Advice? Rebuild, repair, swap, or sell?

[tricky]

Thanks everyone!! I am happy to say that I have successfully rebuilt the top end!

I ordered remanufactured heads from Dover Cylinder Heads in Georgia for $450 and it came with a gasket kit.

I took a lot of pictures and labeled everything throughout the process. I cleaned the gasket surfaced thoroughly. I used a razor blade for the caked on stuff, but most of it was done with a lot of rags and half a gallon of acetone.

My engine started up first try! The only weird thing is a mild tick in the valve train. A friend thinks it might be the lifters, but says it should be no problem. Only a minor annoyance. Since then the tick has mostly or almost entirely gone away.

I was able to take the truck on a camping trip to the snow. There's some little icicles on the front bumper in the picture. It came back home with a happy engine and survived 700 miles! I am very happy to have a working Ranger!

My only complaint is that the engine is still low on power. Going up hills on the freeway requires full throttle and the engine reaches 4500 rpm. At that point, I get worried and have to back off the throttle. Is this typical for the 3.0L, or is my engine down on power for some other reason?

 

[ratdude747]

My only complaint is that the engine is still low on power. Going up hills on the freeway requires full throttle and the engine reaches 4500 rpm. At that point, I get worried and have to back off the throttle. Is this typical for the 3.0L, or is my engine down on power for some other reason?

At least in my '95 3.0 it's kinda like that... maybe in the 3000's (because it has to gear down to 3rd/D from 4th/OD)... Then again you're in (lifted?) 4x4 while I'm in a stock suspension RWD with a big white topper.

Also, don't use cruise control on decent sized hills, especially in a 3.0. Unless you love downshifting (hence the high revs) and piss poor MPG. It's even in the owners manual (in the section on improving fuel economy).

May I ask how fast you're going on the freeway? Above 85 on hills I really have to push it... Once you start pushing 65-75 the performance and MPG goes to shit very fast on the 3.0. Not a racing engine, that's for sure. Not bad for "sane" highway use though.

Also, that tic may be the injectors if the sound is very light. Especially with larger ones... at least with my buddy with an acura type R that was turbo'd and running massive injectors; I though he had bad valve adjustment (honda loves solid valve trains)... nope, that was just the injectors.