9550

hey all
so, taking apart my engine as a learning experience. after much trouble got the distributor off, then took off the driver side cylinder head. take a look at the pics and tell me if anything looks strange. the car had be run once, maybe twice in the past 2 or 3 years and had 143000 miles. pics are right after i took the head off. i see some crud in the head in the combustion chamber part of the head (wtf should i call this? the dome? lol, i dont know) dont know if its pretty normal. looking into the intake passages at the valve stems, i see a little buildup, but i would think it wasnt too bad (no pics of that though). theres also some crud in the cylinders themselves sitting on the pistons. i think most of this crud was not simply dropped in when i took the head off. i think most of was there, but if it was, i would think it would have blown out when the car was running, so who knows.

so heres the pics (everybody loves pics, right?!), i will number them in case anybody has a comment. unfortunately, imageshack rotates the images for some reason

thanks in advance for any suggestions/help

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10.


11.


12.

Tony71502

Most of the pictures look like a 140k+ 5.0 to me. Pic 2,5, and 6. That doesn't look normal.

bluebeastsrt

I dont think they look that bad. Are you sure the crud didn't fall in there while you were taking stuff apart? I recently took my engine apart and dropped stuff in the cylinders. A shop vac took car of that issue.

javila2468

option 1: may need a re-ring. while you are at it get it re-honed and get new main cap seals. you will give the engine a new life.

option 2: clean, clean, clean everything very well.

tinman

Looks like a typical 140,000 mile 5.0 to me also.
I think some of the crud probably fell in there while you were taking the head off.....

caaraa

this is really cool, I like here!

projectresto83

Looks perfectly fine to me. Why did you tear it apart? If the engine is out of the car I would go ahead and put new bearings, rings, timing chain and oil pump in it....if its not then just clean it up and bolt it back together.

9550

i took it apart mainly to learn. engine is still in car.
hmm, timing chain, i should check mine at this point anyway or dont bother? what do i have to take off, the water pump then the timing cover? (i have the manual, just guessing)
thanks

projectresto83

Yes, its a $40 part, replace it..... be carefull when removing the bolts for the timing cover though.....they tend to break because a few of them run through the coolant passages and rust... The water pump can come off with the timing cover but since your there I would take it off also to replace the gasket. Since the engine is still in the car just clean up what you see and bolt it back together. I personally like to take a wire wheel on a drill and clean off the pistons....once you rotate them to TDC.... be sure to cover the oil galley before you do so...( the center part of the block where the lifters are...)

9550

'they tend to break'? if they break, how screwed am i? i need to weigh this option because if im really really screwed if they break, i may not want to chance it

also, as far as the oil galley goes, i already made a thread about how to clean it because theres some debris in there already. feel free to comment there (or here)
https://mustangforums.com/forum/gene...ts-called.html

thanks