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Yet another SPI knocking -- Will Fix It!

52K views 140 replies 22 participants last post by  yosso 
#1 · (Edited)
[:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)] January 15, 2012 edit by LugNut: This thread has become popular, thanks! It was not intended as a how-to, but I bet you'll find it helpful if you are thinking of rebuilding your SPI. Much later in the thread, with the rebuild now done, I've added parts and tools lists as well as lots of pictures. But _do_ read through the entire thread from the start because you'll learn from my challenges, other member's helpful hints, and pick up many details that are not in the later lists or pictures. Enjoy the biting humor too, and be safe! [:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)]

-----

Newbie to the FF, but an old hand at repairing cars. Just acquired a 2001 P-code SE sedan from some nice folk. The engine suddenly developed a knock in their driveway at a startup, and the nonmechanical sellers said they hadn't driven it since. I've started the engine briefly twice now, and yes it knocks!

This forum was very useful in identifying the likely cause -- a dropped valve seat. Starting tomorrow or the day after, I will pull the head and see what's up. I'm prepared to pull the whole engine and go through it, if necessary. I see the rebuilt heads with new and improved seats on eBay.

Degreased the engine bay and underhood, as well as the outside of the body and wheels, this afternoon to get things rolling. Will be searching the site for y'alls wisdom, but please feel free to list applicable links here! [headbang]
 
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#104 ·
No kaboom

FF to hit the road tomorrow! [drinking]

This afternoon, first removed the bad window tinting. Big job -- about 45 minutes each window. Wallpaper steamer worked well for getting the film off, but then a heavy glue was left behind. Had to use lots of paint thinner, rags, and elbow grease to get that stuff off.

Then tackled replacing the fuel filter -- the last planned significant job. Had to jack up the car high onto four stands; very dangerous! And then there's the leaking gasoline! [paranoid] About a cup came out. It was very difficult to get the filter's inlet clamp off; undoing the filter bracket-to-floor pan bolt helped.

Then really dirty, very-brown gas came out of the inlet side of the filter. Glad I planned to replace it! New one went in easily, as compared to getting the old one out.
 
#105 ·
Ah .... yes!

Drives nicely! [cool]

The reused cam and lifters have 132K miles on them, so they do make a slight bit of noise. Very acceptable though, and it will be interesting to see if it changes as the engine is broken in.

The battery was out of the car for over a month, so the computer, I assume, has to relearn things. But accelerates, gently for now, very nicely. I really like that five speed trans and light-weight feeling of the car! I do need a stock shifter-pattern insert for its knob though -- have a spare?

A bit warmer today, but still couldn't get the temperature gauge above halfway. Was using the heater core a bit though. Again, no first radiator cooling fan operation observed after the test drive; both fans again did work with the AC switch activated. A bit of an odor as the oil and engine paint baked, but no leaks still. [grinking]

Not a single CEL in this whole thing! Is there an OBDII connector in this car? I wonder if any error codes have been thrown; I have a scanner.
 
#106 ·
Not a single CEL in this whole thing! Is there an OBDII connector in this car? I wonder if any error codes have been thrown; I have a scanner.
The connector is under the dash near the fuse pannel.
 
#108 ·
yeah its right below the fuse box access panel behind a trim panel. FYI the only OBDII port I could never find a was in a volvo because it was in the center console/armrest box.

glad it works well... the car wont run quite as well until you put about 20 miles on it. At least its not like another car I had that went to redline when started. I had to put the AC on and sit on the brake a bit while I drove it until it finally learned how to run again.
 
#109 · (Edited)
Pics arriving

Thanks --- hopefully will read the codes, if any, on Saturday.

[:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)] Late January 2012 update: finally did hook up the scanner. The OBDII port was accessed through the lower-left dash bezel (U.S.) -- remove the fuse block cover, then the port's cover is just below it. The connector's block easily pushed out though, and unlike other cars, the engine had to be started (not just with the key in the run position) to read the codes, at least on this car. One error code stored -- idle speed set too high; don't know if it is an old or newly thrown code. [:)][:)][:)][:)][:)][:)]

Here's the first of the promised pics, but it made sense to put them in a new, more specific how-to thread on redoing the IMRC:

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=276543

But come back here for the engine rebuild pics! It took a long, long time to do that write-up, so again, don't hold your breath ... [shameful]
 
#110 ·
Whopper of a parts list

OK - use with great caution! You must research your own parts -- don't blame me if any of these are wrong.

