4.0 OHV head gasket replacement procedure

[mlunsford]

getting ready to put new heads on my 93 4.0, was wondering if someone has written a good change head gasket procedure here ?

 

[RonD]

Haven't seen one, but nothing special is involved

If truck/vehicle runs I take it to my local muffler shop, have them remove and retighten(loosely) all the exhaust manifold bolts/nuts, replace any that break.
You can spend hours on a stripped or broken exhaust bolt, takes these guy less than a hour to do it all and they have replacement parts on hands.

Take lots of pictures, they are free, label wires and hoses if in doubt.

Fan clutch nut can be hard to get off without the Ford tools, you can rent them, or buy a set for $20.

4.0l heads MUST be surfaced and pressure tested, they are prone to cracking, if heads are "new" then they would have been tested, if they are used then have them tested.

Ford recommends installing the heads and intake, and then tightening all 3 down at the same time.
I have done just the heads and tighten to spec., then installed the lower intake and tighten it down, never had a problem doing it that way, I do add loc-tight to intake bolt threads, as they have a tendency to back out over time, they are only tightened to 16ft/lb

Head bolts need to be replaced as they are TTY, they stretch when installed, this gives them better warm and cold sealing for the heads, but when removed they don't "unstretch", so if reused they can snap or break at some point in the future as the head metal expands during warm up, so you "can" reuse them, you just shouldn't reuse them, lol.

 

[tcbaklash]

First of all, make sure it REALLY is your heads that are problematic. Then figure out why.

Nothing sucks more than putting resurfaced heads on an engine only to find out that the radiator is clogged and destroys your timing cover from overheating, bringing you back to square one.

 

[4EyedTurd]

How much more fun is a 4.0 SOHC head gasket change? I'm picking up my sisters 05 next weekend and get to start on it.

 

[93rangerxlt-ca]

The 4.0l sohc is a royal pain due to the front cam timing chain as well as the jackshaft timing chain and the rear timing chain locate on the back side lol oh its a blast for sure and i feel your pain haha