1999 Exp XLT 5.4L 2WD Oil Pump Failing?

[mjbtn]

Hello to All,

I am an IT consulting professional by trade with some modest automotive repair and tooling experience.

I have a 99 Exp XLT 5.4L 2WD unit that has (I think I have narrowed it down) a failing/failed/clogged oil pump (after much observation and forum research).

The truck has 170,000+ miles and started to have the oil pressure guage drop off and warning light coming on and off abruptly when the oil level got below a certain point. I would add a quart of oil or so (back to "full") and the behavior would go away. The engine burns oil but there is no visible tell-tale smoke in the exhaust and no visible leaks under the vehicle where it is parked at night. I had always attributed this to just the "normal" behavior for this engine as it has aged.

Then, recently, the oil guage fell off abruptly and the oil light came on and a VERY perceived knocking in the lifters (I assume) would simultaneously become evident. The engine has long had a slight knock, but, never had a loss of power and I assumed 87 octane and just aging. But this new behavior was abrupt. I added oil and verified the level and that was good. Now, when I start the engine, it starts up normal and idles fine, but, shortly thereafter (with the oil level good), the oil light comes on, the guage falls and the knocking commences. I have not been driving it except gradually up and down the driveway to observe the behavior.

after MUCH reading, and all things considered, it appears that the oil pump could indeed be suspect. what makes me further think this is that there are moments that the oil light will go off and the guage returns to its nominal position and the knocking abruptly stops and again idles fine. It seems to manifest the problem more as I begin to apply the gas and rev the engine up. It will often start to rev up normally and then the light comes on and knocking commences.

So, am I on track with this??? The truck has been parked in the driveway ever since as we have a 3rd car. I am now getting around to trying to get this looked at. But, I assume I will have to have it towed if I take it to a shop. So, I am trying to do some homework.

Is this a costly repair??? What else might it be? If the pump pick up line is clogged and the pump itself it OK, how to test and likewise, is there anything I might do to correct that situation? Is this something I could do myself or will the engine, tranny, whatever, have to be pulled out and apart to even get to where the pump can be examined?? I have read that you have to remove the timing chain and the oil pan to get at it. And, with a 9 year old, 170000+ mile vehicle, is this even worth bothering with fixing or should I "scrap" it (Kelly BB indicates about $1500 for this)?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. I know throwing enough $$$ at it will fix it, but, with gas $ and the economy the way it is, I simply need to be smarter about spending $ in general these days.

Thanks very much!!

 

[GRIP]

well the only way to get to the pick up or pump is to drop the oil pan. they might need to lift the motor up to pull the pan or it could be a warn gear for the oil pump.

 

[mjbtn]

I did come across this:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_change_the_oil_pump_on_a_2004_expedition

but, as it says, it is for a 2004 5.4L. I think the 5.4L Triton was more or less the same through the 2003, so not sure about 2004. Also, it is not easy (for me) to tell if what this describes is after lifting the block or not.

 

[GRIP]

thats alot of work there to get the timing chain the front of the motor must be taking apart if i'm not mistaking.

 

[Tom Nugler]

Pulled up the Alldata listing for your truck. Pump's $67. Labor is 12.9 hours. Sounds like the pump still has some life in it.
The easiest solution is to try to locate a shop with engine flushing equiptment. There are a couple of different systems.
Ask if their equipment requires the engine to be running. Here's a link to the Bilstein unit. http://www.engineflush.com/pages/engine.html
This pumps a heated solvent through the filter housing into the oil passages, out through the bearings and most importantly, in your case, the oil pump screen and bypass valve.
There is a system by B+G that requires the engine to be running and does a much better job. http://www.bgprod.com/products/engineoil.html But if the pumps bad now you've really got trouble.
The other option is to drop the pan, remove the pick-up and clean or replace the screen. That's about 3 hours of labor. If it's clean then the pump is probably toast.

Good luck,
Tom.

 

[mjbtn]

On a couple of other forums, it was suggested to me that I might want to consider running something like Seaform in the crankcase. It was suggested that I would need to add Seaform, run the engine to normal operating temperature (being VERY careful to cut the engine at the sign of any trouble) and then do a full oil and filter change (being sure to use an OEM filter - my last oil change was at a Havoline place so am not sure if they used Motorcraft or not). The logic here is that if it is sludge, the Seafoam might break it down enough to unclog a builtup pan, pick up, or screen and then flushed out by the oil and filter change (maybe even a couple close together).

As it stands right now, I am not going to drive this thing anywhere, so, no matter what, I will have to have it towed. So, that said, with reasonable precautions, I might imrpove or fix (or at least narrow down) the true culprit. If noticable improvement was seen, then an engine flish would in fact be the next best step I think. If no improvement, then, decide what to do next. Just like anyone (especially these days), for a 9 yr old truck with 170,000+ miles, what I cannot afford to do is blow $1K-$2K and still end up with a non-functioning vehicle. This is one reason I am inclined to see the Seafoam approach as reasonable, though, I too am nervous about putting anything other than oil in the crankcase. But, I sort of feel that maybe I do not have too much to lose trying it all things considered.

thanks to everyone for the comments so far!

mark

 

[braduardo]

You could also try one of the "oil flush" products on the market. I think STP has one they carry at Walmart for about $2. It will basically make your oil about as thin as water. Just follow the directions and it should be all good. When I did it quite a while back, it washed a ton of crap out of my engine.