Most of the parts were mailordered for decent prices, but some had to be bought locally due to time. Mailorder had no sales taxes, and here's a 5% discount code for RockAuto.com, good through February 26, 2012: 79572341842995

What were "necessary" for the engine rebuild vs. maintenance parts? I'll let you decide. There's a few other little hoses I would have replaced too if I could have found them. And if I had made the decision on the pistons earlier, I could have saved $50, but hey, I have a spare piston! [rolleyes]

I'll put it up for sale soon, as well as a couple of wrong parts.

---

Specifically for the engine:

Remanufactured cylinder head, eBay, YS4E, $250 (S/H included, both ways)
Piston ring set, DNJ, PR420, $37.79 (for second generation piston design)
Engine rebuild gasket set, DNJ, FGS4039, $145.79
Remanufactured crankshaft kit, Standard, 412 16410, $169.79 (included all bearings; includes $25 core charge, not worth returning)
New piston, pin, and reman. rod, eBay, $95 (only used the rod; free S&H)
Pistons and pins, DNJ, P420, $141.79 (set of four)
Oil pump, DNJ, OP420, $90.89
Water pump, Cardone, 55-23615, $27.79
Timing belt and tensioner, Cloyes, BK283, $39.79
Cylinder head bolt set, Fel-Pro, ES72672, $29.99 (local purchase)
Spark plugs, NGK, 7159, $9.64 (set of four)
Spark plug wire set, Duralast, 4679, $19.99 (local purchase)
PCV valve, OEM, 9887, $3.97
Thermostat, Stant, 14990, $1.64

Category subtotal = $1063.86

Outside the engine:

Heater hose, Gates, 19153, $6.67
Heater hose, Gates, 19746, $8.47
Heater hose, Dayco, 88424, $16.37
Radiator hose, Gates, 22501, $8.01 (the one near the oil filter)
Serpentine belt, Dayco, 5060680, $13.32 (w/AC,PS)
Idler pulley, Dayco, 231081, $17.99 (local purchase)
Fuel filter, Fram, G8018, $6.15
Breather element, Motorcraft, FA1693, $1.33
Air filter, Pronto, PA5324, $4.11
Cat-to-flex pipe gasket, Fel-Pro, 60924, $2.99 (local; required mod)
Radiator fan relay, OEM, ER13, $5.13
Oil filter, Fram, Toughguard, $5.94 (local purchase)

Category subtotal = $96.48

Shop supplies:

Workshop Manuals (Factory Service Manuals, FSM), Ford, $30 (From a member! w/S&H)
Engine assembly lube, $5.49 (local)
Synthetic gear oil, Valvoline, $8.99 (local)
5W20 motor oil, Quaker State, $13.97 (local)
Fuel injector cleaner, STP, $2.77 (local)
Carb cleaner, $1.97 (local)

Category subtotal = $63.19

Other parts:

Clutch kit, LuK, 07-166, $151.99 (eBay; free S&H)
iB5 transmission gearshift cable set, Ford, XS4Z7E395BA, $125.53
Hood latch release cable and handle, Ford, YS4Z16916AA, $40.37
Antenna mast, Ford, 98BZ18A886AA, $25.77
Battery tray (lower half), Ford, 3S4Z10732BA, $30.75
Trunk lifts, Monroe, 901447, $27.34 (for two)
Remote replacement cases, eBay, $9.21 (for two, w/S&H)
Shifter knob - used, eBay, $10 (including S&H)

Category subtotal = $420.96

Shipping $57.74+45.41+13.86+26.24 = $143.25
Discounts -$12.67-19.87-8.16 = -$40.70
_______

Grand total = $1747.04 (plus some sales taxes for local parts)

---

So, including the purchase price of the car, and the tow back here and the parts cost above, it's just under the bluebook value of the car. I get basically no credit for my labor, as is typical. Again, I'm glad this is my hobby! And that the car is going to a good cause.
 
