86K mile 4.0L rebuild

[tjs4x4]

I am looking to see what ppl recommend for aftermarket replacement parts for an 86K mile 91 explorer motor. I have the engine sitting outside right now, gonna be putting it into the garage so that I can work on it. I want to know, what good parts stores/places offer aftermarket exhaust manifolds, upper and lower intakes, etc for the 4.0 ohv's? Also, complete exhaust will be necessary, aftermarket preferred. What brands do you all recommend for replacing guts if I have to do so? I may have to tear into it to check it out, so I'm not real sure what/who to go with?

 

[snoman6115]

one thing ide recommend get the heads machined/checked for cracks. might as well buy a complete rebuild kit while its out of the vehicle

 

[tjs4x4]

the engine is not in the vehicle. its a complete engine that I bought to rebuild for when the engine IN the explorer does quit. So I should take it down all the way to the heads. Oooh, what a pain in the butt. I've never torn down a full motor before. Gonna be interesting. Won't be doing it alone, but it won't be easy.
Any specific brand of head gaskets I should use?

 

[Angie]

Hi, This time last year I started a 4.0 teardown. Let me offer you some advise before you start ripping stuff off that ol' motor. GO SLOW and get yourself a box of large zip lock bags with a black sharpie marker. get a white steel felt pen for marking things. Don't just willy-nilly grab wrenches and rip stuff off. mark on all bags what bolts they are for. (this makes returning them sooo much easier. ( I am into my second build at present a 2.8 and trust me every set of bolts and nuts are bagged/tagged) now other things to keep in mind, find large chunks of styrofoam (i will post a pic of what I mean) to place you pushrods/valves/lifters into. keep everything in order of how they came out of the block IE mark pistons as in front driver mid driver back driver, with the white marker. this will be needed for when you replace them into motor. it is advisable to keep all in order. Layout all parts in a nice neat way that WON'T be disturbed.

as for gaskets, felpro makes a good gasket set that includes from oil plug to the valve seals. all in one box. everything you need for a complete rebuild.

we are pretty limited on what is availble for aftermarket parts in the 4.0.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/order.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/pinto28.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/valveholder.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/pushrodholder.jpg

cheers

 

[tjs4x4]

Ok so, short of pulling the top end apart,
There isn't anything I can do to make sure
This engine is sound? That sucks. Felpro gaskets
Got it. Where do I buy a felt metal pen?
I can buy lots of bags. I will find some styrofoam.
How long did it take u to take the top down
Past the heads?

Hi, This time last year I started a 4.0 teardown. Let me offer you some advise before you start ripping stuff off that ol' motor. GO SLOW and get yourself a box of large zip lock bags with a black sharpie marker. get a white steel felt pen for marking things. Don't just willy-nilly grab wrenches and rip stuff off. mark on all bags what bolts they are for. (this makes returning them sooo much easier. ( I am into my second build at present a 2.8 and trust me every set of bolts and nuts are bagged/tagged) now other things to keep in mind, find large chunks of styrofoam (i will post a pic of what I mean) to place you pushrods/valves/lifters into. keep everything in order of how they came out of the block IE mark pistons as in front driver mid driver back driver, with the white marker. this will be needed for when you replace them into motor. it is advisable to keep all in order. Layout all parts in a nice neat way that WON'T be disturbed.

as for gaskets, felpro makes a good gasket set that includes from oil plug to the valve seals. all in one box. everything you need for a complete rebuild.

we are pretty limited on what is availble for aftermarket parts in the 4.0.

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/order.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/pinto28.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/valveholder.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/pushrodholder.jpg

cheers

 

[CheetingRanger]

I would say that if you dont want to pull the entire engine apart, run a compression test before removing the heads. Then get the heads off and to a machine shop to have them check it out. If all comes back well go to your local parts store and buy a head gasket set and put it all back together.

 

[Angie]

Hi, getting a metal marker is pretty easy. any welding supply shop/fabrication supply shop (should) carry them. there are also yellow ink ones. ask for a marker that is especially made for marking steel/metal. I am not sure of where you live and how readily avalible you are to these type of places. here is a link to what I am talking about:
http://www.bakersgas.com/welding-markers.html

As for checking if the motor is good or not, you can do a out of truck engine compression test, this will require 2 ppl to make the process easier. check all 6 cylinders.

As for how long it takes to rip apart a motor: haste makes waste. you work at the speed you are comfortable with. also helps to take pictures for later references.

