runs like crap after a head swap

[axcxnj]

hi all, thanks for taking the time to read this. Ive found searching the forums to be very helpful but this is my first post here.

ill cut to the chase: 2001 Ranger XLT 3.0 V6

CEL was on, i read codes P0304 and P0306. misfire for both cylinders 4 and 6.

I had recently done the coil, plugs and wires. checked spark and it was good, plug gaps were good. Checked the injectors, and they passed the resistance test. Next i did a leakdown test, and found lots of leakage in the culprit cylinders, air was exiting the exhaust at TDC on compression stroke, so i diagnosed it as a bad exhaust valve.

ordered a rebuilt LH cylinder head and all the goodies to go along with the swap. (head bolts, gaskets, new exhaust manifold and EGR tube..)

swapped out the head last saturday. it was my first time doing a head swap and digging this deep into an engine. I was very careful about all of the torque values, following all of the steps in the factory service manual. Rockers were torqued to 25 ft-lbs.

get it all back together and bad stuff. the engine would shudder and shake when i cranked it..sounded awful. I eventually got it to start, but it wouldnt idle. in order to keep it running, i have to keep the RPMs up past 1500 with the gas pedal. it sounded like there were backfires coming through the intake. lots of engine shudder. when i tried to put it in gear (automatic) there was absolutely no power..any load would kill the engine.

fastforward to today, i dug back down to the valve covers and checked all the rockers, thinking maybe i messed up while torquing the bolts. they all checked out ok. Put it back together and got it started much easier this time, it would idle , but still ran a tad rough, lots of engine shudder, and no power under load. (died when i put it in gear) I had it idling when i started to spray, checking for possible vacuum leaks, when i noticed that i didnt connect the one EGR hose that connects to the upper intake manifold, under the TB. as soon as i connected that, the car died...tried to start it up again and it was the same as the first time...didnt want to start..wouldnt idle. lots of engine shaking. with that hose disconnected, it would run much easier.

at this point im trying to figure out how to go about diagnosing this. the car isnt throwing any codes..but probably just hasnt had an opportunity to yet. It seems that WITH a fairly large vacuum leak, the engine runs much better. when its all sealed up, it wont run/runs like absolute crap. I am pretty stumped at this point and would really appreciate some brainstorming and ideas of where to check.

thanks in advance

Aaron

[InsaneRedRooster]

Where did you go to get your coil pack?

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[axcxnj]

im not sure where the coil is from. i had it changed out while i was on a business trip and the truck started acting up on me. fixed the problem then.

[InsaneRedRooster]

I would do another compression test to check your work and then go from there.

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[doorgunner]

Originally Posted by InsaneRedRooster

I would do another compression test to check your work and then go from there.

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2

yep....the compression gauge is your friend....let us know the results...