Hey Gang,

I ve known about the head gasket leakin antifreeze into cyl.#2 for
about 4 months now and its been usin close to a pint a week.The
orginal starter went bad about 2 weeks ago and we put a new one
on....This morning a go to start it and it cranked twice ,then wouldnt
crank anymore..SO, I thought this new starter had already gone
bad....The van hadnt been started in a day so when I went to pick it
up at the shop , they told me that the new starter had stripped out
due to the pressure created from tryin to turnover with all that
antifreeze that had been sittin in cyl.#2 (and others maybe)...Anyway,
I was told by a guy who rebuilds motors that a rod or thrust
bearing??? is knockin ..Pretty sure its NOT a push rod..(Ive had that
before)...Its quite noisy with kind of a rattley sound that changes
speed with the transmission shift..I still have good power/compression
(not like when the push rod bent before)....Im definetly gonna need a
new head gasket and I was wondering with a motor that has 206K mi,
would it be better just to get a new or rebuilt motor or have this
one repaired.....They said its definely a bottom motor problem so that
means BIG$$ anyway.Any help would be appreciated...Also, could anyone
recommend where to get a new motor, (crate or remanufactured?) the
body is good and I plan on driving this one a while.

Thanks,

John in WV

"KIDD" <kidbjo (AT) aol (DOT) com> wrote

Why you let this go so long is beyond me. It was sure to get worse. Now you
have to rebuild the motor.

You can search the internet for rebuilt motors. You should be able to find
rebuilt motors for around $1900 or less:
http://www.ae-engines.com/ford42engine.html (I searched google with the
terms rebuilt engine 4.2 liter ford.)

The one I found has a 3 year warranty.

You can also call around for a price from local rebuilders and auto stores
(stores get crate engines, too).

You should also ask your local Ford dealer. This is about a 20-hour job, so
labor and extra parts (oil, filters, hoses, belts, etc.) will probably come
to $1500 plus the price of the rebuilt motor.

Jeff

There is no secret... if it will still move, it must be OK..... Once it wont
move any more, we can't ignore it any more....

At least we now have the opportunity to complain about how big the bill is
going to be....

If I cut my finger, it will heal even if I don't visit the doctor.... how
come my car can't do that????

Jeff wrote:

It still ran, so it couldn't be TOO bad. Right?
I wonder about the quality of the rebuild on that site you linked to Jeff.
Rebuildable core motors are going for $800-1200. Good, used 4.2s are ~$2000 or better
if you can find one. That's here in northern Ohio.

On Tue, 17 Apr 2007 06:41:50 GMT, "Jim Warman"
<mechanic (AT) telusplanet (DOT) net> wrote:

Yup, My advice is to take it out back and shoot it, dig a big hole
and push it in.

SteveL