As for how far into ripping the motor apart depends fully on what you are going to be doing. I did a complete (no bolts left) rip down. However, I do/did have the lucky advantage of being able to pester 2 mechanics at work for guidance during my build. I did the build in the HD mechanics shop over a couple month period as time was alloted to me between working and spare time. (also what helped me out tons was that the shop already had all the specialty tools for the build... IE ring compressor, valve retention clamp, dial gauges... ) I suggest you find a truck work book for guiding you. (haynes, or... )

when I tore apart the 2.8 it took about 6 hours over 2 days, and that is completely dissasembled.

from what I can gather from you, you don't know how many miles are on the engine, and you aren't sure exactly what you are wanting to accomplish? Am I correct?

hope this stuff helps.
cheers

 

[daniel3507]

Hey Angie do you have larger pics of the motor in your avatar? The valve covers look awesome and i love the color.

Now back on track, do not under estimate the importance of keeping it organized during tear down.

 

[tjs4x4]

I was told 86K miles, and the guy told me it had JUST come out of a running 1991 explorer when he called me about it. Soo, my guess is that it runs, but how well is just the thing. The oil pan gasket is leaking. I will need to replace the harmonic balancer, as that was damaged. Also have to replace belt tensioner.
I will not have access to a shop, but I can rent the tools needed. I am in no hurry to do this, as long as the motor that's IN my explorer holds up!!

The reason i asked about what i should tear into, is cuz i've never done this before. I've seen my dad and hubby tear into a car and have the heads redone, but I was not a part of that. I know its involved I was hoping this engine was in good enough shape that I could just replace a few things, and put it in.

 

[Angie]

"Hey Angie do you have larger pics of the motor in your avatar? The valve covers look awesome and i love the color."

Yes Here are a few for you. thanks for the compliments on the covers. they are your stock 4.0 covers with all the tangs taken off, buffed, primed, then a couple coats of the blue and then silver ford ovals. We do all our own work. currently redoing a 78 pinto.

cheers :
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/coverfinish.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/blue2.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/blue1.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/blue3.jpg


86 K miles really isn't that many on a 4.0L if the motor was properly mantained. the motor that you see in the avatar had over 400K kilometers on it when I parked the truck and pulled the motor out for rebuild. 400k = roughly 240K miles. I would check all 6 cylinders for compression, change what needs to be changed on a visual check, (as you say leaking pan gaskets) the main reason to do a valve teardown/heads is if you have cracked/warped ones, burning blue puffs on start up = bad valve seals. burning blue as you drive down the road is rings. lack of uhhhmph can be just a tired old motor. it is hard to say for a motor that you have no idea on. the one I redid didn't need the bearings done, but I did them any way cuz that was part of the plan. one thing you can do is place the motor in as is after you check the oil pan. see how it runs and then you will know. one other thing you can think of doing is, if you take off the oil pan you can check the main bearing caps on a couple of them and see how much wear there is on them. now here is a bit of the problem. you will need to have some one with you that will KNOW what they are looking at and also know how to reset them IE... torque wrench, when they go back on. this will give you a visual of the mains and you will get an idea of how bad or good the crank is/bearings.

cheers

 

[Angie]

As for belt tensioner and harm balancer, just swap the ones on the truck you are running now, they will /should go together.

 

[tjs4x4]

I used the belt tensioner off the 'new' engine to replace the one on my engine lol. I will swap the harmonic balancer and the belt tensioner to the new engine.

 

[tjs4x4]

WOW! I love those valve covers in blue! Really amazing how'd you do that? As for the engine, we have decided to swap it and see how it runs. Not right now, but when I get the money to swap motors. Hopefully everything will run fine.

Tammy




http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/coverfinish.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/blue2.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/blue1.jpg
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n69/ru_ready_4_r_n_r/blue3.jpg

 

[Angie]

Hi tammy, here is a link to that valve cover thread when I first made them up.
http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52964

they weren't hard to do, just time consuming. That nice deep blue shine is from using epoxy primer first, then a few coats of car paint, then topped it off with a couple coats of clear, after the silver ovals where cut in then sprayed with silver paint.

the rest of the time consuming stuff was taking off all the old factory paint, sanding down the covers to bare metal, and taking off the wire tangs, then smoothing it all out.

cheers

 

[snoman6115]

all i can say is nice job, i wish i had the time to do that to mine and dress up under my hood. problem is its too hard to find spare valve covers in good cond. or have the time to do that with mine bein a DD