Not if the engine's rattlin...

If you didn't drive it with no oil pressure, I'd try just replacing the oil
pump.  The 3.0 Vulcan is fairly durable.  At 92k, if it's been maintained,
it's not terribly worn otherwise.

OTOH, if you had a mechanic who could drop a used engine in there for you,
that might be a better alternative, depending on the price of the engine.

CJB

OOC, is that a rebuilt or used as-is?  Seems you could do better than
that.  I got a used 4.6L with 58k miles for a '97 Crown Vic last year
for only $700 from LKQ/A&R.  A friend who owed me a bunch of favors
installed it for free.  And even at that price, it included a 6 mo.
warranty.

What about a junkyard engine?  You may be able to get one that doesn't
have too many miles on it.

On Mar 17, 9:14 pm, "Kickin' a.s and Takin' Names"
<PopUlist...@hotmail.com> wrote:

The oil pump is driven by a shaft coming from the top of the engine.
Three gear teeth at the bottom of this shaft, in the crankcase, broke
off and rattled around inside the oil pan.  Main bearings are scored
from the metal shavings, oil pump and pump driveshaft are shot.

Options are:
-- $4,780 for a Ford rebuilt engine with 3 yr/75K warranty.  Can't do
it -- building a new house and I'm tapped out.
-- Park it in the back yard and rebuild the bottom of the engine --
line bore it, new mains, clean up the crank, new oil pump, etc. --
assuming that the metal pieces did not get up into the cylinders --
can inspect for that after tear down.  Figure $500-$1,000 for parts
and my labor is free.
-- Park it in the back yard, purchase a Ford long block for $2,446.64
and put it in myself.
-- Sell it as is.

Think I'll talk to my friend Mr. Jack Daniels and decide what to do.
Meanwhile -- this is my daughter's truck -- she lives in the big city
where she rides the subway -- I'll let her have my 97 Mazda B4000
until we decide what to do with the Ranger.

If it's not one damn thing it's another.

<JS>
ONE MORE OPTION
Put the new oil pump in it and cross your fingers that the filter did its
job.

You should not have metal parts in the bearings. You could, but they should
be too large to get in. Of course, if you drove for several miles with the
metal parts flying around inside the motor, you can have significant damage,
but if you actually caught the drop in pressure as it happened, the damage
should be very slight and you might be able to still drive the truck long
enough to sell it.

You're going to have to pull the oil pan to fix this, and you can tell the
collateral damage pretty easily. The dealership might be telling you the
worst case, but you might actually have the best case -- early shut down
before siginficant other damage happened.

PS
The saying goes, if it's not one thing, it's two things.

</JS>

The Ford 3.0L V6 is one of the most reliable engines ever
built and usually wear out the vehicle in which it came.  If
it were mine, I would look for a low mile salvage engine.
The failure you have is one that I have only seen in a few
engines.  Usually it is a result of excessive oil pressure
for some reason.  Most of the time you will find a faulty
pressure relief valve and and engine that is drive hard from
cold start.  The oil pump drive shaft is usually the victim
in the V8's.  Again, I would have no qualms about getting a
salvage engine.  Many yards will let you see the vehicle it
was/is in and some will also start it for you to see
running.  The better yards will provide at least a 30 day
warranty.  You stand the best chance of getting a good one
if you are in a southern state.  Beware of flood damaged
vehicles from the past few years.  You should be able to get
a decent engine in the $4-600 range.  I had similar problems
when the trans in my truck went while we were buuilding a
few years back.  If it's not one thing, it's two or three!!

Lugnut