High Mileage Ranger Owners

[mieze245]

Good day,

I have acquired a 04 Ranger 4.0 XLT. 231k Miles. I was thinking of doing the timing chain, water pump, oil pump and rear main seal on it. I contacted my local mechanic and he flat out told me he would not do it that i would be better off dropping a reman engine in. I don't disagree with him, but funding is limited. I can do the work myself, but I am wanting to know if it is worth it, or will the heads be the next issue with it. Any 300-400K ranger owners out there?

Thank you,

J.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

If youre not having issues with any of that stuff just leave it alone untill you do

 

[superj]

I have 217k but its on the 3.0


I think you are safe and i would just drive and maintain. Someone should comment on the timing limits though. You have the newer 4.0 right? The one that the tensioners or something need to be done at each 100k mark, or something?

 

[JoshT]

I can do the work myself, but I am wanting to know if it is worth it, or will the heads be the next issue with it. Any 300-400K ranger owners out there?

Are you prepared to pull the engine? You've basically got to do that to change the rear timing chain.

Far as I know, the SOHC doesn't have head issues like the earlier OHV that would crack them. I think your main concern on the SOHC is the timing chain tensioners.

I'd tend to agree with @rusty ol ranger, if you aren't having problems leave it alone. That said it is an interference engine, so I'd be extra wary of excessive chain noise or other timing related issues.

 

[gw33gp]

I rebuilt my 02 4.0 SOHC cam timing chain system at around 250K miles. My guides were still good (but brittle), and I had installed new tensioner at around 100K miles. By 04 I believe Ford had improved it to make it more durable.

You should consider installing new tensioners if not already done and forget doing the guides until you do get rattling. If the rear seal is leaking, replacing that is good. If the water pump is not leaking, run it until you see a leak.

I have over 295K miles on mine now and it runs as good as it did when new.

 

[Broosedamoose]

I agree. My Ranger's engine had 278K before I started having timing chain issues. For the money you will spend doing all that to the original motor you can probably go with a reman and come out cheaper. You have to pull the engine to do the timing chains (well, you don't HAVE to but it's a lot easier) so you might be better off.

 

[Mike92STX]

I have 258000 miles on mine, and I did the remanufactured motor. It had the cam chain guide noise, so I was pretty sure I had a broken guide. The reason I decided to get the remanned motor was because my sons told me that if I got the remanned motor, they could do the swap in a weekend. They have more experience and most of the needed tools and 21 years younger. they suggested replacing several of the needed parts that wear parts because it is a lot easier with motor out. Water pump, clutch and I got a aluminum thermostat housing. The remanned motor was $3800.00 through NAPA. Now I have a new motor. Another reason I decided to get the remanned motor is because I got the truck from a questionable small car lot, When I got it home I checked the oil and it was over full, my guess was they filled up to hide the rattle noise from the cam chain guide.