99 Windstar ticking

[wiswind]

Well.....hind sight is 20/20, best thing would have been to cover the intake with some plastic....to keep the water out until you could re-assemble it.
Next.....dry ALL the water out of the intake before cranking the motor.
If not certain that all the water is out......removal of the spark plugs and cranking is recommended......this is to get all the water out of the cylinders.

I hate to say it.....but you DO need to change your motor oil ASAP as you most likely got some water into the crankcase.
If you must start the motor before changing the oil......I would drain a few quarts out of the pan by removing the drain plug......and re-installing it.
This way, if you got a lot of water in......it will have settled to the bottom, as oil floats on water.....so draining a few quarts from the lowest point will get most of it.....although some will be trapped in pockets here and there...
You don't want the oil pump to draw water up the pickup tube......as it will cause you to have no lubrication.

The drain out of a couple of quarts (replacing with a fresh couple of quarts) would ONLY be to see if the motor starts.....you should STILL do a oil change.

As far as sealing the aquarium......I am sure that you know.....use different Sealant for the aquarium (aquarium sealant) than for the windstar (sensor safe).

[12Ounce]

Originally Posted by SlimJimRD

What should I have done in case I do something stupid like this again?
Thanks

You may do something stupid again (we all do) ... but I'd bet you've learned not to do this one!

Keeping water out of places it's not supposed to be is very essential ... engines, houses, human bodies, etc, etc ...

But in the case of engines: If not much time has passed ... pull all plugs and spin the crank with the starter. If some time has passed and/or you suspect water in the crankcase ... I agree, the first thing is pull an oil sample to see if water is in the oil. If there is water in the oil, drain oil .... then pull plugs and spin crank ... then add new oil before attempting to start.

[SlimJimRD]

Took out the plugs and rotated the engine, put the van back together, changed the oil.
Was able to get the van started, I am so glad and thanks for again for all the help.

Do I need to be on the look out for anything after this incident?

Any hints on changing the oil as I hate to do it on the Windstar. I always wonder why cars did not have the drain plug on the bottom instead of the side. Now I know, gets all over your hand removing the plug. Then the filter is stuck up in place that is not easy to get it out. By the way I am doing this in the driveway and do not put it up in the air which might make it a little easier but I am on a incline.

My brother said I should put in some stop leak, that would seal up the aquarium. Don't think I will chance that.

[12Ounce]

Does the engine run well now? If it runs unevenly, I would be concerned that a piston rod was slightly bent ... a compression test would normally pick this up.

What about the ticking noise? Or have you forgotten that one? (I wouldn't blame you!)

[SlimJimRD]

It seems to run pretty well. Maybe a little miss under light acceleration but fine at idle and hard acceleration. Do I need to worry about that?
I also added some B-12 to the gas tank. I don't remember why I did that but planned on doing that before the water issues.
Now about that noise. It does not do that now. I am still not 100% convinced it is fixed but time will tell. The noise did come and go before. As bad as the noise was I thought that 12ounce was crazy when it was said "Mighty easy to remove the upper and take a look." There was no way that this racket could come from the plastic intake but I hope you are right.
For now I assume that the original problem has been taken care.

[12Ounce]

Originally Posted by SlimJimRD

It seems to run pretty well. Maybe a little miss under light acceleration but fine at idle and hard acceleration. Do I need to worry about that?
.

Probably need to fix it before you will feel good about the car, but likely not a bent rod ... still a compression test would be nice. A little miss can be so many things ... sensors, plugs, ig pack, cables, etc, etc.

I would do my "code cheat" ... you've read it perhaps: Pull and plug the control vac hose going to the EGR valve. When you finally get a code, go to AutoZone and get codes read. Do you get any codes not related to EGR?

[SlimJimRD]

I have not seen the code cheat, I may give that a try.
I will have my wife drive next week and see what she think as it is the van she normally drives. I am sure she will let me know if something is wrong. If she says something about it missing I may try and do a compression test. Last time I did one was over 20+ years ago. And then it was one you had to hold the gauge in the plug hole. Is there a cheap way to do the compression test now?

[wiswind]

They have compression gauges that one screws into the spark plug hole.....I don't know how else one would get to the rear 3 cylinders with the hand-held version.

You might be able to get one from AutoZone on the loaner tool program (free).

