Joining the bandwagon, my 4L OHV build | Page 49 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Joining the bandwagon, my 4L OHV build

im far enough in this to not turn back, so ill start this thread now.

starting with a truck that hasent been driven in 2 years before i got it. so its really dirty, ticks, needs some help.
im going for a mild top end rebuild. just a nice cleaning and new parts, upgraded performance parts. with a nice coat of paint to finish it up.
update: turned into full rebuild


parts list:
  • 2643 ANCHOR - drivers motor mount (rockauto)
  • 2641 ANCHOR - passenger motor mount (rockauto)
  • SP432 MOTORCRAFT - spark plugs (autozone)
  • WR4062 MOTORCRAFT - plug wire set (rockauto)
  • KS2358 FELPRO - full gasket set (autozone)
  • PR422 DNJ/ROCK ENGINE - pistion ring set (rockauto)
  • m328 MELLING - high flow oil pump (summitracing)
  • 432217 VISTA-PRO - ready rad radiator (summitracing)
  • E71531 DAYCO - upper radiator hose (autozone)
  • B71532 DAYCO - lower radiator hose (autozone)
  • 200-87684 DAYCO - heater-to-thermostat hose (autozone)
  • 200-87715 DAYCO - heater-to-water pump hose (autozone)
  • 58390 A-1 CARDONE - reman waterpump, they sent a 97tm (rockauto)
  • 300-942 DORMAN - water pump pulley (rockauto)
  • 300-004 DORMAN - power steering pulley (autozone)
  • 49237 GOODYEAR - belt tensioner (rockauto)
  • 5968 HAYDEN AUTOMOTIVE - idler pulley (rockauto)
  • 49-410-8 COMP CAMS - camshaft (summitracing)
  • R1092 SEALED POWER - rocker arms (rockauto)
  • VS1630 SEALED POWER - valve springs (rockauto)
  • sev-2027 SI VALVES - exhaust valves (sivalves.com)
  • sev-2028 SI VALVES - intake valves (sivalves.com)
  • UP94172S ULTRAPOWER - timing chain kit (rockauto)
  • 25053 CRANKSHAFT SUPPLY - reman crankshaft with bearings (rockauto)
  • 70mm 94/95 Mustang GT Cobra 19/24lb MAF (ebay)
  • ebay link - 90tm/93tm cylinder heads
  • ebay link - matched set of injectors
  • EF link - modded stock throttle body
  • GM3115200 chevrolet HHR electric fan from EF member
  • FAN-PWN-V3 SPAL fan controller from EF member
  • 1633S-1 JBA - headers and y-pipe used from EF member

later upgrades: 200amp alternator, underdrive/overdrive pulleys. maybe other stuff as i get ideas
 



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Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
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need to break out my trusty paperclip now. CEL :(

drove about 10miles, no problems. temp got to the "L" and would drop back down to the "N" when the thermostat opened. then took about a minutie to get back up to the "L" and repeat the process. that seem ok? havent driven a truck that doesnt have numbers for a temp in awhile lol

so about 9miles into it, almost home, CEL. stays on. after another mile, as soon as i pull up in the driveway and stop it goes off. i let go of the brake(still in D, hill keeps me from going forward) and my battery gauge dips down over and over, with the engine idle in sync to it. cut the lights off, turn the parking lights back on(see the dash) and everythings fine again.

im gonna go check the CEL and report back in a few
 












drove a little more today. CEL again for running lean. again after driving 9-ish miles.

i tightened the upper intake a little bit. any other suggestions to try similar to that?
i bet it may be due to the retarded way i have the mustang maf attached to the stock intake tube. i have a rubber coupler shove inside the tube and in the maf. no clamps, doesnt fit perfectly, slips around when driving. prob lets in air no accounted for by the maf. old engine didnt seem to care about it, unless by luck i had it sealed better before.


the idle seems to surge for a bit, jump itself to 1100 then settle at 800 nice and steady. no matter warm or cold. or if i was just driving or not, as soon as it goes in park it does that.

a homeless guy i know that panhandles at my old job, REALLY good mechanic(alcohol problems), said my idle was set to low, ive been trying to mess with it, make it lump more. and that my IAC may be dirty.
i cleaned the MAF sensor, but forgot to clean the IAC, so ill try that and see what happens.


im gonna drive it to work tomorrow. last mpg test came back 8.23mpg. 87 with stp octane additive, 2.5gal 89, another 2gal of 89. is whats been in the tank. so i guess its running 89 with the additive.


any harm in buying the 108 octane, not for street use, additive and testing it? :D
 






You aren't going to change the idle, it's going to be where the computer thinks it should be. Personally, 800 doesn't sound too bad, it could probably even go down to 600 or 700 and be fine. My stock explorer idled at 500 in drive while stopped, and it was always like that and always solid. Your cam may need a couple hundred more to idle right though.
 






