Engine issues PART DEUX

[Blackened300a]

Here's the story of the past few months with my car. In May my #2 sparkplug shot out of the head. This set off a chain reaction of problems. The cyl filled with gas and the coil laying the cyl ignited it which caused it to detonate and break the piston, this caused it to wear away the liner. The engine came out the second week of May and was sent to a machine shop for repairs. They replaced the liner, all new pistons, chain guides, chains, tensions, oil pump and put steel inserts in all the plug holes with deeper threads to prevent this from ever happening again. The engine returned the 2nd week of June. They installed it and for some reason the steeda underdrive pulley rubbed on the timing cover. We put it in a lave and removed some of the back of the pulley which worked and gave us enough clearance. That problem was solved.
I get the car back yesterday and I notice a slight rattle from under the car. Its not affecting the power, but its a noticeable rattle in the back of the engine. This morning I bring it back for the engine builder to hear what this could be. His thoughts..... defective wrist pin or bad rod bearing in #8 cyl. Engine will now have to come back out and be repaired AGAIN!!! :mad2:
This black cloud of doom has not let up!!! Its now looking like the end of the month or the first week of July before I get the car back. This work was not cheap in anyway and its now going on almost 3 months of engine issues. :shake:
On a side note, The engine builder said the internals were immaculate and no hint of burnt valves or any kind of rear head cooling issues. I'm trying to stay positive and patient, but its not been easy.

Here's the video of what the engine sounded like back in May after it detonated. The new sound is not quite as scary or loud, but its noticeable.
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[ImpalaSlayer]

nice powerstoke swap!.

that really sucks dude.

[musclemerc]

OMG! I don't understand this one if it was'nt from the cooling issue then they overbored the cylinder. How else would the pin have any room to move? Back to the sleeving process. I had this happen to me in a 93 mustang, the wrist pin cut a groove in the cylinder wall that was 1/8" deep and it was like 1" wide they wanted to sleeve it but I bought a new block and went to a better machine shop for boring.
Good Luck with the MM. It will get better.

[LANDY]

danm, what a bad one. if it gets to complicated with more cash, it may be a good idea just to swap in an Aluminator.
just my 2 cents.
good luck man.

[rayjay]

That sucks Paul. Is the engine guy going to cover this?

[djv5150]

Paul, sorry to hear of this I had the same problem on Marauder#2 we pulled the motor and found that the rod bearing spun and groved into the crank. I'm in the process of rebuilding the lower end. Funny this is the car I bought it from Reddog69 in the Bronx. maybe this is a cold weather start up issue causing these bearing problems.
http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=63247

[Bluerauder]

Sorry to hear about your on-going problems with your engine, Paul. :( Sure hope all this gets sorted out quickly and you are back on the cruise circuit with your MM soon.

[tjl006]

Paul I know how you feel as you may if heard my rebuild went sour too. Waht cab you do you fix the problem and you keep going and hope your wallet recovers.

[Blackened300a]

This repair is on them. It might be defective parts or something wasn't Installed correctly. The engine builder said everything was in spec and tight. We shall see.

[Krytin]

Good luck Paul - this WILL be resolved!!

[DOOM]

This black cloud of doom has not let up!!!

Quote worthy. :D

Hope you get er fixed. :up:

[merc]

I will have a 2004 Marauder motor for sale and transmission. The down side is I don't know when the engine will be pulled. Good luck with repairing things. It sucks to be Marauderless.

[ctrlraven]

Hope everything gets squared away quickly and correctly for you Paul!

[dohc324ci]

I know all too well being down twice in a year span sucks! Probably a total 5 months!!! The hardest part of this hobby is the wait/$$.

Good luck with that bud; at least the shop is going to cover the cost of repair/R&R is $$$.

[Blackened300a]

The cheapest part of the ordeal was the removal and re installation of the engine. With gaskets I was only looking at $750. The machine work and the internals was the expensive part of this venture.

[LeoVampire]

Damm this is nuts and so sorry the nighmare hasn't ended for you yet! :shake:


These guys should have checked everything out much better when it was apart and not taken anything for granted.

6 out of 10 times replacing only part of the internals to repair a problem is not the way to go and a good engine rebuilder would have sugested doing a lot more in making sure there are no future issues in the short run seeing it is out and appart in the first place.

I know money was a big issue for you though!

I hope this is all solved and you have your babe back together and like new again soon!

[Zack]

The UD pulley hitting the timing cover should have been a HUGE RED FLAG for whomever installed it.
Someone screwed up the thrust bearing(s) when the crankshaft went back in.

[SMOKE]

Suck deal boss....just got my car back today after an AM appointment for my wheel "wobble" we were texting about....long story short the (new) axle on drivers side was BENT. Full price OEM Motorcraft part too.....no off label parts....we all got duped on this one.....hate to think what could have happened on my way to and from Carlisle with this situation (I'd say a feathered left rear tire that will straighten out in time I suppose). This repair was on my shop's dime too.

So, my brake "chirp" is gone and I ended up with a GL changeout on my new gears to boot and the defective part is gone....

Never would have gotten the fix so fast if it weren't for the lady on Friday following me to my girlfriend's house to tell me "Your wheel is falling off".....:shake:

You'll be better soon and we'll all look back on this and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and......:rolleyes:

Best,
J

[Blackened300a]

Today the engine was pulled back out and then engine builder was inspecting everything. The bearings are still perfect like the day he put them in and the piston was tight. Tomorrow he is pulling the head off to see what it could be. When the engine was running it would clap in the #8 cylinder. We unplugged the injector and it changed the sound so he's going to see if maybe a ring broke or something of that sort.

[FordNut]

The UD pulley hitting the timing cover should have been a HUGE RED FLAG for whomever installed it.
Someone screwed up the thrust bearing(s) when the crankshaft went back in.

You'd think... But they didn't install the pulley until after the engine was installed in the car, so it's kind of hard to see everything as clearly as when it's on an engine stand.