Motivation needed :(

Hector

Hector

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Hello all you loyal LS owners.

Ok story of my 2000 LS8 started not even a month ago.

Well I replaced the secondary tensioner and well today driving home like a mile from my subdivision I heard a "bang" and boom shut off on me.

Got it towed home and suspected I perhaps ran over some major debris on the road even though I didn't see anything but I wanted to believe I did.

Turns out my secondary chain on my passenger side blew on me.

All the pieces are accounted for, none of the spark plugs are pancake and exhaust cam spins without a problem no interference. Used my awesome magnectic thingy majiggy and it picked out no metal pieces from the spark plug holes.

Am I safe to assume I didn't destroy my engine?

Looks like I will be looking for that chain kit that I can put it on the spockets and then link it together.

Just needed to vent a little, for a while there it was running so beautifully :rolleyes:
 
Hector said:
...Am I safe to assume I didn't destroy my engine?
...
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That depends on how you define destroy. I think that the odds that you have bent some of the valves are (unfortunately) quite good.

I don't really understand the comment about the sparkplugs. Nothing in the cam timing would ever alter how close the cylinder gets to the sparkplugs.
 
Good point I didn't think of that.

Well I'm not sure, I will order the upper chain from Christopher and see what happens when or if it starts :(

If I didn't blow anything I will be highly surprised :) after all its a $1500 car and if I did then it sounds like I will have a project :(
 
Hector said:
Good point I didn't think of that.

Well I'm not sure, I will order the upper chain from Christopher and see what happens when or if it starts :(

If I didn't blow anything I will be highly surprised :) after all its a $1500 car and if I did then it sounds like I will have a project :(
Click to expand...

Leakdown test all 8 cly to check for bent valves go from there.
 
Right on the Mark said:
Now remember leakdown test is not a compression test, for the OP.
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What he said, again, +1. :)

I've ran into scenarios where you couldn't quite tell with a leakdown test because nothing is moving, where you do see it on a compression test. That was usually in a scenario where you overheated an engine though. Usually if you strike a valve, it shows up pretty easily. The other thing to keep in mind is that a cylinder will not have a 100% seal. There will be blow-by on the rings. How much, who knows. 10-15% is where I would expect to see it realistically on a normal cold engine that was reasonably healthy. You can always check the other bank and use it as a known good for your particular engine too. A rubber mallet tapped on the back of the valve will also help you determine if it's leaking or not.

I do not know if the LS' valves are an interference design or not. Meaning, I do not know if you could spin the rotating assembly with a valve at max lift and not have them hit. Maybe someone else can chime in on that. If it is, you would want to wait until AFTER you get the engine fixed up to do either of these tests.
 
Kumba said:
...I do not know if the LS' valves are an interference design or not. Meaning, I do not know if you could spin the rotating assembly with a valve at max lift and not have them hit. Maybe someone else can chime in on that. If it is, you would want to wait until AFTER you get the engine fixed up to do either of these tests.
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It's an interference design. The piston can get valves if they are open too far when it comes up. I think that you can be okay if the chain just jumps a tooth. I find it hard to imagine that there won't be some damage if the chain broke while the engine was running.
 
Also watch out - if a valve hit a piston, you can pull the head and get it fixed by a competent machine shop, but it's hard to check the pistons without pulling the engine.

I had an oil ring land break on a piston (can't see that from the top!) that hit an intake valve (olds 350). Repaired the head, did mucho damage shortly after putting it back together.
 
:(

Well I haven't had the time to go buy the compression tester yet I will tomorrow, but I pulled off the valve cover on the passenger side and cylinder #4 exhaust valves are both stuck down and don't rise up like the others.

Sounds like I did it this time, jolly geez I love lincolns :( well looks like I will be pulling the head off and hope to be able to get the head machined and new valves installed or else its going to be parted out.

I really don't want to tear into it and replace everything but then again I'm not sure yet if I will. I would hate to install a reman head on the passenger side just to find out the piston is junk.
 
