Tearing into my 5.0L Explorer engine, question

[scotts90ranger]

'00 5.0L Explorer with mildly upgraded 4R70W with 255k miles on the clock. I have several issues to work through like getting it to hold passenger side motor mount bolts on the engine block (many years of operation with broken bolts wore down the block, don't notice it with an AWD T case but you DO in low range reverse ), leaks oil everywhere, blowby, broken off water pump bolt in the block/timing cover, installing OBX headers, etc...

I pretty much need this running by early September for a tractor pull the wife wants to do (I'm not against this, it's done it twice before...), if I get ambitious enough I'd like to strip the engine down enough to do a quick hone and re-ring to help some of the blowby (one vacuum line is leaking oil...)

My main question that I haven't looked into is how to line up the cam sensor, I haven't dug in but it doesn't look too obvious, is it as simple as getting to TDC and lining something up?

That's the question for now, I've just put 50k miles on the thing and one water pump aside from the transmission repair and swapping to a manual T case...

 

[rubydist]

Yes, you basically line it up roughly to tdc like you do the dizzy, and then once you have the engine running you can dial it in if needed. With the spout connector disconnected it runs 10 degrees advance all the time, so its not hard to get everything dialed in once it runs.

iirc, if you take the top of the sensor off, you can see the spot where the trigger point is and line that up at tdc. Its been several years since I did this and my memory isn't as good as I think it was, so that's at least close to how you do it...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ok, cool, that sounds simple enough, I thought I'd heard something like that, the upper intake manifold is still on right now so I couldn't mess with it, didn't have it in me tonight to rip into things.

Thanks

 

[scotts90ranger]

Now that the upper manifold is off and I actually looked I see the two bolts for the top cover of the sensor, haven't pulled it off yet but that explains that...

Next dumb question, the PCV bushing thing is shot and doesn't stay in the intake manifold anymore, is that available? What about the mess of a PCV hose that goes to both ends of the plenum area of the intake? That's the vacuum hose that's leaking oil which makes sense...

Next step is to mark the plug wire locations on the coil (haven't played with it enough to memorize it, don't remember if they're stock coils anymore so might not be marked...), unhook the transmission and torque converter and try to get the mess out of the engine bay...

 

[bobbywalter]

can ya glue some studs into the block?

54WD13D PCV Valve Grommet Fits 1996-2000 Ford Explorer 5.0L V8 | eBay

1996-2000 Ford Explorer 5.0L V8. Warranty Policy. Must Read Fit Information Below .

www.ebay.com

there was a kit with elbows and hardlines and stuff....not anymore i guess...had all the egr crap ect... cant remember the name of the company now...

plug wire diagrams are everywhere.

 

[rubydist]

You should be able to get all the parts you need to make that engine right.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I know plug wire diagrams are everywhere, just lazy, if I lost track I was going to look , I'm more used to GM firing order than this Ford stuff...

Thanks for the link on the grommet.

Dang thing doesn't wanna come out, if I was better lined up and had more than a month I would take it to a machine shop and put in a 347 rotating assembly as that would be way more fun... was hoping not to do this twice but I'm pretty sure this will be easier without this junk IFS axle in the way...

Once it's out I can slow down and get parts ordered and do research on what I need...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ok, got the engine out, any mild camshafts that would help things out without getting a tuner or getting crazy? I'll look tomorrow, I'm about beat for the night...

Looks like I'll have to order some stuff separate not in a kit like I've done for some engines, no big deal, found a cheap set of Mahle rings on Amazon which should be good ($45 on the amazon, $100 on Summit), then need a gasket set, bearings and some injector pigtails (two broke disconnecting), oh and the PCV grommet

 

[19Walt93]

Ok, got the engine out, any mild camshafts that would help things out without getting a tuner or getting crazy? I'll look tomorrow, I'm about beat for the night...

Looks like I'll have to order some stuff separate not in a kit like I've done for some engines, no big deal, found a cheap set of Mahle rings on Amazon which should be good ($45 on the amazon, $100 on Summit), then need a gasket set, bearings and some injector pigtails (two broke disconnecting), oh and the PCV grommet

I'd caution you about buying cheap engine parts that will be expensive and time consuming to replace if they fail. I've used Summit as my primary source since about 1990, on the rare occasions when I've had a problem they're stepped up and made it right with no argument.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Mostly stuck with name brands, Felpro gasket sets, Dorman PCV grommet, Mahle rings and DNJ bearings and timing set. I cheaped out with DNJ but I've used them before with good results, wasn't going to go full no name... we'll see what it looks like tonight, it ran fine other than fouled plugs from the blowby and leaking valve stem seals... I'm not too worried about warranty or it crapping out early, at this point it will get max 2000 miles a year hunting and towing the boat...

 

[rubydist]

Take a look at rockauto, they are usually pretty good. Occasionally I use northernautoparts as they have better prices on the high volume parts in my experience.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ok, cam question:

Comp 35-349-8
Comp 35-510-8

Leaning toward the 349 with less lift so I'm guessing the stock rockers will work for now, plus there's an open box one for half price... Summit is the same price and likely has shipping added... whatever, I'm on a quick timeframe...

Need to upgrade valve springs and lifters or rockers for that type of upgrade? Explorer 5.0L's have dumb 5k rev limits so probably have light valve springs and these have a crap ton of cycles... I know roller rockers would free up a little but that sounds to add some extra issues like taller valve covers...

 

[rubydist]

You will need to upgrade springs for sure, and should also upgrade rockers and replace lifters and pushrods no matter what cam you put in.

I would not use either of those cams. You want one with 110 degree lobe separation angle for a 302/306 displacement, to maximize torque. Anything less than 45 degrees of overlap should work fine with the computer, so you are going to be around 260 advertised / 210 at .050" lift for duration and I would recommend about .500" lift w/ 1.6 rockers. You may need to go to someone like Jones and have them do a custom grind - nearly all the Comp cams have too much duration and too much lobe separation.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I'll look through the options more this weekend, just saw on an email from Summit that shipping is free over $110ish so I'd rather support them than Amazon anyway...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ok, tore into the dumb thing more today, dang it's gross inside! BUT I lucked out, this dumb thing is in great shape inside other than the rings are apparently SHOT, all of the cylinders still have crosshatching all the way down, valves aren't recessed, all the bearings (crank and rods) show wear but it's even and the crank journals are in good shape. There's a TON of shmoo on the inside so oil changes haven't been done on time (I've mostly just added the last few years since it burned a lot) but at like 260k I'll allow it...

Annoyingly I broke one intake bolt on the front drivers side corner. The water pump bolt that's been broken for the last like 4 years came out with a FIGHT, I heated the timing cover over the bolt, hammered on the timing cover around the bolt, hammered on the remainder of the bolt while prying on the cover, then finally welded a nut on the end of the bolt, heated the cover way more, added WD40 and it finally turned slowly with a lot of force and was able to unscrew it but it stayed in the cover, I had to hack saw the nut off and put the cover in the press to get the dumb thing out... I see why everyone complains about the windsor water pump bolts... I might drill drain holes in those two dumb bolt holes and grease the bolts just in case...