-
Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator,
Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
Register Today It's free!
Well this just sucks....
- Thread starter JDraper
- Start date
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!.
- Joined
- May 3, 2003
- Messages
- 9,361
- Reaction score
- 63
- City, State
- Smithville/Austin, Tx
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 08' Suzuki SX4
Sue's car again?
Damnit Jeff can't you catch a break with that car?
But what really looks out of place is the IAC gasket off to the side by the belt and crossmember.
Damnit Jeff can't you catch a break with that car?
But what really looks out of place is the IAC gasket off to the side by the belt and crossmember.
- Joined
- January 11, 2001
- Messages
- 15,189
- Reaction score
- 74
- City, State
- McVeytown, PA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '18 XLT
Actually, that's an "alternate" oil pump gasket that came with a Windsor gasket kit I bought at one time.
t's been slowly making more noise and I finally decided to dig into it. It's been a real stumper to find. I'm still not 100% sure this is the problem. What I found was the TOP half of the #5 main bearing was pitted when I pulled it out. Not smeared or scraped...pitted.
What we were hearing was a bottom end knock that disappeared under load. It wasn't much and didn't affect the performance, but you could feel it if you put your hand on the back of the engine. I checked EVERYTHING I could. Eliminated top end issues because it knocks at the same frequency the crank is turning at, not the cam.
Even pulled the distributor and ran the oil pump on a primer shaft to see if the knocking was there. Finally took the car up to Bart Grande at Godspeed Dyno and had him listen to the motor. The only way we could clear the knock was to put the car in 2nd gear and start to load up the motor by slipping the clutch. Once the motor was loaded, it would go away. That kind of rules out wrist pins and connecting rod bearings.
Doesn't appear to be clutch or tranny related either.
Jeff, any input from you would be welcomed..
t's been slowly making more noise and I finally decided to dig into it. It's been a real stumper to find. I'm still not 100% sure this is the problem. What I found was the TOP half of the #5 main bearing was pitted when I pulled it out. Not smeared or scraped...pitted.
What we were hearing was a bottom end knock that disappeared under load. It wasn't much and didn't affect the performance, but you could feel it if you put your hand on the back of the engine. I checked EVERYTHING I could. Eliminated top end issues because it knocks at the same frequency the crank is turning at, not the cam.
Even pulled the distributor and ran the oil pump on a primer shaft to see if the knocking was there. Finally took the car up to Bart Grande at Godspeed Dyno and had him listen to the motor. The only way we could clear the knock was to put the car in 2nd gear and start to load up the motor by slipping the clutch. Once the motor was loaded, it would go away. That kind of rules out wrist pins and connecting rod bearings.
Doesn't appear to be clutch or tranny related either.
Jeff, any input from you would be welcomed..
- Joined
- February 8, 1999
- Messages
- 35,483
- Reaction score
- 4,554
- City, State
- Wayoutin, Aridzona
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '93 XL '20 ST
- Callsign
- AB7FH
If you still have the noise, one thing you can try is to pull a wire from one cylinder at a time and listen for the noise. If it goes away you've at least isolated which cylinder is causing the knock. If you find that the noise goes away when you kill a certain cylinder, it's probably a rod bearing going bad 
- Joined
- January 11, 2001
- Messages
- 15,189
- Reaction score
- 74
- City, State
- McVeytown, PA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '18 XLT
If you still have the noise, one thing you can try is to pull a wire from one cylinder at a time and listen for the noise. If it goes away you've at least isolated which cylinder is causing the knock. If you find that the noise goes away when you kill a certain cylinder, it's probably a rod bearing going bad
Already had done that test..no changes. Pretty sure it's the #5 main bearing. I've got a new set on order that will be here in a day or two.
Here's all the stuff we did to isolate the problem:
Stethescoped around the motor
Pulled plugs individually
Re-set all lifter pre-loads (replaced one soft lifter)
Compression test
Ran the oil pump on the primer rod
Checked with transmission/clutch engaged/not engaged
Load tested (only way the sound changed)
Checked all front end accessories for vibration/loose bolts
Checked the harmonic balancer to make sure it was tight
Pulled all main bearings....
- Joined
- January 11, 2001
- Messages
- 15,189
- Reaction score
- 74
- City, State
- McVeytown, PA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '18 XLT
Nope..just that the one is pitted pretty good.
Explorer Features
Explorer Features
