Rod Knock

[boom boom]

When it rains it pours. Driving home from work yesterday I started hearing a small tick which quickly became a louder knock. Shut it down and got it home. Started it back up and tick, tick, tick with rpm. It gets worse with a little throttle and then really bad when I let off throttle around 1800 rpm. Above 2500 it smooths out again. I think my worst fears are confirmed- rod knock. The reason I bought this car was the 50,000 mile longblock put in by Ford under warranty but it appears the previous owner may not have treated it well either


So my next step is to drop the oil pan and see how bad it is. This is my first experience inside the DOHC engine so I have a few questions.


Can I get the pan off without pulling the engine?


Has anyone done a single bearing?


Depending on the amount of metal in the oil, can these engines survive a spun bearing or should I plan on a complete rebuild?

[crouse]

Would a spun rod bearing show really high oil pressure?

[8UWITH6]

Pull it. Not worth trying to get the pan off in the car.

[Themarauderguy]

A rod knock would be a consistent knock through the whole rpm. you either have a bad valve guide seat or timing chain guides are bad. I would take off the front timing cover before I start pulling the oil pan off. If those are good then. you can hook up an oil pressure gauge to where the oil pressure sensor is. start the car let it idle and see if the oil pressure looks good. if it's low and not getting any ol pressure it's a spun rod bearing. or main bearing. You mentioned it was a rebuilt engine could be a rod cap bolt came loose as well. Those are things I would check anyway.

[boom boom]

This noise really sounds like it is coming from the bottom end, but I haven't had the timing cover off. Engine still has full power and it hasn't given any lights or codes and of course the gauge never moved. I'm pretty annoyed with the dummy oil gauge, what's the point. I'll check the oil pressure when I get back to it.


Would a timing issue get louder and irregular as you came off the throttle? That's the part that gets me, unloading the throttle around 2000RPM gets very loud and then settles again as the RPM drop. Dead steady knock at idle, really bad around 1800-2000 RPM and then starts to quiet as you approach and pass 3000 RPM. On the highway it actually sounded better at speed before I shut her down.

[Invective]

This noise really sounds like it is coming from the bottom end, but I haven't had the timing cover off.

Hoping you don't start it again until you correctly diagnose/fix the issue. Really don't want you to trash it unnecessarily and then unload it on someone else who also has no clue.

[RubberCtyRauder]

Number 8 cylinder known to overheat and bend valve due to poor coolant passage in head.

[boom boom]

Maybe I wasn't clear about "shut it down and got it home?" I towed it home. This happened last night on the way home from work so this is about getting together a game plan.


Thanks 8UWITH6 when it comes time I'll pull the engine rather than try to get the pan off.


TheMarauderGuy - Ford put Engine Assembly 3W3Z-6006-ABRM in it October 2007 - 60K miles ago.


I think that is a long block which means it should have been a new timing set with the new block and improved heads?

[boom boom]

Number 8 cylinder known to overheat and bend valve due to poor coolant passage in head.



I have no discernable power loss associated with the noise. Would that rule out a bent valve?

[RubberCtyRauder]

I have no discernable power loss associated with the noise. Would that rule out a bent valve?

I'm not sure, just adding to possible areas to look into. A few people have had the number 8 cylinder bend valve so hopefully they'll reply with better info as to their diagnosis. But it is a known issue even with the cobra mustangs, Mach 1 of those years.

[mustangeddie]

If you can, cut open the oil filter and inspect the element it will have chunks of bearing material in it if it's a rod knock.

[decipha]

do you run only motorcraft oil filters and 5w20 oil ?

[crouse]

You could post a video with sound if you dare run the engine for a few minutes.

[decipha]

nothing good can come from running it

[MyBlackBeasts]

Put your ear down by the starter.


It has happened where the starter starts going bad and the drive stays partially engaged fooling people they had internal engine issues.


Worth checking out.

[Themarauderguy]

TheMarauderGuy - Ford put Engine Assembly 3W3Z-6006-ABRM in it October 2007 - 60K miles ago.