To change my oil.....I drive the front wheels up onto ramps.
I use a pan under the drain plug.....drain the oil....then put a small pan there....and use my big 15 quart pan under the area around the oil filter.....
YES that filter is particularly messy to remove.
I try to hold it so that the threaded end does NOT drop when it comes free of the mount......and move the filter out without letting the open end drop.
Any time that threaded end drops.....LOTS of oil comes out....making an even bigger mess.

Of course.....make sure that the oil filter gasket comes off with the old filter....
Then, wipe the gasket mating surface on the mount with a clean rag......making sure you don't leave any grit on the surface.

For the cost of a oil change with Mobil 1 or Motorcraft from Walmart, vs paying to have the oil tested (and wait for results).....and maybe still need to change......it is cheaper and easier to just change it.

If we were talking about some leak that we don't know if we have fixed (like a coolant leak) then testing would be the way to go, but you know how the water got in, and know that the cause is fixed.

Aquarium, get some aquarium sealant.......and run a new seal over all the old sealed glass mating surfaces.
I had a aquarium spring a leak.....and sealed it this way.......and it held
Bad news is, need to have the aquarium drained and dry....and then has to sit while the sealant cures.
One could go to the trouble to cut and remove all the old sealant....but for such a small leak.....lots of extra work.....
Which leaves the problem of what to do with the fish in the mean time?
If you were hankering for an upgrade......now might be the time and excuse to do it.

[SlimJimRD]

Thanks for the information.

In terms of the aquarium, I already had the upgrade in the works. I had moved the 90 a couple weeks ago and the rocks/coral fell over so maybe it cut into the silicone. I have a 300 gallon set up in its place but had not really planned on using it for another couple weeks, so I started transfering coral and fish tonight. Hope they can handle the change.

[12Ounce]

I also use (home-made wooden) ramps to lift the Winny some 10 inches when changing oil.

Do NOT do what I do, after draining the engine pan ... I reinsert the plug a few rounds ... and crank/run the engine for a few seconds ... sometimes 'til the oil pressure light comes on!! ... then I remove the plug again for this additional quantity. Some of this extra oil comes from the filter ... making a little less mess. I wipe around the filter base before removing, and keep several paper towels around the filter while unscrewing. It ain't perfect, but its much better. When the filter is stubborn, I also have a 3/8" drive filter one-way removal tool that is very handy on a long extension. I use MOBIL1 oil. Winny will soon have 300k miles, GW!

BUT DON'T do what I do!

I also like using Walmart oil changing services ... they do a good job.

[bdahl385]

12Ounce - LOL, that's the way my grandpa taught me to change the oil. After removing the drain plug and the old oil stream quit flowing, he'd start the car for 2-3 secs. to be sure to get out all that "old black oil". Then he'd remove the oil filter and it didn't seem to leak oil as bad.

Before installing the new filter (after wiping the metal sealing surface clean), he'd always pour as much new oil into the filter before screwing it back on as it would hold w/o leaking during the install. He always put a ring of new oil on the gasket of the filter too so it would slide smoothly as it compressed. Then back in with the drain plug and topped off the crankcase.

His cars were 50's and 60's Ramblers (Nash) and early 70's Toyota's. Not sure I'd want to do his techniques on the new vehicles with all the tighter tolerances and such.

[12Ounce]

... Ah, those Nashs, Hudsons, HenryJ's, etc, etc ... and I use to love the Ole Packards,... but all my family could afford/wanted was Fords and Plymouths. Many of those old cars would still be around if they had benefit of today's improved lube products.

Yes, purging the "last oil" is really not wise today ... too many engine revolutions ... and suddenly you have an engine rebuild on your hands. I certainly wouldn't want anyone else doing it for me!

[tomj76]

To catch the spillage from the filter, I cut the lower quarter off a 2-liter soda bottle, and remove the filter with the bottle under it. If the lid is on the bottle and you're reasonably careful while undoing the filter, then it will catch most of the oil that comes out the filter as it's unscrewed.

[SlimJimRD]

Small update. My wife has been driving around town and now drove 2.5 hours away and she is reporting no problems. So I think we are good and now need a little time to pass before I call success to the noise, although I think that is it.

[bdahl385]

That's good to hear. Thanks for the update and post back again in a week or two to give your final assessment. Always good to have some closure to a topic storyline...