Since the last update, I’ve gotten a bit of work done, so let me catch us all up:
I got the motor disassembled and the block, bed plate, crank, and head dropped off at Monarch. For $435.12, they cleaned everything up, put in new valve guides and seals, and give it a hone and polish. Everything is standard size and looking good.
The day after I picked up the parts from Monarch, I took the car out to PE #1 where I had a bit of a rough day. It was very sloppy and muddy which usually works well, but it was so slippery that left foot braking just stalled the car. The first time it stalled, it took a while to restart and after the restart it was running really poorly. Turns out that a vacuum cap came off and the MAP reference line to MS came loose. When I put those back on, it ran well but I hadn’t realized that the reason the car died in the first place was stalling under left foot braking, so I did it again. The car fired right away this time, but between those two stoppages, I gave up first overall to my MF competitor. At the end of the event, I had the best stage time of the day across the board, but wound up 2nd in MF and 3rd overall.
After the event was over, we ran some fun runs. On the second or third fun run, the car made some really bad noises, shut down, and wouldn’t restart. Had to be towed back to the trailer and then winched on.
Back in the garage, I pulled the #1 plug and found it bathed in oil. Putting an indicator down through the plug hole and on to the top of the piston, I discovered that #1 is not going up and down when the engine cranks. I haven’t torn in to it yet, but I’m fairly certain it’s a rod.
Which puts a little bit of urgency on the rebuild of the 2.4T motor.
I got the block up on the stand and ordered parts. $435 worth of bearings and rings and gaskets from Rock Auto, $40 worth of bed plate sealant and chain guides from the dealer, $70 for ARP rod bolts off eBay (they’re for a 1.8L Ford Duratec, but they work)
At this point, the bottom end is mostly put together. The bedplate is installed and the crank and rod bearing clearances are well within spec. I put a ton of assembly oil all over the bearings and oiled up the cylinder walls. The balance shaft assembly got a new plastic tensioner and guide and is timed and installed and then covered with the oil pump and a new crank seal. I cleaned up the oil pan and pickup tube and installed those then flipped the motor over so I can get the head on.
One thing that concerns me greatly is that the FSM instructs you to prime the oil pump by filling it with oil. I did that, but the in and out ports on the pump both face straight down. So I’m not sure how much good that would possibly do.
Coming up next will be the installation and assembly of the head.