I think that is a long block which means it should have been a new timing set with the new block and improved heads?[/QUOTE]
I've seen several reman engines from Ford fail. even the timing components. just because its only a 60k miles doesn't mean it's exempt. not saying thats your issue just given possible idea of what it could be. If I was in your shoes I'd pull the engine! As far as improved cylinder heads it should be in the cast # should be DB or DC I believe. Anyway good luck on your journey hope you get it figured out. I know it sucks when these cars break down. But for me it's a love-hate relationship.

[boom boom]

Headed to Carlisle tomorrow anyway, so maybe I'll get lucky and find a terminator engine for cheap (yeah right, but fingers crossed). In the meantime, thanks for all the advice.


I am leaning more and more to just pulling the engine and then diagnosing. It will give me a chance to open it up and look at everything and clean everything back up. The transmission has always been a little funky and I have all the parts for a TR3650 swap. Even if the timing set is wiped out, I'll want the pan off to clean everything out. All of this is pushing me to pull the plant. I did the engine harness r&r in about 2-3 hours with a repair. The manifold bell bolts looks great so I am thinking that I can have the engine/trans out before lunch.


Can I get the engine/trans out without removing the hood? They clearly took it off the last time.


Do I need to remove the trans crossmember to pull everything or do I have enough forward movement to clear the tailshaft?

[Themarauderguy]

Yes you can pull the engine/ transmission with the hood on. you just have to take loose the hood shocks and put a long enough Pole to hold it open so it clears. I've done it several times. And yes the transmission crossmember has to come down that's a bit of a pain to get that out. You'll need a think strong pry bar to get the crossmember out.

[rkapp2004]

Just fixed mine as it was doing the same thing... smoothed out during throttle increase and got worse when I let off. Tried inspecting the flex plate through the inspection cover before pulling motor. Some on site thought this noise could be caused by a cracked flex plate OR loose bolts. Not the case for me.

I ended up pulling the motor out, thanks to much advice and pointers from members of this site and I was glad I did. The pan was full of timing chain guide pieces and a couple small pieces were caught in the sump tube. After final dis-assembly found the second rod back was the culprit. It was so bad that the crank could not be turned.

After a new crank, main, rod bearing kit and new rings with a hone job (plus new oil pump) I re-assembled and re-installed. Have 500 miles on it and sounds like a new.

Sorry, I can't tell you if the pan can be removed while in the car but at a minimum you will have to raise the motor to try it. I will tell you that the motor will come out with the hood left on. You will have to remove the upper and lower intake but that is necessary to get to the top side bell housing bolts anyway.

Good Luck!

[boom boom]

Welp, I finally got some time with the car. Family and work have been keeping me busy. Took a little under six hours to get the engine and trans out as an assembly. Thanks for all the advice! Left the hood on and removed the lifts, removed the fan and radiator ( radiator isn't necessary), unbolted the compressor and power steering pump, h pipe at manifolds, driveshaft and crossmember. Left the harness, throttle body, and intake on and used a strap through the intake to pull the assembly. Not as easy as a 289 but very easy to pull. I thought I was pretty slick with the crossmember. I wrapped a 2" strap around it and than put the strap around a 6x6 and under a bottle jack. Used the bottle jack to lift the frame and the strap to hold the cossmember down. With a few good whacks from a mallet as I jacked it up the crossmember popped right out. Engine went on the stand and the transmission went on a dolly. The jerks that put this engine in must have put the torque converter on with an impact, forgot to attach the rear ground strap, left the wire harness laying on the egr tube to melt, and even cross threaded one of the bellhousing bolts.


Tonight I tore into the engine. The pain of not knowing was eating at me. This engine is a Ford reman with the nameplate and serial number to prove it. Bonuses for last revision DC heads but it is still just a standard Windsor block. Removed the cam covers and the heads looked bright and shiny, like they should for 60k miles. Timing set looks almost new as well but that is all the good news I have. When I drained the oil I saw a little drip of silver pigment come out but that was it. Removed the pan and there was a thick film of what looked like silver paint on the top of the oil....crap. Found a few 1/8" diameter flakes of bright metal in the oil pickup.....crap. Removed the windage tray and started jiggling rods.....damnit. #8 rod is loose. I removed the cap and the back of the bearing has shiny high spots around the centerline and off axis rotating wear lines on it but the lug is intact and there is no discoloration. When I removed the bearing it was a different story. The bearing surface is shiny and fretted. One side of the bearing surface is intact but the other half that isn't fretted has been torn off. My heart sinks because I can feel unevenness in the surface of the crank. I cant hook a nail on it so maybe it can be polished out. Based on Mahle's bearing failure mode literature it looks like straight up oil starvation.


