Found a spring in my oil pan..

[vanillajackson]

Hi, I was pulling the oil pan on this truck to check the bearings, and I found a small spring in there.. Was wondering if anyone knows where it might have come from..? Someone told me it's an oil pressure relief spring, but I wanted to check here. I'm not having much luck searching. Thanks.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o61/wwwyzzerdd_photos/IMG_20150702_012242_zpslfiy3ogy.jpg

[LSR Mike]

Picture...

[vanillajackson]

I posted a picture. If I could find an edit button I'd fix it. I included it in an attachment this time. In case it doesn't show for some reason.

Unless it's too big, if it is I'm sorry.

[mikewarme]

Looks like something from a jet valve

[vanillajackson]

Looks like something from a jet valve

I thought so too at first, but I compared it to one and the jet valve spring is a bit bigger. Unless there are different sizes. It has had head work before.

[bobbyk]

Looks like a helicoil to fix treads

[maxdsm]

^Yes for the oil pan threads maybe.. one of the bolts got crossthreded??But I would still check the other opinions to be safe.

[camoit]

Does the engine have a timing chain?
If I remember correctly on mine there was a spring that gave it a pretension. You would remove the tension cover bolts and then just loosen up the nut that held the per-tension slider. It had a spring behind it then you would just tighten up the nut. Once the engine would start the engine oil pressure would move the main tensioner.

[vanillajackson]

Thanks for the replies. I don't think it's a helicoil only because it's not tightly wound, and is perfectly round. I had someone else tell me it might be from the timing tensioner.. or something like that.. but it's a belt so, I dont know. I've only been this deep into the engine a few times before, and it was a ford every time.. So I really have no clue, lol.

I also had someone tell me it could be from an oil filter, but every oil filter spring I've seen is more spaced out, has less coils, and is bigger over all. This one is small and fairly strong even though it's bent to hell. It's also broken in half, so who knows where the rest of it is..

I tried to find an exploded diagram for the oil pump to see if it might have come from there, but had no luck. I might pull it off and check cause I don't wanna put it all together and have something go wrong. For all I know it might have been sitting in the oil pan for years without anyone knowing. I know the engine has been rebuilt before though, because it has oversized pistons, and undersized bearings, or oversized for an undersized crank, however you say it..

[camoit]

It's the fuel pump spring. Pull the valve cover and look at the fuel pump arm. There should be a spring.

Ding Ding Ding, I think we have a winner.

[royster]

If you pull the valve cover, it would reveal if it's from a jet valve or not.

Amazingly clear photo, BTW.

[vanillajackson]

Lol, thanks, that's the best thing about my phone, it's always freezing up and acting weird, but it takes good pictures.

Sorry for returning so late. And again, thanks for the replies. I never did find where that spring came from, but I still haven't messed around with the timing parts yet, so it may be from there maybe? The jet valve springs were also still good, and the spring in the fuel pump is also still intact and looks to be a different size anyway, so I'm still lost on that.

So I decided to do a cheap overhaul, or whatever you wanna call it, on the engine, basically all I'm doing is replacing the rod bearings(they were just worn out), piston rings, necessary gaskets, and I had the head milled and "reconditioned" and all the jet valves have been eliminated. I also got bore, and crank measurements and it all seems to be in spec still. The crank looks good, and aside from a mark in the very back cylinder wall, the cylinders look decent too. I'm doing all this without pulling the engine.. I know I'm taking a chance doing this, and I know I should just pull it out and do it all, including the main bearings and trips to the machine shop, but I guess I'm hoping I get lucky.. Plus I don't have the money to do everything I want to it..

I'm worried about head bolts though, I know there are quite a few threads on this subject and I've read that the old bolts are reusable, however the truck was overheated and I'm kind of afraid to use them.. I've also read that the 2.6 is the only engine that had reusable headbolts. But I've seen people say that all g63b bolts are reusable too, so I'm kind of confused on that.. Anyway, I don't know if it even matters but I measured their length with a mic and they all measure about the same size give or take 1-2 thousandths of an inch, I can't remember the exact numbers or I'd post them. Do you think these bolts would be safe to reuse??

[Acuta73]

Studs are reusable, bolts are generally not considered to be as they stretch a bit. Though I MIGHT have done it in the past... /whistlesinnocently

While they aren't overly cheap, a fresh set is just good insurance or swap em out for studs for a few more shekels if you think you'll be pulling the head again later. And if you have jets, you probably will be.

Quick edit: My guess on the spring is the tensioner for either the timing chain or balance shaft chain (can't remember which it is) that sits in the side of the oil pump. Bet there's a piece of rubber in pieces floating around, too.

[vanillajackson]

I did see a hole in the pump that looked like it might be a spot for a relief spring or something, but no spring, and there are rubber chunks in the pan too, so you may be right.

I haven't looked too closely yet though, because I found this.. this is the passenger side balance shaft. I'm pretty sure this is why the belt broke and the engine overheated(I bought it in this condition). It ate pretty deep into its bore, I'd say about an eighth of an inch or so. It ate into the oil passage too, didn't fill it with bearing material, doesn't feel like it anyway, but ate into the block where it's at.. I tried to get a picture, but it wasn't happening easily. I still have the engine in the truck. But I'm thinking I'm gonna have to pull it and get a short block.

I'd like to put the balance shaft back in, but I don't think that's an option at this point. I can't think of a good way to block that oil passage either. So I don't know if an elimination is even possible. Also, I'm pretty sure these bearings were supposed to have holes in them, they did not, so someone must have done the elimination before, and then decided to put the shaft back in, I can't think of any other reason. The front bearing is in decent shape despite not having a hole, so I know the rear bearing hole wasn't just filled in.

Do I have any options here? I can get a short block, but if this engine is salvageable then that'd be cool.

Thanks again, I really don't mean to be annoying if I come off that way.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o61/wwwyzzerdd_photos/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20150918_230531_zps1vjipdjc.jpg

[geezer101]

If the shaft has really eaten out the tunnel where the bearing is knocked in the only way I could suggest to block the oil gallery is to drill, tap and plug it up permanently. Other option is a one shot deal - weld it up (I'm not hot on suggesting that either) I'm not 100% sure of what the access is like to those oil galleries and if those ideas are feasible. And the spring? Is it out of the oil pressure regulator in the oil pump? To me it looks like it's too wider diameter for the fuel pump rocker arm and I'm not sure how a jet valve spring could've make it to the sump (I'd be more than happy to be proven wrong on that one). Funnily enough I found chunks of similar looking spring in my sump when I did an autopsy on my 4G63 - it suffered a catastrophic internal failure that pretty well wrecked most of the engines' internals. To be honest I think you're gonna have to pull the engine out and investigate further...