Completed Project Brandon's mild 4.0 OHV build

So, as of 5 hours ago Ronin8002, or James' built OHV block became mine; and with the stea.. I mean deal I got and all the extra goodies he threw in, he seemed a little too happy to get rid of this thing :shifty_ey... lol! But WOW this thing is in good shape! As a christmas gift from my parents, I've been given the opportunity to really dig into an engine like I've always wanted to do. I've watched and assisted a couple chevy 350 builds over the past few months but have never done anything by myself.. so here goes nothin!

The Meat (James' Block):
- 1995 block bored .030 over and torque honed
- Keith Black Hypereutectic 1995 Style Pistons (staying around 9:1)
- Total Seal piston rings
- Clevite bearings
- Stock Water pump/timing cover (awesome shape!)
- Stock Fuel Rail
- SOHC Oil pump/pan - to strengthen up the bottom end
-- Possible port/polish on the lower intake, we'll see when I get there

The Goodies:
- Comp Cams 49-422-8 Cam
- Comp Cams 988-12 dual valve springs
- 95tm heads with minor porting/polishing

(on the way, supposedly 11/28/10)
- SI sev2027 and sev2028 valves
- Delta Cam rockers
and pushrods will come later down the road when properly measured

I'm going to keep a diary as things progress on the motor, once I get all the parts in it really should start coming together quickly. I'm down for any type of constructive criticism you have, if you don't like the way I'm doing something PLEASE let me know, as this will be my true first solo go at an engine! JD4242 has really given me a lot of direction when it comes to the 4.0, by reading through his posts in the forums I'm still baffled by the amount of knowledge he has of these things. So, many thanks to you JD!

First order of business, I need help tracking down a full gasket kit, reasonably priced as the budget is dwindling down, I hear an ebay seller has them for around $130??, as well as new head stud/bolts. I'm not feeling ARP's $400 set of head bolts/studs. Does anyone have any suggestions or leads on either?

Thanks for lookin! Here's a couple of teaser pics! Pics of the motor when I get it all unpackaged and on a stand.

-Brandon

 

[Brandon96]

Hell no im searching 2.5 mandle bent pipes righ5 now

Best thing I've put on the Explorer to date.

 

[Ronin8002]

Best thing I've put on the Explorer to date.

Not 4.10 gears?

I finally got my regeared diffs (4.11) back from the shop and am putting them in along with an aussie locker this month.

 

[Brandon96]

I would say the 4.10's were the second best..

But you have to remember, I went from 3.73's to 4.10's on a 4 speed transmission. Couldn't have been but sooo good lol!

Your going from something less than 3.73's to 4.11's right? You'll get a huge and much better kick out of it than i did I bet.

 

[Ronin8002]

Yeah 3.55's to 4.11's. I am expecting a big improvement

 

[Brandon96]

Your gonna notice a world of improvement, especially in the lower RPMs.

James do you mind PM'ing me about the tunes you got from Henson? I get my SCT and new 02 sensors in at the end of this week then we're going to begin tuning. I'm trying to figure out what I want. Can I get some feedback on what you got and how you like them?

No need to go out of your way to write a short story though.. just if your bored..

 

[Brandon96]

Ok guys, I need some halp.

After I got all my vacuum/oil/fuel leaks figured out and straight, the truck felt underpowered at times, ran rich and kept on throwin' the p0135 code. I replaced both upstream 02 sensors and that seemed to fix everything for a day.

Exactly 24 hours after I replaced the 02 sensors the engine began stumbling at low RPMs, felt like it was missing and carrying on. It felt terribly underpowered and, for lack of better terms, felt like it was WAY out of timing, every cylinder fire just felt random. Sometimes is would stall out when I shifted from park into drive or reverse. It ended up throwing a p1132 (IIRC - Rich mixture) and a P0300 (random miss fire on multiple cylinders) after driving it around and letting it warm up.

It's running terribly rich right now and still feels underpowered at low RPM's and from a stand still start. Randomly, at no certain RPM or speed something will hit, like it has an epiphany and runs completely normal and gets in excess of 22mpg (amazing!) so I assume it no longer runs rich when this happens..

