Mystery's 99 Ranger Build

[4.0B2]

wow that's a lot of rust! lol..

good luck. keep us updated.

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

damn, are you sure youre new to this truck stuff, you seem to know your way around a set of tools pretty well. cool project, keep up the good work!

 

[Mystery Leak]

wow that's a lot of rust! lol..

Tell me about it, that damn Rust Monkey ate my rear bumper!

damn, are you sure youre new to this truck stuff, you seem to know your way around a set of tools pretty well.

Thanks! New to fixing trucks, but not new to tools. Been taking things apart for as long as can remember. The hard part has yet to come - I gotta put it all back together and hope it'll run!


Everyone, Thanks for the comments! They keep me going. TRS has been a big help in getting me this far. For a lot of the questions I had, I'd just do a search and somewhere on TRS they had the answer. Now mind you, they weren't complete answers, so I've had to fill in the gaps along the way. I post whatever I learn and hopefully this helps others in the future.

 

[Mystery Leak]

I picked up some Craftsman Impact sockets last week for almost half off! They came in really handy for installing my new bumper!


BEFORE

AFTER

I didn't realize how much the bed was crunched up. Look how much space is between the bumper and the bed!

The frame alignment is slightly off. I couldn't get one of the bolts to go into the stock fastener. Guess I'll have to find a nut that fits.

Good Bye and Good Riddance Rusty Old Bumper!!!

Besides the bolt that wouldn't go in, the only other thing I had trouble with was having to swap in my old license plate light lenses. The 08's are different and won't accept my 99's light sockets.

 

[Mystery Leak]

As I was taking the bolts off to my valve covers, I realized that I didn't have any deep sockets small enough to handle the studs. Crap!!! Moved on to plan B - replacing the water pump.

Took out the bolts and used a pair of pliars to wedge the tabs between the water pump and the timing cover. I figure that would keep from pulling on the timing cover gasket. Make sure you have something to catch the coolant when you crack the seal.

If this is the original water pump, it's in really good shape!

The impeller looks good too ... damn! Well I had a brand new pump, so that's what went back in.

Most of the the time was spent cleaning the mating surfaces with a sharp razor blade. I put a thin coat of RTV on both surfaces, threw the gasket on the pump and mated it to the engine. Unfortunately, I busted a bolt as I was torquing the bolts down. It's the small one right below the impeller shaft. I'm going to take my chances and hope it doesn't leak.

 

[Mystery Leak]

I decided to order some ->Hansen Socket Trays<- along with my 1/4 inch deep sockets. These make it so much easier to get the right socket.

Grabbed a Sort-A-Tool ->Wrench Organizer<- too. I couldn't stand constantly searching for the right size wrench! With these organizers I was able to consolidate my two toolboxes into the tool cart. Now I only have to drag one thing out when I work on the truck.

I like how Sears has Merchandise Pickup. You order online, and if it's in stock, wait about an hour and DING DING it's ready to pickup. I sometimes give the guy at MP a few bucks for his trouble, especially if it's a heavy item like a rolling tool cart.

With my brand new 8mm deep socket I was finally able to take off the valve covers. I removed the rocker arms and pushrods and put them into some home-made organizers. For the pushrods I basically took a piece of foam-core and punch holes in them with a screwdriver. Don't forget to label FRONT of engine

I just happened to have a T50 torx socket in my toolbox from my BII days. Saved me from having to buy one. I used it to remove the lower intake torx bolts. Most of them came out easily. Some of them a little too easy, but two fought me the entire way out.

Ahhhhh, finally down to the engine block. Man, that seemed like it took forever!

Make sure you have something to catch the leftover coolant in the heads. They don't self drain. The exhaust manifold bolts were a real pain on the driver side because of the steering linkage. It took some really creative combinations of 1/2" and 3/4" socket wrenches, extensions, regular and deep sockets and a breaker bar to get them all out. Next time, the whole engine is coming out!

Doesn't look like too much carbon buildup on the heads. I haven't gotten around to filling them with water to see how much the valves leak.

I liked this picture so much I had to include it!

 

[Mystery Leak]

It's finally time to change out the Oil Pressure Switch and Camshaft Synchronizer.

I took a pic of the Synchronizer without the electronics so I knew where to locate the tab. I also marked the tab location on the barrel with chalk. I put chalk marks on the block as well. The old tab moved when I pulled it out due to the way the gears mesh, so I twisted the new tab to match when I put the new Synchronizer in. Once the gears meshed and I pushed down, the tab moved back to the original position.

I noticed the the new Synchronizer tab didn't quite line up on the barrel like the old one did, so I had to twist the barrel a few degrees so tab was in the same spot with respect to the old barrel.

My Oil "Pressure Gauge" spazzed out when I drove the truck back from Stillwater. To eliminate a possible faulty sensor, I decided to change the Oil Pressure Switch too. (The "Pressure Gauge" doesn't report the actual pressure, but only registers when oil is above a set pressure.)

New and Old Oil Pressure Switches.

I pulled off the old head gasket and used a razor to clean off the residue. I wiped it down with acetone to clear the grease off.

Placed the new head gaskets down.

Installed the new heads. I used a clicking type torque wrench to install the head bolts. First time I got to use one.

I spent a half hour cleaning the lower intake. I don't have a parts washer, so I just focused on the mating surfaces. I used a razor, and plenty of paper towels to clean the grime off. Once that was done, I wiped it down with some acetone. I had trouble getting the bolts out earlier, so I chased the threads with a metric die.

I put small beads of RTV on the inside corners where the heads mated with the block, laid down the intake gaskets on the heads and then the end seals and applied another bead over where the end seals and gasket met.

