I see you get a free used tire with the purchase of a used engine. Nice!
Picked up a "new" engine for the Grand Marquis
- Thread starter SwampSurvivor
- Start date
Sadly I had to provide the dryrotted tire. They didn't even include that!
The 20 year old tire came with the upgrade to steel wheels on the car
New engine is in and it fired up ... albeit poorly ... yesterday. I had the new engine with the spark plugs out and barred it over by hand. Was making some pretty bad timing chain noises from sitting for a few years. So once I got it back in, I cranked on it for a while with no coils or injectors to try to prime up the tensioners. Still have no grounds , alternator, exhaust, belt, coolant etc. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't making too many bad noises once it ran. Only ran for a minute or so to make sure that it wasn't going to knock or jump time or anything crazy. It's running richer than Bill Gates and I ain't kiddin!
Tonight I'm going to hook up the exhaust manifolds (sorry neighbors ...) , throw some distilled water in it and by pass the heater core, put on the belt / accessories and try to run it for more than a few seconds to see if it gets sorted out. There are no grounds so I'm guessing that and lack of alternator were causing it to be a git off.
I can honestly say the single hardest thing (and what took me longer than everything else) was getting the @#$@#$ing starter out. Literally took 6 hours to get the starter out. Nuts!
The good thing is, when I was cranking on it to try to pump up the tensioners, it sounds normal. Doesn't have one cylinder where the starter speeds up due to no compression.
With the old engine out I removed the spark plugs and barred it over by hand. I can have my finger in the #5 cylinder and and it'll go right past the compression stroke without pushing my finger out.
Tonight I'm going to hook up the exhaust manifolds (sorry neighbors ...) , throw some distilled water in it and by pass the heater core, put on the belt / accessories and try to run it for more than a few seconds to see if it gets sorted out. There are no grounds so I'm guessing that and lack of alternator were causing it to be a git off.
I can honestly say the single hardest thing (and what took me longer than everything else) was getting the @#$@#$ing starter out. Literally took 6 hours to get the starter out. Nuts!
The good thing is, when I was cranking on it to try to pump up the tensioners, it sounds normal. Doesn't have one cylinder where the starter speeds up due to no compression.
With the old engine out I removed the spark plugs and barred it over by hand. I can have my finger in the #5 cylinder and and it'll go right past the compression stroke without pushing my finger out.
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Panther starters really are the worst! there's absolutely no reason for that 3rd bolt, two bolts of a slightly larger diameter would have easily sufficed. I believe the OE bolts are M8x1.25, so two M10x1.25 and maybe an alignment dowel would easily have solved any reliability issues.
I watched a few ScrewTube videos of the starter removal with the engine in the chassis. If I'm looking at the same engine, holy smokes. One guy used like a 18" train of extensions, wobblers and universals to get to that top bolt. Another guy used a universal, short extension and a deep socket and got lucky, blindly stabbing at it over the solenoid.
At least you can see the starter. I hope I never have to deal with the starter on the Lexus. I can't even see it without removing the intake manifold. It's bolted to the engine block in the valley between the cylinder banks. I'd seen it last fall when I had the manifold off. I contemplated just replacing it but I thought, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
I just jinxed myself.
At least you can see the starter. I hope I never have to deal with the starter on the Lexus. I can't even see it without removing the intake manifold. It's bolted to the engine block in the valley between the cylinder banks. I'd seen it last fall when I had the manifold off. I contemplated just replacing it but I thought, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
I just jinxed myself.
I watched a few ScrewTube videos of the starter removal with the engine in the chassis. If I'm looking at the same engine, holy smokes. One guy used like a 18" train of extensions, wobblers and universals to get to that top bolt. Another guy used a universal, short extension and a deep socket and got lucky, blindly stabbing at it over the solenoid.
At least you can see the starter. I hope I never have to deal with the starter on the Lexus. I can't even see it without removing the intake manifold. It's bolted to the engine block in the valley between the cylinder banks. I'd seen it last fall when I had the manifold off. I contemplated just replacing it but I thought, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
I just jinxed myself.
