Need help tire-kicking

[PetroleumJunkie412]

The timing chain itself is rarely, if ever, the issue. The hydraulic chain tensioners are the problem. They have a spring to hold tension when pressurized oil is not available (like during cranking) that wears out. That plus if the maintenance was poor the tensioner can not hold good pressure against the chain, which allows it to slap against the guide, eventually breaking it. The tensioners themselves are not expensive, nor difficult to replace.

I picked up an 04 Explorer earlier this year, 200K on it, and it had a slight rattle above 2000 RPM. I slapped some new tensioners in it and BAM, rattle gone. The tensioners themselves only cost me about $70, but that's employee pricing. Time to install is minimal, and no special tools are needed, just a 27mm socket and a 27mm wrench.

On the Explorer they are out in the open, on a Ranger the front one may need the intake, or at least the throttle body, removed, but the Explorer intake is very different.

While those issues were mostly worked out by 05, I would still consider the tensioners to be a long-term maintenance item. I'm getting ready to do my dad's when it gets warm again, and he'll have about 175K by then.

Exactly what I was looking for.

And no worries, Banshee has their adapters in clearance. It would be a matter of time before the intake was totally removed for one of theirs anyways. ??

 

[G8orFord]

I got pretty well acquainted with my 4.0 SOHC. I held pretty much every bolt, nut, washer and engine part in my hand. While I don't particularly care for the timing chain arrangement, the engine is otherwise pretty stout. Mine had 258k miles when I bought it and had been sitting for three years because the PO had ran it hot due to the other item I don't particularly care for on the SOHC. The plastic t-stat housing. It was leaking like a sieve. I patched the problems to start with to try and squeeze a little more life out of it, but when I lost the 3rd gear band in the trans (also due to water intrusion), I decided to make it all new. It's a smooth running, ridiculously quiet at idle, little beater now.

I'm not sure a 4.0 4x4 is going to be a great mileage getter for you though. I get about 17 mpg with a 60/40 mix highway/city with 4.10 gearing.

 

[black_demon69]

If it explodes just put a 2.9 in it.

if he puts a 2.9l in it it will explode twice as fast

 

[adsm08]

It's a smooth running, ridiculously quiet at idle, little beater now.

This is one thing that actually makes me mad about the Explorer. I am used to the sewing machine noises of the pushrod engines and the rattle-trap 2.3 in the Mustang. This Explorer, it makes normal to above average amounts of noise while cranking, but once it catches I think it has stalled because it idles so quietly.

 

[Saddle Tramp]

You can get an aftermarket metal replacement thermostat housing here

https://www.partsgeek.com/gbproducts/AC/18104-02908457.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ff&utm_content=TTC&utm_campaign=PartsGeek+Google+Base&utm_term=For+2004-2011+Ford+Ranger+Engine+Coolant+Thermostat+Housing+Assembly+Replacement+121-256+2005+2006+2007+2008+2009+2010&fp=pp&gbm=a&gclid=Cj0KCQiAw4jvBRCJARIsAHYewPNdy1soA-gyxUAZIEX7VDZ9sEb-Vmeyef1yYpBYBl0LuwxAIYZ_yrkaArs-EALw_wcB

My 2011 4.0 only has 88K miles on it and the only thing I notice is tapping just after I have the oil changed.

 

[Dirtman]

Are you sure they put oil back in it?

 

[snoranger]

You have to check that with the dipstick on the 4.0l, unlike that other Cologne engine that you just check the ground under the truck.

 

[adsm08]

My 2011 4.0 only has 88K miles on it and the only thing I notice is tapping just after I have the oil changed.

My last one did that too. It would tick for a minute or two right after an oil change.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I fill my new oil filter right before I spin it on.

 

[Saddle Tramp]

I do to, but I doubt the guys at the quicky oil change & lube do.

 

[snoranger]

I do to, but I doubt the guys at the quicky oil change & lube do.

You’re lucky if they change the filter.

 

[Dirtman]

A buddy of mine did oil changes at monroe. He said they would just keep pulling cars in and no one could ever get time for lunch so it wasn't uncommon for them to just clean off the oil filter, throw a quart of oil in, and leave a greasy hand print on the engine so it looked like they did something and then go eat lunch...

 

[sgtsandman]

I find most of the time when drums don't need maintenance for a long time it's because they weren't even working. Yea they do last longer between replacing the shoes or drums but they need to be taken apart and cleaned, lubed, and adjusted just as frequently if not more often than discs in order to keep functioning properly. And I never had a wheel bearing issue on a rear disc vehicle.

Mine got inspected and lubed twice a year along with the front discs. Preventative maintenance, at least for me, hasn't changed. Just what needs changed and how often. A lot of people ignore their drum brakes, for whatever reason, and thus end up replacing things more often then they should.

 

[sgtsandman]

You have to check that with the dipstick on the 4.0l, unlike that other Cologne engine that you just check the ground under the truck.

I never noticed that with my 2011. I do prefill the oil filter, so perhaps that is why.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

It looks clean but $9k seems like a lot for a 119,000 mile, 12 year old truck. I never liked the 4.0 SOHC because it's a typical overcomplicated German engine but I bought 2 new SOHC Rangers because a 3.0 won't go up a hill, all the timing chain cassette problems were cured well before 08.

Yes, a 3.0 will go up a hill. In fact, it goes up fairly steep hills quite nicely (sorry, I don't know what the grade on the hill was). I do know that leaving my grandparents' cabin, the speed limit crossing the valley was 30mph. About an 8th of a mile before I hit the bottom of the hill, I'd drop from 4th into 2nd, shift to third at 4500rpm, and then hold third all the way up the hill. Both the 2.8 in my '85, and the 3.0 in the '91 took that hill at 60MPH.