62 Ranchero engine racket

S

sparkyj

Well-known member
Hi, i'm a newbie here at fordsix. Great site!
We have a 62 Ranchero that has been sitting in the back yard since 2002. We bought it in not running condition. It started briefly at the time and I did manage to rebuild the carb and drive it around the block once. It sounded like a bucket of bolts then. Well, I've recently decided to try and get it running (and stopping). Got it started. I remember I had a tough time getting the starter to engage properly, last time thus I gave up. the ford fairies must have fixed it between 2002 and now because it starts great now!

It has a 5 freeze plug straight 6 with casting number (i think) that makes it a 66. It has an automatic High starter position trans with a nice hacksawed T shifter coming through the floor,. Apparently this was someone's previous fix for the column shift lever breaking. Oh brother.

Now for the RACKET part:
The trans smokes when running. And let me tell you, it smells wonderful :) At some point I think I put some transX in there and it seems to have subsided a bit. Also there is a fair amount of bluish white exhaust smoke, like I have just released an absynthe genie from the bottle.. And the motor is loud, almost like a sloppy crank or a wirring chain sound (main bearings? timing chain? Rod bearings? flexplate) Sounds kind of deep in the motor. But at least the floor is rusted out. HONEY, WHY DID WE BUY THIS AGAIN?
But it looks so good, waiting for me, up on blocks like ol yeller, wagging its bent antenna in the yard, every morning when I eat breakfast.

I remember trying to level out a pitted exhaust manifold surface a while back. I think that is tight now.

As far as the bucket of bolts sound of the engine, what in all of your experience tells me what I should look for first (besides a toyota corolla) prior to yanking the whole motor and trans out?

Do these have sometimes warped flywheels that produce awful noise? And would really bad timing along with something minor produce bad exhaust like that? Hopefully this week I can keep it running long enough to throw the timing gun on it. (and not make the neighbors upset) I'll try and get timing specs online.

Thanks for any help!!
I'm in Los Angeles
 
8) get yourself a mechanics stethoscope and try to determine just where the noise is coming from. it sounds like perhaps you have a bad rod bearing, but without hearing the motor run in person i can only guess. a dull thud usually indicates a main bearing problem, a double tapping sound from the bottom end usually indicates a rod bearing problem. the flywheels in these engine are pretty tough characters, the flexplate on the other hand are sometimes sickly.
 
Great suggestions guys. I will get the mechanics stethoscope. The pan looks straight. It does have a repeating clock grind to it.
I noticed today the trans is leaking a bit up where it meets the block too. I finished up the wheel cylinders so now i can actually move the thing.
:)
 
Ordered Stethascope online.
used the old screwdriver trick in lew of...

CORRECTION! Someone tried to jack up the car and the pan is BENT!. Pretty high up I might add. Thanks MustangSix for that tip!!
First order is to take it off and see if it has worn it down or is actually hitting. That would eliminate noise #1.

potential noise #2:
Found exhaust coming from the manifold/pipe junction. I had tried to fix this at some point a while back i remember. Something must be bent.
if this is a typical leak spot, i am open to suggestions.

This car is so noxious it is hard to work on. I can't leave it running for too long.

Also, I noticed the exhaust manifold is stamped C3 and the block and head are C6. Will this manifold work on this head? Are the ports the same size? Seems like I would have noticed a mis match.

Tossed a timing light on. Set at 10%. Moved the distributor around a bit to see if there was any difference. Seemed like were it was set was good. I've heard the combo pully/balancer can slip on these.

Turned the bottom mixture screw on the 1 barrel carb (which was rebuilt a while back, no miles) and found that there was no difference when it was screwed all the way in. I've heard this can indicate a vacuum leak, or perhaps bad power valve or Torque converter. Why would a tourque converter cause the vacuum problem?
there does seem to be some trans issues. It is leaking from the block area.

A sincere thanks for all of these suggestions. It's helping!
 
sparkyj

Had this all typed up but lost it to login.

So in brief

Check/change oil.

Check for adjustable rocker arms. Adjust if noisey.

Check Valve guide seals.

Check Trans modulator valve.

Check Rod bearings while pan is off.
 
Thanks to all.
I pulled the pan off. OOOf! pulled the crossmember, sway bar, centerlink, lines. got the pan off. there was no indication of crank hitting but it told me there was damage in the engine. Some nice pieces in the pan. I took the motor out.
Turns out the crank was really worn. Plus the flex plate was eaten away, possibly indicating bloated torque converter. So, there we go. just had the trans redone. the guys at the trans shop said the torque converter looks 'ok" but my machine shop said the flex plate indicates a possible bad converter.
Anyone had any experience with a bad converter in a C4 to a straight 6?

I also found the trans (C4) was sitting on top of the old 2 speed trans cross member. No trans mount!

what is the secret combo for retrofitting a C4 trans with proper transmount and cross member? is this a custom job? I bout a C4 trans mount with the 2 pins facing down and this does not fit the cross member.
 
I just replaced the water pump on my 200. It was making some hideous grinding and vibrating noises. The bearing went out but was not leaking from the seal. Replaced it and now quite as a lamb. Wiggle the fan and/or start the engine without the fan belt for a brief period.

Take care,
 
Yes the waterpump was toast too. Any brands you guys have had good luck with?

Q: Where is the thermostat on these 200s? duh.
 
No particular brand. Good luck with Napa Auto Parts.

T-stat is in the water neck that feeds the upper radiator hose just above the water pump.

Good luck with it all. Have fun,
 
OK, I might be cross posting here, but figured I'd come back to this thread for a recap.
Got my motor back from being rebuilt and trans too. Bought a rebuilt Torque converter locally.
spent a few days on a dirty sloping driveway, a few 4x8 sheets of plywood and a cherrypicker, well you can imagine. gads.
I aligned the TQ in the bell, made special attention to detail in getting it to seat all the way in. Aligned the motor with care. I thought i could feel a little play with the TQ as you are supposed to feel but i dunno. When turning the crank around to plce the TQ nuts on, the engine rotation stopped at a certain point. i can't see any interference with bolts touching plates etc. But I do know, thanks to this site, i got the flexplate torque ring on in the wrong position (behind the flexplate). This is a brand new flexplate BTW. But I however am as old as the ring and should know better.

So need to figure out what the stoppage is.
I'll be pulling out the motor anyway to reposition the ring. ooof.
 
OK the torque converter bolts are not hitting but something to do with the torque converter when it comes 2 nickel spaces forward causes some sort of lock up of the spline. The torque converter spins fine when I take the bolts off but when pulled forward to meet the flexplate is seems to lock up after a complete turn. I did verify that none of the bolts are getting hung up on the sandwich plate.

What could be happening? the torque converter is too short?
 
OK, So I've posted out of this thread a few times. thanks to all who have helped me with this ongoing rebuild. Every one thing seems to lead to two things and so on.

I finally got the fluids in my engine, trans and radiator today. Got it off the blocks. Was used to it looking like a 4x4 now it sits so low to the ground, ha ha.

I beat myself up pretty good wondering if I got the alternator "1 wire" set up configured properly. the battery still had 12.5 v after sitting there for months. i took a chance and fired it up after putting a squirt of gas in the carb. Didn't have any starting spray. it fired right up but puckered out after a second. Hooray!. But then it didn't start, just turned and turned. Hmmm. it fired up, sounded OK, a little racey like full throttle. Could something have shorted out? Blow a coil? I pulled the plugs out. I might have got the whole thing a little flooded.
i'll try tomorrow. Anyone have a similar "fresh start and sudden quit" experience?

thanks
d
 
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