You might remember my mentioning I changed the passenger's-side timing tensioner in my 2011 with the 4.0 SOHC. Was waiting on a tool to arrive before attacking the one on the driver's side. The tool was an offset box-end wrench with one 27 mm and one 24 mm head. I was trying to avoid removing the temperature sensor, which would also require draining the coolant, and I wanted to get this job done before my brother comes down this weekend to give me a hand with other things.
Turned out that tool was useless after all, but I still managed to get the old tensioner out and new one in this morning using a regular 27 mm combination wrench from the front of the engine. This worked on my 2011, but I can't guarantee this will work on older Rangers with the SOHC.
First step is to remove the trim piece that says "4.0 SOHC" (duh). Then the plenum from the air filter has to be removed, and so does its adapter to the throttle body, which is held to the intake manifold with four long screws. Some wiring needs to be moved a bit as well. But after that, I was able to get the box end on the tensioner and just managed to break it loose by pulling up on the wrench. After carefully jockeying back and forth with the box and open ends and turning the tensioner a few degrees each time, I was finally able to turn it the rest of the way by hand and get the long head beside the temp sensor wiring before fishing the tensioner out of its hiding place. Installation was the reverse. I got the new tensioner as tight as I could with the box end without going crazy with it.
Turned out the old tensioner was missing its washer, but it never leaked. The new one has its washer. Both tensioners just installed, like the old ones, are Motorcraft. I had primed the new one before installation, and a small amount of oil came out of the tensioner priming hole as I was screwing it in. The fit was a little tighter than for the one on the passenger's side, but I was still able to screw in the new one by hand.
I used the ignition cutout trick when starting as with the first tensioner on Sunday until the oil light went out. Starting and running the engine has been uneventful so far.
If you try to do this in the same way, make absolutely sure of what you're doing and take care not to risk rounding the hex on either tensioner. To be honest, I feel a bit lucky I was able to do this in the way I did.
You have to wonder why Ford made changing this particular tensioner so tedious. The original plan was to change it after draining the coolant and removing the temp sensor as my brother works on changing the water pump. Another member recently posted pics of getting the tensioner out by using a deep socket with an extension, which became my plan too. Most of you will be better off doing this as the other member did. But I'm glad I was able to get the job done sooner. Hope this description helps.
The truck turned over 200,000 miles yesterday.