https://www.mahle-aftermarket.com/media/local-media-north-america/product-files/ceb-2-1114-engine-bearing-failures-brochure.pdf


I have been religious about checking the oil because this car is new to me. That stupid wannabe dummy light oil gauge on the console didn't tell me anything but I'm going with oil starvation. I haven't checked the oil pump condition and forgot to check the bearing oil hole for proper location, so I'll check those the next time I'm in the garage.


I'm super bummed. Waited 14 years to finally get a Marauder, do a bunch of work to get her back on the road, and now 60k mile Ford reman engine goes down. 2.5 year old twins mean that time and money are at a premium right now. I'm hoping that maybe I can sell some other parts to scrape together $3k.


I would love to hear some opinions on how you would proceed. I can pull an aviator engine from the junkyard for around $500 and a boat load of time, I can grab a 100k mile complete 01 cobra engine locally for $1000, or I can try to find a Kellogg crank and from what I have. I hate the idea of putting a used engine in it and the potential for more problems. I would really like to build an aluminator but with my budget that that would take a ton of scrounging and who knows how long to do it.


Damn, damn, damn. Down and out in Baltimore.


Thanks for the advice and reading my ramble. Looks like I'm out of attachment space so I'll have to get pictures hosted somewhere else and link them later.

[Themarauderguy]

Just find a low mileage Crown Vic engine and put your Marauder heads and timing assembly and timing cover on it on it. it'll save you a lot of money. you can get a complete head gasket sets online pretty reasonable with head bolts. that's the cheap route might have a slight less power but it's the cheaper option. if you can find the Lincoln Mark 8 block look for them, but they're getting kind of far few to fine now. at least in this part of the country.

[Zack]

Just find a low mileage Crown Vic engine and put your Marauder heads and timing assembly and timing cover on it on it. it'll save you a lot of money. you can get a complete head gasket sets online pretty reasonable with head bolts. that's the cheap route might have a slight less power but it's the cheaper option.

This is the worst advice in the history of this forum.
Please stop posting, because some may actually believe you.

[blazen71]

This is the worst advice in the history of this forum.
Please stop posting, because some may actually believe you.

This just made my day

[Curless]

This is the worst advice in the history of this forum.
Please stop posting, because some may actually believe you.

Truth... this is a no bueno suggestion...

[stevengerard]

I'll let the experts chime in about the engine. I'll give some dad advice, as a father of 4 kids, the last two twins I feel for you. The expenses only go up, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Time with them is even more valuable than the almighty dollar, so enjoy it. Time goes by really, really fast. Every stage with twins (any child for that matter) has its ups and downs but 2.5 year old twins is an awesome busy age—enjoy it.

I have owned my MM since new, it is far from the car I would have picked but with 4 kids I had to make sacrifices and it was the best choice at the time. I appreciated it for what it was and now like it as much if not more as they get rarer and rarer. But that also meant it was a daily driver, eaten in, puked in, tantrums thrown in it, baseballs hitting it, etc. I have rebuilt everything on the car at least once. Now its looking like a paint job may be in order sooner than later. Since its been paid for for 15 years and doubled as a family/fun car it really has been a value and I can't complain. Good luck with your choice. Since you seem knowledgeable and mechanically inclined my gut would be to get a cheap replacement engine to get the car running while slowly rebuilding the engine of your choice. It limits the down time and provides you with managing the expense of the slippery slope of building an engine the way you want to.

[Themarauderguy]

I've done it before for several guys. and they ran just fine. If you don't like my advice don't have to take it! If you'd worked on as many 4.6 blocks as I have. you would know the marauder block is nothing special. yes it has high-compression Pistons big deal! Not everybody wants to spend three and four thousand to get a reman 4.6 engine when they can use a cheap Crown Vic block. and get the marauder up and running again. that was the point of my post. if you want to go with a built hot rod supercharged engine then Build It Up the way you want. Lol.

