Are 3.0L vulcans junk?

[clampjockey]

I just traded an acura integra for a 2000 taurus w/a blown engine. a guy at the local scrap yard said i had to find an engine from either another 2000 or a 2001 in order for all the sensors to work etc. So i found another 2000 parts car, bought the engine, swaped it into mine, run it about 10 miles and it started clacking worse than the one i took out. i think it was the oil pump as it doesn't seem to throw oil very far up the dipstick. Are these engines problematic? i found it to be a stubborn engine swap and i'm not looking forward to doing it again.....especially if these engines are known in ford circles to be junk. any opinions appreciated.

[rdh2]

Originally Posted by clampjockey

I just traded an acura integra for a 2000 taurus w/a blown engine. a guy at the local scrap yard said i had to find an engine from either another 2000 or a 2001 in order for all the sensors to work etc. So i found another 2000 parts car, bought the engine, swaped it into mine, run it about 10 miles and it started clacking worse than the one i took out. i think it was the oil pump as it doesn't seem to throw oil very far up the dipstick. Are these engines problematic? i found it to be a stubborn engine swap and i'm not looking forward to doing it again.....especially if these engines are known in ford circles to be junk. any opinions appreciated.

My - With proper care and feeding the Vulcan with last well over 200,000 miles. That being said, however, there are certain wear items on the Vulcan that need to be addressed.

The camshaft synchronizer takes the place of the distributor. The lower end of the synch drives the oil pump. If the synch wears out (bad bushings), the oil pump can fail.

The water pumps are known to have impellers that end up disappearing over time due to lack of regular coolant flushes.

These are a couple of examples. Not knowing a maintenance history on a junkyard engine, you are taking a chance. I have found the Vulcan to be very reliable. In 175,000 miles I have changed the synch, the water pump, the EGR pressure sensor, spark plugs, oil & filter, air filter, alternator, and belt tensioner. I consider this to be minimal for the miles I have.

The transmissions, on the other hand, are weak. That is a whole separate article.

By the way, you can use a later model year 3.0 Vulcan; you may have to swap some of your sensors over.

[clampjockey]

*UPDATE*
After argueing with the guy i bought the engine from we took the valve pan cover off (front) and saw lots of oil on the rockers, put everything back together, still clacking really bad. when standing over the engine it sounded like it was coming from the left hand drivers side, but laying under the car it sounded like a crank knock. after arguing some more, trying to get my money back, he wanted me to drain the oil and remove the filter to look for filings or debris. so i said to hell with it, and took it for a good, hard run.....make sure that if i find filings, i'm gonna find lots of them. well, the harder i run it the better it sounded and now the clack or knock seems to be entirely gone. So now i'm crossing my fingers, hoping this engine has 300,000 miles in it.

[rdh2]

Originally Posted by clampjockey

*UPDATE*
After argueing with the guy i bought the engine from we took the valve pan cover off (front) and saw lots of oil on the rockers, put everything back together, still clacking really bad. when standing over the engine it sounded like it was coming from the left hand drivers side, but laying under the car it sounded like a crank knock. after arguing some more, trying to get my money back, he wanted me to drain the oil and remove the filter to look for filings or debris. so i said to hell with it, and took it for a good, hard run.....make sure that if i find filings, i'm gonna find lots of them. well, the harder i run it the better it sounded and now the clack or knock seems to be entirely gone. So now i'm crossing my fingers, hoping this engine has 300,000 miles in it.

If the noise is coming from the drivers side as you say, I would be concerned that the noise is coming from the torque converter or flex plate. Might want to check for looseness there.

[clampjockey]

that was the first thing we checked last night before leaving the shop. our best guess was a lifter, i put about 100 miles on it today, its as smooth and quiet as a new one now.