well it's a 74 Mustang II and at idle the oil pressure light is now on all the time, also when rev'ed up sounds like a bag of marbles in the lower end, thought originally the U joints were going while on the highway (early on)....should it be rebuilt or look for a 2.3 to install...it's the daughters car and she loves it...what year should I look for to swap or is there a market on rebuilding the 2.8...hope someone can give some advise
sounds like what happened to my first 76 V6 mustang... no oil pressure.
my opinion... rebuild it if you want to keep it, converting to a 4 cyl should require mods (motor, trans and electrical - I could be wrong but..) and should cost more in the long run to swap to a 4 cyl.
also.. as I recall.. w/the v6 motor the valves need manual adjusting or it could produce a sound like a bag of marbles, I call it a rattle. May not be the issue since you have no oil pressure but can be another reason for the rattle. My 78 V6 sounds like what you describe but only when reved up as well, doesn't sound to bad at idle, gets much worse when reved up.
if I decide to rebuild, who has the best kit
I personally don't have any knowledge on kits for a rebuild, haven't looked into it much as I don't have any idea how to rebuild a motor myself. I'm faced with a similar situation with the 77 wagon I have (a tired old engine) and from what I found a rebuilt short or long block is the route I will most likely take. A local machine shop in these neck of the woods will charge much more to rebuild a motor vs one rebuilt by a big shop shipped to me. I am hoping by the time I decide it's time to replace mine I will be able to do it myself but I may end up having it done by a pro.
If you plan on doing the rebuild yourself I'm sure someone here on the site might be able to give you more info on what to get.
Does this car have an oil guage or a light? If it's a light, you may wanna buy an el-cheapo guage to hook up. Get you a second opinion on the lack of pressure. Yes the 2.8 is a solid lift cam. If not adjusted it will "peck" in the valve covers. Did the light come on all at once? or did it flicker for awhile? If it came on all at once, I'd suspect the oil pump. Flickering can be a number of things, from worn main bearings to sludge buildup.
Best of luck diagnosing this.
Worst case, PAW may not be the cheapest, but they generally carry top notch parts.
yeah it's got a light, I was thinking of hooking up a gauge just to see whats up....it only comes on at idle, about a heavy ficker..when you let the clutch out it will come on til you pick up speed, yes the valves need adjusting, they do tick but this sound is a bit different....time to get out the doctors sethoscope ;)
Is the noise louder on accel or decel?
Sounds like you need a rebuild from what you said, but without ME being there, it is hard to confirm. I do know from others that they do eat cams faster than a 2.3 as well, and have issues with cam bearings. I put an oil pump, main and rod bearings in my 2.9 only to find out my cam bearings were the cause of my low oil pressure. A knock started very soon aftter, but it is a woods beater in NH so when it goes, oh well....
It is not that big of a deal to convert to a 2.3, but yes you will need a tranny.
If you are looking at the least expensive and quickest fix, a re-built engine from an auto parts store is the way to go. Swap it and you should be good to go IF you keep it stock. IF you plan on doing ANY performance stuff, SWAP to a 2.3. You can get more DURABLE power from a 2.3. You should be able to sell the tired V6 and all the anccilary stuff on ebay.
Bill
on accel ..I did notice the noise earlier (it's the daughters car) driving at about 50 mph...I asked her how long has it been doing that....so I checked the u joints as thats what it sounded like, it wasn't that.....so now I'm hearing a similar sound just above idle, around 2000rpm? It almost sounds like maybe the flywheel or p/p is loose, kind of like a rumble, something out of balance?
Quote from: 77turbopinto on February 19, 2007, 06:16:56 AM
I do know from others that they do eat cams faster than a 2.3 as well, and have issues with cam bearings. I put an oil pump, main and rod bearings in my 2.9 only to find out my cam bearings were the cause of my low oil pressure.
The 2.9 (which is based off the 2.8) Has a very poor upper oil system because ford tried to add hydraulic lifters to an engine designed for solid lifters. Basicly, the cam gets starved for oil on higher-mileage engines (or engines that are gunked up) and it wears the cam bearings out which kills even more oil pressure. The 2.8 did NOT have this problem. The 2.9 Is a piece of junk. Ford took everything good about the 2.8 and screwed it up.
Now as far as the original post, the best place I've found for 2.8 rebuild kits is Northern Autoparts. I'm not 100% sure if they "list" a kit for the 74-79 2.8, but they do list one for the 82-86 2.8. The only internal difference is that ford enlarged the cam journals for the 82-86 2.8, so you would have to get the right cam bearings for your 74-79.
Another added bonus of the 82-86 kit is that if you get the master kit with pistons, they have slightly higher compression than the 74-79 engines.
