More reliable replacement engine for 03 Explorer?

[scoots]

So a few months ago my 03 Explorer Eddie Bauer bit the biscuit. One of the plastic guides for the timing chain at the back of the engine blew apart with no warning (no rattling noise or any other sign that something was wrong). as a result valves were bent and the engine is pretty much useless. Multiple mechanics have told me it is cheaper to just replace the engine, and to not even think about trying to rebuild this Frankenstein of an engine. I was even told by a Ford mechanic that the 4.0L SOHC in these explorers has the poorest engine design he has ever seen, and that he wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. That doesn't help me now, so I'm looking for a somewhat affordable and much more reliable alternative to this time bomb of an engine. I have been an import guy most of my life and am driving a Subaru Impreza right now, and would love to be able to put an engine as reliable as the little 2.2L the Subey has into the Explorer. I'm new to owning a Ford (and so far not a great experience) but I do love driving the Explorer, I just wish I could make it more reliable and easier to work on. So really my question is if there are more reliable engines that don't have to be pulled to do maintenance like timing chain work. The tranny is close to needing work so if there are engine and tranny combos that work in the 03 I would love to see some options. I am not new to engine swaps so I know wiring and everything else will need to be done, but if I'm going to have to put out a big chunk of cash into this vehicle I'd rather have an engine and transmission that's reliable and not designed to be a major pain in the butt to work on (and a little more power would be nice too, the V6 is a little anemic). Looking forward to seeing some suggestions.

 

[XtremeRanger]

The 4.6L V8. Youll never buy another 4.0 again. I have V8s in both mine. I would NEVER buy one with a V6 in it.

 

[extra-medium]

I say you do a 3.5 ecoboost out of a new explorer

 

[Tech By Trade]

Dump it and buy a Toyota, I am going to.

 

[scoots]

Ya I have been looking into just turfing it, but the rest of the vehicle is in pretty good shape so it seems like a waste. I'm not really sure the 4.6L has any better of a design for doing maintenance on, even if it is a little more reliable. Was looking at what it would take to put a 5.0L into it, and may be leaning towards doing that. Lots of options with the 302, but I have a feeling it will be a huge amount of work for me, and will take a little longer than putting the 4.6L in. I looked into the 3.6 ecoboost, but I'm not a fan of turbo reliability, they require a lot of maintenance when the mileage gets up there. I prefer NA engines for reliability, which is why I'm leaning towards the 302. Just having a hard time finding good sites for new or remanufactured stock 302 engines.

 

[drdoom]

4.6 is probably your best practical option.

 

[Tech By Trade]

Cost aint worth either. Buy a low mile 4.0 out of a wreck, drop it in and dump it. It would be easier, cheaper, and less time consuming just to buy one that had the V8 from factory.

 

[scoots]

Ya problem is that where I am, finding a decent mileage 4.0 is more money than finding a V8 and then just putting my time into it. These engines are bad for reliability so there aren't a ton of them around in good shape. So the ones that are decent are just stupid prices, and it's cheaper to just convert it to a V8 since I'm doing the conversion work myself (so no labour costs).

 

[Tech By Trade]

Any 4.0 from a 98 to a 10 will work. Mustang, rover, ranger, explorer, or sport trac. Stang had different injectors I am told, but can be easily modified.

 

[scoots]

Should have just stuck with imports I guess haha.

 

[b00stleak]

Any 4.0 from a 98 to a 10 will work. Mustang, rover, ranger, explorer, or sport trac. Stang had different injectors I am told, but can be easily modified.

Negative Ghost Rider. Mustangs had a OHV 3.8 and some Rangers had the OHV 4.0. Not direct swaps. Make sure you get the SOHC 4.0. Those came in later Rangers. My 99 had the pushrod 4.0.

 

[extra-medium]

Negative Ghost Rider. Mustangs had a OHV 3.8 and some Rangers had the OHV 4.0. Not direct swaps. Make sure you get the SOHC 4.0. Those came in later Rangers. My 99 had the pushrod 4.0.

'05-'10 mustangs ran the SOHC 4.0

 

[Tech By Trade]

My mistake, once again I underestimated the stupidity of people. I should have said to make sure it was the 4.0l SOHC. The 98 exploder had it as an option. It came later in the others. Yes, each listed in my post above did have the 4.0l SOHC. The only difference, like I said was the injectors on the mustang. You just have to swap your intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, motor mounts, and sensors and they are interchangeable.

 

[funfool]

Check craigs list. I do not know your area or if craigs list is a viable option for you.
I bought my 98 sport with a good running 4.0 for $650 with body damage.
Was another for $700 obo with a bad rear end.
I just checked and saw a 98 with bad trans for $450 and has a 4.0

All kinds of spare parts to grab, before you send the rest to the bone yard.
To bad you had problems with your 4.0, you did not say how many miles you had on it. There are many here reporting mileage way over 200k on theirs with maintenance.
But a broken chain guide is a mechanical failure.
There is a active thread here, where 4pointlow bought a explorer from the junkyard with a 4.0 in it.
Installed a super charger on it, and has been racing it since 2008.
It is just incredible that the stock engine has not handed it's rods to him.

A 5.0 motor/trans sounds like a awesome swap, again I would want a donor car for all the little crazy parts would need.

 

[Styx]

Funny I have 450,000 km on my 02 explorer. no problems with it yet other than maintenance stuff...
There not that bad of an engine but for sure not the best one ford ever made...



Cheers...

 

[b00stleak]

'05-'10 mustangs ran the SOHC 4.0

True. I was making sure that the OP was not mislead, thinking that an '03 Mustang motor would be the right one to swap in.

 

[eeprete]

4.6s have had their share of issues too, but not with the same severity of the 4.0.

I'd simply swap in what came in it, then dump it. Toyota reliability also isn't what it once was but still has a better track record than the blue oval.

But no matter what, a car is only going to be as good as the maintenance it's been given.

 

[scoots]

Fortunately I was able to sell it as is for a decent price, since it only had 145, 000 km (around 90, 000 mi) and the rest of the vehicle was in pretty good shape. The more I looked into it, it just wasn't worth the time or money I would have had to put into it. Just disappointing that a vehicle with regular maintenance done and low mileage had a major failure like that. Just a poor design overall, especially having plastic parts associated with the timing chain that are impossible to get at without pulling the engine. And all this on an interference engine to boot. Not a good call on Ford's part.

 

[eeprete]

ford doesn't care about you maintaining the vehicle. They're most concerned with maintaining their revenue. I'm pulling apart my 4.6 now. Imagine a 42k vehicle only going 108k? I have everything loose or out aside from torque converter nuts and very top bell housing bolts. Not even sure how to get those out without pulling the HVAC out. Even from the top it's going to be a chore.