The IC pump merely disconnected itself, probably due to a bump... The wiring was not securely fastened... I re-did the wiring and put heat shrink over it(good luck to the next owner who tried to disconnect those wires)... This was two days before the known failure...

When I checked the compression the day after the failure, cyl 1 was 95 psi, but after pouring a capful of oil into the cylinder, the reading came up to 140 psi, indicative of ring issues...

At any rate, a rebuild(with myself providing all the labor) will cost $6-800, if the cylinders don't need an overbore and pistons aren't damaged, and figure another $500 for pistons(stock compression), and another $150, if cylinders need boring over... Given my financial situation, a rebuild of any sort is 100% out of budget, so my only real option is to sell the car to somebody with the financial fortitude to undertake such an endeavor...

The real question is, should I take the money and buy another car(have been looking), or should I correct the issues with my Ranger?

 

I simply can't give up on this... I have no clue why...

The car has been for sale a couple weeks, and no generated interest, aside from goaliemo, and one local dude... I did some reading and found a additive claiming to be an "engine rebuild in a can"... Now, I'm usually skeptical, but it remember my parents putting this into some of their vehicles and them actually running better afterward, so I figured, "what have i to lose, other than the $6?" So I bought a can of the stuff and added it to my engine, like the directions say... I need to bring some fuel home to add to the car(maybe some injector cleaner while I'm at it) and drive around to see if this stuff works...

 

If West Virgina was 2500 miles closer I would make you an offer for your broken toy.

 

If I thought the engine would run safely that far, I would deliver it as far as the Mississippi River... Then again, I could drive it to goalie if it would drive that far safely... It might, it I would be terrified of myself or somebody else becoming stranded along the highway with a completely FUBARed engine...

 

just disconnect the one piston so it doesn't move and drive on the other three...
"what are you........SCARED?" (can't remember what movie that was from)

jk

 

Well, there's no real harm(to the rest of the engine), in theory, in the piston moving(and the crank would need to come out to remove it from the bottom), but if I were wanting to "run it on three", I would disconnect the injector and coil... The issue is the massive power loss from not having the one cylinder firing at all, and the vibration from such an imbalance in the engine... Given some thought from my father in law, I think that (there's a possibility) nothing is broken in that cylinder... My reasoning- no bang pop or other disconcerting noise... His thought is that I could likely have washed out the cylinder by an injector being stuck open on that cylinder... It had been idling funny, not pulling vacuum, and occasionally I could smell fuel when going uphill at how RPM/high load... That tells me that I could have had an injector stuck open... Why no rich code? No idea... In theory, if such were the case, and I replace the injectors now(as a set), and reduce boost to keep the oil in the pan(not spraying out the dipstick tube), I could drive the car with a weak cylinder, possibly for a long time... Now, if there's something broken, that's a different story...

 

It really sounds like a burnt piston. You have one cylinder with low compression AND excessive crankcase pressure at the same time. Oiling the low cylinder will mask a washed cylinder but if the compression stays low it will be a piston.

 

So the compression DID go up with oil added...which seemingly lessens the chances of a burnt piston.

Bones, that thought (no bang/pop) had rolled through my head at one point -- I think it was when we met right after it happened.

As I think more about it, that cyclical rpm idling it was doing in the parking lot is 100% consistent with 3 injectors working properly, one gushing fuel the whole time.

A) Injectors commanded .35 mSec (made up number)
B) 3 injectors obey
C) 4 spews fuel (80# injector mind you tho don't know fuel pressure)
D) O2 says too rich (prob out of measurement range high). Cuts back injector interval massively to try to compensate (0.009 mSec (made up number)
E) Rpms drop
F) 02 senses heading lean
G) repeat at step A

Remember I mentioned at the time it sounded like the O2 sensor was whacked out? In retrospect, it wasn't/isn't. It was doing it's job as best it could, and that cyclical idle was the result!

If the cyl is washed you will of course never get the compression you want, but like you said, you could drive it low boost to keep the uneven stresses off the internals.

I think you, your FIL, and A discussion we had 1 month ago just unlocked the mystery.

Now we just have to try to disprove it

 

*sigh* the car gave me quite a big window of warning before irreversible damage was done... It had been idling rough/not pulling vacuum for a while(look at page 38 or so in this thread for a timeline)... I should have pulled the fuel rail and had a look at the injectors...

Now, it's time to replace the one, but they only come in sets of four($180 plus shipping), is it possible to remove/clean/rebuild an injector? From what I understand, if the excess fuel is removed, the damage from the washed cylinder halts? Meaning, compression doesn't keep dropping? If so, I can rebuild the injectors and try driving the thing... On the spirited last drive home, the boost solenoid started working, and I hit 12psi or so(about on par with stock), repeatedly, with no oil loss at all... Now, if this "Restore engine treatment" works at all, compression could rise at least into low triple digits, with even less blow-by... The car could be drivable, not taking the other issue(a wheel bearing I think) into account...

 

I have extra lsj pistons. But I also have 2 extra l61s.
Yes, you can rebuild/restore an injector. Theres a machine that it gets ran through to clean it. As far as repair, im not 100 percent on.


If I were to buy it, 2.2 built bottom end, lsj ported head, drop to 60s, run a 2.6 with a 3 in intake and long tube 3 in back, call it a day.
Either that or big turbo, 100% meth, and maybe some race gas.


Id have to make it a full blow drag car then. Which would be hella fun.