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Project: Ugly Betty

As of right now, the car is F-d in the A! Don't know what I did wrong, but it ran fine before I pulled it and now it's pure crap. I've done the pull and install, I don't know how many times, before with no issues, but for some reason she just doesn't like me anymore. :shrug: I'm tired of working on it and am about ready to scrap it... but it's my DD so I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Back to the drawing board!

Thanks for letting me vent.

On a good note, the manual swap went great! :rolleyes:

Chris
 
Chris, all that work and it took a shiat on you and left you stranded! That sucks.
 
Oh it runs, but barely. I'm gonna try and nurse it to and from work until it officially leaves me stranded. The good news is... I can do more work and spend more money and it will never end! :mad: I'm already thinking that I can replace the head gaskets on the SE engine and swap cams and timing chains right before I install the engine... AGAIN!!! At this point, I can have the engine in and out of the car in 8 hours. It'll just cost me more money in fluids and gaskets and... :help:

Man I've got to have a sense of humor or at least be a glutton for punishment... Or maybe God has a sense of humor? lol

Thanks,

Chris
 
bensenvill said:
double/triple check the order of the spark plug wires?

(been caught on that one before)
Click to expand...

I agree, but I'm 99% sure I got that part right. I left them all bundled together so they'd fall right back into place with no mix up. Plus when it does decide to run, it fires on all 6 nice and smooth. If only it would decide to do that all the time. I'm really thinking that the residue I found is the milky white residue of death. Yes, coolant/oil in the manifold. I think I was in denial yesterday, but am now coming to grips with it. I think it's coming from the valve seats, but am not sure. It definitely wasn't there when I bought it so it must have happened with the recent cold weather. I thought I had the coolant mix correct when I put it in. If anything it would've been a little heavy on the Coolant side. There are no external leaks and the oil in the crankcase is clean? Either way, I'm pretty much screwed. So, off the garage I go to rebuild the SE engine, yay!

I do have the well built, completely updated and fully functioning CD4E auto trans up for sale, soooooooooo if you guys know anyone that needs one, the cash from that sale would REALLY help. :lol:

Thanks though. :)

Chris
 
foamed up oil will look like froth/white etc. Make sure you don't have a bad ground somewhere....seems these modern motors can't live without it.
 
Get that auto trans for sale in the classifieds so people can see you actually have it for sale. There is no way someone would find it in this thread if you don't look in here.
 
I'm almost certain it's cracked. Perhaps she's just mad because I called her Ugly Betty? Maybe Black Betty would've been a better choice? Cars can be temperamental. Either way it's back out to the garage to start tearing apart the SE engine. :crazy:

Chris
 
well chris, I have a complete parts car sitting in storage. I'm taking a few choice parts off of it and junking it... if theres anything you need, even if its just to test theories, its there for you.

and ya, if you want help, my hectic work schedule is starting to clear up, I'm always up for lending a hand.
 
Well I got the head off the car and there's no noticeable signs of cracking. After lots of talk and debate with other fellow mechanics I'm still of the opinion that the head is cracked. I could get the head pressure tested, but have had hit or miss success with that in the past. I was thinking that I could swap the heads off the SE, but it too had issues with coolant. It couldn't keep coolant in the system. It was pressurizing the water jackets somewhere. Could be a gasket, could be a... wait for it...

Cracked head?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! :crazy: :troutslap: :censored:

So I'm back off to the garage to see if I can find my smoking gun with the SE engine otherwise, I'm looking for a replacement bank1 SVT head. Anyone, anyone??? Oh and I'm pretty much waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over budget so if anyone has one for cheap or maybe free, that would be great. :D :violin:

Chris
 
I have a blown early 98 SVT motor. I live in INDY. If you want the motor you can have it for a case of beer. I also have new felprow head gaskets and other misc stuff that I would part with cheap if interested.
 
I'll keep that in mind. I might have a line on another set of heads, but we'll see. You said that the engine was blown, what was the cause/damage?

Thanks for the help!

Chris
 
The heads I have were originally going on my 3L. Decided to go with 3L heads instead. The heads were machined and washed at shop. Now just sitting on a shelf.
 
Right now I've got a line on a complete running LB from Bagged. I'll let you guys know how things shake out.

Thanks for all your help!

Chris :D
 
Well I just got back from MI with another LB for the Tour. I picked it up from Bagged and am very confident that this one will be right. FYI for those who haven't met Bagged, he's a huuuuuuuge A-hol...

I mean a real stand up guy! :laugh: Thanks again for the help and advice.

I'll keep you posted.

Chris
 
Making good progress in the garage today! I should have everything swapped over to the new engine, including new gaskets, and ready for install tomorrow. Right now I'm off to get a metric tap and some fluids (oil, coolant...)

Chris
 
You have had a hell of a time with this. Most would have gave up before they removed even one engine, haha. I hope it all works out well for you. Good luck!
 
I hear ya. I keep telling the car to work with me or it's off to the scrap yard with her... I think she's laughing at me. :troutslap:

Anyways everything is swapped and ready for install tomorrow, so it's off to bed for me. Tomorrow should be good!

Thanks,

Chris :D
 
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