Carl,
For your benefit and anyone else's who cares -- here is the short story of what happened:
=======================
Had recently noticed a VERY faint rattle in the engine bay area. Was recently driving from home, down the I-66W (northern VA) for about 15 miles to another town. While driving to local gas station to fuel up, heard the rattle again, suspected perhaps loose items in valvetrain, maybe needed valve adjustment. Looked at oil level, and OMG!!!, it was wayyyyyy down.
NOTE! (a) I always had regular oil changes done, and just days before had looked at the oil level -- it was fine, and the oil was quite clean as it had been changed just a month before. (b) NO engine warning light had EVER come on to warn me of a low oil level. (c) I found NO oil on the ground, either at home or where I had parked when I found the oil level low. Also, I had never noticed any indications in the exhaust color to indicate that I was burning oil.
So, I wondered, and STILL wonder, where the heck did it go ?? I immediately replenished the oil, but from that point, the noise in the engine bay remained 24/7, and was slightly louder.
Then, after a week of not driving the car, I decided to get it to a shop. Was going down freeway, noise was continuous but not very loud. Soon though, it did get louder, and instead of sounding like needing a valve adjustment, sounded like maybe clutch bearing was coming apart or similar, and like something had come completely loose. Immediately took an offramp (as parking on the shoulder of this freeway has repeatedly proven fatal). Had the tranny in neutral, coasted to a stop. Just as I came to a stop, the engine died. I managed to restart it, but it only stayed running for about 15 seconds. Would not restart.
After having my SVT taken to the Ford dealer, and after it had been examined, the Service Team Leader called me and basically said (paraphrased):
1.) Bad news, engine has serious problems, you are going to need a replacement engine.
2.) Asked what had happened, he said couldn't be sure without tearing down the engine, cost to do that would be expensive. Better to spend $$$ to just get the job done, and have a "new" refurb motor that would come with a 2 year warranty.
3.) Asked if it could be the clutch, he said they ruled out the clutch early on.
4.) Remember how I said I had NO warning light about low oil, had seen NO oil on the ground, and NO indication of burnt oil in the exhaust ? He told me that when they looked at things, the oil was incredibly dirty and sludgy !
4.) Said his best guess was PERHAPS something like a broken connecting rod or similarly serious item ... couldn't be sure without tearing down the engine, cost to do that would be expensive. Advised that it would be better to spend $$$ to just get the job done, and have a "new" refurb motor that would come with a 2 year warranty.
Well, I TRIED to be brief ... that's the long and the short of it ...