Lean is odd.could be a hole in that intake.you did use your stock maf sensor? You replace that fuel filter?may just have a bad O2,was it original? Or an exhaust leak.Check fuel pressure also.also check the voltage of the tps.didnt you say you sanded the tb also when you did the half shaft mod?could be not seating or clossing right.
 






jd, it could be that the alternator did burn a hole through the intake before you noticed it willard hitting. or the way i attached the maf. yes its the stock maf sensor in the mustang maf.
havent done the fuel filter yet. the o2 never gave me problems before, although it is bosch...
it if it is an exhaust leak i know why, i havent gotten the cat gasket yet. and i need to go back and retighten all the bolts since ive driven it.
throttle body is just half-shaft, only sanding i did was to grind down the saw marks some.



my truck is the talk of the warehouse this morning lol
they cant believe i did this to an explorer lol
long story short would i be able to beat a doge sheep v8 hemi with an old guy driving? (after being broken in of course and fixed tranny)
 






took the glasspack off. made a tailpipe. it sounds much better now, slightly louder
DSC_2285.jpg





and i screwed up!!!! i was looking through my book. and i saw howto install valve guides.... completely different then what i did..... so my old heads, 8 were wedged into the rings on top of the valves and the other 4 were rotted tightly to the head itself where the valve comes out of. so i figured they go up top. but the book says seal them to the head :(
no one ever told me howto put them in, i didnt have my book yet, and my old ones werent all right either. so its not my fault!
lean is to much air, but maybe thats why im lean?
i guess i have to fix that when i order the longer pushrods....
 






Doooo what!!???? Think i need a better explanation than that!?? The seals should go on first and fit tight over a little nip on the heads and should stay there no matter if the valves are in or not!
 






This would not be an easy fix if you did them wrong! You cant just pull the springs off with the heads on the block,it can be done but not at your house!!
 






I know now how they should go on. But at the time I didn't. The ridges on the valve is what I stuck them to. 8 of the old ones were that way, only 4 were in the right place. So I figued they went up top.

Inno, even the haynes book says howto do it with everything in. Just need to rotate until valve is shut, blow air in or stick something in to hole it up(spark plug hole) and take the spring off. And there's supposted to be a tool to put them on with the valves in



This is making me sad. Since its not a quick, slack labor job :(
 






Lean,rough idle and oil on plugs,yep i say that could be a major problem!!OMG ill take .00001% of the blame,i should have asked or checked them but is pretty hard to check when they were all together! !
 






Yea the valves need to both be closed and the piston at the very bottom of the stroke once you get that all in sync,witch is not the easyest to do.then you have to have a special hose to screw into the spark plug hole,then you have to add compressed air into it to hold the valves shut.then you can remove one of the two springs at a time.you cant just blow air in there or stick something in there to keep them shut:( if you loose air pressure or anything goes wrong the valve will fall into the cylinder witch means your be pulling the heads off again,all new gaskets and bolts#!.getting the seals down and seated with out moving the valve or breaking the air seal is not easy and you can only do one sooner and one spring at a time!!
 






Yea I cleaned the IAC with no luck. So I looked in the book at the spark plug chart and say how mine were with a possible solution of valves guides, so I looked it up, read it then my heart sank.

Why lean tho? Lean is to much air. I'd think it'd be rich as hell?
 






Its sucking air and oil into it that is not counted and with all that oil burning it probably dont really know what its reading,if it was me i wouldnt drive it till its fixed!!
 












I'm gonna pull a brandon and mention a scredriver trick...

Would it be possible to use a flat screwdriver and the leverage of the spring to push the guide down tightly? Working all the way around it
NO WAY!!! Those thing are shot and need to be replaced!!i have a set ill give you.those things are probably smashed,bend and stretched all out!! They could damage or nick your valve or seats,i wouldnt drive it!! You've already done it wrong once,if you doing it again lets try right this time and with longer pushrods!!!hahaha
 






damnit. well i know someone with air.... *nudge*
would it just be better to take of the heads off? or do it the other way with a chance of taking them off anyway.

i mean if you know where to find $100 lifters id do it.. wouldnt need new pushrods either...



you have to make mistakes to learn from. at the rate of mistakes im learning from, ford would hire me to build engines lol
the 302 v8 i build for a car/truck i havent decided on yet will be perfect! lol
 






Hey Xeek, For your head problem, I'd definitely take them back off to do it right. Obviously put in the new rods at the same time. No I didn't go through all 49 pages lol. Looks like you've got some followers. Where in VA beach are you?
 



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