#111 ·
And

Some supplies from the shelf, e.g.,

Gallon of antifreeze
Pint of DOT4 brake fluid
Windshield washer fluid
Distilled water
Gloss black engine enamel
WD-40 and Liquid Wrench
Windex, Simple Green
Zip ties
Permatex #2 gasket sealer
Antiseize
Plastigauge
Paper towels, rags
 
#112 ·
Promised tool list

Now I wouldn't expect a newbie to run out and buy all these things -- I've acquired these tools over decades, but if you buy good ones and take care of your tools they should last a very long time. And slowly it will get easier to do big projects like this one as you keep acquiring tools wisely.

I often buy tools _after_ I need them, when they come on sale. For example, today a bought a pair of wheel dollies that would have made moving the FF sideways in my workspace much easier and safer (instead of using the floor jack alone).

One thing I learned early, the hard way, in my first auto repair job was that professionals often won't loan their tools. Don't be offended, these are their "tools of the trade" and they learned the hard way about loaning stuff and not getting it back or it comes back broken, missing stuff, etc. If you do borrow stuff, return it in even better shape than you got it, and if you damaged/broke/lost/... it [smackbum], buy an exact replacement to return to the guy quickly, no matter what the cost.

Here goes:

An indoor workspace with hard, level concrete floor, lots of ventilation, and an excellent stereo system (mine is a 35 year old surround-sound). "2+ cars" equivalent space for the FF plus all the parts, etc.

Two or three workbenches, with at least one being galvanized steel top (for clean work) and one with wood top and a vise (for whacking stuff, etc.).

A utility sink with hot and cold water service. Lots of various soaps too.

Excellent overhead lighting, plus droplights, etc. And all the safety gear you can imagine, and more.

A heavy duty engine hoist/crane, and engine stand. Don't go with the cheapo imports -- they often aren't strong/big enough, and this is dangerous work. I got mine, on sale of course, at Sam's Club many years ago. Also nice is an oil pan for the stand. And definitely a load leveler and engine sling for the crane. You'll also need long bolts and nuts/washers to mount the block to the stand, but you often won't know which ones until the engine is out (plan-in a trip to the store at this point; get high-grade ones, not the cheapos).

A heavy duty floor jack, bottle jack, and wheel chocks.

Various Wonder and other pry bars.

Various hammers and a rubber mallet.

Oil catch-pans (and ways to store and recycle the various fluids).

Air compressor, heavy-duty 1/2 in. impact wrench (sorry -- cheapos don't have the guts for the crank bolt), blowgun, and hose.

Magnetic pickup -- for the oopsies. But get in the practice of covering your open orifices with clean rags, duct tape, etc. to reduce problems.

High quality 3/8 and 1/2 in. torque wrenches. Used both a lot on this engine.

1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 in.-drive standard and deepwell sockets, ratchets, breaker bars, extensions, speeders, and adapters. And 3/8 and 1/2 in. standard and deep impact sockets. And Torx male and female sockets, and male hex sockets (all metric, of course, for this FF). In general it's bad form to use adapters, but I had to use them, carefully, on this job. I didn't need my flex fittings.

Combo wrenches up to 27 mm.

Gasket and razor scrapers.

Various screwdrivers and pliers; I used my large Crescent and needlenose pliers a lot.

Wire brushes, from soft brass to stiff. Cleaning brushes too, including old toothbrushes.

Metal files.

Battery charger. The battery will be out for a while, so now's a good time to desulfurize it; I use a BatteryMINDer.

Seal remover and driver.

Feeler gauges.

Glazebreaker and variable speed drill.

Ring pliers, ring compressor, and small plastic/rubber tubes to put over the rod bolts to protect the crank.

Flywheel turner -- was very useful for reinstalling the manual transmission's flywheel as will be shown in the pictures to come.

Oil filter wrench.

Antifreeze and battery fluid testers.

Magnetic parts tray and a service cart. I didn't use the cart on this job because it was too full of crap -- my bad.

Lots of fender pads and heavy towels to protect the car.