[Themarauderguy]

Crown vic engine a junk yard 300 to 400. Head gasket set 200. If you do the work yourself you're just out your own time. So for about five to six hundred you could have your Marauder back up and running. it's going to make less power duh we all know that. but it's going to save money and your car will be up and running. Until you can get money together to do it the way you want. and build another engine or whatever your desires are.

[Themarauderguy]

And I'll post whatever I like on this form! I'm not breaking any form rules if you guys don't like it don't read it!!! I am knowledgeable on what I am talking about and have done it, so if you don't like it well that's just tough luck. And the people who I've fix their Marauders that had bottom end failures. I used Crown Vic blocks with the marauder heads love them and drive them and haven't had any issues. proceed trash talk like you guys in the Forum love to do. it's a new ideal. I mean it's not like the marauder engine block really makes a huge amount of oh my God it's super powerful power to begin with, lol so who gives it hoot.

[musclemerc]

I've done it before for several guys. and they ran just fine. If you don't like my advice don't have to take it! If you'd worked on as many 4.6 blocks as I have. you would know the marauder block is nothing special. yes it has high-compression Pistons big deal! Not everybody wants to spend three and four thousand to get a reman 4.6 engine when they can use a cheap Crown Vic block. and get the marauder up and running again. that was the point of my post. if you want to go with a built hot rod supercharged engine then Build It Up the way you want. Lol.

You're correct.... The block isn't special just higher CR and aluminum material.
It will work 100% just not the same power

The first M-122 powered Vic used a stock CV block and swapped to a 4v setup. Worked just fine till Drac got the Terminator block swapped in.

[decipha]

I agree with the 4.6 crown vic route and actually think it was good advice. Why all the hatred to the poster and so many strongly against it? Something I don't know? Its the cheapest / fastest route to get you going in a hurry. Just don't forget to drill the deck of the block for the 4v water passages else you'll overheat it some bad...

Probably your best option is to assess the damage first. Rip the crank out and bring it to your machine shop to see if its salvageable. If it is then just fix it and slap it all back together if not you can try to source a crank but for the price of a cobra crank your looking roughly 1,000. I just sold one a couple months ago for $500 so you might be at a wash at that point.

[TooManyFords]

This is the worst advice in the history of this forum.
Please stop posting, because some may actually believe you.

I'm gonna play devils advocate here...

The 4V heads won't kiss the pistons, the blocks accept the heads, and all the timing stuff can be transferred.

Why exactly is this bad advice, in your expert opinion?

[offroadkarter]

I'm gonna play devils advocate here...

The 4V heads won't kiss the pistons, the blocks accept the heads, and all the timing stuff can be transferred.

Why exactly is this bad advice, in your expert opinion?

Lower compression, heavier block, have to deal with converting the timing chain setup over for the DOHC heads, I'm sure I can nit pick at other random BS stuff. It's a lot of work at an attempt to save money and end up with an even worse performing car.

You know what I did when I had a marauder that needed an engine? 1800 dollars shipped to my door, complete aviator engine. I converted it to a marauder engine in a day by stripping it down to a bare longblock. Dropped it in the car, turned key, fired to life. That was almost 50,000 miles ago now.

I also sold off the set of 4 thread heads I had from the blown marauder engine for 500 bucks back in my pocket. Pretty sure I also sold the valve covers off for a couple bucks as well.

Whoever is doing crown vic engine conversions is being a MAJOR cheap ass, a friend of mine just bought a full marauder engine that needs timing chain guides for 200 bucks!

[hotford]

Would a spun rod bearing show really high oil pressure?

Yes
oil pressure readings are not effected with rod bearings, Mains and cam bearings will effect oil pressure readings.