The weird thing is I was able to get the top bolt out no problem. I immediately though - wow that was easy. Then I Realized ... I couldn't remove it from the bellhousing without hitting the frame.
The car runs terribly. I think it needs intake gaskets.
one of the easiest jobs out there
there are many much tighter places where they crammed that starter
Whoops. Update time! Been very busy. Didn't take too many pics. Heres a pic of the old engine out in the not-swamp shop.
Honestly the single hardest thing was the starter.
So after we started it up last Monday and it ran awfully, I hooked up the exhaust , alternator/belt, grounds the next night. It ran just as bad. It would start and run very bad and bang and pop below 2500 RPM then randomly shoot up to 2500, 3000 and smooth out a bit. To be honest we were a bit worried that it did actually jump time from the tensioners bleeding down. But it did eventually try to idle down once it hit closed loop and we heard a ton of whistling. It was also pulling 45% fuel trim on bank 1 and 35% on bank 2!!
Intake gaskets! I read online that the OE ones are reusable. I'm sure they are when the car is 2 or 3 years old, but 21 year old gaskets just don't have the pliability to be used.
Ordered up new intake gaskets. While waiting on those to come in, we got sick with "the bug" that's been going around for a while. Recovery from that took a few days. Finally I was able to toss the new gaskets in on Sunday and Monday. Fired it up with no belt and it ran great! There was a slight miss but that worked itself out. I'm guessing the crazy amounts of gas it was dumping in fouled out the plugs. But it's a 2v and I'm not touching the plugs unless I have to!
Finished putting things back together. Got the car all together except for the cowl and hood. Filled it with distilled water and fired it up. It ran up to about 200 degrees, thermostat opened and it cooled down to about 195. Great!. Drained the water out, refilled with coolant. Found all the sludge in the oil.
Thinking the worst, I suspected the head gaskets. I already did the oil filter housing before dropping the engine in. Either that or I got a bad oil filter housing gasket from the factory. So I vaccumed all of the sludge, filled with water and didn't have any more issues.
Then last night and today I must have flushed the cooling system no less than 50 times with cascade and water. Put it all back together today with coolant and watching what happens.
When I drained the coolant and stuff out of the new engine, I do remember there being a lot of oil residue in the container after. I bet the gasket was going bad for a while in the "new" engine. Good thing I replaced it!
Took it for a drive today and I'm really surprised with how much better it runs! I'm used to coming to a stop and losing a cylinder completely. It keeps running on all 8. And acellerating is definitely a lot easier. I never really realized it, but I can feel that it's a lot better taking off now. It wasn't a completely dead hole and it seemed to have *some* fire on cylinder 5, but it must have just been enough to overcome the resistance of the cylinder so it didn't feel like a complete dead miss?
I plan on doing an "i do cars" style teardown on it eventually. There's enough parts that exchange between both engines that I should take what I can.
It does whistle at high load / low RPM. It's the EGR tube. I never tightened it all the way into the manifold. But I really don't feel like taking the exhaust down again to fix it. So it is what it is. As long as it doesn't set an EGR code, I'm leaving it alone.
Honestly the single hardest thing was the starter.
So after we started it up last Monday and it ran awfully, I hooked up the exhaust , alternator/belt, grounds the next night. It ran just as bad. It would start and run very bad and bang and pop below 2500 RPM then randomly shoot up to 2500, 3000 and smooth out a bit. To be honest we were a bit worried that it did actually jump time from the tensioners bleeding down. But it did eventually try to idle down once it hit closed loop and we heard a ton of whistling. It was also pulling 45% fuel trim on bank 1 and 35% on bank 2!!
Intake gaskets! I read online that the OE ones are reusable. I'm sure they are when the car is 2 or 3 years old, but 21 year old gaskets just don't have the pliability to be used.
