Catastrophic engine damage?

[jbpellegrino]

I bought an 09 mustang engine with 199,005 miles. I’ve completely disassembled the engine and found the following things:

The crankshaft had eaten through the main thrust bearing and had been scoring the block/main caps for many miles.
(Snout of the crank below)

Oddly, the main bearing journals look great. (No pictures currently for this. Will post if requested.)
You can also see how the crank scored the block and main caps:



Finally, you can see the grooving developed in the counterweights from the prolonged contact.



Here’s the question(s)

Is this crank worth anything, let alone usable? I don’t think so.

Is this block okay to use in a complete rebuild? I think so. I don’t see how the scoring is significant enough to affect the structural integrity of the main cap - Especially if I’ll be using a brand new, balanced crank.

The plan for this rebuild is to use…
- Block shown in pictures (Would like to do light hone. Don’t think I need to bore over, would rather save the block if I need to bore later on. Both decks of the block will be milled.)
- A new OEM Cast Steel 4.6 3v crank from Mod Max
- BOSS “forged” rods (Part no. CR3Z-6200B)
- Manley platinum series pistons -6.5cc
- Clevite H series main & rod bearings
- Total Seal Plasma Moly rings
- GT500 oil pump with billet gears
- Balancing, piston weight matching (done by same machine shop)
- ARP hardware

What are your thoughts? Things I should reconsider? Information I should know? This is my first engine rebuild and this block will not see 700whp. I’d love to see it in the 600s, but we’ll see. It will see boost, likely no more than 16lbs.

Heads are in the discussion - The ones I’ve got from this motor can be used but require a decent amount of work - not something that pairs well with a $1000 CNC job from Livernois. I think I want to use the stock heads with 127500 comp camshafts and new valve springs.
See pictures for heads:


There is a bit more damage to show, but i’m only allowed 10 attachments.

Anyways, here’s what you’ve been waiting for. This is the car that the motor will go into. It has BBK longtubes, FRPP cams, an AIRAID intake, and a Lito tune.

 

[Badd GT]

I built an engine basically the same way and it’s been running well for a few years with a DOB supercharger making 615 rwhp. Good solid budget build

 

[Midlife Crises]

The block has 200,000 miles on it. Give it a fresh bore. Just 10 or 20 thousandths to clean it up. Round and straight. Your buying pistons anyway. Make sure the block will hold a new thrust bearing before spending money on machining.

 

[Samos3]

The thrust bearing wear is interesting. Is this a common issue on these motors? If not, I'd try to identify the cause to maybe avoid it again.
Is this a manual trans car? Is the damage from the crank pushing forward or rearward?
If forward, do you hold the clutch down alot, like at stoplights?

 

[jbpellegrino]

I don’t think this is a common issue for the 4.6 3V. I’ve tried to research it, but I haven’t seen anyone, let alone any pictures with the same issue.
This WAS a manual trans car. I bought the motor from a front-end wrecked 09 GT to replace the motor in my 2006 manual GT. My motor is still running, though it has an interesting inconsistent knock/tick. Do not think it’s rod knock, not sure what exactly. Not significant enough for me to park and pull the motor before this new (used) one is built.
I don’t think the wreck had anything to do with the crank scoring. The main caps have not changed color, which makes me think it never got too hot. If it hadn’t gotten too hot, the wear must have been over a long period of time. I will post pictures later, but the bearing surfaces (except for thrust main) looked very good.
I put the car in neutral with the clutch out at stop lights.

 

[JC SSP]

Thrust washers are usually damaged by unbalanced reciprocating assembly/engines or an engine which was put together incorrectly…

I would recommend the machine shop that is doing work on your engine do the proper diagnosis, so it doesn’t happen again.

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]