4.0 OHV Makum White Puffy Cloud

[Clutch5sp]

OK...one more pic for today. "Well there's your problem"

 

[C420sailor]

Phosphoric acid. Sold as ospho or Home Depot sells it as concrete primer or some ****. Green liquid.

Converts rust to iron phosphate. Looks black when you’re done. I use this stuff to convert iron sailboat keels prior to paint. It is THE treatment for cast iron.

I’ve never heard of it being used in water jackets though. Can’t see the harm…just flush well with water after to neutralize the acid, then install new freeze plugs.

 

[Clutch5sp]

C420sailer...YEP, that's like what I tried to describe. It's called a rust converter. "Rust Cutter" is the shtuff I got from Tractor Supply $20 a spray bottle. It turns white then you wash it off and the metal will never rust again. I was sold after seeing how well it worked on my John Deere tractor.

Got the block honed real good today after using long scrubber brushes to get all up in the water jackets best I could thru core plugs & other holes. Actually, 2-cups of crapola came out. It's time for a nice sudsy block bath tomorrow, so why not treat what I can prior with that rust shtuff? I did a test spot and it turned out perfect & clean. Maybe not good to get it on any machined surfaces, just the yucky parts. Thing is...I gotta go get more because it's all used up. Hope people learn about this product and not get fooled with snake oils on the shelves. Not get ripped off with that high priced Por15 shtuff either. It's good and works like it says, butt way over priced.

.010" Hasting rings should be coming just in time for assembly. This ring gap sage has me concerned. With the bores measured out almost perfect while the old compression rings had a gap of .035" new kit rings had .028" gap, something fishy is going on as specs call for .015" to .022" gap. Hope there aren't any suprises when I start Plastigage checking crank & rod journals.

 

[Clutch5sp]

Just watched "Project Farm" guy on YT who does comparisons of products reporting the rip-offs & best top 3. Rust Kutter product is second to last & considered crapp. I'm embarrassed to even post this finding swearing it worked great for me and it did. Por15 is the best according to his comparison (also most expensive) to 10 selections also a product I can't run right out & buy. It has to be ordered & delivered. Being in an enclosed environment, maybe Rust Kutter product may work well as it can be brushed on in a controlled manner then rinsed off. The challenge is simply to get rid of and control the rust in the blocks cooling passages.

Will take before & after pics so we can see if it is even worth the trouble.

 

[Clutch5sp]

Hastings ring set just arrived. The .010" over sized fit in honed bore with barely no gap at all. Soooo...looks like we will make em fit custom per cylinder with spec range of .015" to .022" for compression rings. Maybe shoot for .018".

Still bothers me the original worn ring gap was .035" and new Enginetech STD ring gap is .028". Both are out of & over spec. The width of all the rings when compared is the same so the material went somewhere OR Haynes & Ford manual are incorrect with the ring gap spec.

Revisiting the rust in coolant passages...they look pretty good with the scrubbing they got yesterday. Surface rust no chunks or flakes type cleany weeny. HFT had some brushes that worked well.

It's now time to get everything extra clean & ready for reassembly.

 

[Mike65]

I am late to this thread & when I read the title first thing I thought on a 4.0 OHV engine is a cracked cylinder head. I had the same thing happen to my 2000 Ranger. It had no white smoke just kept using coolant & fouling one spark plug. I replaced both cylinder heads. Did you get new heads for it yet? I purchased new aftermarket heads that stated they had more casting between the vales to stop this from happening.

 

[Clutch5sp]

Mike65...Yes I bought new beefed up heads from Kings Cylinder Heads. They are on sale right now for $325 each. About $700 for the pair w/tax & shipping. Got here in a week after ordering. They come complete ready to install. Heck...that equals a single truck payment back when we bought the truck.

 

[C420sailor]

The acid treatment is temperamental. It won’t work fully if the metal is somewhat clean. It reacts with iron oxide (rust) to form the iron phosphate. So if you apply it to somewhat clean cast iron, you’ll have untreated spots that will rust. You’ll see them—those areas won’t turn black, or just barely so.

What I do? If I’m going to leave it bare, I’ll actually spray it with water and let it flash rust, then treat with acid. If I’m going to paint, I get it as clean as possible, treat, flush with plenty of water, then paint—preferably with epoxy paint.

For a water jacket, I’d use method one. Blast the jackets out, let them air dry fully, they should flash rust. Then acid treat. Let that dry, flush again with plenty of water. That should be more than enough protection, especially with anti-corrosives in fresh antifreeze.

 

[Clutch5sp]

Still pondering the ring gap thing all measured in the bore. all being the top compression ring to compare...
.035" Old used ring gap
.028" New kit ring gap
.007" Difference old to new ring gap...this may be the wear in the bore

So lets assume this is what's going on here with gap...It's a wear factor ( I think)
.028" New ring gap
.007" Subtract difference from old to new (wear factor)
.021" Total....this lands on the high side of spec being .015" to .023" in the manual. .021" gap if the new ring was put in a brand new virgin bore.

