2004 4.0 Manual Trans quit on me on the road. This truck's first ever problem.

[Rattler]

Hey Fellas!
Coming back from the grand daughter's softball practice last night...old faithful quit on me. I was pulling up to the light in my neighborhood, and she said, "I'm out!" Still had lights out the ying yang, radio playing the game, no prob. Turn the key to restart; very weak, dragging starter. I "THINK" I'm pretty good at diagnosing things, but this one has me perplexed. That, and I'm missing a season opening tournament. Anyone have a clear head, unlike me, that may have an idea where to start? I'm feeling a little re re at the moment. I also noticed a light with a lock in it on my dash. I've never noticed it before now. It keeps flashing, whether the key is in, or not.

 

[sebastian323]

I think the light with the lock on it is the alarm system not detecting the correct chip-key. maybe the chip-key is now out of battery ? my 2011 ford fusion refuses to turn over if the chip-key is not present and I get a red blinking key with a lock logo

Try jumping it and see if the starter is no longer weak. check the voltage across your battery and make sure you have enough charge in the battery.

 

[RonD]

Your alternator most likely failed and you were running off battery voltage, and battery got drained so engine stalled
Rapid Flashing THEFT light is consistent with low battery voltage

As said, first test battery voltage
12.8volts to 12.3volts is expected
12.2volts or less is a drained or failed battery

Need to charge battery or jump start engine
Then test battery with engine running, should be 14.8volts to 14.3volts if not then alternator is not working
There should have been a "battery light" on the dash showing in the past

 

[Rattler]

Well, it looks like we lost a timing chain tooth. 269,000 plus miles with no problems. I certainly cannot complain.

 

[sgtsandman]

Hopefully, it didn’t take out any valves or pistons and you can just get the timing chain and sprockets fixed.

 

[600$04Ranger]

I have done the timing fix on this motor. Have to pull it if you're going to do it correctly. One thing that causes failure is low oil pressure. That can happen if your crankshaft bearings are wearing out. Don't assume you can fix it by just installing new timing parts. Better to do a rebuild while motor is out. Will cost more but hopefully prevent another failure in the near future. There's a special tool kit for setting the timing that you can find for around $100 bucks. Maybe some folks have other methods for setting timing but I KNOW the timing tools are legit and worth the money if you are even a little unsure of the process. There's a guy on YouTube who has some very detailed videos on your motor that I found quite helpful.

I bought my '04 4.0 on Craigslist for $600 and started by changing timing which was obviously failed (passenger side valve cover was completely chewed through by loose timing chain!), and ended up pulling the motor 4 times before I did a proper rebuild from bottom up and ended up with a solid running motor. Did it myself and if I wasn't so stubborn I probably would have given up after the 2nd engine removal. Learned a lot and considered the money spent as the cost of an education. Hopefully you can go from A to Z in the shortest, least expensive, and calmest (I spent a lot of time pissed off and stressed during my "education") direction possible. Hope that helps.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I have done the timing fix on this motor. Have to pull it if you're going to do it correctly. One thing that causes failure is low oil pressure. That can happen if your crankshaft bearings are wearing out. Don't assume you can fix it by just installing new timing parts. Better to do a rebuild while motor is out. Will cost more but hopefully prevent another failure in the near future. There's a special tool kit for setting the timing that you can find for around $100 bucks. Maybe some folks have other methods for setting timing but I KNOW the timing tools are legit and worth the money if you are even a little unsure of the process. There's a guy on YouTube who has some very detailed videos on your motor that I found quite helpful.

I bought my '04 4.0 on Craigslist for $600 and started by changing timing which was obviously failed (passenger side valve cover was completely chewed through by loose timing chain!), and ended up pulling the motor 4 times before I did a proper rebuild from bottom up and ended up with a solid running motor. Did it myself and if I wasn't so stubborn I probably would have given up after the 2nd engine removal. Learned a lot and considered the money spent as the cost of an education. Hopefully you can go from A to Z in the shortest, least expensive, and calmest (I spent a lot of time pissed off and stressed during my "education") direction possible. Hope that helps.

I think this is pretty solid advice... especially considering the mileage.

 

[600$04Ranger]

I think this is pretty solid advice... especially considering the mileage.

Yes, mine was at 200,000 when I purchased it. On some bad advice from a buddy and my lack of experience rebuilding motors I regretfully chose not to do a thorough inspection the first time I pulled the motor. Thought it was too complicated and that I might get away with addressing the obvious issues. However, would have saved both time and money by removing the cylinder heads and having the block checked by a competent machinist. The machine shop I used did a valve job, repaired the block and helped me choose the correct parts to replace the worn out ones. Building it at home was fun and satisfying. Other than the initial worries that I missed something important it was satisfying driving a truck that I repaired. I've driven 20,000 miles since the rebuild and it's running great with no visible leaks or issues. In the picture you can see where the timing chain wore through the valve cover. Not sure how long that took but I still have the same valve cover on the truck after repairing it with JB Weld and a bit of plastic cut from some unused irrigation lines at the hemp farm where I work.