No Oil Pressure

[MYHELIGUY]

This engine ran fine,even when the steam was coming out the tail pipe, i parked it for a few days,had to move it out of driveway,started it up,ran ok for a minute,then it started missing and knocking,i shut it off, assuming head gaskets proably were the problem,i started taking the engine apart to replace head gaskets, upon removing the intakes i found that the gaskets were not sealed and coolant in them,so this was the problem, so i replaced the intakes gaskets,started motor and knocking with oil dash lite on,shut off. next removed oil pump,it was clean and no wear,just like new,i packed it with vaseline,removed the camshaft synronizer,and installed a oil pump primer tool with drill,oil pump would not prime.so, i removed the oil pan. found broken pieces of the rod,and dents in the shield that covers the crank and rods. then removed the shield,then i could see the rod broken,right in the middle. i spun the broken rod on the crank,it spun freely and no up or down movement,then removed the head, pushed the piston out,it came out with light taps with a wooden hammer handle. the cylinder wall looks like new,no signs of wear ,ridges,lines or googes.piston looks just as good,but it has a small chip off the bottom of the skirt. removed the broken rod off crank,the bearing and crank show no wear,no lines,ridges or burns. it looks good.
from my experience with shops,its real hard to get things checked,they want to start remilling or whatever for the money.
I went today up to the machine shop with all my broken pieces,he said leave them and he would see and call me. after awhile i went to shop, he handed me back the parts,and said he can't find any replacements. so, i went right down the street to a auto parts store,he looked them up,ordered my parts for thursday,i went to ford dealer ordered the oil pickup tube,be in tomorrow.
I will mic the crank for roundness.this does have aluminum heads,this engine was never overheated,and no coolant in oil .but oil in coolant and over flow tank.

[MYHELIGUY]

OK Finally got some of the parts=piston(new), rod,rod bearing(new), and oil pickup tube(new). now, i see the reconditioned rod needs to be pressed onto the piston pin. so, i gotta wait to get this done.

[MYHELIGUY]

update to my repair. had the rod pressed on the piston, i installed the new piston into the engine block, packed oil pump full of vaseline,and installed it, installed the motor mount,installed the oil pan. now, i will fill oil,and crank engine without starting to prime the pump with oil filter alittle loose to see when pump is primed.

[MYHELIGUY]

Today i started the van for first time. after all this deep work of almost tearing the complete motor apart in the van,it runs,and so far sounds good.good oil pressure,no knocks,no steam out the tail pipe,no anti-freeze leaks. it started almost instantly,one of the battery terminals was corroded,cleaned them, and it started.so, i have made a good repair,that was caused from leaking intake gaskets,letting anti-freeze into the piston chambers,hydro-locking the piston and breaking a rod.
i must say , i appreciate the advice and help from you guys here along the way. all is well now.thanks

[Freakzilla69]

Did you take pictures?

[12Ounce]

Fantastic! Congrats on your engine repair ... doesn't it give you a good feeling to hear that engine ... that could have been, instead, towed off to salvage/recycle!!

I went back and read this whole string ... can't believe it started in 2004. Early on, I was trying to help ... but didn't know too much! Along the way, I have also rebuilt my '99 3.8l engine ... so, I know a little more now, but still not much.

Good to know your work turned out well.

[MYHELIGUY]

12Ounce , yes i feel the same way, learned and educated myself. it took me about 6 months to do my repair, i must replace the spark plug wires now,they are losing spark around the boots i can see.
yes, i should have taken some pics,and after is done i realized it. however, i will put pics up here of the broken rod and piston soon as i get my camera working.

[MYHELIGUY]

well, i have a concern with the exhaust. the engine runs fine,except for the spark plug wires need replace,they are shooting sparks from the booths,but as i run this engine,testing it, when i first start it up after sitting a day or so, the exhaust dumps out some clear water,its very visible on the cement driveway,then it starts a dripping,after about 15-20 minutes running at idle,the dripping stops completely,the exhaust is dry and looks normal,not at anytime is they steam coming out,no smells. whats wrong ?

[12Ounce]

It is normal for some condensation to occur when the engine is shut down and the exhaust stream captured in the exhaust pipe cools ... then this gets pushed out when the engine is restarted. Also, the first combustion exhaust stream, upon start-up, hits the cold pipe and there is more condensation. It won't be pure water, but pretty clear.

Do you think you have more water than this amount?

[MYHELIGUY]

Yes its clear , i kinda think its normal condensation, and possibly the catlaytic converter may have had a build up in it too from the leaking intake gaskets before. today when i started it, there was very little water that came out,so its proably a normal thing. thanks.

[MYHELIGUY]

After all this repair,got it all done,took it for a test drive. problem is: the radiator fan does not come on once the engine heats up. i can see the temp gauge go up and down alittle as the thermostat is opening and closing,but the cooling rad fan isn't coming on. i idle ran this van for about a hour ,the temp gauge got up about half way, i shut the engine off,but today driving down the road i could see the up and down on the temp gauge which is at the beginning of the solid white line thats normal. any ideas what makes this cooling fan come on ? i did connect wires to the fan motor to battery to see if motor was good,it ran.

[serge_saati]

The relays control the fan motor. There are 2 relays for that.
They're located in the electric distribution box, near the rad.

You can also turn on the A/C to activate the engine's fan.

[tomj76]

The relays are triggered by the PCM. There are two relays, one for "high speed" and another for "low speed". The low speed relay connects V+ to the fans through a dropping resistor (which is known to go bad). The high speed relay connects V+ directly to the fans. The low speed is used when the A/C is turned on. The high speed is used when the PCM monitors a high temperature from the sensor mounted to one of the engine heads.

There may be other conditions when the low speed or high speed relays are switched on, but this is as much as I recall right now.

[serge_saati]

the low speed activates also when engine reach 210°F.
the high speed at 225°F.

[MYHELIGUY]

OK, THOUGHT I WOULD CHECK BACK HERE TO UPDATE MY SITUATION,SO OTHERS MAY LEARN TOO. I been driving my windstar for about 6 months now,after all the engine repairs and fan problems,which the fan was the pcm replaced. I have done about 3 oil changes so far,nothing else. My engine runs great,but one thing that i see is in the over flow tank for the radiator,it keeps getting dirty,the anti-freeze inside the over flow tank keeps getting dirty,don't know why ? but, it runs good ,no engine lite on.. what do you think ?