Is this motor bad?

[Randrew]

I recently bought a 5.8l roller motor from a 96 Bronco, supposedly with 107,000 miles on it. After tearing it down a bit, I found the following. The water pump ports are all heavily corroded. They are not completely blocked, however. Also, upon further inspection, 3 of the freeze plugs on the drivers side of the block are seeping. The center one on the pass side had previously been replaced. What would cause this... lack of antifreeze (just running water)?

I flushed water through the ports of the block and managed to clean out a decent amount of the gunk. Nothing totally scary came out, just a ton of brown water. Is there something I can run through it to clean it better?

Should I be overly worried about this engine? Do you think it had overheated? My hope was to just install this engine without a rebuild. The rest of the engine looks great. No oil leaks. Haven't done a compression test on it yet, though. That's on my list after I pull the oil pan. I've already pulled the valve covers and things look immaculate in there.

Thanks,
Randy

Here are pics of the water pump ports. The block ports look about the same.

The lower radiator hose connection.

Here's looking into the intake from the thermostat housing.

 

[Ohio Bill]

Are you going to tear down the whole block? If so take to machine shop and have the block boiled.

 

[garberz]

I would just replace all the freeze plugs and clean up what you can. Get a new water pump. All that rust and calcium buildup is from running just water. Do you have any info on the history of the motor? If not, I would just run it, if thats the only thing that looked neglected.

 

[Terkish]

I would do like garderz said just clean it up as best you can, replace all the freeze plugs and water pump then run it, if everything else looks good. Then maybe once you have it running get some of the coolant system cleaner and flush it with that a time or two or three. Should be ok i think. Thats my 2 cent.

 

[broncnaz]

Hose it out real good Permatex makes a real good radiator cleaner most of the better parts stores should carry it its in a white bottle about quart size but it would be better if the engine was assembled and in a vehicle.
It really doesnt appear that bad the rear manifold ports are pretty normal water neck looks ok but I agree get a new water pump. I'd also get brass freeze plugs they wont rust out like steel ones do.

 

[Broncobowsher]

That is a sign of just running water in they system. Probably had a leak (replaced core plug and leaking plugs along with replaced waterpump) and they just kept adding water. The minerals would percitate out and built up. water probably turned a bit acidic without the proper nuetralizers from coolant and did some galvanic corrosion as well. Replace ALL the core plugs in the cooling system. Any you miss now will haunt you later. Witha a good cleaning and probably a few flushes it will probably be OK as is. If you are doing a rebuild the machine shop can tank that and make it like new.

Not destroyed, just in need of attention.

 

[Randrew]

Great. Thanks guys for the answers. I am just going to replace all the freeze plugs and flush it out as much as I can.

 

[TBS-POPS]

Flush the block WHILE the freeze plugs are out. That will get most of the big chunks out..

 

[Randrew]

Okay, so I found the 6 freeze plugs on the sides of the block, plus two allen key screw in plugs. Lots of junk came out. Glad I removed them all. Are there more that I am missing? The kit of freeze plugs I have has one very large plug, 3 small plugs about 3/8", and two more allen key screw in plugs. The kit covers 6 different engines, so are these extra, or should I be hunting around for more? Is there one in the rear of the block behind the flex plate?

 

[Viperwolf1]

The screw in plugs are water drains at the bottom sides of the block. The 3/8" plugs are for the oil galleys. The large (about 1") plug could be the oil galley plug up under the intake at the back top of the block. I epoxy that one in.

 

[68ford]

you said its out of a 96 bronco? i thought 5.8 roller cam engines only came in lightnings?

 

[Viperwolf1]

you said its out of a 96 bronco? i thought 5.8 roller cam engines only came in lightnings?

Ligthnings were roller capable but came with flat tappet cams.

 

[noslo5o]

94-97 351W have roller blocks I have seen a few late model late model 93s with them as well altho none of the Lighting 351s came with an roller cam.

 

[Muddn7]

I'm not going to lie! With those signs, I would tear the heads off, and see what the passages look like there before I even started that motor! Its a sense of security if you will, but a head gasket isnt as expensive as an install/swap to a 351 and find you need a rebuild just to pull it back out. Thats my 2 cents.....

 

[PROJECTJUNKIE]

I'm all about running junkyard engines with just an oil change and a set of plugs, but if you are going to be pulling the intake and swapping it, you might as well pull the heads, not just to check the water passages, but to make sure the headgaskets aren't eaten away at the coolant passages. Just make sure you have your budget and "desired result" written down before you do it. You might get carried away once you start looking inside, when your initial plan of a late model, half-life 351w, was a good plan, and you just need to find another that wasn't as neglected.

 

[Randrew]

Unfortunately, a full engine rebuild is not in my budget/time frame right now. My plan was to run the motor for a few years until I could afford to rebuild it later.

So what all is involved if I was going to remove the heads to clean things out?