Hi everyone. I’ve been dreading this post for a while but I need some advise 😕. I’m in college, bought a 2003 Ford E350 6.8 V10 for a great deal with 170k miles on it. Changed oil in it immediately with full synthetic. Plan was/is to convert it to a camper. I’m mechanically inclined, capable of doing about anything to an automobile at this point. Van ran GREAT for a few thousand miles. On my way home from college, towing my Jeep behind it (about 7,000 pounds) I ran into a major issue. 300 miles into the journey no problems at all. I had a computer viewing all gauges the entire ride. Was constantly looking at coolant temp, oil pressure, engine load, RPM, how much temps fluctuated etc and everything was better than I expected. *The only thing I hadn’t checked since I changed the oil in it a few thousand miles ago was the oil level.*

After about 300 miles, I started hearing an engine knock. I was confused because everything was still looking great, no lights on the dash, all temps looked great, had good oil pressure etc. I let off the throttle a few times and woukd give it some more gas to assure myself it was really a knock. As I slowed to a stop, the knock went from a small tick to a VERY loud knock. This all happened in about a minute. Right when I was pulling over the coolant temp was about 20 degrees more than normal which is the first time I saw anything abnormal temp wise and the knock was very loud. I checked the oil, and of course it was below the minimum line. I added about 2 quarts of oil and the knock got a lot quieter but still there, added two more quarts, the knock was quarter but still there. At that point the oil level was just abive the max line which means I was 3-4 quarts low on oil. Someone was following me the whole ride and never saw smoke, I never noticed smoke while driving, never noticed oil leaking under the car, and after inspection saw no oil anywhere around the engine. I felt stupid for never checking the oil level for the few thousand miles I drove it but I didn’t know that these V10’s were prone to burning up to a quart of oil per thousand miles and it always ran so well I never thought to.

I assume I have one or a few bad rod bearings now. I had the van towed the rest of the way home and haven’t started it since. Going to drain the oil to see if there are metal deposits. Question is, assuming the rod bearings went, is this something I should consider fixing or should I drain the oil and slap some lucas heavy duty oil stabilizer in it and try to sell it? I’d love to be able to fix it and start my camper conversion build. I read that to remove the oil pan I have to raise the engine to get the oil pan off. Does not sound fun but I’m okay with doing so and have the tools to do it. Just need some advise, what do you guys think?

 

Bearing failure is usually the result of low oil. There's no easy fix. Lucas or any other product is not going to add metal back to a bearing that was oil deprived.I believe you will have to pull the engine because the crank is probably scored too.

Your Jeep is far from 7000 Lbs. More like half that amount. Even if you were not pulling a load, any engine is going to fail when most its oil is missing.

Your options:
1.replace the engine(new or used)
2.rebuild your existing engine
3. junk the van

 

Hi Raski,

It was about 7,000 pounds. My Jeep is fully built, steel bumpers, fender flares, 37 inch tires, etc. Weighs just over 5,000 pounds. The trailer was roughly 2,000 pounds so I was towing about 7,000 pounds. But yes, low oil is low oil.

As for the van, I am leaning towards rebuilding the engine. I don’t necessarily want to junk the van..yet. Reman engines look like they are about $3k. I’ve found engine rebuild kits for under $1,000 that include pistons, rings, rod bearings, main bearings, timing kit, every gasket I’ll need. I have access to an engine stand and engine hoist. I’d do the rebuild in a garage.

I have a few questions regarding an engine rebuild. First, would I have to get the block bored and honed and or sleeved? The engine rebuild kits have options to buy oversized pistons as well as oversized rod bearings and main bearings. Obviously if I had the blocked bored I’d have to get the pistons oversized. What would be the reason to purchase oversized rod bearings and main bearings? If the crank had a significant amount of wear and after sanding and polishing the clearances are too large? Is there a benefit to buying oversized pistons. I’d rather not have to send the block away to get it bored out but I will if I have to or if there’s a benefit. Thanks for the reply.

 

It all depends on the cylinder wall condition as to what to do. If rings are replaced, you have to atleast hone the cylinders or the rings won't seat properly. Who knows, maybe all you have to deal with is the lower part of the engine. If the crank journals are heavily damaged, I would replace the crank with a good boneyard crank.