While the engine is out. . .

[jjaguda]

So the 03 MM is in the Ford Service Center for valve seal replacement. The selling dealer is paying for the repair - currently in the $1,500.00 range to pull the engine in order to do the job.

Here is the question:
While the engine is out of the MM, is there anything I should have the mechanic check for? I read that there is a cooling issue with the heads. Murader03 (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/member.php?u=345) mentioned in a prior thread I posted that he replaced an engine due to a cooling issue. Anything else? The build date is 8/7/02.

[Petrograde]

That 'cooling issue' is why I run a 180 degree thermostat. I may look into Reinhart's cooling mod as well.

When they put the camshaft bearing caps back on you might wanna stress that they be torqued properly. Alot of the engine 'ticks' around here can be cured by doing "by-the-book" maintenance.

also,.. if you ever thought about getting your valve covers powder coated: now is the perfect time!

[jjaguda]

Just an uppdate.

I stopped by the dealership to check out my MM. This is how they are replacing the valve seals. Car on lift in the air. Disconnect driveshaft, trans mounts, cross member mounts harnesses, stearing shaft, and all lines to the radiator. Drop motor on three jacks. Pull cam covers, etc. According to the shop mgr at the dealership, there are less hours involved in doing it this way instead of trying to work under the hood around the a/c condenser, etc. I'm not sure if the shop mgr is correct with doing the job this way, but the seller is paying for the job. If I had the extra cash right now, I'd throw in a set od cam shafts. Oh well . . . .

[AzMarauder]

Just an uppdate.

I stopped by the dealership to check out my MM. This is how they are replacing the valve seals. Car on lift in the air. Disconnect driveshaft, trans mounts, cross member mounts harnesses, stearing shaft, and all lines to the radiator. Drop motor on three jacks. Pull cam covers, etc. According to the shop mgr at the dealership, there are less hours involved in doing it this way instead of trying to work under the hood around the a/c condenser, etc. I'm not sure if the shop mgr is correct with doing the job this way, but the seller is paying for the job. If I had the extra cash right now, I'd throw in a set od cam shafts. Oh well . . . .
I can't speak for the Marauder but on the big PowerStroke Diesels... that is sort of how they do it.. except they unbolt the cab from the frame and lift it up in the air. Leave the engine attached to the frame.

I know on the Cobras they load the motors in from the bottom (at the factory) so it doesn't surprise me they would do the same thing with the Marauder.

Better they do all the wrenching like that than leaning over your fenders.

[jgc61sr2002]

Just an uppdate.

I stopped by the dealership to check out my MM. This is how they are replacing the valve seals. Car on lift in the air. Disconnect driveshaft, trans mounts, cross member mounts harnesses, stearing shaft, and all lines to the radiator. Drop motor on three jacks. Pull cam covers, etc. According to the shop mgr at the dealership, there are less hours involved in doing it this way instead of trying to work under the hood around the a/c condenser, etc. I'm not sure if the shop mgr is correct with doing the job this way, but the seller is paying for the job. If I had the extra cash right now, I'd throw in a set od cam shafts. Oh well . . . .

What do you mean "( Drop the motor on three jacks)"? Are you saying the motor comes out from the bottom?
According to the shop manual the engine comes out from the top. See page # 303-01A-118 of the FMC Wrokshop Manual.

[jjaguda]

Yes.

As AzMarauder noted, like other F/L/M products, the engine drops from the bottom. THis is how they did it:

Car goes into the air on a lift. Jacks put in place to hold the drivetrain as it is disconnected. Drive shaft dropped. Exhaust unbolted at flange. Trans mounts unbolted. Steering disconnected from rack. Four (I believe) big a$$ bolts, that go through the crossmember, unbolted from frame. All harnesses discinnected. All lines to radiator disconnected. (I'm sure I'm missing something, but you get the idea.)

Thats about it. THe engine, still bolted to the cross member, control arms, brakes, rack and pinion, and transmission, are lowered to waist level. THe the intake, etc are then remove to access the valve train with absolutely nothing in the way - especially my fenders as AzMarauder pointed out. I stopped by the shop to check it out. There was the engine on the jack stands. Sure wish I had the $ for a set of cams. Kinda hard to justify with a second child on the way.

The shop manager said that this procedure was called for in some FoMoCo literature. I did not pay much attention to what he was talking about. He has proven to be pretty knowledgable as he did the TSB rebuild of my 3650 5sp in my '02 GT. And some rear end work as well. Both jobs resulted in solid results. As such, if he says the engine drops for the job, so be it. Especially since I'm not paying the 14+ hours of labor, and my paint does not get beat to hell.

Its been over two weeks since I dropped the car off (yes, I know two weeks doe not equal 14 hours but they were backed up when I left the car). I miss it. Been driving the MACH 1 to and from work. Its quicker, but I realized that it beats the poop out of you on the poor New Orleans streets. Mgr. said two more days . . . :depress: then :) .

[Constable]

My heads were done IN the car. It took three weeks to get the car back after they started taking it apart.

The "drop the motor from below" method is the best bet. GM does it with F-bodies when motor work is necessary.

Like others said, do the Reinhart cooling mod while the motor is down. It'll take many hours to do if the motor & trans are in the car. It should only take minutes if they're out.

