Rebuilding rocker arm assemblies on 4.0 OHV | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Rebuilding rocker arm assemblies on 4.0 OHV

masospaghetti

Explorer Addict
Joined
October 22, 2006
Messages
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City, State
Huntington Beach, CA
Year, Model & Trim Level
98 XLT, OHV, 4D, 4x4, 5M
Are there any specific procedures on how to do this? I have looked in AllData and in my FSM and didn't see anything.
 



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Need a little more information. Are you replacing heads and had to take rockers off? Are you replacing valves and springs? Did you remove push rods? If you just want to put the rockers back together and install back on heads I would soak all parts in oil before reassembling.
 






Sorry, to clarify - I meant once the rocker arm assemblies are off the vehicle, how do you take the rockers off of the shaft and reinstall new rockers?
 






I believe there are some small pins holding the pieces together. (It has been a while since I took mine off.) Keep the pieces in the same position as they came off so they will go back in the same place. If you are replacing just the rockers, remove old rocker and replace with new one. Keep all of the other shafts, springs, etc. in the same order they came off. Soak all pieces in oil before reassembly. This helps in getting the oil in all the nooks and crannies.
Hope this helps.
 






bingo! as @rasouth said it looks like this:
171_301102_300000000.jpg


remove the 3 large hold down bolts, then the entire rocker assembly will be free from the engine. Remove the roll pin from the end and start to pull the parts off the rocker shaft. Keep them in order and keep them soaked in clean engine oil.
 






Thanks for the info, I went ahead and took apart my rocker arms with the tips you provided.

For the next person who comes along, You'll start with this:

100_0768.JPG


Remove the roll pin from the end using a hammer and punch:

100_0770.JPG


Remove the spring clip, which should just slide off:

100_0771.JPG


The first rocker arm slid off fairly easily. The pedestal was pressed on, so I used a hammer to knock it off of the shaft.

I found that using a 9/16" bolt head and a 9/16" socket was perfect to support the shaft and allow the pedestal to come off.

100_0773.JPG


Now do the same thing on the other end of the shaft. Note that you don't have to remove the center pedestal (unless you are replacing the rocker shaft).

Everything apart:

100_0774.JPG


The rocker tips on the valve side look pretty good overall, but it does look like there's some wear on the pushrod side on a few of the rockers:

100_0775.JPG


I noticed that hammering the pedestals caused a bit of deformation at the edge. I am not sure how to avoid this, but I just filed it down using a hand file, only took a few seconds to make it nice and flat again. Notice the edge of this and how it may prevent the pedestal from mounting flat.

100_0776.JPG


The new rockers and pushrods are on the way but I expect reassembly to be simple, just make sure that the pedestal holes line up with the rocker shaft.

Thanks for the tips and hope this helps the next person!
 






Got it all back together, looks pretty good!

Not sure if I needed to use assembly lubricant but I did anyway:

100_0777.JPG


Rockauto has good prices on Melling parts and it's nice to see that they are still made in the USA:

100_0778.JPG
 






Nice write up!
Hope she run's good for you.
 






rocker parts get soaked in oil before install, some assembly lube on the rocker tips and pushrods is always a good idea
Melling is the ONLY way to go for OHV valvetrain parts. NOS makes some decent lifters but I still prefer melling
 






Melling makes good timing parts to:D
 






I need to do this on mine. Thing clatters like cans rolling down a stairway in the morning.
 






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