Completed Project Kirby's 1991 Ranger Build Up

[Stic-o]

Nothing at all...

That is good to hear. I don’t want it to leak after all this work. Did you put any sealer in the corners by the radius? How about in the hole by the rear bearing cap? nothing at

 

[Kirby N.]

Lots of updates. Been doing a lot of work on getting the ranger ready for its new power plant and getting the power plan ready for the ranger.

First up, while waiting for the NOS 95 oil pan, I went ahead and installed my old 91 oil pan. This allowed me to continue painting and prepping.

Before installing I did get the melling high volume pump and pickup tube installed

next I got the oil pump drive gear installed. I waited on a new oring from ford- pictured- but it was for the newer opdg with the sensor. it was too big and I couldn't install the current opdg. Got a generic oring from the parts store and all is well.

I then installed the new gates water pump and next up is painting the engine. Rolled it outside and got 3 coats of primer.

Then three coats of paint and clear.

This is using duplicators products for Ford Grey engines.

Then it was on to prepping and installing all the components

Added the newly rebuilt and flow matched 5 hole injectors.

Started replacing all my a/c components. One interesting thing I figured out- I installed the orifice tube backwards. It was completely full of oil and grime. The rest of the system is in good shape. I wonder if that was what caused my ac failure.

I want to fix everything I can on the ranger while it is down, so I purchased some new front shocks. Fox 985-24-055. Remote resi 14" travel shocks. These will give me a little less up travel and much more down travel. Hopefully this will be the end of my shocks are too short woes. They look nice and the driver did droop more with them than with the old 12" shocks.

 

[Kirby N.]

next up I started cleaning up the wiring so I could get it installed.

lots of filth and needing new tape. I also found some frayed wires that needed repair and shrink tube.

Installed the new harmonic balancer

All the wires and a new thermostat and housing and new motorcraft wires. Also installed temporarily the new motor mounts that I purchased from @Brian1

Next is saginaw conversion time. I was inspired by @BKennedy and @gmanpaint to do this conversion and I am excited to see how it turns out.

First off, my power steering bracket was a little different. I think it is just an early model thing without the provision to remove the pump without pulling the pulley.

got the cuts metal finished and painted and installed it. I am happy with how it turned out and excited to not had the ford pump whine and ease of steering now.

Thats all for now. I am hoping to get the engine in place on Monday. We will see.

 

[BKennedy]

I have seen both types of power steering brackets on 1994 Explorers, the full round and partial round. You still can't remove the pump with the partial round bracket without removing the pully first because the bolts are too long to clear the pully.

That engine looks so nice and clean.

 

[gmanpaint]

That engine is looking great! Heck, everything is! Nice work!

 

[Kirby N.]

thank you. i am stoked to drive it.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

next up I started cleaning up the wiring so I could get it installed.

lots of filth and needing new tape. I also found some frayed wires that needed repair and shrink tube.

View attachment 434221View attachment 434222
Installed the new harmonic balancer

View attachment 434223

All the wires and a new thermostat and housing and new motorcraft wires. Also installed temporarily the new motor mounts that I purchased from @Brian1

View attachment 434226View attachment 434225View attachment 434224

Next is saginaw conversion time. I was inspired by @BKennedy and @gmanpaint to do this conversion and I am excited to see how it turns out.

First off, my power steering bracket was a little different. I think it is just an early model thing without the provision to remove the pump without pulling the pulley. View attachment 434215
got the cuts metal finished and painted and installed it. I am happy with how it turned out and excited to not had the ford pump whine and ease of steering now.
View attachment 434216View attachment 434217View attachment 434218View attachment 434219View attachment 434220

Thats all for now. I am hoping to get the engine in place on Monday. We will see.

it looks amazing so far! one clean engine, and one clean build

 

[Kirby N.]

so I got it running- but I am having some issues.

Runs great. Started it, ran it for 20 minutes around 2k rpm. Around the 12-15 minute mark- i started to notice a little valve noise. not super loud- like a collapsed lifter, but definitely there. I am using lucas 20w50 break in oil.


Is this the correct viscosity?

Should a little valve noise concern me?

It has about 20 miles on it now- one drive. When I start it, it is quieter, then I can hear the noise when it warms up. Also, the saginaw pump is strangely quiet too- so that is different- and I am playing mind games like- is it actually loud or is the whine just gone? I think it is loud.

I am considering draining the oil and putting in 10w30 regular oil.

Any thoughts? @410Fortune

 

[410Fortune]

20 50 break in oil should be fine

valve noise not good, these lifters should pump up and stay there
Any rocker arm or valve tick that continues you need to investigate for sure, might have to pull valve cover?

Is it one of the rear cylinders? They have the hardest time getting enough oil pressure

Pull the spark plug and have a look at it. It helps if engine is warm, blurp the throttle then shut it down, pull plug on cylinder(s) you think maybe making the noise

 

[Kirby N.]

I don’t know where it is coming from. I can look closer- or listen closer. So you don’t think I should drain the Lucas and put in 5w30 today? I was considering doing that. Am I looking for lean or rich condition on the plug?

 

[410Fortune]

try the 5 30 see if it improves
Jut looking to see any irregularities at the plug that might point to a valve or valve seal issue
it is just the first step in diagnosing what is going on w the cylinders in question

its running smoothly, idle drops when warm, running on all 6, just a noisy lifter?
Very common for a 4.0, however the noise never seems to go away, it only gets worse....... so it is best to find out why the pushrod/lifter/rocker arm is noisy now!

