lost compression on 2 cylinders

[racsan]

I have a really strange issue with my '94 2.3 (the junkyard dog truck) yesterday was running fine, i stop at the bank after work for maybe 5 min, shut it off while i was there, went to leave and its missing bad, didnt think much of it, once in a while when starting it would miss but straighten out, figured it was a fault fuel injector, it is a 94, 145K miles on it. well anyways, i went to the dmv then the house, still missing bad, got worse the more it ran. this morning, same thing, drove it 5 miles to work, can barely pull itself, 4.10 gears and the most it will do is 45, 4rth gear, will idle but horribly. work my 8 then before i leave i check things over, nothing seems wrong, oil level and coolant level fine. drove it home, about halfway its smoking alot, i pull over and pop the hood, can see its oily around the #3 manifold port on exhause and its smoking from where the manifold joins the downpipe (i knew it was leaking there before) i get it to the house, pull plugs for a compression test, i had done a compression test when i first got the truck in july, it was roughly 150/160 across all 4. well now i have 160 on 1, 155 on 2, 20 on 3 and 5 on 4. so yes, 2 dead cylinders, my thought is blown head gasket between cylinders (havent pulled head yet) but theres one thing yet puzzling me. after the engine cooled down i checked fluid levels. coolant fine, oil down to the add mark..... yes, i lost a qt of oil i under 5 miles of driving. i did notice oil pressure guage acting weird during driving, it would dip halfway down then go back up. almost acted like a bad connection it was moving so much back and forth. motor sounded like it was "hammering" while driving too. i took a couple of videos, at idle after the drive from work it almost sounds like a diesel. both 3 and 4 plugs were oil soaked, i cant understand why the oil loss/burning is happining. any ideas? yes, i know i have to keep digging and take it apart. but this is just incredibly weird. ran great up until it didnt..... was surprized it lost 2 cylinders. guess that proves that its not always as bad as you think it could be.... sometimes its worse....


this was how it was running before, took about a month ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojaJFKWOJlU

on the drive home today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPQgTShRuP4

parked after the drive from work, idleing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e2TlGFGxYU

sick....not in a good way....

[dustybumpers]

If the plugs are oil soaked, it's not firing
If they are oil soaked suddenly, and there is a clunking sound while running, you probably broke some rings


Oil pressure changes would be a seperate issue.
Could be something is plugging up the pick up screen

[cbaker65]

I had 2 loose spark plugs the other day ,LOL...make sure that all the
plugs are tight ,they tend to loosen up!....

[racsan]

well i got it tore down and found head gasket blown between 3 and 4 cyl. and gasket was eroded back clear to the return hole on the head where the oil drains back down from the head to the crankcase. sent head off and they found nearly every valve seat was cracked, someone before me must have gotton this thing really hot. just sent another head off. have checked block and it seems ok. hopefully in another week the ranger will be back on the road.

[fatherdoug]

Looking at your pictures. I love the old late 50's emblem on the hood of the ranger.

[racsan]

yes, i love that emblem, had been trying to find one of those for awhile now. found that one at a flea market some 30 miles from me, this guy had all sorts of emblems for sale, think he must have went to a junkyard and stripped as many as he could. id love to somehow emboss the tail gate with F O R D like they did back in the day. sure i could use decals but i like the "stamped" look better. ive already removed the blue oval from the tailgate and filled in the alignment holes.

[racsan]

heres the heads, top one is the original one that head gasket blew on, lower head is the one i got last week from a junkyard. both are 60# paperweights. think im going with a autozone head, can get one with valves but no cam/lifters for 350. a complete head with cam, valves,lifters and such is 532. think i have enough other peices that will work. just bites that "estimated delevery time" is dec 28. dont feel like taking chances with another junkyard head. just hope this isnt a china casting. they dont call it "the land of almost right" for nothing....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154582...in/dateposted/

[racsan]

well, pulled the trigger on a new autozone head, the $350 one with no cam/lifters/rockers. just a head with valves in it, got my other peices i'll need soaking in diesel, cleaned with gas first but wanted a diesel coating for a little lubrication. head is supposed to be in saterday, guess we'll see, i was able to get my money back on that junkyard head that turned out to have cracks.

[fatherdoug]

You're lucky to get a refund. All my "salvage" buys have been "as is where is".

[racsan]

well, got a refurbished head with valves in it, (2.3 I-4) went to put it on and discovered i have no alignment dowls, you know-those small peices that go in the head, the head gasket fits over them to align it, and when you put the head on the head bolts go through them. theres 2 of them they go on left side of block, look like thin wall pipe but theres a split in them like a roll pin, and usually they get damaged/destroyed rmoving them. well i damaged mine by using vise grips, figured i get new ones in the gasket set, no big deal.... well when i opened up my gasket set i didnt get those parts, went to autozone and it looks like i should have, and it looks like thats the only way to get them.... so i could wait another 3 days or so.... or go with this idea i just had. since you use new head bolts when re-assembling, i have a whole set of used original bolts. i took the best 2, cut the heads offf where the socket would go, then used the grinder to make a scewdriver slot. i can just finger those in the block a few turns, put on gasket then head, then regular bolts in a few holes before backing out my "alignment studs" with a scewdriver. havent done any more than make those pins, but i dont see why it wouldnt work......