Oil spitting from exhaust

[birddog321]

Help, any ideas? should i rebuild this sputtering 2.8? Or since i will be taking out the engine, should i just do a swap for something bigger?

 

[adsm08]

sounds like a problem.

I would really only "rebuild" a 2.8 if by "rebuild" you mean "replace it with something better".

The 2.9 had problems, it was worlds ahead of the 2.8. For about the same work you could have a 4.0 in there too though.

 

[birddog321]

you think it would be cheaper. got a realy tight budget

 

[Shran]

Budget build means not rebuilding the 2.8 - is it smoking a lot? Could be the valve seals, those are a well known issue on 2.8's, could be that they are leaking and blowing oil into the exhaust. That would be an easy fix.

Your options for cheap would be either find a good 2.8, or depending on what tranny you have, you could do a carbureted 302 swap too. A C5 automatic would be the easiest with a bellhousing swap. Swapping a 2.9 would be a waste of time and a 4.0 swap would require an entire donor vehicle including gas tanks, wiring, fuel lines and pumps, etc.

 

[igiveup]

Hello

Where are you located? I will be selling my 2.8l in the next month or 2.

igiveup

 

[birddog321]

Smokes sometimes on start up but not all the time. I have only seen the oil spatter one time. I'm just worried about it because it sputters alot while stopped. It did spit alot of oil out though. I'm in the Atlanta area by the way.

 

[Shran]

Smoke on startup generally indicates valve seals (oil drips into the combustion chamber when the engine's not running.)

Your sputtering problem could be a lot of things, if you're burning through oil I'd suspect oil fouled plugs first of all, carburetor, fuel filter, anything in the ignition system, etc.

 

[birddog321]

Already changed plugs and the carb pump diaphram had a bad leak, looked one day after work and there was a pool of gass on the intake. I have heard that there are small drains from the valves to the oil pan that are known to clog if thr maintenance has not been kept up. Just a thought, just a hope really. Don't know if I burn oil or not. The oil pan has a bad leak

 

[ragajungle]

For all the work it would take to get the head off to rebuild them, buy the new valves, seats, springs etc... you could get a different motor and install it in half the time and prob cost a lot less. You can pick up a 4.0L (will fit on your tanny) and fuel pump (fits right in existing tank) for no more than $300. Rent an engine hoist, buy some beer and make a weekend out of it.

The nice thing about these trucks is that parts are a plently and you gan basically go find a ranger with 4L - grab the harness, motor, flywheel, and computer and off you go. No cuting or splicing, no having to cut into the fire wall, of fab engine mounts, plug n play.

 

[Shran]

For all the work it would take to get the head off to rebuild them, buy the new valves, seats, springs etc... you could get a different motor and install it in half the time and prob cost a lot less. You can pick up a 4.0L (will fit on your tanny) and fuel pump (fits right in existing tank) for no more than $300. Rent an engine hoist, buy some beer and make a weekend out of it.

The nice thing about these trucks is that parts are a plently and you gan basically go find a ranger with 4L - grab the harness, motor, flywheel, and computer and off you go. No cuting or splicing, no having to cut into the fire wall, of fab engine mounts, plug n play.

I am pretty sure that you have to have the tank from the donor when dealing with an '83 or '84 - they have a smaller hole for the sending unit (it's like 2" vs 3-5/8".) '85 and up is a different story, tanks in those have the larger hole.

 

[ragajungle]

I overlooked the year. on my 89 the sending unit works for an 87 I helped work on. Ford is fun like that. from month to month in any given production year they may change PNs 3x. Jeffs Bronco Graveyard has a really nice composite plastic replacement tank if you go that route. http://broncograveyard.com/bronco/c-312

 

[birddog321]

ThinkI'm just going to run this till it dies. then Iwill do a swap. Maybe I'll have enough saved to swap to a 302.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

if you have good compression it is probably the valve guide seals in the tech library under 2.8 V-6 there is a section on changing the seals without removing the heads using air pressure. When I did mine there were only two that resembled seals the others pretty much disintegrated. seals a spring compressor and cover gaskets is all you need I got my compressor on ebay for cheap and used my compression tester to put air in the cylinders to hold the valves up. Let me know if you decide to go that way and I can help you.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

http://cgi.ebay.com/CRAFTSMAN-OVERHEAD-VALVE-SPRING-COMPRESSOR-/150460605605?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&hash=item230826a4a5 one like this will work just be careful you dont lose the keepers I put abut half way down to break the keepers loose without them falling out then compressed it all the way and make sure the piston is all the way up on each one in case you lose the pressure it dont fall in the cylinder.

 

[birddog321]

thanks I may try it this weekend. Will i have to drain the oil?

 

[Shran]

Nope, you will have to remove the valve covers though.

 

[birddog321]

sounds easy enough. How many are required for a full set

 

[birddog321]

Could bad valve stem seals cause the dip stick to read no oil in the oil pan after the motor warms up, but read normal after shut off for about 20 Minutes.

 

[Shran]

sounds easy enough. How many are required for a full set

They come in a set, but if you could buy them individually, you'd need 12

Could bad valve stem seals cause the dip stick to read no oil in the oil pan after the motor warms up, but read normal after shut off for about 20 Minutes.

No, that sounds more like the oil passages that drain back into the block from the heads are somewhat clogged. That is not normal and you should definitely look into that... and wait 20 minutes before you pull the valve covers or you'll probably have a huge mess!

edit - they could be plugged with pieces of the old valve stem seals, make sure you check that out

 

[birddog321]

If they are how do i clean them out?