allmyEXes
Elite Explorer
- Joined
- February 6, 2016
- Messages
- 2,353
- Reaction score
- 1,483
- City, State
- No. Alabama USA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1997 Blue Ex 4.0 SOHC
- Callsign
- KAGG 3611 (CB)
Recently, 2 years ago anyway, The MM broke down on me. I will not go into the details here but I'm sure many of you remember. You can read this thread if you need any more back story. '97 MM 5.0 FAILURE
There are several reasons that I am going to get it going again however the 2 main ones are I don't like seeing my 5.0 powered truck sitting and I want to be driving my favorite Explorer Mountaineer again. It's the one with the heavy-duty hitch on the back and the power to pull my old heavy steel car trailer.
I will be focusing on mainly the mechanicals from front to back and any wiring issues beyond the original SLL4 PCM and accompanying wiring harness.
Late last week and Sunday I started working on the engine and I'm this far so far.
I will be ordering parts today. Monday at work the I-net wasn't working. I'm ordering timing chain and gears, Fel-Pro timing & water pump gaskets, water pump, AC bypass idler pulley and a new alternator to replace the new one pulled from this to fix the '97 V-6 truck. Also I picked up a new battery. During teardown I discovered that lower idler pulley is just a few squeaks from going out. Everything else looks pretty good. I noticed that another forum user put masking tape on his info sticker on the radiator support which I assumed was to protect it during all of the work being done to it. I'll use low tack blue painters tape to avoid a masking tape nightmare. Also field mice have made a dining room under the upper plenum and a sun deck on top. I guess that is why I found a snake skin under the hood. Something else is dining there too. Popular place.
ADDED some time later. I removed the painters tape before it got old and became a removal nightmare. I have not replaced it.
I need a little more space for what I want to do and after I get a little more info about the internal EGR I want to install a one inch spacer to make room for LS style coils. 4 per side mounted on the top of the valve covers. I haven't found a good write up about doing this to this particular engine or other 5.0s for that matter so I'm not actually sure exactly what parts I will need. I do know that the big part/s that I need is the Holley Terminator X Max and accessories. Any suggestions or recommendations much appreciated. I also see where the '96-'97 header type of exhaust could interfere with the plug wires a little bit, so I am considering 1998 exhaust manifolds or some other type of Ford log style manifolds for now. Some of you may ask yourself "Why is he spending all of this money on a beat up 25 yo Mountaineer?" Well some of you are familiar with my 1954 F100 onto a 1999 Ranger short bed project.1954 F100 on a 1999 Ranger short bed project. Ultimately this entire powertrain will end up in the truck. Several years from now, when the 5.0 comes out of the Mountaineer it will get entirely rebuilt and maybe even turned into a 347 before it goes into the 1954F100/ranger. At that point new headers will be used. For now just freshening up the 5.0 to hopefully get the last 50K out of it. Added 5-19-22: 347 stroker is economically unfeasible. My truck will be for cruising and NOT bracket racing so a 347 is not necessary.
I have the cash to put into the Holley system and coils and such for now. Also I will be installing my old ZOOMBAK device from an old project or something similar to help protect the Holley stuff. I may can put it on the F100 Hagerty policy too.
Added: Holley parts shopping list
Holley Terminator X Max kit for Ford with transmission control for 92-97 4R70W I'm no longer going to use the Holley system
Holley EFI Coil-Near-Plug Smart Coil Kit
558-307
There are several reasons that I am going to get it going again however the 2 main ones are I don't like seeing my 5.0 powered truck sitting and I want to be driving my favorite Explorer Mountaineer again. It's the one with the heavy-duty hitch on the back and the power to pull my old heavy steel car trailer.
I will be focusing on mainly the mechanicals from front to back and any wiring issues beyond the original SLL4 PCM and accompanying wiring harness.
Late last week and Sunday I started working on the engine and I'm this far so far.
I will be ordering parts today. Monday at work the I-net wasn't working. I'm ordering timing chain and gears, Fel-Pro timing & water pump gaskets, water pump, AC bypass idler pulley and a new alternator to replace the new one pulled from this to fix the '97 V-6 truck. Also I picked up a new battery. During teardown I discovered that lower idler pulley is just a few squeaks from going out. Everything else looks pretty good. I noticed that another forum user put masking tape on his info sticker on the radiator support which I assumed was to protect it during all of the work being done to it. I'll use low tack blue painters tape to avoid a masking tape nightmare. Also field mice have made a dining room under the upper plenum and a sun deck on top. I guess that is why I found a snake skin under the hood. Something else is dining there too. Popular place.
ADDED some time later. I removed the painters tape before it got old and became a removal nightmare. I have not replaced it.
I need a little more space for what I want to do and after I get a little more info about the internal EGR I want to install a one inch spacer to make room for LS style coils. 4 per side mounted on the top of the valve covers. I haven't found a good write up about doing this to this particular engine or other 5.0s for that matter so I'm not actually sure exactly what parts I will need. I do know that the big part/s that I need is the Holley Terminator X Max and accessories. Any suggestions or recommendations much appreciated. I also see where the '96-'97 header type of exhaust could interfere with the plug wires a little bit, so I am considering 1998 exhaust manifolds or some other type of Ford log style manifolds for now. Some of you may ask yourself "Why is he spending all of this money on a beat up 25 yo Mountaineer?" Well some of you are familiar with my 1954 F100 onto a 1999 Ranger short bed project.1954 F100 on a 1999 Ranger short bed project. Ultimately this entire powertrain will end up in the truck. Several years from now, when the 5.0 comes out of the Mountaineer it will get entirely rebuilt and maybe even turned into a 347 before it goes into the 1954F100/ranger. At that point new headers will be used. For now just freshening up the 5.0 to hopefully get the last 50K out of it. Added 5-19-22: 347 stroker is economically unfeasible. My truck will be for cruising and NOT bracket racing so a 347 is not necessary.
I have the cash to put into the Holley system and coils and such for now. Also I will be installing my old ZOOMBAK device from an old project or something similar to help protect the Holley stuff. I may can put it on the F100 Hagerty policy too.
Added: Holley parts shopping list
Holley Terminator X Max kit for Ford with transmission control for 92-97 4R70W I'm no longer going to use the Holley system
Holley EFI Coil-Near-Plug Smart Coil Kit
558-307