I decided to replace the spark plugs since I was using the ones from the old engine, all gapped at .054, I ran a can of Seafoam through it and reset the computer to try and knock out a few things this afternoon. While I can tell it likes the new spark plugs it still stumbles and has a rough time getting up to speed. Still feels like it's missing and doing everything I stated above, however no codes yet. Still dies when put into drive if I don't warm it up enough, saay get the WT above ~110 degrees.

I'm going out this evening, I'll drive it, hopefully it doesn't leave me stranded. We'll see if I can't get any codes to come back..


Any ideas? I'm thinking maybe a MAF or coil pack issue? I'm open to all thoughts!

 

[jd4242]

Maybe the camshaft sensor came loose or fuel filter.

 

[Ronin8002]

+1 on the coil pack and/or MAF. I take it those in the truck are the originals?

 

[Brandon96]

MAF is original, Coil pack is about 10 months old, BWD? or whatever? Advance Auto Parts brand..

How can I rule out the MAF.. unplug it and run around without it?'

JD - Camshaft Sensor is good, it would have thrown a code. Fuel Filter is new.. was clogged when i first tried to start it up.. :

 

[Brandon96]

Ok, I threw a p1131 just a few minutes ago..

P1131 - Lack of Upstream Heated Oxygen Sensor Switch - Sensor Indicates Lean - Bank No. 1

So now it's running lean.. WTF!?

Okay, so officially I'm miss firing on all cylinders, randomly. And throwing rich AND lean 02 sensor codes..

 

[Tyson128]

I had similar problem a couple of weeks ago.
Try :
1) retighten the heads bolts.
2) retighten the intake manifold bolts.

Hope it works for you.

 

[Brandon96]

Gave those a try/searched for vacuum leaks this morning.. to no avail. Thanks Tyson

I posted the problem in a new thread to call more attention to it as this may be a more serious problem then I thought

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=312455

 

[Brandon96]

Finally.

Got my stuff straight on all codes and crap the motor was pulling on me.. gaah!! Turned out to be some broken / rusted / corroded pins up near the computer in the wiring harness. Took a bit of time, but I got it all cleaned up and ready to go.


However.. ugh.. I'm still having some stumbling, but not missfiring, at low load and low RPM, and I'm pretty confident some loss of power/MPG's every now and then.

I suspect the EGR, however I'm getting no codes and it's been going on for a bout a week now.

Any suggestions?

 

[Xeek]

stumbling? sitting at a light(sometimes) and the rpm drops maybe 50-100 off and on? maybe noticing the volt gauge dipping also?

 

[Brandon96]

Yeah, well.. mine fluctuates from 650-800 at idle, I think it's retarded.. and I get 2.7 MPG's whenever I'm accelerating from a stand still. It's ridiculous I think. (and no, that's not when I drag someone off the line :


.. i get about 4.5mpg when I do that..

 

[Xeek]

i cant say the 'instant' mpg on mine, but yea thats about what mine does for the idle. watch your volt gauge, see if it dips also.

youre not getting codes? maybe its just the cams breaking in? cause im getting lean codes when mine does it.
come to think of it my idle was fine after the fixes, then it started doing that the same time i got a lean code again...
you said you had o2 issues didnt you? maybe they arnt CELing cause of that. seems to be the same problem between us, as long as you volt gauge drops also. i have 2 exhaust leaks that i know of, maybe you have one to?

 

[Brandon96]

I've got all new 02's :/

My volts don't move much, the do however fluctuate with the idle though, but maybe by .1-.2v, not enough to really be a concern.

As far as exhaust leaks, it's a possibility but I don't think so, it's hard for me to pick up any.. the whole freakin' drivetrain is noisy hahah

 

[Xeek]

mine drops a lot more then that. ill hook up my digital one and check the real numbers.
mines noisy also. until jd pointed it out, i had no idea what a leak sounded like, now i can hear it all the time when i stand in front looking in. its faint over everything else, but its hearable


or maybe its just the cam breaking in? someone in my thread said after a few hundred miles itll go away(if it is indeed the cam breaking in)

 

[Brandon96]

I've put some miles on her already.. maybe 350 - 400, can't remember and I'm NOT goin out there right now to check.

oh p.s. - serious storm heading y'alls way.. hahah

 

[jd4242]

The curse of the 4.0000000.(that was a ghostly OOO) HAHAHA on a side note i just went out a ran my beast up to temp, to keep the battery good and shes purring like a cougar! !!! ;p