I messed up :( rebuild or junk it?

[v897xlt]

so yesterday i screwed up, i have a pretty stock x but a few things ive done, ne ways my friends have lifted vehicles and they all went through a mud hole yesterday, n then everyone said c'mon man go through it u wont get stuck..... so i went and then my engine died right when i was getting out of the hole, well looking at it water went over my distibuter , soaked my air filter, and maid my oil look the same color as the mud.... so as soon as the engine would finaly crank i moved it so i could change the oil right there. so went to wall world got new oil, oil filter and air filter and changed her out n the field, but my engine now ticks awfully bad and i dont kno where its coming from. its eather the a piston or the camshaft what do u guys think i should do with my 97 v8 5.0 AWD 4 door xlt X? should i find a rebuild kit, for the engine? or should i just get another car? im 16 so money is tight n i have to pay for all my stuff, n not having ne landscape work this year its a lil tighter then normal on money... DO U GUYS HAVE NE IDEA ON WHT I SHOULD DO? THANK U

 

[john93rangerstx]

get one from a junk yard ther the most 500

 

[v897xlt]

get one from a junk yard ther the most 500

i looked the other day for one, theres a place called pick n save n the wanted 250 for it , but the hood was left open and ppl have already taken parts off it:/ so maybe break then engine down and try to get piston sleeves? and rings? and maybe camshaft? its only one piston that tickin, so i dont kno yet exactly wich one or wht needs to b fixed, thanks though, do u kno any good companys tht have good rebuild parts?

 

[97_Explorer_XLT]

Fix it, and don't do that again until you put a snorkel on it.

 

[pwrshft99]

Check out car-part.com, best way to find local used parts.

You could go with a low mile used short block and add you heads, intake, etc. One out of any 85-95 mustang would work.

 

[v897xlt]

Fix it, and don't do that again until you put a snorkel on it.

u think it would of been fine with a snorkle? the oil is wht i was concernd about it was the same color as the mud, it looked like someone too the oily mud n dumped inside my crankcase... nvr thought bout a snorkle:

 

[section525]

I guess its time to update your sig.

280,600 miles, in not still be runin no sir.

 

[v897xlt]

Check out car-part.com, best way to find local used parts.

You could go with a low mile used short block and add you heads, intake, etc. One out of any 85-95 mustang would work.

so these year mustangs have the same 302 in it?

 

[v897xlt]

so these year mustangs have the same 302 in it?

thanks for all the reply so far!!! very helpful

 

[Eddie 00]

Nope the current mustang gt's are using a 302 ci dual overhead cam engine with 24 valves.

 

[pwrshft99]

so these year mustangs have the same 302 in it?

85-95 all 302s were about identical. The important thing is these accept a roller camshaft.

Look on craigslist too. I just missed out on an 88 short block with 88k for $50.... id have still rebuilt it for my EX but 87-91 had durable forged pistons which could be reused. Likely a good cleaning,hone, rings, gaskets and bearings, that motor would run another 100k.

Also, consider latemodelrestoration.com
Its a mustang site but they sell remanufactured 306s for $699.

 

[v897xlt]

so talking to a few mechanics and drivin to ones house there sayin its one of my liftors .....cheapish fix, then the engine will stop tickin... hopefully, ne one done tht before replace liftors?

 

[RiverRatTech]

I would try cleaning and tightening the lifters to spec before I replace them if money is tight. If you think its a piston or rings, you could do a compression test, it should give you an idea which cylinder the problem is coming from. If its the lifters the tick shouldn't be abnoxiusly loud. If it doesn't sound like its coming from the top end, get underneath it and see if its louder, if so it could be lower main bearings. I would start with a compression test imo just to be sure.

 

[v897xlt]

well its on the left side, and it is coming from the top, i did check my oil filter and there are no metal shavings, thts wht one mechanic said to look for if it my bearings.... so who knows , i talked to a guy today a few minutes ago and ima go to his shop he offerd to look at it for free, and he offored to back everything up tht he does for life on my car wich is pretty cool, but labor cost are 70 a hour if hes not doin free work, he says it might b the liftors or the push rods, im seein him later today so we can get a good idea on it, thanks for the help so far eveyone!!!

 

[v897xlt]

I would try cleaning and tightening the lifters to spec before I replace them if money is tight. If you think its a piston or rings, you could do a compression test, it should give you an idea which cylinder the problem is coming from. If its the lifters the tick shouldn't be abnoxiusly loud. If it doesn't sound like its coming from the top end, get underneath it and see if its louder, if so it could be lower main bearings. I would start with a compression test imo just to be sure.

wht can i clean them with ? and how hard is to to brake the engine down tht far? and to tightin to specss , is it hard todo? i might get the parts n do it my self but idk yet, thanks

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Check out car-part.com, best way to find local used parts.

You could go with a low mile used short block and add you heads, intake, etc. One out of any 85-95 mustang would work.

The only thing the Mustang engine shares with the Explorer engine is the block. The Mustang 5.0 used a distributor and 32oz balance. Explorers are DIS and use a 50oz balance along with the pick up ring being part of the harmonic balancer.

 

[pwrshft99]

The only thing the Mustang engine shares with the Explorer engine is the block. The Mustang 5.0 used a distributor and 32oz balance. Explorers are DIS and use a 50oz balance along with the pick up ring being part of the harmonic balancer.

True but if you just need a short block all those parts should be useable from the original EX 302...

 

[v897xlt]

so looking at tht thread with the guy doin a v8 engine swap, basicly wht happend to him is wht happend to me, went through water, but my motor didnt sieze , it just ticks with a rythem, ahhh hell i dont kno ne more... i dont kno if i should spend money to fix it or just sell it... ill post up the costs to fix it when i get back if he thinks all i need to do is tightin it or clean it ill igve it a try, but if the parts are broke/bent there expensive, he said its 22$ a lifter and theres 16 of them :'( thts 352 $ right there, but thts to replace all of them, who knows... thanks for all the info ppl , if u have ne experience with something like this please post, or experience with tighting cleanin liftors

 

[v897xlt]

looks like im sellin her, the guy looked at it and told me its one of the pins , cant remember wich one it is, but he said ur better of just to get a used engine and drop it in there he said tht would be cheaper then having him go in there and replace the pins....looks like im sellin her and buyin a 82 silverado with a rebuilt engine so it supposedly runs good, gotta check up on it and see it in person, inless yall have ne sugestions i dont have 700$ for a used engine.... ne other alternatives?

 

[NHarris]

I just think you should go pull an engine out of a 5.0 in the junkyard. Good luck. Check around the junkyards, the ones here in Ogden want around $250 if they do the work, $150 if you do the work to pull the engine out.