Might be a little off topic but my dad needs a little help...

[Kemara]

I posted this in the Ford forums, but notice its not very active, so i copied and pasted it here. . . it might be a little off topic, but i figured i'd try.

ok my dad was behind a car on a back road by our house. the car in front of him swerved, and he didn't... well there was a big metal thing, he thinks was an axel or something from another car... he heard a big bang, and thought it just hit the frame of his truck('03 ford ranger). well a few seconds later, he heard the motor banging, and looked in the mirror and saw a lot of smoke, pulled over and shut it off. come to find out the big metal thing put a big hole in the oil pan and leaked all of the oil out and now he thinks he killed the motor b/c of the banging.
AAA towed to the ford dealership where he bought it. Do you think if he just gets a new oil pan that the motor will still be alright? Or do you think he'll need a new motor? The poor thing only had 56K on it. And it was an awesome running motor, always maintained, etc. Its the 4.0.
I told him that since he shut it off right away, it should be fine. But he said it started slamming hard that he thinks the motor is done.

[Nors]

Damage was probably done. I'd say put new oil pan + gasket + oil and fire it up. Best case engine runs fine, worst case, engine runs bad, has rod knock etc. Worth a try before scraping the engine.

[alwaysinboost]

was there still oil coming out when he stopped? if so you are probably OK. I've lost oil in cars before from road debris, damn truck re-treads! As long as you shut the motor down quickly and you see oil still coming out when your stopped I'd assume you're OK.

But the only way to tell w/o ripping it apart would be to throw a new oil pan on there and see what happens. you might want to replace the pump too while your in there incase any metal debris got sucked up in there.

[05Accent]

im sorry i cant help u. becuause willie coyote is actually choking road runner!!!

[naDintheHat]

This same thing happened to my brother and i, driving home hit a re-tread and cracked (the already rusty oil pan), didnt realize it got to the last 15 miles of the 100 mile trip and the car started knocking like crazy, toast motor

I'd say see if u can get a pan and seal and fill it up and run it and see if it knocks/smokes/hell see if it starts.

-Dan

[1_badimport]

motors done wiped out the bearings for sure if its banging ..

[CHAOS]

if its making noise its toast... time for a rebuild or a fresh motor

[Kemara]

Originally Posted by 05Accent

im sorry i cant help u. becuause willie coyote is actually choking road runner!!!

yea... road runner couldn't run forever! lol

As for putting a new oil pan, etc. on... thats what he's probably going to do. If the motor is done, thats really gonna suck. Cause that leaves the family w/1 car until my car gets fixed. That will REALLY suck!

[Drftpretty]

^Im 99% sure that falls under vandalism. Talk to insurance.

[NOPSTNS]

while the pan is down take a look at the bottom end, maybe u can pop one of those "rod caps" jawns and look at those um, what do u guys call em,,.,,,,..,., bearings? yeah see if those thingys are ok if they r fine pop off that er, valve cover thingy and look at all those cams and valveys and stuff.....thro some oil in it and then fire it up!

[naDintheHat]

Easy thing to check is when the pan is off look for metal flakes in it. Yeah.

[Dave]

heh i just re-read this and from what you wrote id say you spun at least one bearing. you can try swapping pans and trading the oil, but most likely its going to need an overhaul. on the good side however, ford 4.0s are cheap popular american motors so parts wont be too bad.

[rickhigginshtbr]

may have a piston or two stuck, but hopefully is salvagable, good luck with it.