wrecked my engine??

I got stupid. I was building a garage/apt and hauled a few HUGE lumber loads about 40 miles with my V6 Ford Windstar (3.8 2000 yr w/97K Miles). I was obsessed with the building project and it turned out the van was very low on oil... up to 3 quarts anyway.

Now I changed the oil numerous times and the filter....but boy does it ever burn oil between changes now. maybe 2 quarts / 1,000 miles?

What did I likely damage?

Is the life of the engine likely greatly shortened?



Crap!

 

Where's this oil going? Is it leaking or burning? It can be only one of those.

Check your coolant and see what color it is.

Could be a number of things like bad valve guides, headgasket, etc.

Does it smoke?

 

If your motor leaks or burns 3 qts of oil it is in dire need of rebuilding or atleast new gaskets. IMO it times to either spend some serious $ on engine rebuild or trade for a newer vehicle.

 

....but boy does it ever burn oil between changes now. maybe 2 quarts / 1,000 miles?

Well he does say that oil is being burned
Im surprised you didn't fry the tranny my friend, most likely engine is just done, you put way too much stress on it and it is definitely not an engine designed for heavy duty use, I don't think is going to be something easy or cheap to fix sorry.

 

I would be guessing rings badly worn now maybe.

How big a load of lumber are we talking about; rear-bumper-dragging big?

Agree with Lou; I'm surprised the tranny didn't go after just ONE trip like that.

 

FUNNY THING IS THAT IN THE 40 MI DRIVES WITH BIG LOAD THE ENGINE NEVER HEATED UP THOUGH LOW ON OIL. ??

I'd have thought the engine would heat up if it was so low the rings would be torching the cylindars.

ANswer: It was hauling a tandem trailer that normally hauls a skid steer and more. Trailer was very heavy duty and I had her loaded down 6 feet tall in 20 " lumber lengths etc. Very heavy

 

At 3 qts low I'm sure it ran hot and had low oil pressure, but maybe not enough to show up with an idiot light.

 

changed the oil this morning to the "High Mileage Oil". I NOTICED fresh wet dirty oil in the engine campartment. IT was around the add Oil cap, around the tube going into the valve cover....and spayed some from these places onto the front shroud. Evidense of blow by, no??

 

I think blow by would be backing up into the air cleaner unit, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Try doing an engine degrease at your local U-Wash It Station and you'll be better able see exactly where the oil is coming from.

I've been driving our '98 Windstar 3.8L with 160,000
and burns no oil but I only haul my kids around.

If it's not that much trouble just keep adding oil as needed and drive it till it dies.

Modern engines have come along way with cooling system technology so it was probably working overtime but valiantly keeping your engine cool during your hauling.

The lower your oil supply gets the quicker it burns up.
One quart down no so bad but two and three qts. down is looking for trouble especialy under severe driving. I'm supprised you didn't throw a rod that low on oil.

Is blue rancid smoke coming from your tail pipe?
Yes,.......then I agree with TowGuy and Lou B
You probably need rings!

 

you guys are great, thanks for all the feedback. I'm using this all as a teaching experience for my 2 teen age boys:

1. If you screw up, fess up don't bs
2. don't focus so hard on one thing you neglect others
3. many aspects of how an engine works and what can go wrong
4. how there are many awesome helpful people on forums.

 

Just curious, but was the hauling done in hill country or the flatlands? Climbing hills like that would have REALLY stressed it.

 

near Green Bay WI, hauling on flatlands. country roads with starts / stops in small towns.

What kills me is for $90 they would have delivered the load. Would have saved my van, my time, and my heartburn!

60 yrs old and still learning! (some things multiple times)

 

solid lumber and sheeting:

 

Yeah thats a big load for that van, you probably would have messed up the engine no matter what , tranny or brakes too, how did you manage to slow down ? I don't suppose you have an electric brake controller installed on minivan...

 

is that the van in question

 

Yikes. I would have thought just the empty trailer would have been a fair strain, never mind the ton of wood on it.

 

Yep, that is the van. NO, I had no brake hook up to the trailer.

I WAS tough to do anything.... pull from a stop, brake to a stop, and keeping if from swaying. DAMN I was too focused on building the garage / loft!

I'm going to check the PVC valve as mentioned by someone. My son went up north with the van this week and they probably put on 500-600 miles. Not as much oil loss as I thought there would be. This last change was with the "High Mileage" specialty oil.

 

I had invisioned an old beater van and no where near that much lumber.

Reminds me of a builder I once worked for - he sent his helper after cinder block and was upset because the boy only came back with 1 cube of block in the company 1/2 ton pickup. I always said I'd never want to buy a work truck after he's had it - maybe I can add a name to that list

 

I'm always amazed at the number of trade people who use plain vanilla HALF TON vans for work trucks and then load them down until the tail drags; a lot of them need at LEAST a 3/4 ton. Really bad when I go to tow one (a 1/2 ton van is well within my lift capability) and have to tell the customer "forget it" because the quantity of "stuff" in the van makes it weight as much as my wrecker. Krosspen only did it in a moment of weakness; those guys do it on purpose and every day of the week!

 

Nice lookin' van!
Heck of load to.........

Hurry up and get that garage done so you can do a motor swap .

Make sure your build in a support to hang a hoist.

From the looks of the load it looks like a nice garage.

 

OP:

I hauled a utility tractor on a dual axle trailer with a Ford V6 (small engine) 1/2 ton pickup. The tractor weighed 3800 lbs, trailer 1500, total 5300. The trip was 40 miles on low grade Florida hills. No electric brake, just like your setup in the photo. I see your trip comparable to mine, same distance, same trailer setup, same load, almost same vehicle. I was watching temperature gauge but it stayed low. You may want to replace transmission oil if it does not have a decent size aux transmission oil cooler.

When a car hauls an oversized load, the first concern is transmission. Apparently, your transmission handled the load. If the engine was damaged (I mean IF it was), it was because oil was low and not because of the haul. Please don't blame self for the lumber hauling. It was a doable job for the van, maybe near the upper limit but not outrageously underpowered.