Ordered up new intake gaskets. While waiting on those to come in, we got sick with "the bug" that's been going around for a while. Recovery from that took a few days. Finally I was able to toss the new gaskets in on Sunday and Monday. Fired it up with no belt and it ran great! There was a slight miss but that worked itself out. I'm guessing the crazy amounts of gas it was dumping in fouled out the plugs. But it's a 2v and I'm not touching the plugs unless I have to!
Finished putting things back together. Got the car all together except for the cowl and hood. Filled it with distilled water and fired it up. It ran up to about 200 degrees, thermostat opened and it cooled down to about 195. Great!. Drained the water out, refilled with coolant. Found all the sludge in the oil.
Thinking the worst, I suspected the head gaskets. I already did the oil filter housing before dropping the engine in. Either that or I got a bad oil filter housing gasket from the factory. So I vaccumed all of the sludge, filled with water and didn't have any more issues.
Then last night and today I must have flushed the cooling system no less than 50 times with cascade and water. Put it all back together today with coolant and watching what happens.
When I drained the coolant and stuff out of the new engine, I do remember there being a lot of oil residue in the container after. I bet the gasket was going bad for a while in the "new" engine. Good thing I replaced it!
Took it for a drive today and I'm really surprised with how much better it runs! I'm used to coming to a stop and losing a cylinder completely. It keeps running on all 8. And acellerating is definitely a lot easier. I never really realized it, but I can feel that it's a lot better taking off now. It wasn't a completely dead hole and it seemed to have *some* fire on cylinder 5, but it must have just been enough to overcome the resistance of the cylinder so it didn't feel like a complete dead miss?
I plan on doing an "i do cars" style teardown on it eventually. There's enough parts that exchange between both engines that I should take what I can.
It does whistle at high load / low RPM. It's the EGR tube. I never tightened it all the way into the manifold. But I really don't feel like taking the exhaust down again to fix it. So it is what it is. As long as it doesn't set an EGR code, I'm leaving it alone.
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Who/ what is the mobile bolt removal guy? I would love to find a guy like that.
I bought this car because it was very clean (little to no rust) and in good shape for it's age and mileage. I also paid quite a bit below what they were going for at the time. For obvious reasons apparently.
Check online or maybe check with the Ford dealer. He said they are his biggest customers.
He comes to your house/shop and removes the broken bolt. If it’s completely inaccessible or the part is already off he even has his own shop with the extreme voltage machine that zaps the bolt out of existence and leaves the threads in tact.
Not cheap but worth it.
I got VERY lucky when it came to getting the exhaust manifold bolts out of the "new" engine. They came right out with a 3/8 ratchet! That never happens!
Ran it to work and back yesterday. It had a bit of a "rough" idle. Not one cylinder specific. But it's smooth as glass now. Guessing the rings and valves came back around after a good heat cycle from sitting a few years. Runs good!
No puddles. The drivers side exhaust manifold on the old engine was very sooty. Guessing it was adding fuel so that the data from 3 working cylinders looked like 4.
I also am thinking that all that extra fuel kept the oil level up. That engine leaked a lot of oil and left drops everywhere but I never added oil.
Fuel economy seems about 10% better too.
No puddles. The drivers side exhaust manifold on the old engine was very sooty. Guessing it was adding fuel so that the data from 3 working cylinders looked like 4.
I also am thinking that all that extra fuel kept the oil level up. That engine leaked a lot of oil and left drops everywhere but I never added oil.
Fuel economy seems about 10% better too.
Machine shops will use an EDM to burn out broken taps and such.
The longstanding issue for a few months ... I tightened up the EGR tube at the manifold and it still whistled. I wasn't liking the raw exhuast fumes once heater season started hitting. It wasn't until a friend was riding with me and said it sounded like it was coming higher up from the intake.
Hmm. Checked it and turns out I completely forgot to thread the EGR tube nut in. That would cause it. Surprisingly picked up a bit better fuel economy!
I have about 5000 miles on this engine now. It burnt through a quart of oil in the first 1000 miles. Was worried I had an oil burner. Hasn't needed a drop since.
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