Mercury Marauder 4.6L Teardown. HOW DOES THIS EVEN HAPPEN? Worst Blown Engine Yet?

[@I_Do_Cars]

A few things about this teardown. Several viewers mentioned running upside down, I do think that's a valid theory! I also think someone was in there trying to get the crank to turn so they could remove the torque converter bolts, however it was clear their efforts were.... futile. The missing main cap bolts also make me think this. The stubborn/tight/rounded off main side bolts for the main caps were too tight to use an extractor, and likely would've broken the head off the bolt had I tried to weld to them. We aren't supposed to use open flames in the shop per insurance rules, so I try to keep that type of work off camera (It never happens, promise!) Overall, this has to be the wildest failure I've seen to date considering the relatively unaffected cylinder heads. Thanks for the comments!

[@accuracymark]

I agree with the engine upside down, a car rolled over and the throttle was wide open, rev’d until it exploded inside.

[@escy45h84]

Somebody took engine out after failure, removed sump and cut big end caps off with oxy/ace torch. Crank journals black, yes prob oil pump failure or something but those rods been cut off. No sump and cylinder heads still good. If all con rods failed like that heads and valves would be toast.

[@tombryant1104]

I ain't buying into run upside down. Unless fuel tank was completely full there would be NO fuel at pickup. Anyway Ford's fuel cutoff(nothing more than a glorified tilt switch) would have shut down fuel pump.

[@escy45h84]

Upside down car will run till it hydraulics on engine oil, will not overheat like people think here. If overheated that much cylinder head cam caps etc will be scored to death. Someone was up to no good before you got engine.

[@I_Do_Cars]

Ah yeah the inertia switch should’ve cut it off.

[@michaelworden9265]

The fact that both of the cylinder heads survived that insane grenading action enough to be serviceable is beyond amazing.

[@goverat]

Thats what i found amazing. I think a blockage in the crank oil feed

[@StormsparkPegasus]

At least he's got a lot of good parts he can sell off, even if the entire block is scrap metal. But yeah, seeing the condition of the entire lower half of the engine, I'm surprised anything survived.

[@Factsharing99]

Ford built tough baby

[@aheroictaxidriver3180]

If you're going to hang all that stuff on an IC motor, you should make it bullet proof.

[@terriblebowhunter3252]

I owned a Marauder for a few years, had to sell it to take care of my mother in law who was battling cancer. Sure miss them both.

[@nbrowser]

My condolences.

[@alexstromberg7696]

Rip in peperinos

[@taylorsutherland9447]

So sorry to hear this. At least a Merc can be bought.

[@scubasteve5660]

I'm sorry for your loss. I lost my mother just a few weeks ago to cancer treatment.

[@eggies_galore]

That's a righteous thing you did. Stay solid.

[@mprime6807]

I don't know how many times I've imagined taking a hammer to a frustrating bolt. That must've felt good! Lol. Another great teardown choice!

[@Martin.Wilson]

I'd have just used a grinder to disappear the bolt heads. QED

[@kainhall]

it can actually be a useful thing like when removing head bolts . i ALWAYS put the socket on.... then give it a few good taps (not HE MAN taps as shown in this video) it breaks any rust or junk..... and allows the bolt to come out with out pulling the threads with it . like.... you can hear AND feel the difference it wont make that "creeeekkk" noise and the "action" in the breaker bar will feel different (it will like... spring back.... its hard to describe)

[@cocosloan3748]

@@Martin.Wilson I would just drill the damn bolt -right in the center

[@billhennie]

@@Martin.Wilson Even if you removed those bolt heads the bolt shanks would have prevented removal of those bearing caps.

[@Martin.Wilson]

@@billhennie Good to know...I figured there must be a reason.

[@traviscapehart7590]

27 year master certified tech, i agree with other comments stating missing bearing cap bolts and molten metal along with extreme discoloration on rod journal seem to indicate acetalene torch was used to cut rods free of crank. the oil filter being empty, as well as no oil in the housing suggests that oil starvation at high rpm locked the engine up by galding of the rod bearings. Smashing the block with a sledgehammer was so satisfying to watch!!!! I love teardowns and inspections-failure analysis because it is like a who done it mystery story. the debris, and scarring to the oil pump housing may be an indication of extreme neglect of maintenance and i would cut the filter open to see if it had ruptured the paper element. loved the video!!!

[@mikekokomomike]

Never ceases to amaze me how big the modular engines are versus their cubic inch capacity with the huge heads and cam chains.

[@christopherweise438]

mike - I know. I've seen a 460 with a smaller footprint than this thing. These 4.6 heads look like the 4 cam FORD engines they used to put in Sherman tanks.

[@michaelbenardo5695]

Yes, physically they are big. Too bad they aren't so big when it comes to cubes.

[@cammer68oliver2]

Yeah… over-complex pieces of shit if you ask me. I hate them. 3-f’in-feet wide! Wider than a 426 Hemi for heaven’s sake! Ford shoulda stayed PUSHROD! I’ve cursed them for 30 years over choosing this POS platform.

[@davidbanhagel9709]

@@christopherweise438 also how much they fail!

[@notme8121]

Yes, and that's why I hate overhead cam motors. 4 6L looks like a big block!

[@t0mn8r35]

Best teardown ever. I can't imagine the noise this made and for how long to cause that much carnage. Amazing.