Hector said:
:(

Well I haven't had the time to go buy the compression tester yet I will tomorrow, but I pulled off the valve cover on the passenger side and cylinder #4 exhaust valves are both stuck down and don't rise up like the others.

...
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Well then, there's no point at all to fixing the chain and then doing a compression test. You already know that if you are going to fix that engine, you will have to pull that head off. Since you have to pull the head off for the one cylinder, once it's off you can see what other damage was done to any of the other valves.
 
Thanks Joe, yea I'm going to try to tackle this and hopefully get away by just removing the head without having to remove everything in front of the engine. Wish me luck!
 
I called RAMS Cylinder Head which is here in St. Louis and the guy told me that the 3.9 Head is the same as the 5.4 head which was interesting to me.
 
Hector said:
I called RAMS Cylinder Head which is here in St. Louis and the guy told me that the 3.9 Head is the same as the 5.4 head which was interesting to me.
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Not that I can say one way or another, but that seems suspicious.
 
I figured it would be extremely hard to get one since everything else has been a pain so far. Then again I don't know exactly the specs. I worked at O'Reilly Auto Parts for 6 years and I remember the spark plugs flying out of the heads on the 5.4 all the time and eating coils like crazy.
 
Doesn't make since sense this isn't a modular motor.
 
Black, perhaps he was drunk? I mean this guy is the main machine shop in STL for heads I've purchased 2 from him before and if he doesn't have one in stock he remans them asap. He is the best but when he told me that I just didn't know for sure.
 
Does he know anything about jaguar motors??

I don't think even the 4.0 jaguar heads swap and if any would it would be those. This is a very complex and somewhat rare engine compared to the rest of ford engines.
 
Well I figured once I take it off I will take it to him and find out what he thinks. My luck he will say "Oh no those are rare and impossible to get" and I'll be sol. I hope piston isn't damaged too bad I'm doing this repair on the cheapo hehe which might end up being really expensive.
 
Hector said:
I called RAMS Cylinder Head which is here in St. Louis and the guy told me that the 3.9 Head is the same as the 5.4 head which was interesting to me.
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Don't even bother looking for a reman 3.9 head. Unless they know specifically what you are talking about, they will assume you are clueless and sell you a 4.6 head. I don't even know how many times I've had to convince people that I have a 3.9L V8 and not a 3.8L V6 or 4.6L V8. Just plan to have them redo your head. Unless they are swamped it shouldn't take that long.

Take the head off (which you have to anyways), send us pics. Curious to see what the piston looks like. If you are lucky, it just has a small gouge in it that you can smooth over. If you are unlucky, it has a window. In that case, just get a new motor and swap it.
 
Kumba, I wanted to tell him but then thought I will be up there in person to make sure he doesn't just sell me what he thinks I need. Thanks for the warning.
 
My late year 2002 build 2002 V8 has 147k miles. Never had any major engine issues. Runs smooth and strong.

Are 2002's subject to this failure? Any preventative measures that need to be done to prevent this?
 
lseguy said:
My late year 2002 build 2002 V8 has 147k miles. Never had any major engine issues. Runs smooth and strong.

Are 2002's subject to this failure? Any preventative measures that need to be done to prevent this?
Click to expand...

Yes. All LS V8s have can have this problem. The gen II are less subject to it than the gen I, and the 2006 (gen III tensioners) should be even less so.

Preventive:
1. Use 0W-20 or 5W-20 full synthetic oil and change it every 5K to 6K miles.
2. Listen for any rattle at cold startup coming from either valve cover at the front. Once you hear the chain hitting the cover, it's time to tear into the engine and replace the tensioners before a chain jumps.
3. You could pull the valve covers and inspect the tensioners and look for signs that the chains are loose are rubbing on anything.
 
joegr said:
The gen II are less subject to it than the gen I, and the 2006 (gen III tensioners) should be even less so.
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Gen3 tensioners eh? Interesting. Hope that means I am trouble free for a while then :)
 
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