Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and - Joined
- Oct 22, 2014
- Messages
- 181
- Reaction score
- 16
- Points
- 18
- Location
- Albuquerque NM
- Vehicle Year
- 1989
- Make / Model
- Ranger
- Engine Size
- 2.9 L
- Transmission
- Manual
When I pulled the engine from my Ranger to rebuild I discovered the thrust surface on the crank was worn badly and allowed a lot of front to back movement in the crank. I had to have the crank welded and ground to spec.
It seems that Ford thought it was sufficient to have a thrust surface only on the upper half of the bearing.
Fast forward to Saturday and we pulled the 2.9 from my sons 90 B2 to rebuild. His has the same issue with the crank end play. After some brainstorming with my brother we decide it must be because of pressure put on the crank when the clutch is engaged. With only half a thrust bearing the wear on the crank must be excellerated. Both these engines have a jillion miles on them so maybe it's to be expected.
To test our clutch theory, and perhaps find an engine without the problem, I headed to the local pull-n-pay. I found 2 trucks that were automatics and a couple that had manuals. The end play on the engines with automatics was minimal and the end play on the manuals was more like what my 2 engines had.
Has anyone else noticed this, or am I the only nut who is rebuilding high mileage 2.9 engines?
My conclusion: if you are going to get one of these engines to rebuild, get it from a truck with an automatic. So this weekend we will be heading over to pull-n-pay to buy the short block from one of the trucks with the automatic.
It seems that Ford thought it was sufficient to have a thrust surface only on the upper half of the bearing.
Fast forward to Saturday and we pulled the 2.9 from my sons 90 B2 to rebuild. His has the same issue with the crank end play. After some brainstorming with my brother we decide it must be because of pressure put on the crank when the clutch is engaged. With only half a thrust bearing the wear on the crank must be excellerated. Both these engines have a jillion miles on them so maybe it's to be expected.
To test our clutch theory, and perhaps find an engine without the problem, I headed to the local pull-n-pay. I found 2 trucks that were automatics and a couple that had manuals. The end play on the engines with automatics was minimal and the end play on the manuals was more like what my 2 engines had.
Has anyone else noticed this, or am I the only nut who is rebuilding high mileage 2.9 engines?
My conclusion: if you are going to get one of these engines to rebuild, get it from a truck with an automatic. So this weekend we will be heading over to pull-n-pay to buy the short block from one of the trucks with the automatic.
