sdpatt
Sr. SHO Engr.
Long time, no post...
I took advantage of my 4-day long Labor Day weekend and spent a day (Friday) making sure the SHO was going to live to drive another day. I had thought I had heard a few instances of rod knock and the SHO-lover and mechanic in me were not willing to let the engine die for the small sum of the bearings, oil pan gasket and oil pickup tube gasket. Thanks to RCM Automotive for conveniently packaging the bearing replacement set and pricing them at Rock Auto prices.
The bearing swap went well with the old bearings removed after "only" 154,000 miles. I say "only" because the factory set was not replaced until after 268K miles. That first set of bearings showed wear into the copper while the latest set still looked good, with no copper showing. The crank journals were not scored. The lower end components still looked much younger than their miles. Castrol GTX has obviously done a great job keeping this engine running smoothly and free of any sludge accumulation.
The new Fel-Pro oil pan gasket set hopefully corrected an oil leak I have been experiencing that was sourced at the left bank edge of the oil pan. The buildup of road grit on the slow leak was the trail of evidence. This has stopped the two to three drips of oil each night onto the plastic covering my garage floor.
After buttoning her back up, I began the front engine teardown to replace the timing belt tensioner. This was the only part being replaced during this service as the last front end 60K was performed during the head gasket replacement only 17,000 miles ago. The Dayco replacement tensioner ($43+sh from AutoPartsExpress.com) came with instructions that stated Ford's recommended replacement interval was 100,000 miles. I guess I got all the life out of the original tensioner that I could expect. The old tensioner was still spinning smoothly, but had a dry bearing sound that had louder resonances when the rpms were reduced from above 2,000. The source of the sound was identified with a mechanic's stethoscope before the purchase of the part. This was a relatively simple job as the Dayco part looked and fit identically to the OEM component. I guess I have the timing belt job down to about three hours and it seemed quite trivial compared to the rod bearing service.
The serpentine belt tensioner pulleys also had a "dry" sound to them, but they still spun smoothly without any scary noises. I searched the Forum for sources for replacements, but did not locate any confirmed matches. To prolong the lifetime of these original parts, I soaked the bearing races in 30W motor oil (Castrol GTX of course) and found that some lubricant can be introduced to the "sealed" bearing. The bearings became much quieter and definitely sounded "oiled."
With the new parts, however small and inexpensive they may be, the old SHO started eagerly and ran with a smoothness that confirmed tighter bearings make a happier engine. The car is again ready to go back to work with its 86-mile round trip commute. The job and family have kept me busy as of late, but I still enjoy the SHO and taking good care of her. I have been shopping for a new car (2007-8 BMW 335i sedan), but without any real trade-in value in the SHO, I have no financial reason to part with her. Since many of the parts are lifetime warranted and the labor is free, the inventory of experience in my hands should be able to keep this car running to 500,000 miles... and beyond! Long live the SHO!
View of the lower end after 422K miles of use
The sludge-free oil pan, bearing girdle, windage tray and oil pickup tube
The bearings showing minor wear into the second of the tri-metal layers.
I took advantage of my 4-day long Labor Day weekend and spent a day (Friday) making sure the SHO was going to live to drive another day. I had thought I had heard a few instances of rod knock and the SHO-lover and mechanic in me were not willing to let the engine die for the small sum of the bearings, oil pan gasket and oil pickup tube gasket. Thanks to RCM Automotive for conveniently packaging the bearing replacement set and pricing them at Rock Auto prices.
The bearing swap went well with the old bearings removed after "only" 154,000 miles. I say "only" because the factory set was not replaced until after 268K miles. That first set of bearings showed wear into the copper while the latest set still looked good, with no copper showing. The crank journals were not scored. The lower end components still looked much younger than their miles. Castrol GTX has obviously done a great job keeping this engine running smoothly and free of any sludge accumulation.
The new Fel-Pro oil pan gasket set hopefully corrected an oil leak I have been experiencing that was sourced at the left bank edge of the oil pan. The buildup of road grit on the slow leak was the trail of evidence. This has stopped the two to three drips of oil each night onto the plastic covering my garage floor.
After buttoning her back up, I began the front engine teardown to replace the timing belt tensioner. This was the only part being replaced during this service as the last front end 60K was performed during the head gasket replacement only 17,000 miles ago. The Dayco replacement tensioner ($43+sh from AutoPartsExpress.com) came with instructions that stated Ford's recommended replacement interval was 100,000 miles. I guess I got all the life out of the original tensioner that I could expect. The old tensioner was still spinning smoothly, but had a dry bearing sound that had louder resonances when the rpms were reduced from above 2,000. The source of the sound was identified with a mechanic's stethoscope before the purchase of the part. This was a relatively simple job as the Dayco part looked and fit identically to the OEM component. I guess I have the timing belt job down to about three hours and it seemed quite trivial compared to the rod bearing service.
The serpentine belt tensioner pulleys also had a "dry" sound to them, but they still spun smoothly without any scary noises. I searched the Forum for sources for replacements, but did not locate any confirmed matches. To prolong the lifetime of these original parts, I soaked the bearing races in 30W motor oil (Castrol GTX of course) and found that some lubricant can be introduced to the "sealed" bearing. The bearings became much quieter and definitely sounded "oiled."
With the new parts, however small and inexpensive they may be, the old SHO started eagerly and ran with a smoothness that confirmed tighter bearings make a happier engine. The car is again ready to go back to work with its 86-mile round trip commute. The job and family have kept me busy as of late, but I still enjoy the SHO and taking good care of her. I have been shopping for a new car (2007-8 BMW 335i sedan), but without any real trade-in value in the SHO, I have no financial reason to part with her. Since many of the parts are lifetime warranted and the labor is free, the inventory of experience in my hands should be able to keep this car running to 500,000 miles... and beyond! Long live the SHO!
View of the lower end after 422K miles of use
The sludge-free oil pan, bearing girdle, windage tray and oil pickup tube
The bearings showing minor wear into the second of the tri-metal layers.
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