[@samdavis1958]

Somebody has obviously used an acetylene torch on the rods after it blew. The reason for it is unknown.

[@adamkaneshiro]

Expected a teardown, watched a beatdown! That poor engine thought the worst that would happen was its catastrophic failure. What it couldnt have foreseen was its corpse being defiled for "forensic investigation"! Thank you Sir for sharing this adventure with us!

[@riotgaming4887]

This has been my favorite teardown so far, all pistons at TDC, zero rods connected and smashing the absolute hell out of a block in order to solve seized main bolts, broken hammers is also a plus

[@standhd]

Were I the vid did the hammer break?

[@riotgaming4887]

@@standhd first hammer he used (big sledge) the steel head flew off the shim

[@standhd]

@@riotgaming4887 Oh ok I saw it….LOL.

[@Kyfordman1989]

The 32 valve double overhead cam 4.6 Intech V8 is probably one of the best engines Ford ever produced. I had worn in my 98 continental and it was trouble free. It is a great engine.

[@1gbayfisher]

Great engines.

[@LgSutterby]

Those 4.6 4V units are strong, powerful and sweet sounding. This poor thing must have been so neglected.

[@colebelt348]

I can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen someone use a hammer on a teardown like that. Gotta say I'm jealous lmao

[@adamf663]

I once was asked to remove a VHS tape from a vcr/tv. Once I heard the words "I just want the tape, I don't care if you destroy the tv/vcr," joy came to me. Forget proper disassembly. It took less than a couple minutes to 'break it down.'

[@danieljryba]

Looks like the inside of a Chevy V6 my friends and I blew up when we shot unregulated nitrous into the filter box while the engine was banging off the limiter. I believe that for approximately 0.03 seconds that 4.3 made north of 5000 horses and then promptly grenaded. The blown out rod big ends especially looked like the ones in that engine. Partially melted and fractured metal.

[@beagle7622]

Made me laugh, honestly. I hope you weren’t standing too close.

[@robeddy3722]

@Current Batches Q: "How Much power can you get out of that thing?" A: "All of it."

[@K31TH3R]

@@robeddy3722 "I live my life a quarter mile at a time" "That's boring, I live my life 60 feet at a time."

[@reidthompson8979]

@@K31TH3R “rookie numbers! I measure my time in engines per foot!”

[@americansmark]

We did that to a junk Briggs and Stratton riding mower engine once. It broke the mounts on the frame and shook itself loose before oil starvation and an overpressurized cylinder turned itnto scrap.

[@SillySatire]

I threw a rod, 20 miles from home in a very dangerous place so I kept going for a while. The rod had smashed threw the block and sump A mile later I decided the motor was then completely scrap and so just kept going at 10 mph. I expected it to seize but it kept going throwing one rod at a time until only one piston was fireing. With no oil or water it kept running at 3mph until I was half a mile from home when the last rod snapped. Amazing.

[@scottamy6496]

I had a 1997 Lincoln Mark VIII with the 4.6L SOHC engine and it was a fantastic drivetrain and vehicle all around! These motors are capable of going for a very long time and are actually quite efficient for what they are! Thanks for another great tear down!

[@billthepainter5106]

DOHC and they were awesome. I had a '93 and loved it!

[@keithcannon3682]

The Teksid block 4.6 is the best block Ford never made (catch that..not ever but never). What is interesting is Teksid (the company in Italy that molded the blocks) make blocks,heads etc for Ferrari,Lamborghini and other performance car companies. The question I have is why can Ford take this block and put it in an engine and (if properly maintained) get 200k-300k miles out of it? Most Ferraris schedule calls for an engine rebuild every 25k miles. Maybe it is because most foreign v8',v10's,v12's use flat plane instead of cross plane cranks. Thinking of building a 4.6 Teksid block with a 3.750 stroke Kellog crank (may stick with stock stroke Kellog). I think it makes it a 5.0 (or very close). Running some 300m rods and just building the stink out of it...see if I can max out the Teksid block. I have heard of people making over 1500hp with that combination. Would like to see it first hand. That power and able to spin 9k rpm is insane for 1990's Ford technology.

[@silo222]

Whats more likely is that the engine seized. Someone pulled the pan off and torched and knocked the pistons up in order to free the crank so they could spin the engine inorder to get the torque converter bolts out. I used to do this a lot. I worked for a company and did all the replacements for years and atleast 250 engines I have replaced, I had to go through those lengths in order to get the crank to spin. In a shop, you're not paid to pull it all apart so a lot of guys will rip through the engine as quickly as possible. It's considered junk to them anyways.

[@gordowg1wg145]

That is definitely the most logical explaintaion for this mess.

[@onemoremisfit]

Make the most sense. He even asked if someone was welding in there because the metal looked like it saw torch heat. There's no way the engine turned on its own power long enough for it to damage itself like that. And that piston head where it hit a valve looked like a clean break too. Probably done by the guy who hammered it from underneath.

[@soundtechmike]

why not just pull the torque converter with the engine.

[@silo222]

@@soundtechmike there isn't always room to do so. I've done a lot of cars and trucks. Fwd does not have the room to pull the converter with the engine 99% of the time. In an automotive shop aspect, the less things you mess with, the better. I don't want to be responsible for other issues coming up or being made from pulling the converter or transmission with the engine. Whether that be the front pump bushing getting marred up or pump seal getting damaged, or pulling the trans together with the engine running into lines that don't want to come apart or corroded crap breaking while trying to remove mounts, ect.....

