Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Sagging Engine

[NKenny]

The truck is a '94 4wd with an Auto. It has been down for about a year while I have been doing some significant work to it. After finally starting it again, I noticed a significant oil leak. Upon inspection, the oil pan is sitting on the engine cross member.



Question: Is it possible for the engine mounts to fail or deteriorate enough to allow the engine to sag this deep into the frame? I have motor mounts on order from CarQuest, but I'm not confident that they will fix this problem. Other than a bent frame, I'm not sure what else would contribute to the engine sitting this low in the frame.



Any thoughts?? Thanks.

 

[Curious Dave]

Sounds interesting... I can't imagine the mounts failing in a year. I would suspect it was doing it before, and you just now discovered it. Maybe not contacting... but on its way. I guess you'll have to check the mounts and see. I would be crawling around and looking at the welds or look for any buckling. I just can't imagine why it would fail in a year just from sitting though... that part just makes no sense.

 

[NKenny]

I suspect it was rubbing intermittently prior to setting. It had a minor oil leak from the area, but I had contributed that to the power steering pump seal which I knew was leaking. I hadn't really had a reason to check the pan / cross member clearance previously.

The primary reason the truck was sitting was I was replacing the fender and bumper from running into a pole (ice). It is likely that the impact enlarged the hole and certainly contributed to the engine sliding that low. I guess the better question is how likely is it that replacing the motor mounts would lift the engine back up?

There are no visible frame cracks and the engine sits flush on the cross member (not leaning to a broken side). A bent core support was the only non-cosmetic damage. There is no sign of shifting or buckling on the engine cross member.

I hate to add more to the story, but after thinking about it, the impact is a very important part of the events that have gotten me to this point.

 

[SDrake]

I have been looking for info on how to tell if the mounts are sagging. Haven't found it yet. I was thinking in terms of some visual of the mount it self. but perhaps clearance to the cross member is a give away. Please report back what you learn.

 

[NIsaacs]

The impact may have broken the block at the mounts, now causing the oil leak and engine drupe?



Nick

 

[Curious Dave]

The impact would really have to be extremely high in order to brake the block. The impact could have bent some structural pieces and allowed the engine to come forward, what with the trans weight included. But, you said it is sitting further down and mentioned nothing about forward... so I would say not to that one.

I would think that you should be able to see some sort of difference in the motor mount with regards to a worn out bushing.

Unless you were jumping the truck I would think the motor mounts would be the main culprit. Otherwise a trashed frame would be the answer. Is there any chance you knocked the crossmember up?

 

[fest3er]

... Is there any chance you knocked the crossmember up?

This is as close as I'm going to get to this question. :-laf

 

[hsmith]

Skeeredie Kat!!!!

 

[Curious Dave]

Ohhh c'mon... there is a big difference between "knocked up... " and "knocked the crossmember up. " I was thinking nobody would notice the original statement... guess I was wrong.

 

[NKenny]

This is not the jumping truck :-laf . Given it's need for constant attention lately and it's sedentary state, it is possible it has been "knocked up" however.



The oil leak is very clearly coming from the pan at the cross member. A slow running trail runs down the pan until it drips off. The leak became very prevalent when the oil warmed up during a 5-minute idle.



The clearance with the fan and the radiator and shroud appear to be normal so I do not think the engine is has shifted forward.



Hopefully the mounts will come in this week and I can get to it to check it out.

 

[Curious Dave]

When you find out... let us know.

 

[hsmith]

I was thinking maybe mount thru bolts but don't see how the fan could stay out of the shroud with broken bolts.

 

[NKenny]

Upon Further investigation...

So tonight I had a few minutes and got to investigate the dropped engine... Mr. Isaacs is our closest guesser. I don't think the block is leaking, but we have some significant breakage. I am not sure this is from the impact as the breaks look like they have been there a while. The passenger side motor mount was held on (loosely) by only the front bolt. The rearward two bolts were gone. After inspection, it appears they had broken the sockets and had since fallen out. I really don't know how long it has been like this.



Now what????





Here is the engine oil pan on the cross-member.



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This is the view of the motor mount from below the truck. You can see the empty hole in the bracket and the socket protruding from the block.



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Last two pictures are of the passenger side of the block with the mount bracket removed. Notice the threaded sockets are broken from the top, allowing the mount and the bolts to freely fall away. I suspect they had backed out over time and created significant leverage.



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