 

[Kirby N.]

Running on all 6. Runs smooth. Started with the wrong firing order- rookie mistake. Fixed that and it ran smooth. Ran with wrong firing order for a minute maybe. That’s it. The idle is jacked up a little but I left the battery undone last night because I think the computer learned the idle either when I was keeping it at 2k for the first 20 minutes or when the firing order was off.

 

[Kirby N.]

I just went to warm it up and the idle is at about 1400 rpm. Seeing if it will calm down after a bit of running.

 

[Kirby N.]

When rolling with the clutch in the idle goes to 2200 and I got a check engine light now.

 

[Kirby N.]

I am going to have to get a code reader. None of the guys at the parts stores have a clue with obd 1

 

[Josh P]

Paperclip jumper the test port and count the check engine light flashes

 

[Kirby N.]

Hey! good idea. I dont know how I never have needed to do that. Perhaps because my old engine (which was running well when I pulled it) really didn't have issues over the last 10 years. Actually, I dont want to think about that.

I did paper clip.

KOEO I got 67 and 41.

KOER I got 12, 21, and 13.

I have been reading up on these. I wish I would have kept my old sensors- or perhaps even ran them. More specifically my IAC and my coolant temperature sensor. It has a new RockAuto IAC Motorcraft brand. I am thinking of trying another new one or seeing if I can find a way in the FSM to test the new one. Also- maybe I need a new MAF, $100 is a lot, but it is one of the few sensors I didn't replace. Maybe I could try a MAF from the junkyard.

IDK. Still idling way too fast. Found some conventional oil- finally. Weird they aren't stocking it anymore. I am going to try that for the noise tomorrow.

Maybe this is why @410Fortune has tried to get me to go to obd2?

 

[410Fortune]

that is a high idle!
usually air leaks? Not likely but we have to rule it out

You didnt save the old stuff???? NEVER EVER throw anything away until the truck has been back on the road for some time

Idle of 900-1100 RPM is normal while the pcm is learning, but 2200 something is fishy
first thing to check for is vacuum leak, air leak, you have the canister purge line to the bottom of the throttle body?

Have seen this new oil, new synthetic oil from Valvoline and others that is suitable for GAS AND DIESEL ENGINES????? WTF
Anyways Brett tells me I need break in oil for the 07 because I have a new cam
So I am about to drain 5 quarts of mobil one synth that has run for 2 minutes in order to run break in oil with no detergents and lots of zinc!
Yikes live and learn........

 

[Kirby N.]

No air leaks at all- there really isn't many places for air to leak on this thing. I unplugged all the vacuum lines and plugged them with my finger. If I leave them off it does some weird stuff, but when I plug them it is back to crazy high idle.

I checked the CTS. Seems like it is reading correctly.

The Ford IAC- if I unplug it, the idle drops a little, not near what it should. If I take it off and partially plug the hole I can get it to idle down.

I think I am going to get a iac from the junk yard tomorrow and see if that does anything different. The only sensor I didn't mess with is the MAF- maybe that is the one that is the issue???


Ok- on the noise- I changed the oil to 5w30. Seemed to sound better for a while. Then when fully warmed up back to the terrible noises.

I found this in the haynes manual- something similar in the FSM book:

Under 13- it says something about paying attention to a notch on the outside of the shaft- to make sure the oil holes are pointed down? I didn't pay any attention to a notch or the position of the oil holes. I think I will go to the junk yard tomorrow and see if I can get a look at one before I tear mine down. Perhaps this is my oiling issue? I dont know. I dont remember anything being anything but semetrical on the rocker shaft. Does anyone know what this means?

Thanks!

 

[410Fortune]

the oil holes are in the lifter and lifter bores, also on the rocker arms themselves, I do not remember oil holes in teh rocker pivot tubes but we dont do this everyday. I do have a 100% stock 300K 2000 model year OHV in the shop I can tear down if you need to look see anything

I am not sure if the rocker pivot tubes on the 4.0 have something like this let me go look at my pictures
I am SURE you installed them correctly, but with that noise we are going to have to check a bunch of things

Does your engine have EGR? not on a 91 right? Thinking the EGR valve itself can cause large vacuum leak
No holes in your intake tube between MAS and throttle body?

I have had idle issues before with ohv engine swaps usually easily solved with different IAC, iac changes
One truck I used IAC adjuster made for a mustang, another truck would idle too low so the fix was to drill a small hole in the butterfly valve. If you look at the early engines they had a tiny hole in the butterfly and the IAC would apparently close fully?

Are you using the IAC for a 91?

cleaning the MAS is not going to hurt anything

Have you run it long enough to make sure the lifters are pumped up?

Rebuilding rocker arm assemblies on 4.0 OHV

Are there any specific procedures on how to do this? I have looked in AllData and in my FSM and didn't see anything.

www.explorerforum.com

Ford 4.0L V6 Engine

Exploring the Ford 4.0L Engine: Evolution, Components, and Rebuilding Tips for Rangers, Explorers, and Aerostars. Learn more here!

www.enginebuildermag.com

couple of decent pics in here of the lifter and rocker assemblies and their oil holes

Rebuilding And Improving A Ford 4.0 Engine - The Ranger Station

Original Article Resource: Motor Trend Tick. Tick. Tick. That’s the sound our Ford 4.0-liter, over-head valve (OHV) engine was making in our 1991 Ford Explorer after 250,000 miles. The Ford 4.0L V-6 engines, built in Germany, are found in Ford Explorers and Rangers through … Continued

www.therangerstation.com