Hey guys. My Maverick is dying Long story short I'm looking for someone in or near Portland, Oregon that has the capability (ie: a shop space) and the skills to do an engine rebuild. I know my head gasket is going out (moisture in oil and worsening rich exhaust) and my piston rings are basically shot (fouling plugs, burning through oil, and oil smells like fuel). I want to stay original to the car and have already done so much with it so a rebuild is my only option. If it matters, its a 1976 with 250 straight 6, no ac, lots of maintenance and daily driving the 2.5 years i've had it. Its been a California daily driver most of its life. I have a ton of tools we can use if need be, Id love to help (when Im not working), I can have cash in-hand, and you'd be saving a Maverick! I am a struggling 20 year-old with a part-time job, really in need of some help. Even if you just know of someone who may be interested in helping out, please let me know! PM/email/text Chris anytime at 5oh3 9two9 9six4two or ccheeks14@yahoo.com
Id love to help, if I was closer, but I can offer some advice.... before you go deciding you need a full rebuild, crack that valve cover off and inspect it all. I believe A leaking head gasket + shot valve stem seals can produce all that youve said., and you can bet that valve stem seals are a hell of a lot cheaper than piston rings with a hundred times less downtime of your car.
Thanks for the reply. You have a good point, and I can totally pop it off and take a look... Although I won't really know what to look for. How can I tell if they're bad? Anything else I could check while the valve cover is off?
Eh, someone more experienced than me can comment on other stuff to look for, i just know the seals (which are inside the valve springs but visible) can get old and crack, mine were so brittle only one survived without literally crumbling into bits. Chances are if they're bad you'll find pieces of at least one just chilling somewhere. Or a crack on one of them. This is just from my experience though
Fair enough, I'll take a look and see what they look like. I may post pictures on here just to confirm
A bunch of us are driving though(I-5)your area April 21 on our way to attend the Fabulous Fords Forever show(45th year of the Maverick) at Knotts Berry Farm in LA....and we are stopping just before Salem to meet up with a few other Mav/Comet people. I could have a peak at your car and see what it needs either at the meet at Salem or perhaps at the rest area just down from Portland!
I appreciate the offer but I'll most likely have to do something about it before then, and there's no way you could get in-depth enough to tell me by more than I already know :\ but thank you!
I agree with this assessment as well. See my thread about fouling spark plugs: http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=93827&highlight=fouling+spark
Crumbling seals will rain into the oil pan through the oil drains. Pulling the pan to have a look may be easier. I had chunks of valve seals jam my oil pump ... twice ... in the same engine ... a month apart .... Replaced my oil pickup with a full-screen version from Mellings that second time. Don't know if they make one for a 6, but if they do it is good insurance.
Generally speaking if you had bad valve stem seals you would see some smoke on the first start and then it would clear up after running for a minute. Look inside of your valve springs with a good light and see what they look like. Most of the time when it gets to that point they are completely broken up and non existent. Do you have an oil pressure gauge? Check your oil pressure with one if you don't have one already. If you have no oil pressure at hot idle its time to rebuild. If you have access to a compressor go rent a leak down tool from your auto parts store. You can YouTube or Google how to perform the test. This will tell you the condition of the engine and where the problem areas liend give you a better assessment of the shape of your motor.
Really appreciating all the input guys. I definitely prefer fixing it myself to spending a whole bunch of money! I'll pop my valve cover and oil pan off in a few days and post what I see. I think I remember the guy I bought it from telling me a granny was the original owner, so its likely had very minimal maintenance before me. Craig's fouled plugs thread is sounding more and more similar to my issues now that I think about it. $300 sounds a whole hell of a lot better than whatever a full rebuild could cost. Thanks again guys
With your experience level, I would not be pulling the pan just yet. Just start out with the valve cover for now.
Where are you located in the Portland area and what is your free time schedule, I am close and perhaps could free up some time to have a look see. Have you researched putting another engine in the car rather than rebuilding it? I always fear that when I rebuild an engine if I dont do the entire engine then the rebuilt part makes the weaker parts go bad faster. I dont mean to be the devils advocate but be prepared for the unexpected
It would pay you to do a compression test before you take your head off. You can rent the gauge from most auto parts stores and the procedure is not at all difficult. You can do a search for the procedure here, or on Google. This test will tell you if you need to do extensive work on your engine, or if just a head gasket and valve seals will do the trick! 250's are pretty durable, so if yours doesn't have a million miles on it chances are you'll have a reasonably easy fix!