A big box of BandAids, and a large tube of Neosporin. Good health insurance too. Hospital on speed-dial.

And don't forget a set of true-blue Factory Service Manuals ("Workshop Manuals" in Ford-speak). Get 'em cheap from other members here or off eBay, for example. [loveff]

[cheers]
 
#114 ·
Here come the pics! Here come the pics! Here come the pics!

I'm editing and uploading them -- takes time. But here's the first batch:

If you are entering this thread at this point, go back and read it from the beginning, now. These pics, and short descriptions, don't tell nearly all the story, and the gory details! [unsure]

Here's the FF's engine bay before degreasing. This is a very low resolution picture from the ad for the car:


And here's the bay after degreasing, but not detailed (shiny-stuff not applied):


Now getting to work toward removing the head to see what's the damage. Battery, etc., on right is already out:


Here's with the right/top engine mount removed, and the timing belt and top sprocket exposed:


With the thermostat and EGR off of the left side of the engine, the two black shifter cables are exposed. The one passing closest to the EGR was frayed/damaged from heat and rubbing, so the cables had to come out. But here the damage is wrapped in shiny metal duct tape to keep the frayed wires from stabbing me even more:


The valve cover off, and starting to go after the exhaust manifold. Nice and clean inside the top of the engine:


With the cylinder head off, the damage to the top of piston #3 is very apparent:


And here's a close-up of #2 as compared to #3. Note the heavy, oily carboning on the pistons:



The damage to the cylinder head, over #3, is dramatic. The dropped seat is not easy to see -- you have to look very closely on the head itself to see that an intake seat is completely gone:


Here's all the valve gear (cam, lifters, rockers, sprocket, etc.) removed from the old head. All was in good condition, and was reused on the remanufactured "valves only" head bought off eBay:


With the severe damage to #3 piston seen, but the cylinder bore looking good, the final, fateful decision was made to yank the block and rebuild, instead of the other, varied options. Here's starting to remove stuff from around the block; note the rag for keeping crud out of the cylinders:


Removing the starter, intake manifold, and all the other stuff from the backside of the engine, and from underneath the back, was the most painful. And still the oil dipstick tube wouldn't budge:


With the early decision to pull the engine from above, rather than below, it was obvious that clearance on the front of the engine was going to be critical. Here, the water pump's sprocket is shown to be very close to the right frame rail:


Hooking up the cherrypicker. Not too visible, but the hood is still, and stayed, installed and only propped-up by the factory rod:


From the other angle. The 2x4 was there to protect the block's top and the cylinders from the hoist, chain, etc.:


The water pump came off, and the accessory bracket disconnected, from the block to give more clearance on the engine's front. Raising and lowering the block, with the floor jack under the oil pan (with wide, soft block of wood between the jack's cradle and the pan), was used throughout to gain clearance of the crank, etc.:


And the visual story will continue, via many more pics, as I get them uploaded and by the moderator! [thumb] (Just don't look at the pics upsidedown, or the evil subliminal messages will be revealed!) [histerical]
 
#115 ·
A few more

Here's the Intake Manifold Runner Control (IMRC) assembly that came out from between the intake manifold and the head:


You can read about the resto of the IMRC in a separate how-to thread, previously mentioned:

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=276543

At one point, I was waiting for some more parts to arrive, so one thing I got done was cleaning up the trunk including installing two new lift cylinders:



Here's the spark plugs that came out of the SPI. #1 is on the left. #3's spark plug wasn't mashed, but was a slightly different color. The engine was still running, fairly smoothly except for the varying racket.
 
#116 ·
Yankin' it out

Here's the cat, with the "interesting" bracket sitting on it. The bracket has the two lower bellhousing bolts going through it. The cat clamp on it too was rusty, but still serviceable. You might need to replace yours. Getting the cat-to-flex pipe bolts, from under the car without a lift, isn't fun. Be Liquid Wrenching them for a couple days beforehand. I didn't find any valve seat pieces in the cat:


For separating the engine from the trans, with both still in the car, the trans needs to be supported separately, and level with the engine. This was my quick but ugly solution -- a bottle jack and a block of wood. Jacks are only meant for lifting/lowering, and not long-term supporting, but the engine crane's legs were in the way and I was moving fast. Don't do this at home! [rolleyes]


Here's the between the engine and the radiator, with everything out or tied away. That lowest bellhousing bolt was corroded, so shoot some WD-40 in from the right as early as possible, and work the bolt in and out slowly.