[Themarauderguy]

The problem is now a days most of the Lincoln aviators are complete garbage that salvage yards are selling. and they've been ran hard as hell I wouldn't put another dime on one. I got burn three times. and the three people that had Marauders got tired of wasting their money on that BS so the Crown Vic Blocks made perfect sense. and there's not a whole lot to change the same timing set up will fit either so what's the big deal? And it's not like the Mercury Marauder is an expense is $60,000 muscle car. the car is have gotten old people aren't shelling out thousands of dollars on these things any more. The big problem with this form is a lot of people don't want to accept a new idea or something different. Why because it doesn't fit to what they think it should be. well I'll tell you what. you be the one the flip the $$$ for high-compression engine build the next time a fella Marauder persons engine breaks down. Then you can call the shots. The three people that own Marauders I didn't charge them any labor. I help out a fellow Marauder owner. all they had to do was get the Crown Vic Block in the head gasket set. instead of criticizing you should do like a few other people did on this form and say hey if it works it works. gets the car up and going. some people have kids and family some people buy these cars used when they break down after paying $7,000 for the car they don't feel like having to Shell out another three or four thousand. So the Crown Vic short blocks a cheap option that's available and the info is out there now. I mean let's be realistic it's not that dramatic of a horsepower loss people. Lol it's not like the marauder engine produces 460 horsepower! it's not the Coyote engine, so calm down a little bit let's not get all emotional here. What!!!? a Crown Vic short block and a Marauder that's blasphemy!!!!

[TooManyFords]

The problem is now a days most of the Lincoln aviators are complete garbage that salvage yards are selling. and they've been ran hard as hell I wouldn't put another dime on one. I got burn three times. and the three people that had Marauders got tired of wasting their money on that BS so the Crown Vic Blocks made perfect sense. and there's not a whole lot to change the same timing set up will fit either so what's the big deal? And it's not like the Mercury Marauder is an expense is $60,000 muscle car. the car is have gotten old people aren't shelling out thousands of dollars on these things any more. The big problem with this form is a lot of people don't want to accept a new idea or something different. Why because it doesn't fit to what they think it should be. well I'll tell you what. you be the one the flip the $$$ for high-compression engine build the next time a fella Marauder persons engine breaks down. Then you can call the shots. The three people that own Marauders I didn't charge them any labor. I help out a fellow Marauder owner. all they had to do was get the Crown Vic Block in the head gasket set. instead of criticizing you should do like a few other people did on this form and say hey if it works it works. gets the car up and going. some people have kids and family some people buy these cars used when they break down after paying $7,000 for the car they don't feel like having to Shell out another three or four thousand. So the Crown Vic short blocks a cheap option that's available and the info is out there now. I mean let's be realistic it's not that dramatic of a horsepower loss people. Lol it's not like the marauder engine produces 460 horsepower! it's not the Coyote engine, so calm down a little bit let's not get all emotional here. What!!!? a Crown Vic short block and a Marauder that's blasphemy!!!!
Quoted for truth!

[musclemerc]

Crickets.............

[TooManyFords]

Crickets.............

I know, right?

[Seneca]

My lame stock crown vic bottom end in the twin turbo car car has me satisfied enough, I'm in no hurry to fix the hurt "built" cant stand that word.. engine
11psi will have a time slip soon 😁.. now with that being said, wouldn't be any fun with low compression in na form

[offroadkarter]

Crickets.............

are you looking for someone to start a pissing match or something?

I've got my opinions, he stated his in a semi coherent long paragraph.

Welcome to the internet, land of disagreements. I'm not going to burn his house down over it.

[Bondfreak13]

Here is my take on this:
Crown Vic Block is Iron, Marauder Block is Aluminium.

Crown Vic had 9:1 Compression with 42cc heads (PI), the DOHC heads for 2003 are 52cc's I think, so your compression will drop unless you find a NPI motor. The NPI engines had 9:1 compression with 52cc heads. That's why you get a compression bump when you do a PI swap on a NPI motor.

Aside from the questionable performance, lets look at something else you may not have looked into. Lets say you get a used 4.6 2v engine for $600. You don't really know what condition the engine is in. your going from an known (your current engine) to an unknown (the used motor) you still have to swap the heads over. Head bolts are one time use. ADTR sells a DOHC head changing kit for $118. Since the front cover is off it is a really good Idea to go ahead and change the Timing chain, guides and so on. ADTR sells a kit for $519.

So your into the Temp Fix for a bit $1200. This is not including little odds and ends that we all know add up quickly. So you spend $1200 on a Temp fix which is total unknown. you know nothing of the condition of the Bottom end, the maintenance history of this junkyard motor, so on. you do this, install it, it works for a little bit, then fails. Now what? Your dumping more money into it.

