspection tool.

Since I am already this far, I am going to work and finish up the bottom end and then check the top end and hope for the best.

Anything else you can think of???

 

I was wondering how goes the project?

 

OK, I just finished up a week ago and thought I would give some feedback. (I know, I am extremely slow when it comes to repairs) The cam journal was not scored heavily but there are definitely ridges all the way across. After talking with some guys from work that design lube oil system for compressors, I decided not to bother sanding down the ridges. The general consensus was that that the ridges may help slightly if I had a larger gap to keep oil in the bearing. All I did was knock the top surface off with some 600 grit followed by 1000 grit (oiled the paper first). I also took off the bearing next to the spun one to take some measurements. After checking, checking and rechecking (only had some digital calipers) I figured I had lost about 0.002" from the wearing (some loss on the cam journal and some loss on the rod from the bearing spinning). I also found a slight oval to the cam journal (maybe 0.001"). I did not find a taper side to side. I bought a new bearing and bought some copper shim stock. I decided on 0.002" so I cut the shim stock to match the back of the bearing. I put it back together and used some plastigage to take measurements in two different places. The top and bottom measurement was about right, but the side to side was very tight. I confirmed this by rotating the crank and ended up getting stuck about half way around. I decided to use 0.001" instead. I loaded it up and took plastigage measurements and seemed like it was within spec. Put it all back together (with pre-lube) and it rotated just fine. I did reuse the bolts since you would have to replace the whole rod. The rod caps are broke off and only go together one way. I just decided to take a chance on it. I cleaned out the pan and oil tube the best I could since I couldn't get the pan out. Did find plenty of particles. Next I got the pan on and lowered engine in place. Reused the gasket. Wasn't sure what to do with the y pipe since I beat the crap put of the studs on the manifolds. Turns out NAPA has the replacement studs and bolts for $10. Only problem was I couldn't get the studs out so went with plan B. Fortunately the bolts are long and there were threads left for the bolt. I went to home depot and picked up some thick lock washers for spacers. Took three to four and the nut tightened up just fine. Also had to deal with the exhaust pipe connection. I ended up grinding off the studs and drilling them out both sides. Bought some high strength nuts and bolts and a new gasket and tightened right up. The rest went back together fairly easily. I used Rotatella T (15W-40) this time for the oil. I started it up and sounds great. No knocking at any rpm. I decided to take it easy for a few hundred miles so everything settles in. So far I have about 500 miles and seems like everything is working great. I'll report back after more miles. Keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Glad to hear that becuase I am about to tear into a 4.6 I got very cheap for that same reason.

You need to go back to 5W20, that stuff is way to thick for the oil passages in these motors.

 

Thanks for the update and I'm glad to hear that it's working out for you. As stated earlier, you should go back to a lighter grade of oil as the tolerances of these engines are so tight. If you are planning on keeping the Ex for a long time you should keep your eyes open for a good replacement. Just in case. The next time there is a problem a replacement will be required. I'm sure that if you never have to use the spare engine you will have no problem getting your money out of it here.
How hard was it to find a source for the shim stock?

 

Wow, what a story. Glad to hear it worked out so well. Reps sent for reporting back.

 

Shim stock was fairly easy to find. I got it at a local hardware store in a pack with sheets from 0.001 through 0.005" and only cost a couple bucks. I go to this store when I can't find it elsewhere....its amazing what they have tucked away there LOL!

Anyway, I will consider going back to the lighter oil on the next change per your suggetions. I was just afraid to put the lightweight back in considering what I just went through......

 

Yup, those old stores may not be fancy but, they have a lot of the stuff that Hardware stores should have in stock.

 

Great to hear the motor is running again! And I would agree with the others about the oil. The heavier oils are hard on the timing chains because they use hydraulic tensioners. It is the oil pressure that keeps the slack out of the chains.

 

My wife has run the Excursion down low on oil twice. Both times she noticed it was low because the oil pressure gauge was bouncing. Thankfully no damage yet. Been about 10,000 since the last time she did that.

 

Lock washer lose they're, tension or "spring" when used on an exhaust system because of the heat. Keep on eye on them in case they start to get loose on you.

 

Don't you check or change the oil at the proper service intervals? Your truck shouldn't use 5 qt.s in 5,000 miles.
I don't think you should say "your wife" when you should say "I neglected". Your engine will be leaving you stranded soon because of your neglect. You had better prepare youself because when the oil pressure needle bounces there is zero oil pressure and the bearings are trying to weld themselves to the crankshaft. There is damage, you just haven't seen it yet.

 

That's a lot of assuming, and I think an apology is called for ...

He has three vehicles in his sig, an X with a V10, a Superduty with the V10, and a Mustang. I bet his wife drives the Excursion all the time

 

I never said that I assumed anything. 5,000 miles without checking your oil is neglect. If you know your engine consumes a lot of oil between changes you should be concerned enough to check it once in a while. I won't apologise for stating an obvious truth. Perhaps he will be more careful in the future, he might get lucky and and the engine will continue to give good service.

 

LOL. There have been some issues with the wife and the Excursion. For a while neither were mine. She and the truck were 1200 miles away in California. And she drove that poor truck about 12,000 miles without ever changing or checking the oil.

So I have never neglected any of my vehicles. Like I said its been over 10,000 probably more like 15,000 since the last time it was oil starved. It still runs fine without any noise. I chalk it up to luck and using good oil and filters. Just this summer the truck took us from Colorado to California and back without a hicup.

I take no offense in what was said and no apology is needed. I hate to hear of people abusing Fords.