[@m.d.598]

@@onemoremisfit I don't know how likely it is for all of the caps to melt like that, but I have seen an older 6cly Cummins weld the pistons to the head but keep running. They let the truck run out of coolant on the job (and this truck was old enough to not have any cutoffs) and it just stopped all of a sudden. When the tech made it out there, he filled it with coolant and tried to start it. After a few tries of not turning over at all , it started, and he drove it back. We had to use a crane with most of the head bolts to rip the head off and you could where two dissimilar metals had tried to fuse and where some of the head had tried to "run" into the cylinder.

[@Oddman1980]

You know it's a good teardown when the sawzall comes out. I suspect someone in a pick-apart lot torched the bottom end of the engine trying to get it to spin around enough they could unbolt the torque converter.

[@MrPorsche91730]

That's what I was thinking. Towed in gear is assuming no oil, standard transmission and it was towed the wrong way. To many what if

[@sandibaker7646]

@@MrPorsche91730 - all Marauders were auto-trans

[@Turboy65]

Oil starvation caused the rod bearings to seize on the crank journals, at high RPM, and the torque combined with the drag on the rod bearings caused the rods to twist right off. Oil failure plus high RPM. That's what it seems like happened to me. The main cap cross bolts were jammed due to displacement of the caps. Bet the bolts are bent. Check them, they will be. As for why there's no visible lubrication problem in the cams, I'd venture to guess that it had an oil passage obstruction that only affected the bottom end, where it matters the most especially at the redline.

[@skildude]

I'm betting they ran it long and hard to get the Crank so hot. Most likely all the oil was in the Heads when the failure occurred.

[@ImBarryScottCSS]

It has to have been on the limiter.

[@ShadowOppsRC]

@@skildude That's what I was thinking too!

[@leexgx]

Agree in this assessment (bearing melted that's a new one for me thought)

[@ichoozjc]

Hmmm, is this from Cleetus? I mean, I haven't seen his Marauder in awhile. 🤔

[@pymreehal]

Love how he speeds up the boring bits and the remaining video is all the interesting bits

[@radioguy1620]

looks like a very well built engine as has been proven many times in use.

[@venorizzleo2]

Some of that bottom end was taken apart in order to crank the engine to get the torque converter bolts out due to it being locked. Looks like a torch was used as well.

[@Swervin309]

Probably the most likely scenario.

[@dude55ist]

Had me a marauder once. It was a good ride. Then I put a 3:73 in the rear end. Then it was a great ride.

[@_BAD_MERC_]

I have a 2004 that I bought in 2005. I have seen 3.73 gears installed but almost pointless when you start with a 3.55. These were made for a 4.10. Or a blower. Preferably both.

[@fourthhorseman4531]

4.10:1 in the rear end of mine, plus a Vortech V3 S trim on the front. Good times roasting tires!

[@johnandersonjjr]

If you have the maurader there check the title for the last owners name. I think you’ll find the name Allen Funt .You don’t have access to torches (oxy acetylene)?

[@OGSontar]

My guess would be: Foot on the floor, hit something and tore the bottom of the oil pan out completely (hence no oil pan on the core). Bottom end went totally dry at seriously high revs and self-destructed so quickly that the top end hadn't had time to run out of oil yet.

[@humbleservices6418]

The top would have oil starvation damage.

[@lightningstrikestwice6302]

That's plausible!

[@mbspoobah]

this seems to be the most logical thing. Sudden catastrophic loss of oil, unnoticed.

[@RohanSanjith]

Maybe that's why it didn't come with an oil sump!

[@DeBunker7]

Agree this is a logical answer. Driver hit something at high speed, ripping up oil pan, and impact resulting in sparks and intense heat that left some molten evidence. Top end still had enough oil to appear undamaged.

[@mattg7952]

Years ago I towed a Crown Vic. Owner changed his oil and had a double ring filter he didn’t catch. So he drove about 150 miles slowly pushing oil out until it seized NM to AZ. We tried to fire it up at the shop but it was a very similar bottom end failure.

[@leviathan68w78]

That's incredible. Those engines are way overbuilt too so I'm impressed.

[@ravenbishop5232]

6 bolts mains

[@shadowopsairman1583]

@@ravenbishop5232 LS are and have a smaller footprint so...

[@metalted6128]

@@shadowopsairman1583 but to compare a 4 cam to a LS, you must have a boyfriend???

[@Artemisgoldfish]

Taking "teardown" to a new level in this one

[@StarGazer1234]

That motor should read “Cleetus was here”.

[@gordonwelcher9598]

He had a small problem with his marauder recently.

[@SteveWeiserOnYouTube]

I like the way this dude thinks. When all else fails, it's Hammertime. I figure the stress relief is worth more to me than whatever material item I just obliterated.

[@johnstreet797]

I found your channel a few days ago and I am pleased and impressed. #1 takeaway: take care of your engine! That oil that they put in at the factory will last the life of the engine, just wait. #2: I would really like you to publish a glossary of the terms you use, for instance bearing rich oil, cylinder gravel, piston mc nuggets, etc. Keep it up and you will have a million subscribers.

