Blown 4.0L sohc

[Butchy1960]

I have a 2003 Ranger XLT 4X4, After 215K miles The engine has had enough.
Any advice on replacing it. (The Motor that is)

 

[adsm08]

Get a cherry picker, engines are heavy.

 

[G8orFord]

I just rebuilt mine. The only moving parts that weren't replaced were the crank, rods and jackshaft. I haven't actually added it up but I think I'm at somewhere in the $3500 range, including surfacing the heads and boring and decking the block. Of course, I did all the work myself, if you have to hire it done, it would be quite a bit more. Remans range from ~$2k-$4k from what I saw.

As to @adsm08 's advice on the cherry picker, I pulled the cab with a lift and used a Kubota tractor to R&R the engine and trans. I don't like pumping a jack. LOL

I rebuilt the trans while I was away it too.

 

[Josh B]

Get a cherry picker, engines are heavy.

Do you think those cheap HF pickers will do the job?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Yes.

 

[Butchy1960]

Thanks Guys, i was actually wondering if I should replace it with a used one.
If so, what to watch for, or watch out for.

 

[adsm08]

Do you think those cheap HF pickers will do the job?

My cheap HF engine hoist has been doing the job, and well, since 2006.

 

[Josh B]

Cool Adsm My nearest HF is 80 miles away, I drove down there to get a transmission jack, I used coupons I'd been saving out of the electric company monthly magazine for a year or so. Had a coupon for almost everything I bought, haha, made a killin, then I used the 20% off on the jack, haha, he said I don't know if this'll work or not, then ran it across the scanner, and then says yep! it took $20 off.
The cart was so full I loaded it in the truck and almost went back in but was tired and had a long ways to go, on a lame transmission I knew could go belly up any time, so I went on towards home. Still had coupons for a cherry picker and the solar panel set that I wanted to play with, well, maybe next time. Hoping that won't be too far away

 

[RonD]

Look in local Craigslist for engine hoists and engine stands, many buy them use them once/twice and then sell them

4.0l SOHC 2004 to 2011 Ranger or B4000 should be OK to use, lower miles the better
Plan on swapping over your upper and lower intake and wiring to match your 2003 wiring harness
Always replace Knock sensor, and rear main seal

On the 4.0l SOHC there was a timing chain tensioner issue that was fixed by newer designed long tensioners
2004 and up engines should all have these installed

 

[Butchy1960]

Look in local Craigslist for engin hoists and engine stands, many buy them use them once/twice and then sell them

4.0l SOHC 2004 to 2011 Ranger or B4000 should be OK to use, lower miles the better
Plan on swapping over your upper and lower intake and wiring to match your 2003 wiring harness
Always replace Knock sensor, and rear main seal

On the 4.0l SOHC there was a timing chain tensioner issue that was fixed by newer designed long tensioners
2004 and up engines should all have these installed

Thank You, I was offered an '01 for a couple hundred bucks, Will go check things out this weekend

 

[RonD]

I would plan on buying 2 new tensioners for the 2001 4.0l SOHC, Motorcraft brand ONLY

If you get it, pull the valve covers off and check the long chain guides, they will break if engine was run with "the rattle" sound, so you would need to do a full timing chain replacement if either is broken

 

[Butchy1960]

Yeah that was one of the problems with the original motor. Great advice thanks

 

[G8orFord]

I would plan on buying 2 new tensioners for the 2001 4.0l SOHC, Motorcraft brand ONLY

If you get it, pull the valve covers off and check the long chain guides, they will break if engine was run with "the rattle" sound, so you would need to do a full timing chain replacement if either is broken

Hmmm, why do you say Motocraft only? I was actually a little afraid that I would get the old style tensioners if I ordered the Motocraft brand so I went with Cloyes when I did mine.

 

[RonD]

Over time the 3rd party tensioners have had failures, like 3rd party fuel pumps, they can be fine but..............sometimes not

The replacement motorcraft tensioners(and fuel pumps) don't seem to have that failure issue

No, there would be no old stock motorcraft tensioners around, and even the old ones were not 100% failure rate

The design flaw, as far as I know, was in the spring Ford spec'ed inside the tensioner, it would break, or lose tension
The spring is only needed on startup, then oil pressure takes over to hold tension
But when the spring failed to hold tension on start up, the long chains would slap the guides very hard, over time the guide would break away from its holder, and "the rattle" would start, on startup and then mid-RPM, damage done

Ford originally thought is was owner service neglect, not changing the oil, so oil passages for, and in, the tensioners were getting clogged up
So took a few years to get past the "blame the other guy stage" and get down to the actual problem

After 2002/3, the newly designed tensioners are in the assembly plants, and the failure rate for timing chains on the 4.0l SOHC drop to "regular" expected rates, any engine with TWO long timing chains will have a higher percentage of timing chain issues

 

[racsan]

I got my engine crane (cherry picker, whatever name you want to label it) off of letgo. seen several others there, range from 100/300$ . I have in the past used a boom on a tractor 3-point hitch to pull a engine or two. Dad back in the day had a chain hoist fastened to a beam in the barn.