Under the valve cover - ‘98 Ford Ranger, Vulcan 3.0L V6, 250K

[nthach]

(Mods, feel free to move this to Maintenance if this is the wrong forum)
I’m doing some work for a friend in the “chosen” family, Ford dealer couldn’t figure out the misfire. It also has leaky valve covers. I didn’t take a pic of the driver’s side. This truck saw a 50 mile daily commute in reverse, so no stop & go.

I’ll say this, this truck was serviced at the local Ford dealer or a quick lube and saw bulk 5W-30 with Motorcraft or jobber filters. I’m quite surprised this engine looks clean, this is what I expect to see of a Toyota or Honda when it crosses the 100-150K mark needing valve cover gaskets. When I’m done with this, it’ll get either Vavoline MaxLife red bottle or a “synthetic” high mileage oil(whatever Walmart has on sale) and another Motorcraft FL-400S.

 

[ripcord]

Super clean. Bet the owner was a 3k oil change guy.

 

[Slow Car Sport Mode]

Kind of makes me want to take my VC off. But I'll live vicariously through yours.

Very nice, too.

 

[bbhero]

(Mods, feel free to move this to Maintenance if this is the wrong forum)
I’m doing some work for a friend in the “chosen” family, Ford dealer couldn’t figure out the misfire. It also has leaky valve covers. I didn’t take a pic of the driver’s side. This truck saw a 50 mile daily commute in reverse, so no stop & go.

I’ll say this, this truck was serviced at the local Ford dealer or a quick lube and saw bulk 5W-30 with Motorcraft or jobber filters. I’m quite surprised this engine looks clean, this is what I expect to see of a Toyota or Honda when it crosses the 100-150K mark needing valve cover gaskets. When I’m done with this, it’ll get either Vavoline MaxLife red bottle or a “synthetic” high mileage oil(whatever Walmart has on sale) and another Motorcraft FL-400S.

View attachment 144927

Looks extremely good.

Long trips helped a lot along with the owner changing the oil routinely and not too long intervals.

Some of our members on here say that bulk oil changes with jobber filters works just fine.

This here does prove that to be true.

 

[Kruse]

Those early Vulcan engines are easy on oil and usually have no deposits under the valve covers if the engine oil has been changed and the PCV is working. Yes, I own a high mileaged '98 Ford Ranger with the 3.0/5-speed.

 

[bullwinkle]

What caused the misfire? Plugs, wires, coil pack/distributor, or injectors? That is one clean engine, though.

 

[joekingcorvette]

Looks great for the miles!

 

[atikovi]

Super clean. Bet the owner was a 3k oil change guy.

Exactly. You don't get that with 10K oil change intervals. Or 6K for that matter.

 

[dnewton3]

I had a '96 Taurus and a '89 with the same engine.
They were spotless under the valve cover as well, after a lot of miles.

The ol' Vulcan was a very reliable, long running engine. Mainly because it was under-stressed; not a lot of power for its size.

 

[nthach]

What caused the misfire? Plugs, wires, coil pack/distributor, or injectors? That is one clean engine, though.

Injectors. Bad one at #2. I could have just done one and called it a day. Owner said to replace all 6 - probably a good idea to keep fuel trims “normal”.

 

[Hillbilly Deluxe]

This truck saw a 50 mile daily commute in reverse, so no stop & go.

That sentence had to give the a. retentive word analyzers fits. "HE DROVE IN REVERSE???"




1. Motorcraft oil is EXCELLENT oil IME. I used it for 100k miles in our bought-new 2007 CR-V. I did 10k mile oil changes on that thing and the oil looked like it was new when I drained it.

2. Toyotas typically don't need valve cover gaskets until 300k....

 

[The Critic]

1. Motorcraft oil is EXCELLENT oil IME. I used it for 100k miles in our bought-new 2007 CR-V. I did 10k mile oil changes on that thing and the oil looked like it was new when I drained it.

2. Toyotas typically don't need valve cover gaskets until 300k....

1) Didn't realize light color = oil in good condition?

2) Might want to use a 10-yr qualifier with your statement. When it comes to rubber gaskets, age has a greater impact than mileage.

 

[brages]

That's a clean engine!

I'm not really a fan of the Vulcan like many on this forum are.

 

[nthach]

That's a clean engine!

I'm not really a fan of the Vulcan like many on this forum are.

Every automaker has their “uncool but solid” engine, Ford’s Vulcan falls into that category. It’s Japanese competition at the time(Toyota 2VZ/1MZ-FE 3.0L in the Camry/ES300, Honda C27/J30 in the Accord V6, Nissan VG30E/VE30DE/VQ30DE in the Maxima/Infiniti I30) made more power and so did Mopar’s 2.7L/GM’s 3.1-3.4 but it kept up with Japan’s best for reliability.

 

[ChrisD46]

Super clean. Bet the owner was a 3k oil change guy.

I was a 3K OCI guy with a newly owned Dodge Caravan - a bad PCV system turned the engine into a sludge-o-matic ... My point is that a 3K OCI alone does not render engine internals spotless if you have a PCV system design issue or poorly operating PCV valve.

 

[nthach]

I was a 3K OCI guy with a newly owned Dodge Caravan - a bad PCV system turned the engine into a sludge-o-matic ... My point is that a 3K OCI alone does not render engine internals spotless if you have a PCV system design issue or poorly operating PCV valve.

Yep, that was why Toyota’s 1MZ-FE and 5S-FE turned into sludge monsters(and they started to recommend 5K OCIs with the oils at the time in 1996-2002). And now with TGDI, PCV systems are partly to blame for IVDs, but catch cans aren’t feasible at an OEM level. VW kinda has it sorted out with a coalescing system kinda like a Cummins or CAT diesel.