[@donw3912]

WOW!!! I hope you kept the crank...one helluva souvenir...and proof if anyone ever asked about the biggest failure ever. As for failure My guess is it was intensional...oil filter basicly dry and empty it appeaered and the wear on the oil pump gears. My guess is someone drained the oil probably dumped some on the topside and once it lit off kept it matted. THAT would be a video to see too...Im glad those heads survived. I've never seen that much purple and black on a crank before...wow...just wow!! Fantastic video!!

[@mmiller1188]

The last part of the video reminds me of breaking apart my old cast iron bath tub with a 12lb sledge hammer. Stuff goes flying. Except I was on a rotten floor and the broken bathtub and I ended up in the crawlspace

[@chrismcadooak47]

I’ve seen this in a John Deere tractor engine. They some how knocked a hole in the oil pan. The engine was at full rpm’s and under full load. By the time they see the oil pressure gauge it’s to late. The rods remove themselves from the crank.

[@grandudetonesnob7107]

Looks like a textbook case of Quick Lube syndrome, (forgot to refill the oil),followed by somebody's "mechanic" leaving a hammer in the oil pan while replacing the pan gasket, followed by a cold start with the throttle stuck wide open, while tumbling down a granite cliff face. I see this all the time...🤔

[@ohger1]

All the time? No, I've only seen that twice..

[@grandudetonesnob7107]

@@ohger1 😂👍

[@jamesmitchell7281]

Where!!?

[@workingcountry1776]

Not with O'Riley brand higher priced oil filter. That's DIY or paid upgrade at smaller shop. No chain shops run that filter. They run their own brand or generic white or generic black tin cans

[@terencerucker3244]

11 months later and I am still totally entertained by this teardown. I can't even wrap my head around how this could have happened. Just weird. Aliens?

[@pederlindstrom3132]

Greetings from northen Sweden. I have done a fair amount of mechanics on cars, city buses, tractors, boats and snowmobiles and I have never seen all pistons at TDC at the same time. This condition of an engine is what we would call Rather Unhealthy among friends... Great video.

[@LesAtlas]

Years ago my wife had an 80-something Mazda 626 which killed all 4 of its cylinder walls. I maintained it carefully, always checked the oil, and it had less than 100K miles. For a weekend trip we were driving a few hours from home on the highway. Suddenly it lurched and died, and put out this ugly oily black smoke under the dash. She steered it to the side of the highway and turned it off. I thought that this would not be good. I opened the hood and nothing looked wrong, yet the radiator seemed really really hot. I figured it can't hurt to add some coolant. So I hiked to a gas station and returned with lots of water. When I put the water into the radiator, it sizzled. Again, not good, I thought. I was going to call for a tow. But I thought, what the hell, why not see if it starts? So I did and it started right up. I imagined that the oily black smoke never really happened and we drove it home. It seemed to drive fine, but the temperature gauge was all over the place, back and forth from too cool to too hot. Otherwise it seemed to run fine, and my wife drove it to and from work for a few more days as we waited for our appointment with the Mazda tech. Turned out that it was so bad that all the techs were very entertained. They said it was the most messed up they ever saw. All cylinder walls were horribly scored. They found the likely initial source of the mess: a crack had forced a passageway between the oil and the coolant. They were amazed that we were able to drive it for like 100 miles after it cracked. The block was not rebuildable. We put in another engine and kept it for many more years.

[@canabox7112]

I had a Ford Probe. Same engine. I pull out to pass and it kicked a rod. Threw the hole in the block, you could see the rod journal with no rod on it

[@jrock9687]

Still one of the best motors of the Ford family in the past 50yrs. Swapped an early Intek out of a Mark8 into my 98 Mustang back in the day. On a small dry shot that thing would take almost anything on the street back in the early 2K's. And it took the abuse time an time again. Had some nasty timing chain rattle on cold start but that was about it. Those blocks were made out of the same aluminum an at same Teksid factory out of Italy as the Ferraris an Lamborghinis. At least up until the late 90's early 2Ks anyway. The Ford Modular Motor family was awesome for the backyard weekend warriors to build and tinker with, before the later gen engines began to get more an more complex.

[@chrismarek7864]

I had a Marauder for 10 years. It's cool to see the innards of the motor it had.

[@danielhoudyshell5002]

Eric, lol! That was amazing! A quick story- my step mother bought a 2008 Mirader after my dad passed. We all thought she was crazy. Traded in her minivan! Anyway it was totally black with all dark windows. Polished aluminum wheels. Everyone thought she was dealing drugs, at 75. Anyway that car was fast and smooth. Took it out without her a couple of times. Unbelievable the damage that engine had!!! PS: those dang dip sticks!!!

[@robertyue7017]

I have never seen your videos before but it was awesome entertainment. Totally enjoyable, how do you stay so calm and composed. I know a few guys that would be swearing all the time. Thanks for sharing.

[@sparkplug1018]

The only thing I can possibly think of is, they were driving at high speed, hit something in the road which put a vent hole in the pan, and just kept going until it came apart. Guess there was just enough oil left in the cam journals to save the heads. It honestly makes no sense though how the heads survived but there was that much damage down below.

[@charlesjames1442]

Stolen?

[@concreteandcadillac]

@@charlesjames1442 I think it's cleetus McFarland motor

[@williammorton8555]

Or maybe rolled it?