OR, if it is a bad rod, buy a new set of rods or replace just the bad rod (Rock auto Marauder replacement rods $35.79), send the crank out to get inspected install everything, Do the timing change stuff and be out the cost of the 2v engine you were going to buy.

I find it funny that people don't have the money to do it right the first time but have the money to fix it when it breaks.

Do it once, do it right,

[TooManyFords]

Or, get a low mile 06-09 4.6 3V motor and do the swap. You get the aluminum block, a 9.8:1 compression ratio and reuse your timing gears and chains. It it ain't broke, reuse it.
The OP said he has little funds, so let's put together something that gets him on the road now.

Not everyone has pfluck-you money laying around.

[Spectragod]

Here is my take on this:
Crown Vic Block is Iron, Marauder Block is Aluminium.

Crown Vic had 9:1 Compression with 42cc heads (PI), the DOHC heads for 2003 are 52cc's I think, so your compression will drop unless you find a NPI motor. The NPI engines had 9:1 compression with 52cc heads. That's why you get a compression bump when you do a PI swap on a NPI motor.

Aside from the questionable performance, lets look at something else you may not have looked into. Lets say you get a used 4.6 2v engine for $600. You don't really know what condition the engine is in. your going from an known (your current engine) to an unknown (the used motor) you still have to swap the heads over. Head bolts are one time use. ADTR sells a DOHC head changing kit for $118. Since the front cover is off it is a really good Idea to go ahead and change the Timing chain, guides and so on. ADTR sells a kit for $519.

So your into the Temp Fix for a bit $1200. This is not including little odds and ends that we all know add up quickly. So you spend $1200 on a Temp fix which is total unknown. you know nothing of the condition of the Bottom end, the maintenance history of this junkyard motor, so on. you do this, install it, it works for a little bit, then fails. Now what? Your dumping more money into it.

OR, if it is a bad rod, buy a new set of rods or replace just the bad rod (Rock auto Marauder replacement rods $35.79), send the crank out to get inspected install everything, Do the timing change stuff and be out the cost of the 2v engine you were going to buy.

I find it funny that people don't have the money to do it right the first time but have the money to fix it when it breaks.

Do it once, do it right,


LIKE button...... I am smashing the crap out of it.....

[Spectragod]

Or, get a low mile 06-09 4.6 3V motor and do the swap. You get the aluminum block, a 9.8:1 compression ratio and reuse your timing gears and chains. It it ain't broke, reuse it.
The OP said he has little funds, so let's put together something that gets him on the road now.

Not everyone has pfluck-you money laying around.


I know a guy who did just this on a Trilogy car. His was a zero mile 3V, still on the crate, he got it for a song, cause who want a 3v right?


Car makes over 400 to the wheel, and it still driving, i.e. beaten on today....


The end............

[Bondfreak13]

Or, get a low mile 06-09 4.6 3V motor and do the swap. You get the aluminum block, a 9.8:1 compression ratio and reuse your timing gears and chains. It it ain't broke, reuse it.
The OP said he has little funds, so let's put together something that gets him on the road now.

Not everyone has pfluck-you money laying around.

3v motor would be a better option, the 3v heads have a 50cc combustion chamber, I believe, so it would be a better fit. I have seen used short blocks go for around $500+

But you still run into the Known vs unknown, and if your buying a junk yard short block you would be rolling the dice if you just installed it blindly. If you take the salvage engine and inspect everything, you just did the same thing you were going to do with the current engine + the cost of the of the recently acquired short block. A reman short block would fair better but, cost more.

If you want "something that gets him on the road now" buy a new set of rods or replace just the bad rod (Rock auto Marauder replacement rod $35.79), send the crank out to get inspected / machined install everything. If you believe the timing kit to in good shape then reuse it and save the $500. You still have to get head changing kit, head bolts are one time use, and it's always good to change out used gaskets. Also since the heads are off make sure you don't have the valve seat issue. I know it was found to have a loose rod, but a little extra insurance never hurt.

Buying a new rod, and machining the crank, would still cost less than buying a new short block, unless you know the history of said short block If the crank can't be saved, this slightly changes the game and leaves you at a cross roads.

