02 4.0l XLT Rear cam sprocket mount separating from rest of cam!!

[Boricua8412]

Jay, I am sorry for the late reply. I no longer own the explorer and have not been following the forum for quite some time. i just happened to check my email and seen the notification. Im glad you were able to find a solution to your problem, You have bigger cojones than I do as i would never had attempted modifying the camshaft to get the sprocket to stay put. One thing i would like to ask about is the sleeve on the jack-shaft that was buggered up by the sprocket, When i took mine apart my sleeve was the same way. The slots on the sprocket meant for the special tool dug into the sleeve once it was torqued down in the backwards position. What i did was took a grinder and cleaned up the indentations enough so that i could fit it on the sprocket without taking off too much material. Did you clean up your sleeve at all or simply install the sprocket the correct direction and press on. If so, when torqued, the sprocket may have still been sitting slightly ****ed due to it not sitting flush on the sleeve. that creates a sort of back and forth wiggling action while the motor spins and it is my assumption that it is was causing the cam shaft sprocket to back out. I dont expect you to pull your engine apart to check it, especially now that it is running again. But god forbid that bolt holding the camshaft together gives out or loosens, i suggest you check that sleeve. Hope this helps others

 

[Jay_Lael]

To answer your question, I didn't attempt to buff off any of the high spots which surely were on the mounting surface. There must have been some, as the sprocket came loose as I detailed. I think when it came loose it knocked off the high spots and the two parts became permanently mated together, as I could not get the sprocket and jackshaft sleeve to separate when I tried to look at this on trip number four. After tightening the lower rear bolt with a breaker bar, I did verify that it is turning on a true plane, and isn't wiggling. I truly hope it never comes loose, as I don't know if I could face doing this job a fifth time. So far so good.

 

[Boricua8412]

It was a long time ago and I dont exactly remember how many times i pulled it apart and reassembled it( maybe three or four), but i remember how much of a PITA it was. Enough that i too would never want to tackle the job again. As long as you verified the sprocket was straight you shouldn't have to pull your motor again if the bolt does give out. (Not that the entire timing process isnt a PITA itself), but its good to know that you wont have to pull the motor to time it in that case. Hope you get many miles out of your engine.