I would rebuild (if needed) the 2.8 if I were you. They're easy engines to work on, and you can actualy get some cheap performance out of them if you know a few tricks.
-Harry
well I got the call today...she's stuck on the interstate..did I tell her to drive it there...NO!, anyway....the motor has a nice rod knock now....so a rebuilt unit or a rebuild is in order...who has rebuilt units if I go that route?
http://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductModelDetail.cfm?ProductModelId=3106
Thats the master kit for the 83-86 2.8. Call them and ask them to switch the cam and cam bearings for a 74-79 2.8. Everything else will work without a hitch, and the higher compression pistons will get you a boost in power over the stockers.
Any year 2.8 will be pretty much a bolt-in swap. With an 83-85 ranger or bronco II (they're also in the 86 aerostar, but rare as hen's teeth) you'll have to swap the oil filter adapter, and possibly the intake manifold (due to a different water neck), but everything else is a direct bolt on. These engines also made 115 hp compared to the 80 or so in the pinto.
Rebuilt short blocks also pop up on ebay a lot as well.
-Harry
Well I'm up a creek without a paddle....I found a short block from a builder on e bay...man what a deal....well that was until I got it and found out it was a 2.6...shizod!....well I'll keep my ears and eyes open for one, I can only keep the daughter without a car for so long....I got the old unit out and disassembled...it threw #2 rod and took out the piston, rod, cylinder, crank and block...hum, that's not good
(http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/339552.jpg)
(http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/339554.jpg)
WOW! And I thought MY broken piston was neat looking. You beat me!
:surprised: :amazed:
turn some of the stuff into a paperweight and give it to your daughter for christmas as a reminder to listen to dear old dad for once. ( i have a 16year old and she's killing me)
so what to do now...it's getting pretty hard to find that V6, anyone swap out a different type motor, 2.3 or maybe?....what will fit in that engine bay?
Volksnut, where are you located? It may be more financially beneficial for you to just buy an entire vehicle (Ranger or Bronco II) and then just pull the 2.8L out of it and sell the rest for scrap. There is a B2 on EvilBay right now with a rusted out body for $200. It is in Hartville, Ohio, wherever that is.
Have you tried wrecking yards? I know when I would go to the ones in Tucson I would see Rangers and Bronco IIs in them all the time, most with the motors in them still complete.
You may want to look about the possibility of swapping in a 2.9L in it's place, but if I remember right they were all EFI (I may be wrong.)
Also, if you have some fabrication skills, and are not afraid of wiring in an EFI, why not try throwing a 4.0L in there.
In 1974 the Mustang II only came with the 2.3 and the 2.8 from the factory. I am sure someone at one time or another has stuffed a V8 in there. The 75-78 Mustang IIs came with the V8 as an option, but the front nose on the Mustang II was modified slightly in 1975 to fit it.
--Doug
well I found this one on e bay, rebuilt long block for $550 + shipping....now it is for that 83-86 Ranger,Bronco II and Aerostar...think it will work? Thanks for the help so far
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-83-84-85-86-RANGER-AEROSTAR-BRONCO-II-2-8L-ENGINE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33615QQitemZ290098525957QQrdZ1
Quote from: bigh4th on March 08, 2007, 01:45:18 PM
Any year 2.8 will be pretty much a bolt-in swap. With an 83-85 ranger or bronco II you'll have to swap the oil filter adapter, and possibly the intake manifold (due to a different water neck), but everything else is a direct bolt on. These engines also made 115 hp compared to the 80 or so in the pinto.
What Harry said. Also, I take back the 2.9L idea. I didn't know about the cam oiling issues.
Quote from: bigh4th on February 24, 2007, 08:31:17 AM
The 2.9 (which is based off the 2.8L) Has a very poor upper oil system because ford tried to add hydraulic lifters to an engine designed for solid lifters. Basically, the cam gets starved for oil on higher-mileage engines (or engines that are gunked up) and it wears the cam bearings out which kills even more oil pressure. The 2.8 did NOT have this problem. The 2.9 Is a piece of junk. Ford took everything good about the 2.8 and screwed it up.
it looks to me that most parts will interchange, but they (74 Mustang/83 Ranger) take different intake manifold gaskets...Whats the diffence the by water bypass?...Which intake should I use or gasket?
I will leave this one up to Harry. You may want to email him. Judging by what he has posted already, he has more knowledge of the old Cologne V6s than most.
Hello,
If you're still in need, I have a rebuilt 2.8 short block I was going to put in a '77 Pinto wagon I have, but that's not going to happen anymore. I also have some rebuilt heads and a bunch of V6 parts available. thewgnmstr@yahoo.com
Brien