2000gt Motor Locked Up

[4cammer72]

as title says motor is locked up.... I hear a clank from the starter engaging the flywheel when turn key to start. pulled belt to make sure it didn't have a locked up pully somewhere, no dice.... im going to pull the coils and plugs next to see if its hydrolocked....after that im gonna pull the valve covers and check the timing chains.... oil is clean with no water in it... clutch disengages fine. if I need to look at something other than what ive listed please let me know... had a couple people tell me the starter is the problem but I don't think so... bought the car like this and was told by the woman who owned it sinc 01 that she came up to the stoplight , downshifted, slowed pushed in the clutch and it just shut off never to start again....crank will not turn in either direction... thanks, steve.

 

[1987stangman]

My bet would be on something is up with the timing components. Pull the valve covers and take a quick peek.

 

[4cammer72]

passenger cam seized up .... not gonna try to fix this motor. getting a crate replacement for it...

 

[1987stangman]

Just curious, how many miles on it?

 

[4cammer72]

ok, little update..... haven't had the urge to mess with this due to funds.... but.... last night I got a charger out and left it on overnight..... pulled the followers off the passenger side and loosened the caps on the cam towers.....went out just now and turned the key...... it turns over like it should... when looking at the passenger head, which is the one that seized, all but the front cam tower is discolored from heat, lack of oiling.... what are the chances I can swap out the head and this thing run again?

 

[wmburns]

IMO you chances are zero unless you confirm a clean oil pick up tube.

I am willing to bet that if you pulled the front timing cover you will find the timing chain tensioners worn all the way through. The plastic has fallen into the oil pan and clogged the pick up tube. That could be the reason for the oil starvation in the top end.

OBTW, this is exactly how the motor in my 2000 GT failed. Replaced with a Romeo from a low mileage salvage 2003 Grand Marquis and never looked back. That was 3 years and 50k miles ago. The replacement motor only cost me $800.

 

[4cammer72]

thanks, I was asking since the driver side is still getting oil through the head.....was hoping to save time and money with just a head swap on the passenger side.

 

[1987stangman]

IMO you chances are zero unless you confirm a clean oil pick up tube.

I am willing to bet that if you pulled the front timing cover you will find the timing chain tensioners worn all the way through. The plastic has fallen into the oil pan and clogged the pick up tube. That could be the reason for the oil starvation in the top end.

OBTW, this is exactly how the motor in my 2000 GT failed. Replaced with a Romeo from a low mileage salvage 2003 Grand Marquis and never looked back. That was 3 years and 50k miles ago. The replacement motor only cost me $800.

LOL, every time you talk about this I feel more inclined to go ahead and update everything behind the timing chain over on my 2000.

Just out of curiosity, at what mileage did yours fail?

To the OP, burns is right, I would bet there to be a issue with the oil pump screen or at the very least a plugged oil galley or two. It would be worth it in my book to find out the status of the oil pump and said topic. You might get lucky...

 

[wmburns]

1987Sstangman, the original Windsor SOHC gave out at 145k miles. At one level, it's a shame to loose a motor to a preventable failure (tensioner wear), however the original owner's loss is my project.

To the OP, knowing what I know now, I would never try to repair this motor still in the car. Why?

• Whenever a motor fails in service due to an oil issue, the odds favor contamination spread through out the motor.
• It's not possible to do a through post mortem inspection with the motor still in the car. It needs to be on an engine stand to have full access.
• All things considered, it's not that hard to pull the motor in a Mustang. It can be done with hand tools in your drive way with a rented engine crane.
• On the Mustang, it's very difficult to remove the oil pan with the motor still in the car. The time to drop the K-member is just too close to the time to pull the entire motor.
• IMO after an oil related in service failure, the odds favor that the motor is a near total loss anyway.
• Whole replacement salvage yard modular 4.6's are not that expensive anyway. I paid $800 for a low mileage Romeo from a 2003 Grand Marquis. Check out car-part.com for examples.
• In my case, I recovered almost half of the cost of the new motor by "parting out" the serviceable parts of the old motor. The heads and timing were toast but there were other good parts.

 

[1987stangman]

Yes they are dirt cheap. I picked up a 65k PI motor of 2004 vintage that was originally in a CV. for my old 96' GT and paid 800.00 which was a little more then some of the other yards but this particular salvage yard is a Ford only yard that generally gets the best cars in town and they record the VIN, mileage, oil pressure and compression before they store their engines in inventory and it came with a 6 month warranty.

I too also sold the old NPI motor and recouped some money. It had 170k on it and ran great but had the notorious NPI valve seal exhaust smoke. I installed new seals while it was on a engine stand and sold it to a guy that used it to replace a blown 4.6 in his F-150.

WMburns, so you bought the car with the engine already jacked, I originally thought that maybe it happened to you. My car now has 115k on it. I have done some driving since I bought it in March at 94k. I wonder if the guy u got it from heard any chain rattle leading up to the engines demise? I would seem like if the tensioner arm or guide is broken there might be noise at certain RPM, probley in the higher RPM range. I have not heard any strange noises. I'm thinking I may go ahead and just replace them as I don't think with these components mileage is a factor per say.

 

[4cammer72]

yeah, im probably gonna just swap engines... I found a romeo with 80k for 600 about a mile from the house.... with warranty... as for tools,,,, I got a 30x 40 shop with enough tools to run a shop.... as for the engine in there now.... ill probably look it over good once out and try to save it for another project...