OPTION
Put the .028" gap kit rings on and go with it. The end of the world will happen before those wear out. Even with the old rings, compression made 160psi and 170psi with a squirt of oil during test.

MY OTHER OPTION
File the extra set of Hastings rings (.010" oversized) I ordered to fit within spec maybe goal to hit at .018" and stop worrying. Surely there can't be any way the ring gap would close .018" being my wife's daily driver everything stock never hot rodded etc...

What would you all think or do here?

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Still pondering the ring gap thing all measured in the bore. all being the top compression ring to compare...
.035" Old used ring gap
.028" New kit ring gap
.007" Difference old to new ring gap...this may be the wear in the bore

So lets assume this is what's going on here with gap...It's a wear factor ( I think)
.028" New ring gap
.007" Subtract difference from old to new (wear factor)
.021" Total....this lands on the high side of spec being .015" to .023" in the manual. .021" gap if the new ring was put in a brand new virgin bore.

OPTION
Put the .028" gap kit rings on and go with it. The end of the world will happen before those wear out. Even with the old rings, compression made 160psi and 170psi with a squirt of oil during test.

MY OTHER OPTION
File the extra set of Hastings rings (.010" oversized) I ordered to fit within spec maybe goal to hit at .018" and stop worrying. Surely there can't be any way the ring gap would close .018" being my wife's daily driver everything stock never hot rodded etc...

What would you all think or do here?

leaning toward the first, but both seem like good options for different ways.

 

[cober]

cracked

 

[Clutch5sp]

cracked

Always thought smokin crack was lighting your farts...lol

 

[Clutch5sp]

I'm soo temped to file that oversized set of rings to fit spec. Then again, I need to play it safe not to afford a huge Fup... Still $1k below purchasing a long block. Equals 2-1/2 loan payments back in the day. Listen to me trying to justify myself and possibly make a poor choice.

$1,530 so far in parts
$230 In tools I didn't have
$1,760 Total invested at this time. I keep all my vehicles in a spreadsheet to keep track of maintenance.

It's raining all day today, so I may begin putting the engine back together. Still have lifters to clean and rocker arms to replace. Maybe get the crank set today and plasti-gage. Need to get an area cleaned up as if prepared for surgery. Will take pics.....

 

[Clutch5sp]

Area all cleaned up preparing for surgery. I've got some work to do on the crank journals. They need a quick polishing before getting installed in the block. A good scrubbing wouldn't hurt it either. The crank & cam got plastic wrapped immediately during tear down and just now really looking at them.

Not on a deadline and not really in any hurry. We have some cold bad weather coming that will put a hold on any engine installation. Would you all believe I had to stop work on my wifes new kitchen to work on her truck? Think about it...wife gets in truck to go grocery shopping, then comes home in kitchen to fix me a sandwich. The circle of life......

 

[Clutch5sp]

The NEW P3000 crankshaft holder for all you twisty turny needs.

Not the way we polish our cranks....GENTLEMEN

 

[Clutch5sp]

Had time last eve to do 1-journal testing with 600 grit then polish. Unbelievable how easy it was to make it look perfect being they weren't bad to begin with. Maybe be able to get em all done and plasi-gage by this eve.

The high tech P3000 crank holder device makes everything easier to do. Sux that it doesn't come with a drink holder. Will complain to the MFR.

 

[Clutch5sp]

Welp....got those crank journals all nice-N-shiny. Strange I had soo much trouble with the 600 grit when changed to 1000-grit 3M they all cleaned up quickly. Then polish using Blue Streak along with *****'n out the oil holes. Will take a pic here in a minute for progress. We just may see this hunk of iron in the block today.

 

[Clutch5sp]

I suk at pics. Here's the crank and main caps with bearing wear.

 

[Clutch5sp]

The crankshaft is installed. Plastigage was very good same for all journals towards the higher end of tolerance. Melling high volume oil pump will insure everything gets lube. Fix'd up a work station to concentrate on cleaning up the piston & rods then decide my ring gap to use.

 

[Clutch5sp]

Hello friends...We've had a bit of weather here in TX as a little bit of ice shuts the entire state down. Then there are the idiots who think that they be got "fo-wee-dry" makes em invincible to any road conditions in the mix of all the other morons for a recipie of sure disaster.

Anyway, my project has stalled due to the impossible feat of getting the pistons cleaned up. Finally got up to the parts store for some Berrymans Parts cleaner shtuff. All the other snake oils and piston potions just didn't cut the crud. Tried em all to no avail. Hope the gallon of parts soak works like it shows.