Hi All,
I am working on a G/F 97 explorer.
It has a 5.0L 302 and it is knocking like it is starving for oil.
At an idle we get good oil pressure on the stock oil gage but it still claters.
Once drive over 60 the oilgage drops to "0".
The knocking is in the top end, I believe around the #4 piston.
We tried thicker oil and Duralube with no effect.
We were going to change the oil pump but it apears as though we need to pull the motor in order to change the pump.
If I have to pull the motor I think it would be better to just drop a low milage engine in.
Any questions or comments will be appritiated.

 

If it was a chevy the bearings probably would've already flew apart. I'd go with the lower mileage deal for the cheaper way out (as long as you know the place you're buying from it's 100 percent the way to go). If you dropped pressure for too long you may have stessed the bearing materials and lightly grooved the crankshaft. That could cost a bit to fix depending on who machines it. It reminds me of the tome I blew the 302 in my pickup. I had trouble coming to a destination off a highway exit. I left off the gas pedal and ALL the motor oil flew out the tailpipes. I shut it off - let it cool and drove 1 mile to town with no oil. I bought 5 quarts of oil dumped it in and lagged it home (about 70 or 80 miles) and it blew right as I pulled in the driveway. If it were a Chevy I probably wouldn't have made the first mile. I still have some pieces from the motor as a memory. I used the money I saved in not having to tow it to buy a new motor.