BTW: these are "non-serviceable" heads. I'd be interested to see what, exactly, the tech is going to do. That's why a lot of us had our heads replaced.

[jjaguda]

My heads were done IN the car. It took three weeks to get the car back after they started taking it apart.

The "drop the motor from below" method is the best bet. GM does it with F-bodies when motor work is necessary.

Like others said, do the Reinhart cooling mod while the motor is down. It'll take many hours to do if the motor & trans are in the car. It should only take minutes if they're out.

BTW: these are "non-serviceable" heads. I'd be interested to see what, exactly, the tech is going to do. That's why a lot of us had our heads replaced.
The shop manager walked me through the process. When he started citing special "ford" tools to remove the cam rockers, I lost interest. At that point I realized that this was a job I will probably never do myself. When I pick up the car, I'll get more detailed information to post on this thread.

And, yes, when I saw how simple it was to drop the motor I was put more at ease regarding the work. I've never been to hip on pulling a motor that works (even with the blue smoke). Again, since the selling dealer is paying for it, I just want what was advertised - "motor = excelent"

[marauder307]

A few questions, as my car has had a case of the "ticks" for about 20k miles now:

1) Which dealership, and who's your point-of-contact there?

2) How'd you convince them to do it?

3) This isn't really a question, but I would be interested in seeing some pics and reading a description on what they found when they pulled the engine apart...also, what were the circumstances leading to the service? Was the engine visibly/audibly starting to go bad?


Thanks...I know it sounds like a lotta detailed questions, but it sure would be a big help! :up:

[jjaguda]

A few questions, as my car has had a case of the "ticks" for about 20k miles now:

1) Which dealership, and who's your point-of-contact there?

2) How'd you convince them to do it?

3) This isn't really a question, but I would be interested in seeing some pics and reading a description on what they found when they pulled the engine apart...also, what were the circumstances leading to the service? Was the engine visibly/audibly starting to go bad?


Thanks...I know it sounds like a lotta detailed questions, but it sure would be a big help! :up:

marauder307

1) The dealership is in Kenner, LA, just outside of New Orleans.

2) It was not a matter of convincing them to do the work. When I started the car, after sitting for a few hours, plumes of blue smoke would pour out of the exhaust for a second or two. Then it would run fine. I left the car at the dealer and then went back the next morning to start the car with the shop foreman watching. He saw the smoke himself.

The foreman's first suggestion was to change the pcv valve as he had seen some success with that fix for the smoke problem on the SOHC CVs. Tried that. Did not work leaving the valve stem seals. So I'm now still waiting to get the car back. The engine is scheduled to go back into the car on Monday.

3) I have a couple of pics I'll post soon. I stopped at the dealer a couple of times and the foreman showed me the car/engine. I was a little disappointed that the valve train was not cleaner, but the car does have 53k on it. As has been posted on other threads, the smoke is not a big problem, but since the selling dealer is paying for the repairs, I decided to get it fixed.

[schuvwj]

So the 03 MM is in the Ford Service Center for valve seal replacement. The selling dealer is paying for the repair - currently in the $1,500.00 range to pull the engine in order to do the job.

Here is the question:
While the engine is out of the MM, is there anything I should have the mechanic check for? I read that there is a cooling issue with the heads. Murader03 (http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/member.php?u=345) mentioned in a prior thread I posted that he replaced an engine due to a cooling issue. Anything else? The build date is 8/7/02.

The first thing I would do is replace the stock PM oil pump with a billet pump. DR has them for sale.

[jjaguda]

For everyone's information:

After three and a half weeks, I picked up the MM with new valve guide seals. It now starts w/o the puffs of blue smoke. I know several people have addressed this before, but I'm sooooo happy to get the car back - fully functional - that I have to tell the only people who understand the situation. Friends, family, and co-workers don't understand my joy!

So . . . to sum up. If you have the blue smoke problem, all you need to do is drop the motor from under the car to easily get to the heads. :rolleyes: Its that simple!

I have to say the dealer was very careful, took their time, and returned my car without any extra scratches.

Did I mention its nice to have the car back.:)

[sailsmen]

Which dealer?

[jjaguda]

Which dealer? Lamarque Ford in Kenner Louisiana. I was glad that the shop foreman did all of the work. He also did the rebuild on the 02 GT 3650 5speed under a TSB - replaced just about everything from 1st to 3rd gear. These guys, at least the one service advisor and the shop foreman, have never tried to "get one over" on me. Guess they appreciate that I know more than hoe to fill the tank and press the gas pedal.

Got to "DRIVE" the car home from work tonight.:):burnout::banana:

sailsmen, Just saw that you are in the area. PM me if you need more info on my contact person.

[WantOneSoBad]

Wow, that would have been alot of cash for little work. What are the things you can do to prevent problems like that. I'm looking forward to getting my MM and having it running like a champ for at least 200,000 miles. I have a 91 9c1 Caprice and its got a little over 294,000 miles and the original transmission finally lost overdrive this month, been driving in 2nd gear lately. Anyways, what are the things I can do to get the same out of a MM. I have some general ideas so far but I'm very sure you guys know much more than I, but heres my list so far.

-Transmission cooler
-Oil cooler
-Higher amp alternator
-Running synthetics ASAP
-Prolong treatment