[@freedomisntfree_44]

That is crazy, was thinking the same

[@TechGorilla1987]

This is hands down the absolute BEST teardown so far. I laughed a lot.

[@young11984]

Damn man you beat your WAP till you broke it, takes skill and persistence for that to happen

[@vexed_con]

I’m a youth, so I wasn’t familiar with this particular meaning to the acronym WAP and every time y’all abbreviated Windsor assembly plant to WAP my mind went straight to a certain song…

[@young11984]

@@vexed_con 🤣🤣🤣🤣 didnt know what the song was until a few months ago so when he went thru that part it took me a minute to catch on lol

[@stevebot]

@@vexed_con I'm old and had to find out what the Internet has to say about WAP. I was slightly happier in my life not knowing. Because you are watching this channel, my recommendation is to keep watching this channel, learn from South Main Auto, Pine Hollow Auto Diag, Maic Salazar Diag and maybe dabble in Louis Rossman's repair channel and go kill the auto electronics repair sector, get a hottie like Mrs. O, have a couple kids, get a dog, open your own shop and don't look back.

[@vexed_con]

@@stevebot I still got time to go down that path, worth a thought with all these new electric cars flooding the market

[@jamesblackwell4471]

Correction, that is definitely not a Windsor 4.6 litre. All 4.6 aluminum 4 valve passenger engines were produced at Romeo Engine plant. Windsor was single source for all cast iron 4.6/5.4/ V-8 as well as 6.8 litre V-10. These engines went into F series Pickups and E series cargo vans as well as low volume motor homes and school/shuttle buses

[@SpookyDeCat]

I had this rounded bolt problem once on a Hemi head. Sears used to sell six sided sockets incermented by the 32nd's. I bought on size smaller than the bolt head, drove it on with a BFH and popped them loose with a 3/4" breaker bar. It cracked the socket and with Sears lifetime warranty I got a new one.

[@lilibethdoherty295]

This is the very reason the 2 valve PI 4.6 is so reliable it has none of the problems of these complicated versions that Ford worked so hard and spent so much to make it a timebomb!

[@alanmiller2250]

Exactly. Everything should be interchangeable so it's reliable. Made out of iron, water pump and fuel pump on the outside. I think these nitwits went a little too far - too far. I had a great 4.6 V8... With a great transmission. No dipstick- what? How can I trust it? No sealed trans. Ever. The level has to be on the outside. Easy to see.

[@BC08]

“Timebomb” 😂

[@lilibethdoherty295]

@@BC08 Drove the Crown Vics and Grand Marquis as Taxis for 22 years and no Engine Problems ever. Before That The TBI 305 Chevy Caprices, Reliable but no more power after 3000 RPM The Caprice was built not to last GM knows a lot about Planned Obsolescence it is amazing that the main wiring harnesses in the Footwell would burn up by design.

[@BC08]

@@lilibethdoherty295 Yes, the 4.6 2V is a workhorse. The 4.6 4V weren’t timebombs when properly maintained.

[@garyholt9573]

I've seen this kind of Carnage before it was caused by the vehicle being upside down at high RPM

[@I_Do_Cars]

That’s an idea

[@graemeskipper7078]

that was my thoughts to oil would have run to the valve covers keeping them at least splash fed

[@MrPaxtonstang86]

Not with a inertia switch

[@wildcoyote34]

upside down the engine wouldn't run long enough to do that kind of damage ,,inertia switch will shut the fuel pump off and even then the fuel pickup being in the bottom of the tank will suck air starving it of fuel

[@RyanKimpel]

@@MrPaxtonstang86 a working, not bypassed because they have an after market fuel setup, inertia switch.

[@tenhundredkills]

The carnage is a testament to whoever engineered that engine. It kept running despite the absolutely horrific conditions it went through! Amazing!

[@morpheus_9]

These are rare engines! Glad to see you finally tear one down.

[@steezymk8815]

They are very far from rare though

[@alb12345672]

@@steezymk8815 I have one on my continental. A few years ago I replaced a broken valve spring. It is still great at 200K. No oil consumption, runs like new.

[@steezymk8815]

@@alb12345672 yep, these 4v’s are sweet engines

[@turdferguson4124]

They are a little rarer now, LOL

[@marktx21]

Always fighting the dip stick tube. My top two enemies as an auto tech are dip stick tubes and sway-bar links.😂 these are the two things that are almost impossible to remove and reuse ♻️

[@bmlmao]

When I was trying to get the heads off of my old 4.6L engine a few years ago, that dipstick setup drove me insane! They never come out easy.

[@laxr5rs]

"Cooperative pistons!" They all want to be together. I really like the precision block adjustment with the sledge. Those bolts definitely deserved it. That all is shocking.

[@TubeBrowser2]

A nut welded onto the top of wallered bolts & nuts usually works to get them loose. I think the heat during welding might help.

[@RoderickGI]

Just heat would probably have been enough.

[@bizznackywhirle5437]

Another approach that sometimes works is to hammer a slightly undersized 12-point socket onto the head.

[@halkennedy6353]

Was thinking the same. A job for the red wrench.

[@henryD9363]

But there's also the fun factor.

[@revolutionday1]

I would've hit them with my Irwin Bolt Extractor socket set, and a breaker bar. Haven't met a bolt yet they couldn't chew-up.

[@jp-ny2pd]

The wild part to me is the relatively light damage to the main journals yet the rod journals are beyond gone. Just wow.