The bolts from the top of the bellhousing were easy, once all the other parts were out:


With the trans bolts out, and carefully applied force, the engine separates. If you have an automatic, remember to unbolt the torque converter first! It should never be pulled with the engine, lest you damage its input nipple and/or the front pump's shaft or bearing. Not to mention all the fluid pouring out. Note here that as soon as the clutch was off the manual trans' input shaft, the turning of the engine was needed to gain clearance on the front.


Here's that front end, and the right frame rail. I had to lower the engine to get the crank below the rail, to allow continuing to turn the engine. And was very carefully moving the fuel rail, etc. out of the way on top.


With the engine turned about 40 degrees, I could slowly lift the engine, again watching for/moving things on the front and back of the engine:


Once clear, it was up, up, and away with the engine!


Keeping the sling short allowed lifting the engine over the front of the car, with the hood still installed. [grinking] Those two (not reused) head bolts have long sleeves and heavy washers on the to shorted the moment-arm put on the block -- read more about it in the prior text in this thread.

And here's the inside of the bellhousing, after the engine was out. Inspect then clean it, though watch out for really sharp edges and flash metal. This throwout bearing was getting sloppy. The on the lower-left wasn't from the trans' front seal, so most likely was from the rear seal of the engine. Not bad for 132K miles.
 
#119 ·
The last pics?

Well, there's another limit -- only 60 pics max across all your albums here on the site, but the admin says can upload others to the Gallery. I don't have time, and may never ... but who knows, maybe I'll need to redo the FF in a decade or so? [:p]

So, for now, this is it. Yes, there's lots more really good pics that will have to wait, maybe for eternity. [:(]

Here's the engine bay with ... wait for it ... no engine! So now is an engineless bay? This would have been a great time to clean it, but naaaa! Did flush the heater core though, as described in the earlier pages:


With the engine still on the crane, but carefully lowered to the floor, the clutch can come off. It still had a little friction material to go, but heck, you're this deep in, might as well replace it:


The flywheel is next, but since the bolts are very tight and the crank wants to turn, a HD impact wrench was best. But later, when reinstalling, I used a flywheel turner to hold it still while retorquing the bolts. I should have removed the thin blockoff plate from the block at this point, but was too eager to get inside the block:


Here's the block on the stand, ready to flip to rip open its guts. Use very high strength bolts, nuts, and washers to mount the engine to the stand's head, lest you loose your toes:


With the block flipped, and the oil pan off, the unseen from above major damage became apparent. A big hint was metal sounds from inside as the block was turned over on the stand. Read the preceding pages for more description of the extensive damage to #3 piston's skirts:


But here's a pic. It just dropped out of the engine after unbolting the rod. Normally you have to ease them out:


After completely disassembling the block, it got a good scrub down, careful inspection, and the cylinders were honed:


Some more cleaning, and drying, and then it was time for the engine enamel:


Reassembly underway, the reman crank going in. Note all the balancing holes drilled in the counterweights by the machine shops:


Here's the new pistons on the three old and one reman rod, kept in proper order. New rings' too -- they must go on in a very specific way. The pic shows the ring expander pliers and the band-type compressor. Everything must be super-clean!


And you have to do all the careful checks, like the bearings' clearances (w/Plastigauge) and the end gaps of all the rings:


Putting the rear main seal back on wasn't going to happen on the stand, so had to put the short block back down on the floor, but this time inverted and on a very clean towel. This position worked well for putting the oil pump and pan, flywheel, and clutch back on too, but then flipping it back over, on the floor, was not the most beautiful move:


Here's the completed short block back on the crane, via a load-leveler, which is a must. Don't even try to reinstall without, unless you really like to cuss. The text describes how I aligned and pushed together the block and bellhousing, after doing the reverse of the removal to get the block nearly back in place:


Here's the IMRC going back in, via bolting up the intake manifold. Note the clean rags to keep dust, tools, small children, falling Russian spacecraft debris, etc. out of the engine:


Jumping ahead, here's the almost complete reinstall. Ooooo ... nice clean air filter. But just one problem left:


And that was the incomplete new lower battery box that Ford and/or fastoemparts.com sold me. Here it is sitting in place:


But what not easily seen in the following, of the old one, are the missing parts that were shown in the Ford parts diagram: the hold-down strap as well as the metal brace that goes across the bottom and then left/up to the bolt hole. This missing metal brace is what actually supports the battery -- that plastic box would have cracked and allowed the battery to drop. A very dangerous and high liability situation -- shame on you guys! Does the CEO and head of your parts division know about this? They should, since I reported it in writing to the dealer, fastoemparts in WI. They wouldn't withhold critical quality control info from Ford, would they? But fastoemparts did say they talked to higher-ups, who said those parts weren't included because the plastic clamp was improved. Hogwash -- they are exactly the same on the old and new trays.


And here's the completed engine, brought back from the great beyond, found by the roadside dead. Purring away today:


There's lots more in-between pics of the rebuild, etc., but for at least now, that's all folks! [thankyou]

Thanks for reading and viewing. Good luck with your SPIs! I wouldn't recommend that others attempt this rebuild on their own, unless ...
 
#120 ·
Great thread, awesome information and well researched!! awesome work LugNut!!!

If only i had stumbled upon this thread while i was rebuilding my SPI... it would have helped me greatly with the rebuild process!
The irony is that mine went late November due to the lower radiator hose leaking, draining the coolant completely, then the car overheating and the head warping and cracking. then subsequently the valve dropped.
 
#121 ·
Good information and excellent technical writing Lugnut!

I'm preparing to pull the cylinder head and replace it on my 2003 SE as preventive maintenance at 98K miles (due to the horror stories regarding the valve seats). I also plan to replace the timing belt & water pump (kit). I'm new to this site and haven't looked around it too much, but was wondering where/how you got your factory service manual?
 
#123 ·
One more question...

The cylinder head you used had to have the old cam, lifters, rockers, & sprocket swapped over from the old one. Did you have to use special tools for the seal R&R, sprocket R&R, etc...? I'd like to get the valve only head due to the $avings but I may not have the required tools. The e-bay vendor says to swap these items in 10 minutes and save a bundle. 10 minutes? I think they're a bit optimistic.
 
#124 ·
More like a couple of hours, with careful cleaning and inspecting of parts. And making careful note of the direction of each lifter and its retainer, etc.

Nothing special, tool-wise. Lots of assembly lube, though. See the lists a page or two back.
 
#125 ·
10 minutes,,, maybe a bit more. I simply pulled out the old parts, no special tools required, and dropped them in the new head. Piece of cake.

I had the old head and the new head sitting side by side on the bench. Didn't have to clean any parts, they were nice and oily and clean as they came out of the old head. Lubed up the new head before swapping parts. Longer if you plan on replacing the cam seal, then you have to remove the cam gear. I didn't remove or replace the cam seal, just moved it from one head to the other.
 
#127 ·
Yes I did. It had no indication or signs of a leak so, back in it went.

Thats just me, I make many such "judgement calls" when it comes to repair work. You can't beat the standard advice, replace anything questionable. But I don't always follow that.

For instance, in your case with the new crankshaft and bearings, thats a good call, I can't find fault with it. However, in MY case, I would have reused both the crank AND the original bearings. I know.... radical! :)
 
#128 ·
Check up

Just had the SPI stop by the shop a couple of days ago, for the first time. Running fine, but the owners hadn't checked anything since turning the car over to them! [facepalm]

Was a little over a quart low on oil; not bad for ~3000 miles. Have an oil/filter change pending, so will look for any possible leaks then. Other fluids fine.

Car needs tires too -- just ordered a set from TireRack.
 
#129 ·
Just spent the morning on the FF. Oil/filter, check fluids and front brakes, and put new tires on it. Runs well! No evidence of leaks underneath. AC still needs a charge, though.
 
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