Catastrophic overheat

[lambrose]

I have a 2003 Ranger 3.0l that experienced a catastrophic overheat that resulted in new head gaskets and reworked heads.The vehicle lost all coolant at once and was driven till it died. Due to the lack of coolant the temp on the gage did not rise and the dark foggy weather kept the mist from being visible. As a result of this my compression numbers are a little low.

CYL #1--- 160
CYL #2--- 156
CYL #3--- 161
CYL #4--- 160
CYL #5--- 146
CYL #6--- 165

I am attributing this to coked up rings from the overheat. My plan is to run 1 qt of MMO and 4 qts of 5w30 in the crankcase. Run MMO in the fuel at 4 oz per 10 gal for the entire OCI. And finally spray some MMO into the cylinder through the spark plug hole and let it sit at least overnight. It is my hope that this will clean the rings and lands and free them up. After the 3000 mile OCI i will do another compression check.

What do you all think?

Is the MMO thin enough to slide past the cylinder by itself if sprayed into the cylinder? Should I cut it with a little seafoam? I know it is thin but piston clearance is also pretty tight.

 

[c3po]

I think your MMO plan is fine, Good Luck.

 

[Petrou]

good idea on the MMO even the seafoam would be a great idea. I would choose seafoam if it was me. a good high mileage oil like Mobil 1 High Mileage she should be fine.

those numbers look fairly ok to me, i dont see a huge problem with them but yesthe rings are gonna be coked and would run some seafoam through the gas and oil, a can for each

 

[cos]

Sounds like a very good plan.

What caused the overheat?

 

[hate2work]

The best product I've ever used to desolve/remove carbon/calcium deposits is the Amsoil Power Foam. If you can get this stuff on the problem area, it will work as advertised, amazing stuff for sure.

http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/apf.aspx

 

[demarpaint]

I've never tried Power Foam but it might work for you. I would consider a MMO piston soak. The trick is to be patient and take your time. Fill the cylinders, let it soak over night, then turn the damper pully and refill the cylinders again. Do this over a period of a few days, then crank the engine with the starter with the plugs removed. Replace the plugs and start the engine. Run a full OCI with 1 qt of MMO for the next 2 OCI's. I think you'll be OK.

 

[Steve S]

Auto R/X works great to free up rings.

 

[demarpaint]

An MMO piston soak will also free up rings, and in this case a lot faster. My thinking is in the OP's case freeing up the rings ASAP might be a better way to go since he overheated the engine. JMO

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: Steve S
Auto R/X works great to free up rings.


Maybe on the oil side of the rings, but not on the fuel side of the rings.

You need to hit the rings on the fuel side as well as the oil side. JMO

 

[mechtech2]

Engine oil gets to ALL parts of a ring.
With gas engines, much is drawn up by vacuum. Add this to splash and oil scraped from the cylinder walls.

 

[Chris142]

I think that the rings and possibly the ring lands on cyl #5 have been damaged some.

The reason an overheated engine dies is that the pistons expand untill one or more sticks in the bore which stops the engine. Once this happens the damage is done and no can of stuff is going to replace aluminum or add tension to a ring thats lost tension.

 

[Gary Allan]

Good luck. Are you going to do followup compression checks? Please report back with your results.

 

[lambrose]

The visible portion of each cylinder was inspected by the dealership and was found to have NO damage. My theory is the oil in the rings got hot and the rings coked up. The motor otherwise runs great. Technically those numbers are in spec. I have seen higher so I thought I would give the MMO a try.

I am going to do a piston soak but only overnight as I can not wait for longer than that.

If you fill the cylinder how do you get it out when you are done?

Also still wondering if the MMO is thin enough to creep past the piston to the rings?

 

[lambrose]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Good luck. Are you going to do followup compression checks? Please report back with your results.


That is my intention. If it is a success and the compression cks prove it then the info might help someone here.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
If you fill the cylinder how do you get it out when you are done?


You need to fill the cylinder. You can clear the cylinder by cranking it with the plugs out. The mess will depend on how much is in them. You can cover it with a rag ..but the velocity and force that the rotating piston applies to the oil traveling out that small hole is substantial. That is, it will blow away the cover if it's just a rag. Limit your additions with that in mind.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: lambrose
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Good luck. Are you going to do followup compression checks? Please report back with your results.


That is my intention. If it is a success and the compression cks prove it then the info might help someone here.


It is a shame you can't give the soak a little longer. In the perfect world a 2 day soak would be ideal. Fill the cylinders let it sit several hours turn the engine by hand fill them up and repeat a few times. As I said before, leave the plugs out. When you're done crank the engine with the starter to clear them.

Gary nailed it, it will be a little messy. I would give the MMO added to the oil some time to work before the compression test. I'd wait till the next OCI. If those rings can be cleaned the piston soak, followed with the MMO added to the oil will do it.

 

[lambrose]

Two questions.

1. Is the MMO thin enough to seep down to the rings by itself? Should it be cut with some gum out type stuff?

2. If I use the Ford recommended 5W-20, will the MMO thin it out too much? Maybe 5w30 instead?

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: lambrose
Two questions.

1. Is the MMO thin enough to seep down to the rings by itself? Should it be cut with some gum out type stuff? Use the MMO by itself, but the longer it sits the better.


2. If I use the Ford recommended 5W-20, will the MMO thin it out too much? Maybe 5w30 instead? It won't be a problem, but anyone that has their doubts should run a pint instead of a qt. It takes the stress out that first time users wrestle with.



I replied in the bold type. HTH

 

[axjohn]

Out of curiousity, what are the factory compression specs for this engine? Where do your numbers stand compared to those?

 

[lambrose]

I can not find the factory specs, but the numbers I got are on the low side of optimum. I do know the minimum is 100 and the lowest must be 75% of the highest.

Demarpaint, what does HTH mean? I am a little slow at forun lingo.