[@MrRiprip56]

I have an 03 Marauder with 105K miles. What SHOULD Replacing a valve cover gasket run? Now to go back and finish your video. I wish I was that much mechanical...THUMBS UP!!100%

[@johnrichards244]

I have seen a 350 crank similar to that. But it had a bad main so we dumped all the coolant and oil. Then keep reving it trying to get it to blow enough to seize. It never did seize. It kept running. But did eventually stop

[@DeepPastry]

I'm just impressed at that level of damage, just really impressed. That's professional levels of chaos inside the bottom end. Just... Wow.

[@dhenrymusic]

Love these videos, im a DIY'er so I am always learning. When the main cap bolts rounded off, I wondered why you kept trying. Once rounded, forever rounded. Invest in a set of turbo sockets. They remove rounded bolts. They go by another name, which I can't remember but the sockets have a spiral cut edge inside of them. Happy Holidays and thank you!!

[@holmes1956O]

Mig welder and a bigger nut. Weld the nut to the bolt head the heat will help loosen it and the new bolt will give the socket something to hold on to

[@TechGorilla1987]

I, personally, like ALL of the engine teardowns. It's also why I subscribed and watch most all of your videos. Your personality and knowledge about engines keep me around.

[@nicotoscani8270]

I don’t know why but I love watching you struggle with dip stick tubes 😝

[@jeffa4920]

If you've ever watch any of "friction welding" vids, you know the heat damage can happen in seconds. My guess is an instantaneous loss of oil while the engine was under load. All 8 rods at once! Wow. The bottom end welded up before the top end knew something was wrong. Best video!!

[@oldtanker4860]

That is a new experience for me. I have never seen anything like that either. I agree it looks like some gremlin with an oxy / acetylene torch was inside the engine melting the rods and crank. I wold love to know if the heads / cams ended up still being serviceable.

[@fabssgarage]

Best tear down ever seen in your channel tho!! That was an incomprehensible damage to that engine. Regards from Spain!

[@Stengah2010]

Super look forward to your videos every week, keep up the great work; and as everyone has already said: The more carnage the better!!!

[@troyrosenbaugh9935]

Talk about internal combustion, BOOOM!!! Insane.crazy vid man, great job.

[@aaronwallace8397]

“Malice in the combustion palace” Pure gold.

[@BleuCollarFndryMTL]

Hard to imagine how that much damage happened. You did a great job taking it apart.

[@DirtNastyCivilian]

A/C overcharged

[@DirtNastyCivilian]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJrOl6uNYt-Kabc

[@Nova-1977]

In my 40 + years of being a shop owner and a dealer Lincoln tech for two years first . I’ve never ever ever seen this not in race motors / boat diesel and gas motors , trucks or equipment . and Have no clue how it managed to keep running to break every rod and melt itself .WOO WOW .

[@dylanfileccia1310]

I see them boosted all the time and making monster power. They are tough engines and even tougher in the iron block Cobra variety. Those engines were made either at the Wndsor plant or Romieo plant and had 2 Firing orders between them. For me the Romieo engine is the better of the two for top end power and the Windsor is great for Torque

[@tylerhensley2312]

It was flat towed in gear behind I'm guessing a diesel pusher.

[@OxBlitzkriegxO]

@@dylanfileccia1310 what in the hell are you talking about? ALL mod motors use the same rods unless its the 03-04 cobra engine. where theyre made has NOTHING to do with how much power or torque they make, lmfao. and no, theyre not really tough. generally anything over 450rwhp on a 2/3/4V engine makes it a ticking time bomb. you can open up oem ring gaps for a little more insurance but the pistons and rods arent strong. they were never designed for that.

[@CathyInBlue]

@@OxBlitzkriegxO How about with forged pistons, rods, and crank?

[@dylanfileccia1310]

@@OxBlitzkriegxO wrong I can tell you differently. They can make and handle more power than the older small blocks and rev higher. Infact I have seen them on stock bottom ends do amazing things. Have done my research and have family that helped develop those engines. I grew up with them and absolutely love them

[@edwardmyers1746]

I`ve been looking forward to this, considering I have a Marauder in my driveway. Big 4.6L 4V fan, live and breath them, that short block took a BEATING, must have been ghetto boosted and blew up to all hell, never seen carnage like that, incredible.....

[@bubbafats6246]

i bought one the second year, 2004 i think, in 2010. loved the car and it only had 40,000 miles. one day driving to work i blew a spark plug out of the head and it developed a knock. i left the car at work locked up in the security gate for about 2 weeks as i searched for an engine replacement. As i was with my girlfriend one night, she had an apendix flare up and i took her to the hospital with her mom for surgery.......at the exact same time, i found out my co worker (who had secretly sent in the alarm system thru UPS for an upgrade, had came back that night and set my car on fire. i knew nothing about it, and only found out he did it just last year when he told me one night. i had detectives and police on my butt for weeks asking me questions, they thought i did it but i was at the hospital that night thank goodness. while i am sad that had happened to my car, it was probably a blessing in disguise.

[@tylerhensley2312]

It was flat toed in gear without oil.

[@buckberthod5007]

@@bubbafats6246 sounds to me like someone paid someone to commit some arson and fraud

[@edwardmyers1746]

@@bubbafats6246 what a depressing way for a practically new car to go out in.

