I picked up an '89 LX 2.3L this weekend and since there were no service records, I took it home to start a tuneup. I put about 150mi on the car before the tuneup and had no problems but low oil pressure (got lower the more I pressed the throttle and would come back up when I let off). Oil maintenance: 1) I flushed the engine then drained it. 2) Put on a Fram High Mileage filter. 2) Put in Slick50 High Mileage additive. 3) Put in Castrol High Mileage 10w-30. Ignition maintenance: 1) New dist cap 2) New rotor. 3) New Napa Belden Max wires. 4) New Autolite plugs Start the engine up with no problems. After about 60sec a tapping starts to develop. Sounds like it's coming from around #3cyl. Tapping goes away / or least quites down with increased RPMs. Shut the engine off and start right back up. Tap comes back in about 5sec now. Left the car over night...... Start up next day and no noise for first 30sec. Oil pressure is now in the middle of the 'normal' range at idle (hangs around the letter 'm'). Drive the car and the oil pressure drops a little but now the pressure increases slightly back to around the letter 'M' when accelerating instead of dropping to 'L' like before. What gives?
okay first off. dont drive it for now. there is an oil pickup screen on the bottom of the oil pump, this WILL get clogged with higher mileage motors. CLEAN IT. I've never had to do this myself but i'm sure there is enough people on here that have and could tell you more direct instructions on doing so. 2nd the tapping your hearing is a lifter noise its probably worn or not pumping up. This could be caused because of the first problem. NO/LOW OIL PRESSURE. Now last and final, the oil pressure sensor on the back side of the head on drivers side could be bad. this would indicate better with a mechanical gauge, if your oil pressure is dropping off and how much.
+1 These filters suck! I suggest Motorcraft, K&N, NAPA, Mobil 1, etc... just about anything other than a Flim Flam Fram. It's mostly the anti drain back valve that causes problems. Here's more info... http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfilterstudy/oilfilterstudy.html You may be happier with a thicker oil, but I doubt it will solve all your problems. I am new to the 2.3, so I would like to hear more on the oil screen clogging. Is this more common in the 2.3 than a 302? Many here will say that oil additives are more risk than they are worth. I feel that if you spend a few bucks more for a good full synthetic, you will have no need for additives. jason
Ok, here's where I'm at. Some days the tapping would show up a couple minutes after starting the car. Some days there would be no noise at all. This rules out a loose rod. I'm thinking now that I have a lifter that is sticking when it feels like it. After a couple of oil additives that did no good, here's what I'm trying: I changed out the Fram filter and put a Motorcraft in. I then ran the engine with Gunk flush to see if I could get anything else to loosen up. I then drained the oil and put in new (MotorCraft 10w30 synthetic blend) and put a new MC filter on. During the first drive I noticed no tapping but.....the engine had a quieter, lower tone and just a splithair more throttle response. After a couple of drives, I have to try to hear the tapping which is just barely there now.
Update: The noise is there all the time but quieter. The plan is to drop the pan and clean it and the pickup of any sludge. I followed everyones instructions and everything is off or loose. The engine is against the wall but the engine and transmission won't go high enough. I even used a transmission jack to help lift everything a little higher but it's a no go. It won't clear the automatic transmission bell housing. Here's some photos. Now I think I'll take out the pickup and wipe out the pan where it is.
Ya I would try to pull the screen off with the pan on. Ive done it with a t5 car in a junkyard to get a good screen.
Well, I got up in there and the pickup screen was already clean, so was the whole inside of the pan. I guess the two flushes worked. It's all back together. I'll let you know. Update: For the first 10min there was the usual low tapping. After 50mi there's nothing. Ooohhhhh, praise the mustang gods.