I placed the lower intake down and started the bolts by hand. I torqued it in two steps: first at 132 in-lbs and then at 19 to 24 ft-lbs.

Here are all the Pushrods and Rocker Arms reinstalled.

I wanted to check to make sure I had all the pushrods connected properly, so I hooked up my remote starter switch and gave her a spin. Everything looked like they were connected right.

I figured I run a quick compression test while I had the remote hooked up. This is with a 40A charger hooked up, without the exhaust manifolds connected and only 5 pumps this time:

1) 167
2) 150
3) 146
4) 158
5) 145
6) 145

Better than before and much more consistent.

Finally got the Valve Covers back on. I couldn't figure out what the extra rubber washers were in the gasket kit. Turns out they seal the valve cover bolt holes. I put dabs of RTV on the intake to head joints. I also dabbed some on the steps the machine shop left on the valve cover mating surface just in case.

NOTE ON HAYNES TORQUE SPECS:
Torque values are in FT-lbs unless otherwise specified. When IN-lbs are specified, it usually means to use a wrench that is more sensitive (ex: Craftsman Microtork Wrenches)

It's all very confusing if you don't pay attention and read the instructions on top. Here's what went through my mind. I went to check Haynes for the torque specs on the lower intake. They specified two steps torque: 1) 132 in-lbs 2) 19 to 24. I went to check my small torque wrench and it only went to 75.

In a panic I went over to Sears and bought a Microtork wrench. I read the label and was confused because it said 25-250 FT-lbs, not the 25-250 IN-lbs on the ->website<-. I decided not to use it and maybe I'll return it later. With all my confusion, I finally looked at my small torque wrench (bending ->beam<- style) and saw that it was calibrated in FT-lbs and I need to divide all the in-lb values by 12 to get ft-lbs ... 132 in-lbs is 11 ft-lbs ... DUH!!!

Guess that explains why I busted that water pump bolt. Haynes specified 6mm bolts were 72 to 96 in-lbs and the 8mm were 15 to 22 ft-lbs. I was only supposed to torque the 6mm bolts 6 to 8 ft-lbs. I think I was up to 35 ft-lbs when the small bolt broke. Oooops!!!

As I was cleaning up, I decided to look at my new Microtork wrench and pushed the label up and saw that it was indeed calibrated in IN-lbs. The FT-lbs on the label is a typo! In that case, I think I'll keep it

 

[stiluv]

did you put flexfuel or regular heads on? the compression test numbers seem low for flexfuel heads.

 

[Mystery Leak]

I put in regular heads. What kind of numbers do flex fuel heads usually give?

 

[stiluv]

your good to go than. it was four years ago dont really recall but i think i was getting around 190-210 psi. is that thing running yet?

 

[chrwilkins30]

Where did you get the wrench holder from?

 

[03ranger30]

That's a pretty good write-up you got there. I know where I will look if I ever need to replace the heads (hopefully that never happens).

 

[Mystery Leak]

your good to go than. it was four years ago dont really recall but i think i was getting around 190-210 psi. is that thing running yet?

Good, you had me worried there for a second. I'm going camping this weekend so I lose that and I'm gonna need a few more days to work on it. Let's say ... two weeks from now.

Where did you get the wrench holder from?

You can get it at Sears for $9.99.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00965223000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

That's a pretty good write-up you got there. I know where I will look if I ever need to replace the heads (hopefully that never happens).

Thanks! Taking the engine apart was a lot of work. Let's hope you never have to do that.

 

[Mystery Leak]

Craftsman Club was having it's monthly sale this week and they featured torque wrenches this month, so that got my attention. I bought a 25-250 in-lb torque wrench about a week ago for $79.99 and it was on sale for $49.99. So for $30 it was a no-brainer to go back and get the credit for the difference. While I was there, I figured I'd get the 10-95 ft-lb torque wrench too. It retails for $79.99 and was on sale for $59.99. I saved a total of $50.

When I got back, I reinstalled the exhaust manifolds. I wasn't sure about using the graphite gaskets supplied in the kit, so I just reused the metal gaskets from the factory. I wiped it down with some acetone before I put it back on. A coworker suggested never-seize on the bolts, so I threw that on. I figure it couldn't hurt.

Time to change the old thermostat.

And the Temperature Senders too. I tested them with a multimeter because I didn't know which was which and they had values that were close to the new ones. The near one read 2.55 k-ohms (new one was 2.2 k-ohms) while the far one read 29.1 k-ohms (new one was 29.2 k-ohms). They look close, so maybe I didn't have to replace them, but I had them, so I did. Be sure you don't put them in reverse or you might get a CEL. You should also double-check the numbers inscribed on the connectors before installing. You could also just go by color, the near one is brown and the far one is gray.

Thermostat cover fits in one direction only. If it doesn't fit one way, turn it around. I wasn't sure whether or not to use RTV on the gasket or not, so I figured I'd try it without and see what happens.

I cleaned the mating surfaces on the Lower and Upper Intake with acetone and chased threads. I used a few drops of oil on the bolts. I couldn't find a diagram for how to torque the bolts down, so I just did an X-pattern and then followed with two the end bolts for each torque-down step.

I reinstalled the Accessory Brackets, Alternator, A/C Compressor, Power Steering Pump, Belt Tensioner, Fuel Line, EGR, Vacuum Lines, Coil Pack, Spark Plugs and Wires. The AC/PS bracket was a real pain! I think I spent 45 minutes trying to get all the screws in. It turns out one of my cardboard tags got wedged behind it. Once I pulled it out, the bolts stopped fighting me.

Another day of work and I should be able to start this thing!

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

awesome work bringing that truck back to life.