[@bubbafats6246]

@@buckberthod5007 that's what the detectives and my boss had thought, "an inside job" but like I said, they checked everything, phones and everything, and luckily I was at the hospital that night, ask the surgeon himself. Had I not been there, I might have been charged even though I had nothing to do with it.

[@guyfawkesuThe1]

The 4.6L engine that cab drivers could not kill!!

[@randalbloomquist7812]

In the 70s I knew some people who had keg parties out in the country. Beer, food, live music. Someone would drive a beater car, drain the oil and coolant. Then they would sell raffle tickets to guess how long the car would run at wide open throttle. I saw a 60s Chevy 327 run for over 3 minutes. That Merc engine looks similar. It was entertaining! Noise, sparks, smoke!

[@daniellibich1376]

At a county fair has many have a beater on hand as they drain the oil and coolant while selling raffle tickets to guess how long the engine runs without oil and coolant while having the throttle wired at wide open.

[@TheMhannah100]

That the heads weren't trashed is amazing.

[@henryD9363]

They're just to me there was high RPM, for short period of time. But enough to get red hot metal around the rod bearings.

[@chrisgleeton6823]

Cleetus just posted a video where he destroyed the totally-not-turbo'd motor in his Marauder. Too much boost, and engine got real hot. Coincidence?

[@MyWasteOfTime]

I actually clicked on this because I thought it was Cleetus's engine :)

[@PsalmFourteenOne]

Wow that would be funny if that was this engine! Is this guy in Florida???

[@nbrowser]

8 rods out of 8...that's impressive carnage!

[@henryD9363]

Somebody always wins the lottery.

[@nemethzsigmond4548]

This was something different. That's why you get viewers. Thank you. How can this engine even start up?

[@thanelewis8893]

Watching a three year ago video and seeing the recently departed Piston Rod Test Hammer in it's youth is truly special!

[@ImBarryScottCSS]

The towed in gear crowd are right I think. That's why all pistons are TDC, rods let go and have then been repeatedly bashed out of the way by the still spinning crank.

[@qdusen]

That and just a really hot crank case might create pressure to push all the pistons outward.

[@Melanie16040]

These cars have automatics... without the engine running the pump there wouldn't be any pressure to apply the clutches and without the driveshaft and input are decoupled. Unless I severely misunderstand how automatic transmissions work.

[@henryD9363]

@@Melanie16040 torque converter input shaft broken? No limit to engine RPM. Wild guess

[@Thedoug369]

All Mauraders are automatics. Even if left in gear, towing won't engage the trans to the engine.

[@fcaughli]

There is plenty of kinetic energy in the rotating assembly to take out all the roads when at high rpm

[@cyrenecai]

In all the teardown videos you've uploaded, I certainly don't think there's been such an extreme disparity between the condition of the cylinder heads and the bottom end of the engine... yikes.

[@davidb6576]

Agree, I'm astonished that there was so little damage to the heads.

[@turdferguson4124]

Must have seized so abruptly that oil circulation stopped immediately. It’s the only thing I can think.

[@ridealongwithrandy]

I have a 2004 Marauder, rebuilt engine 60k ago, lovely to see the innards of this amazing motor! Used to rebuild motors for fun back in the days. Thanks for this vid, very fun to watch. Loved the "convincing" it took!

[@careycummings9999]

Best episode ever! Insane destruction. I can't fathom how this motor lasted long enough to do that kind of damage. I once killed a Mazda 3.0 V6 in my horrible Ford Escape, where it finally threw a rod and broke the block and pan, but it was nowhere near this level of burnt and melted. Clearly a pro at work!

[@stevedeleon8775]

My dad has a 1999 Mercury Maruator Police Edition..he bought from a police auction in Tempe,Az.back in 2007..it now has 200,000 miles on it & doesn't burn oil or have leaks ..the only thing he has R&R is front struts & rear shocks..he has Motorkoted the engine..power steering..& runs injector cleaners religiously..👍 are

[@ryanbrown918]

This appears to be an oil starvation (smoked bearings), mixed with mechanical over rev. The perfect storm 👌

[@robertwest3093]

I've never seen that much damage in an 8000 rpm racing engine, much less a factory engine. I would like to know the last minute of running time on that 4.6.

[@cesarpalmos8235]

There is this small channel called Cleetus McFarland....he might have something to do with it

[@84gssteve]

The towed-in-gear scenario wouldn't work here due to all Marauders being automatics. The driveline won't spin the engine when towing, hence "bumpstarting" only works for stick shifts. My guess would be it was involved in a wreck where the vehicle went off-road, ripped the oil pan to hell, and then stopped with the throttle jammed wide open. Maybe the driver was incapacitated, with his foot on the gas and it just sat on the limiter.....

[@micahrlusk]

possible, but Ford's are pretty sensitive with their inertia switches, that would've shut it down before any sort of major damage would've occurred if any

[@stevebot]

@@micahrlusk I've seen northern winter offroad excursions that don't trigger the inertia switch, it's plausible, but how well will immersion lube the cam bearings?

[@jmac2o229]

Best explanation I've seen here is continued high rpm abuse causing oil starvation of the bottom end. Oil pump pumps faster than oil drains from the top, so the top remained lubed, and the bottom was lubed until it wasn't, likely at a VERY high rpm, causing a lil bit of a boomboom

[@albinklein7680]

But I imagine that the pistons would seize first in that scenario?

