[jasons_98gt]

so after a little contemplating and a compression test last night i found out indeed the rings are worn in 5 and 8 cylinders. old gal had a good lifespan to make it past the 200k mile mark.
also looked around under the car found the transmission is puking out of the front and rear seals. i found a motor and transmission out of a 98 lincoln towncar with 72k non-pi of course but im just gonna use the heads from my car. since there only about 30-32 k on them.
and the lady only wants 1000 for the motor and tranny.
best part is the car sits right next to me in the garage!

do you guys recommend pulling the motor from the top on our cars? or just dropping the k-member and going from the bottom up? im going to pull the motor and transmission all in one shot.
any advice is greatly appreciated. ill check back throughout the day post some pics
teardown starts in 3.2.1

[97S281]

Is something wrong with your tranny or are you just swapping them together for ease of installation?

[jasons_98gt]

well the transmission is leaking bad out of the front seal...its the original one so had just as many miles as the motor
shifts fine....something happened though when i push the o.d button it doesnt turn overdrive off and theres a wicked ass clunk when it downshifts from overdrive to third.

so im just gonna swap together

[97S281]

Gotcha. Sounds like a great deal then.

[jasons_98gt]

any tips? i got the motor mounts disconnected, the wiring, fuel lines, and exhaust and rad hoses. is it easier to pull from top or drop the k-member...

[cstreu1026]

If you have access to a lift to raise the car off the k member with the motor attached then that is probably the easiest way. My recomendation would be to find an explorer engine and a good transmission and put that in. You still get the PI heads and end up with an aluminum block to boot.

[wannabeimportkiller]

Originally Posted by jasons_98gt any tips? i got the motor mounts disconnected, the wiring, fuel lines, and exhaust and rad hoses. is it easier to pull from top or drop the k-member...

I would say pull from the top. I've helped my dad pull a V6 out of one of these cars and we pulled it from the top. Just make sure you have someone else there to kind of guide it as you're pulling it out. You might want to take the hood off also to have a little more room.

[sharkbait]

Pulled mine from the top 4 times.

Its cake.

[jasons_98gt]

everything is disconnected and ready to be pulled from the top. as soon as i get a cherrypicker today.

got a question for you guys...im gonna hold on to the block, do a possible rebuild in the future.
can these stock pistons be re-used? i was looking at rotating assemblys, damn theyre expensive especially for forged. the stock crank isnt a bad price though, but i cannot seem to find stock pistons anywhere.

[HurrycaneStang]

Only because I didnt know, are the '98 Towncar's RWD? I know the Continentals are FWD and the Mark VIII are RWD, just wanted to know...

[cstreu1026]

Towncars are RWD with a 2V 4.6. The Continental is FWD with a 4V 4.6. The Mk8 is RWD with a 4V 4.6

[97S281]

Originally Posted by jasons_98gt everything is disconnected and ready to be pulled from the top. as soon as i get a cherrypicker today. got a question for you guys...im gonna hold on to the block, do a possible rebuild in the future. can these stock pistons be re-used? i was looking at rotating assemblys, damn theyre expensive especially for forged. the stock crank isnt a bad price though, but i cannot seem to find stock pistons anywhere.

Yes, you can reuse the internals. I would recommend at least getting the block honed and replacing the piston rings. If you can afford to upgrade any thing upgrade the rods as they are the weakest link in the assembly.

[jasons_98gt]

thanks 97s. yeah it will def need new rings. i always had a slight rapping noise in that motor since i bought the car, and over time just ignored finding out what it ever was.
just a cold startup noise i guess. it would clack for about a minute til the motor heated up and went away. lasted from 62k to 206k so couldnt of been that major.


on a side note i want to kill the bastard who put that motor in the lincoln. you know how are motor mount bolts are like "right there"
these ones are hidden in the k-member through an access hole, and the friggin a-arms are in the way where the bolt to the k-mem.
not fun at all.

wish i had a sawzall id just cut the mounts out

[jasons_98gt]

well got the engine out of the mustang and torn down to bare block.

its amazing i couldnt see any evidence of oil burning, combustion chambers are clean, plugs clean, hell theres still the cross hatches in the cylinder walls.

i know it was burning it cause i was goin through about 3 quarts every 3,000 miles. and could see it smoking during deceleration

meausred the cam lobes still in specs, layed a flatedge on the heads and slipped a feeler gauge between there is no warpage whatsoever.

timing chain components are all good looking.

im guessing the oil rings are shot, even though the cylinder walls still look that good.

i did however find 2 bent valves springs and 4 of the lash adjusters the plungers were stuck.
now i know what the cold start clacking noise was.

[BAzombie]

Is it possible that you were losing compression thru the valves and not past the rings? How were the seals? You might have been sucking oil past them.

I only ask because you say the cylinders were fine and you are going to reuse your heads on the new motor.

[zinc-vert02]

go for it

[jasons_98gt]

i was originally thinking valve seals but i always thought the car would usually smoke in the mornings or after its been shutoff.

this would only smoke when say i was crusing on the highway as soon as i took my foot off the gas and let the car slow down it would get blue/grey smoke out the back, and a real foul smell smelt like a diesel engine in the cabin. step on the gas and it would go away.

valve seals looked pretty good no tears or anything like that. And 3 quarts in 3,000 miles is alot of oil for valve seals it seems.

once i knock the pistons out of the block i'll be able to get a better look at the pistons/rings.

I was going to originally reuse these cylinder heads but with the price of lash adjusters and new valve springs hell i think im just going to take em to the scrap yard

[sharkbait]

Get some ported MHS heads and be done with it. There so boss

[jasons_98gt]

i got the pistons and crank out of the engine, crank and rod bearings are gorgeous for over 200 thousand miles.
checked endplay on the crank no wear and check oil clearance no wear either
pistons look good, wrist pins are tight

No nicks or scratches, no ridge formed at top of cylinders either.
rings are free on the sides of pistons none were broken or scored. Did everyone ever notice the black on the skirts of our pistons? i called and someone told me its a teflon coating. never knew the 4.6 had those.

[97S281]

Originally Posted by sharkbait Get some ported MHS heads and be done with it. There so boss

YOU should get some ported heads and better cams to wake up that beast you are working on sharkman.