4.0L OHV Soul crushed and seeking advice on starting problems

[RobWigglezz]

This is how I removed my fan clutch. It's easier than messing around with wedging stuff in the WP bolts or the worn out rental wrench from AutoZone

 

[TacoBelleGirl]

This is how I removed my fan clutch. It's easier than messing around with wedging stuff in the WP bolts or the worn out rental wrench from AutoZone

Thanks Rob
I actually just got it out about 20 minutes ago with the help of my friend.
We had to cut down the tip of one of my pry bars so we could cram it under the bolts on the pulley and angled it so turning the fan clutch counter-clockwise would lodge it under the power steering pulley.

That plus a mallet did get it off!
Tomorrow I hope to wrap it up and fire it up again sometime in the afternoon... let it get up to temp, then cool down and do an oil change + check the coolant levels.
Should also give me the chance to verify the electric fan kicks on when it's supposed to.

It should start a lot easier after this so hoping the less than mint condition flywheel won't get in the way of at least wrapping up the current work to it

 

[rubydist]

Well funny story I opened up my haynes manual for once ...

This sounds suspiciously like something a male would say / do....

 

[RobWigglezz]

Thanks Rob
I actually just got it out about 20 minutes ago with the help of my friend.
We had to cut down the tip of one of my pry bars so we could cram it under the bolts on the pulley and angled it so turning the fan clutch counter-clockwise would lodge it under the power steering pulley.

That plus a mallet did get it off!

Nice! Once that fan and clutch are out of the way, it's so much nicer to work around.

 

[TacoBelleGirl]

So I got it fired up today! Didn't get the cooling system all set up so I only ran it for a min or two.
Still has a stumble at idle and also a new tapping sound from atop the engine. I assume I lost a washer or something under the valve covers and will be checking in there.

I didn't tighten the clamps down on the intake hose so I am kind of hoping that's causing the wonky idle as I was really hoping it would idle right after this work.
Other than the already noted sounds, I do believe that the engine sounds more quite than before. Under the assumption that sounds is something stupid & simple, this will have been a success.

Also, the all aluminum radiator looks nice from the front! Really noticing the surface rust that I need to clean up lol.

For those who are wondering about the radiator fit.. it's so-so. The mounts weren't quite right which caused it to sit further forward on the right side.
I did my best to correct for this by bending the mounts a bit with a pair of pliers and using the very same strut mounts these trucks use around the top radiator pins to take up the space and hopefully keep it from rattling around.

None of the hoses fit right which I kinda expected.. I had already ordered MT hoses and this is an AT radiator. The top one was workable and fit okay-ish after some cutting, the bottom one would get crushed.
Actually the bottom in general is quite bad the radiator basically sticks it right at part of the suspension / subframe. I wish I got a picture but I ended up using a flexible hose and warping it with some plastic shielding off my two other lower radiator hoses.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Nice to see some progress!

 

[TacoBelleGirl]

Well that explains a lot lol. Guess it wasn't quite seated right when I tightened everything down. I will torque this down in the AM and then I am expecting it to be much quieter and to run smoother

 

[bobbywalter]

whoops

 

[RobWigglezz]

Should run way smoother with the push rod back in its home.