2.9 V-6 engine woes

[Shorty Thompson]

I just aquired a 1988 Ford Ranger. The man I got it from said it's blowed up. It starts and runs but won't get over 3,000 rpms , floored. I talked to him in some what of an in depth conversation, he said it got hot on him so he replaced the radiator. I started it up filled the cooling system,did a pressure check all is fine there, no water coming out of anywhere. I did a tune up , checked the base timing & the advance timing all is good there. I do have a lot of lifter noise ,oil is fine.Anyone ever have this problem with these motors ?

[TheRangerOfDanger]

sounds like you got a bad-ass ring problem.... take a compression test and see what happens... it is important that the compression is high enough, but more important that all 6 cylinders have a very similar compression. As for the lifter noise....it will haunt you forever, or you'll eventually get over it. my old ranger did that alot (2.9) and i've heard about the same from many people. Mine was intermitently good and bad--usually higher revs made it worse for a while (about 3500 or more). More than likely nothing is really WRONG with it, it's just and effect of some funny thing that Ford did... I also noticed that when the lifters were louder the power decreased ... after i while, my truck started to sound like a train, but it still ran.
As for the engine itself, it sounds like it could be a good candidate for a rebuild or transplant (you can get a Ford factory rebuilt 2.9 v6 for your truck for only $700). If your gonna keep your engine, you'll have to stick up with the noise....the 2.9 is notorious for it.... if you keep it, (I know from experience) you should always make sure that your oil is topped off (like every gas fill) and you may want to try some "Marvel Mystery Oil" from your local autoparts store - these are the remedies for a quieter truck.

[Shorty Thompson]

I got your post and appreciate the responce, I did however forgot to mention that there was a light backfire situation in the intake at high RPMs.The motor will only top out at 3,000 like I said. So whats the possibilityof it have a bad camshaft. I'll be doing a compression soon, vacuum tests show low vacuum 14-15 inches but still in all won't rule out bad rings either. One more question before I go.Is it cheaper to rebuild or buy a factory rebuilt ?

[Shorty Thompson]

Hey Ranger, I found a 2.9 at our local salvage yard.The yard owner knows nothing about it, says he'll take $100 for it but,,,,,,I really don't want to pull mine out then put this 1 in to find out if it runs. Any suggestions other than the obvious to see if it's any good ? Oh there's no key , no literature as who the last owner was either, nothing. And,,,,I robbed a few parts off it myself,lol. Suggestions ?

[2000mudder]

it definatlly a bad camshaft and lifters. swaping with the junkyard motor or rebuilding yours are about the same amt of work but swaping is quicker but like you said, you don't know if the junkyrd one even runs!!!

[TheRangerOfDanger]

I personally would spring out the extra money (if you've got it) to get a rebuit one or rebuild it yourself - but if you are curious or don't mind taking a risk with the engine, than check a few things on the one at the junkyard. Here is a list of things, but some may be more work than you care to do.
-compression - consistance and a decent amount of pressure
-spark plug wear - this can be a good indicator of how the engine is operating.... if you look at the back of a Haynes car manual for instance (on the inside of the back cover i think), there is a few pictures and discriptions of what different colors and wear patterns mean ....this will tell you anything about if it's burning oil, has excessive carbon build up, or is running to rich....... it will also give you an idea of how the owner maintained the car.
-open up the valve cover and look at it - is it caked with old oil, or is it relatively clean?
- if you want to get real picky, you can take out one of the valve springs and measure the resistance it has and compare with stock specs