[@micahrlusk]

@@stevebot I have seen them go off from simply slamming a door too hard or hitting a bump really hard or something lol. I saw an explanation or two saying that perhaps it was singing at high rpm for a while and was able to pump oil to the top end but wasn’t draining back down fast enough (especially if it was low on oil to begin with) and starved the bottom end. That seems to be the only thing to make sense to me. Residual oil could possibly have been enough to save the valve train in the event of a busted oil pan but I’m doubtful

[@robertberndt5200]

Maybe it was a missed comment but I drought it went up to 38000 rpm......Love your channel It makes a believer out of you to CHANGE YOUR FILTER AND OIL

[@tomcotter5735]

I’m new to your channel and enjoy it very much. Just a backyard mechanic seeing the destruction of those engines.

[@weekendwarriorweldingdiypr4604]

We love the total carnage!! Keep em coming!!

[@hamradioguy1359]

Was that a metric or SAE sledgehammer used in the disassembly of the block?

[@michaelwhitehead4446]

Dont be silly, that was obviously a left handed sledgehammer.

[@henryD9363]

@@michaelwhitehead4446 Have to give you a thumbs up even though I didn't want to. You got me

[@Tdogg1989]

Had me rollin at “adjustable rods” love this man, keep ‘em rollin 🤙

[@steveb7310]

What a mess. My best first guess would be just like you said, it was revved super high and those rods “became adjustable” one after another. And of course the pistons have no place to go but slam into the heads. Pretty darn amazing.

[@randr10]

I forgot that I had already watched this video. I concur that it must have been run upside down. All the oil went to the top end and saved the cam bearings until those rods let go. I'm pretty amazed once again to see this much carnage on the bottom end.

[@ronjenkins6674]

The running upside down theory sounds plausible to me. I originally thought it was a really really bad missed shift and overrev until I saw those connecting rods. (well what used to be connecting rods) That is without a doubt the most thoroughly trashed motor I have seen outside of a drag strip. What a pity, I love that motor, almost as much as the 427 SOHC from the 60's.

[@stupidlucky9220]

this really doesn't look like a "totally stock Marauder" that just has a higher AC pressure level....

[@ramdart74]

I was just going say. To much AC charge.

[@BTMikeMan]

Just stopped the video to come and say something like this. :)

[@speedysandisk78]

He took off the AC safety. You'll get that on these big jobs😁

[@BigMike86]

I see somebody else watches Cleetus McFarland as well. Hahaha

[@cesarpalmos8235]

You gotta watch out for those over charged compressors

[@scottyfixit]

That had to have been an intentional destruction using something like Sodium silicate (cash for clunkers). Even lack of oil shouldn't have been that bad all at once. Very interesting!

[@TwentytenS4B8]

The cams would be destroyed if that was the case. Sodium Silicate destroys everything

[@scottyfixit]

@@TwentytenS4B8 Unless it never pumped up there or an oil passage clogged... however with pistons all at top, it probably was at a high rpm. Being towed in gear would make sense now, especially if it over rev'ed and was forced into losing all rods.

[@DakalaShade]

@@scottyfixit Marauders were all automatics. Unless the engine is running, there's no pump driving the transmission's hydraulic pumps, and it's a big box of neutrals. It's why you can't push-start an automatic. The worst you could do to an auto car with a tow-in-gear is completely wreck the gearbox from lack of lubrication. My suspicion is someone pinned the throttle to the floor either doing burnouts, joyriding, or running from the police, while the engine was either two or three quarts low on oil. Oil pump stuffs all of the engine's oil into the heads, saving the valvetrain, the bottom end superheats from friction at 5-7k RPM, seizes up and rips the rods apart, rotational inertia smacks all of the pistons to TDC and beats up the ends of whatever's left of the bottom end. Someone abused that engine and didn't let up when the "funny noises" started.

[@scottyfixit]

Good point. It may have been an intentional EOL.

[@patrickrowe2107]

Is what a great tear down video is air down video don't know much about that 4.6 block engine combination but I learned a lot thanks for your time.

[@erneststorch9844]

I am like you I have never seen anything like it . I have no idea what could cause this kind of damage. Unbelievable no damage to the cams .

[@iancanuckistan2244]

I love how you went full on caveman to get the crankshaft out.

[@jnordne2]

He should really be more careful taking the rods and pistons out, though. Don't want to damage the block :D

[@johnnyp5573]

This actually looks like someone drained the oil on a hot engine then forgot to add new oil. It survived long enough on the little remaining oil to be molten hot. And then they were driving the hell out of it!!

[@darthfunkninja9011]

The only thing I can think is this engine was in a manual transmission swapped Marauder; and this vehicle was pulled behind something while in gear to create this level of damage.

[@joshg1244]

Yes I think so too.

[@CathyInBlue]

Ooo! Good theory! Even after the first rod checked out, the crank would continue spinning and destroy them all. I think we have a winner.

[@WhittyPics]

That engine looks clean inside, though one side is cleaner than the other.. I am amazed the bottom can look like that and top looks as good as it does

[@bobcarry4820]

Great new solution for a stuck bolt. I wonder how many mechanics have felt the desire to do the same thing only they needed the block for the engine to run?😃

[@petergowans49]

Red green would be proud