Well, worst of luck happened this cold January afternoon. As I left work, I got on it some and the SHO threw a rod through the block. At least I assume this is what has happened- lost complete power, motor is locked and she drained all the oil. So now the question is, WHAT DO I DO? Here's my first few thoughts rolling around in my head. Keep in mind, I have a spare car but speed is definitely a factor here.
1) Stealership. They're quoting around $7K for a motor swap. Obviously all new parts and warrantied, but on a car that's worth $15 and I owe $10 on, not really feeling this option.
2) eBay motor. Found one with 60k on it for ~$1700, would need to swap some parts and could maybe(?) attempt a swap in my own garage. IDK how big of an undertaking it would be to do, but I feel like I could pull it off. I've swapped Honda's before so I think this is manageable, just worried about not having a lift.
3) find a compatible short block and rebuild my own motor? Are the explorers and trucks compatible? Again potential issues swapping it once built with not having a lift?
4) Go b**ls deep and swap in an LS motor (LOL). I'm pretty sure this would be in the $10k range and a long time, even doing it myself.
5) Sell/Trade it in for a monumental loss, cry, suck it up and move on. #RaceCarLife.
6) Something I haven't even thought about?
What would you do? Would be super sick to do a built motor (then worry about grenading a trans), but not sure I can do that for under 5K.
Used motor and engine parts from Livernois...upgrade yourself? Or used engine+ATP turbos and new intercooler?
I watched a video of a guy that put an F150 Ecoboost 3.5 in his Mustang. Had it tuned with meth and he kept the manual transmission...pretty cool! So....what about a used F150 eco...with the same mods as your SHO it should automatically have more torque. That would be pretty slick!
First off, sorry to see this happen, wish I could say it is a rare occurrence, especially in cold weather, but it is not.
Second, also look on car-part.com for available engines. Low mileage '13+ engines with warranty being your best bet. Since you already have a 13+ SHO, the swap should be straightforward. You should have a good hoist and stand to work with, many swaps have been done this way, and you are familiar with the process. So the only learning curve will be the SHO specific part.
Change out the timing elements and water pump on the "new" engine if you want to, easier while it is out.
Use full synthetic oil only, and no extended oil change intervals unless you have oil and filter that can easily surpass the desired interval.
In wintertime, important to use low/mid throttle only until engine is fully warmed up and transmission has gotten into the triple digits. I see trouble time after time if these precautions are not taken.
Check and clean the intercooler.
Verify the turbos and any parts swapped over from old to new.
You are not the first on this forum to have this issue, nor will you be the last. There are experienced members who can assist with specific knowledge. So proceed fearlessly :)
After a long evening of mulling over my options, listening to my wife, weighing time and money and researching my above quandary I think I am just going to find a donor and swap it.
I found a motor out of a '17 explorer sport with 16K on it for ~$1500 shipped to me. It's a stripped down long block, no intake or turbos. I can get those for the extra cost, but I think my stuff will swap over just fine and I won't need to replace anything on the donor with such low miles. I'm not too concerned about my parts either, I only had 48K on my odo before this happened. I'll of course check shaft play on my turbos and clean everything up while she's apart. Is there an upgrade for our intercoolers that may be worth it while I have it all apart?
Tools should be fine- HF has a hoist fairly cheap or I can rent one for a weekend for from my local equipment rental place for around half the cost. I may just go HF route and turn around and sell it afterwards. I'll also ask a couple dudes at work as they may have a picker hanging out I can borrow. I should have most of the hand tools needed minus anything specialty, which I don't foresee needing but I won't know til I do.
I really just have a couple concerns, one being the ability to get under the car without a lift and the other is bolt order/torque specs. Although on the second part I'm not too worried about as I'm sure someone here knows that info or can get it.
Thanks for some initial feedback. I'd really like to document this process for others as it appears to be a recurring problem. I'll keep checking back here for more help for the next few days as I try to lock in my final decision, but I think donor route is the least cost and fastest option for me. I miss my car already and am ready to get it back on the road so I'm not wasting much time.
There will be a few differences between explorer and sho engines, nothing big just be aware if it shows up. Search on Scott Milligan's swap over on shoforum.com for some good factoids.
Yes gearhead has an upgraded intercooler, but idk if the current batch is slready sold out. Next batch is slated for april.
I pulled the trigger on the explorer engine. It has low mileage so I'm hoping that this works out and the differences aren't show stoppers. I tried to find the post from the shoforums but only came up with a 13 to 10 swap from that guy. I also couldn't find the gearhead intercooler upgrade. My Google Foo is weak tonight. I'll probably try again from the PC tomorrow and maybe search here some .
Awesome and I wish you the best in your swap! I'm sorry this happened! Lets pray its fairly smooth sailing. The intercooler isn't on GearHeads website yet I believe. Its in another post on this forum how to contact. Search transverse 3.5 ecoboost intercooler upgrade.
https://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/topic,8760.msg145832.html#msg145832 (https://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php/topic,8760.msg145832.html#msg145832)
Matt Robinson's handle here
https://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php?action=profile;u=2030 (https://www.ecoboostperformanceforum.com/index.php?action=profile;u=2030)
You can PM him, but better to email him, or contact Gearhead directly to get on the intercooler buy list.
Thank you both for the info! He does have a few left in stock, just working out the details. $875 is almost a no-brainer for this...
COOL, literally!