[Themarauderguy]

It might cost less in your neck of the woods. not in mine they charge $500 to grind the crank! And the only way they warranty the work is if they install the rod bearings and rods or Rod whichever one is bad and they charge 800 for that. So 1300. Vs 500. It's kind of a no-brainer. the two cars I did were Eaton swapped. The third one was n/a I use the non Pi block. Yes the 3 valve 4.6 are nice. But they're hard to find in my part of the country. One thing about this thread a whole lot of useful information got put out. and now everybody knows there's a cheap alternative to spending three and four grand on a Marauder engine. if they ever happened to blow their stock one.����

[boom boom]

Thanks for all the information. Definitely a lot to take in. It would be nice to find a low mileage 3V engine and start with that, but they just don't exist around here right now.


I found this locally listed for $1500:


1998 Ford Mustang Cobra 4v DOHC 4.6 102,000 miles
1998 Mustang Cobra t45 transmission 102,000 miles
Engine and transmission are still connected with newer clutch
Cobra computer and wiring harness




I'm thinking I may try to snag it. Can use the Teksid short block with my DC heads to get back on the road and try to sell off the rest. With that mileage, I think I'd just leave the rotating assembly alone and use the better of the two timing sets. That would get me back on the road with a crank, block, and heads that I can build with later on. I'm not seeing much demand for B-heads, IMRC, and the early intakes. What do you think I could get for them?

[boom boom]

Just stumbled across 2010 explorer listing in a local u-pick it junkyard. Front end damage, airbags deployed, body otherwise in great shape. Complete engine would be $250. I don't have time to stop by tomorrow, but I may poke in on Friday to see if the 3V is still in it and check the mileage. The 98 cobra guy is out of town until next Saturday so I'll run this down in the meantime.

[boom boom]

Explorer was a bust. Found a Marauder in a local u-pick yard, but the engine was long gone. Also looked at a 2011 Mustang 3V engine with 41,000 miles. I was optimistic, but the dingbat had put a window air conditioner on it to cool the garage and the condensate filled the engine completely with water. What a waste.




Decided I am going to try selling some parts I've scrounged over the last few years to see if I can increase the budget a bit.

[Eric]

WOW your story is surprisingly similar to mine. Waited many years to get a Marauder and finally found one. The appeared to be neglected as opposed to abused and I started reviving it. Then out for a drive yesterday and somebody came knocking on my engine. I was so bummed. Basically in the same boat you are now searching for options that won't break the bank. I've built many V8s over the years but never worked on a Modular engine. Looks a bit intimidating to me. Want to keep the same motor and hopefully just replace the bottom end and freshen up the valve train. It's got 110k on the clock. Or just go ape crazy and stick an old school 460 in it! LOL Or not. Good luck I hope you find a good solution and are able to get back out on the road!

[Chayton]

since we are having the conversation, I would like to ask this: I have a 4v engine out of a 1998 Lincoln mark 8 with the B heads. My understanding is there is a very slight compression ratio difference between this and the marauder pistons. If I were to bolt Marauder C heads onto this block would it run just fine on a stock marauder tune? would the computer compensate for the slight difference in compression ratio? would I need a custom tune from Marty? Please advise.

[TooManyFords]

It would run just fine, but be a bit down on power. You can always get a tune to bump the spark tables with the lower compression but I'd drive it first to see if that is even needed.

[Blakshukvw]

The IMRC motor is worth about $100. I’ve sold several on eBay lately.

[boom boom]

Long overdue update. I promise I will get some pictures up soon. I snagged a wrecked 97 cobra drivetrain that was supposed to be "original miles" but sadly when I took it apart it is a low mileage Promar rebuild. There was enough carbon on the pistons that I couldn't see the stamp with a borescope. I'm very disappointed, but I've started parting it out and I think I'll only be into the short block for a few hundred dollars. Teksid block .020 over with good crosshatching, stock rods, and stock crank. I ordered a stallion valve spring compressor, felpro top and bottom gasket kits, and found a stupid good deal on ARP2000 head studs (85 ft-lb). So next week if I find some time I will reassemble the engine with my DC heads and start putting the car back together with a 0.68 TR3650 that's been under the bench for a few years. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but its a step in the right direction, well under budget, and better than dead..... so I'll drive and enjoy it until I can build a proper engine with the m122 that's collecting dust.