1998 Explorer 5.0 “Restoration2021” project

[EB4X]

nice! pay for my gas and i'll deliver it lol!

We'll get a relay race going with this engine.... You bring it up to me in north Orange county ....and then I'll hand it off to him when he arrives here from Vegas....

 

[SuperGordo]

nice! pay for my gas and i'll deliver it lol!

Haha! I'd almost take you up on that. It's pretty far south in San Diego. I'm coming to San Diego next Friday to visit my son in the Navy.

 

[SuperGordo]

Everything takes longer than you hope. heading out to San Diego Early Monday morning to get the new donor motor. Hopefully it won't take too long to prep it and install it.

 

[EB4X]

Everything takes longer than you hope.
The story of my life !

 

[SuperGordo]

Outside of the obvious. Anyone have any tips, tricks, warnings, and experience they want to share with pulling the 5.0 from this. I've done countless engine swaps, including the 4.0 sohc in an EX. Just not the 5.0.

 

[410Fortune]

5.0 waaaaaaaaaaay easier to deal with then sohc
Starter access is better and the starter actually comes out of the space lol
What i do is drop the trans crossmember out of the way, then remove the t case, let the trans hang, now you can access all the exhaust starter and bellhousing bolts from the tailhousing area with a long extension
Remove starter and converter access plate, rotate engine with 15/16 socket to get all 4 of the converter bolts

Not exactly in that order

Removing the front seats and console, get access to floor plate,
This helps some people
Unplug 3’of the 02 sensors and get easy access to the top t case
Bolts. Not necessary if you get the truck up high enough and do like I said before,
Letting the trans hang

 

[EB4X]

EDIT...

 

[SuperGordo]

5.0 waaaaaaaaaaay easier to deal with then sohc
Starter access is better and the starter actually comes out of the space lol
What i do is drop the trans crossmember out of the way, then remove the t case, let the trans hang, now you can access all the exhaust starter and bellhousing bolts from the tailhousing area with a long extension
Remove starter and converter access plate, rotate engine with 15/16 socket to get all 4 of the converter bolts

Not exactly in that order

Removing the front seats and console, get access to floor plate,
This helps some people
Unplug 3’of the 02 sensors and get easy access to the top t case
Bolts. Not necessary if you get the truck up high enough and do like I said before,
Letting the trans hang

Luckily this one is 2wd so no transfer case! I'm considering pulling the trans too and opening the 4r70w and inspecting it. Put a seal kit in it possibly. We'll see how I feel at game time!

 

[SuperGordo]

I got to San Diego and back yesterday with the "new" engine safely. Left at 4am, got home at 8pm. Had a nice drive with my son. Talked about car projects all day and other fun stuff. We don't get that opportunity too often. So it was a nice drive.

 

[CDW6212R]

Awesome road trip, that's quality time. What condition is that engine, do you know yet? I'd wonder about the past owner, if the engine ate oil. I might rebuild a pair of the GT40P heads and with new springs, to ensure no oil consumption.

 

[SuperGordo]

Awesome road trip, that's quality time. What condition is that engine, do you know yet? I'd wonder about the past owner, if the engine ate oil. I might rebuild a pair of the GT40P heads and with new springs, to ensure no oil consumption.

 

[SuperGordo]

The engine is clean. But I'd guess they pressure washed it at some point. And I was told it has 115k on it. but who is to say. Clearly it has been sitting out side of the vehicle for some time. Not sure that I'll send the heads out. At minimum i'll do the valve seals. So now I move into " how quickly can I get the EX back on the road, how little money can I get away with spending" mode.
The balancer on the other engine is new, as is the oil pump. Many other new parts of there to transfer. I'll pull some bearing caps to see what that looks like. I do not have an unlimited budget, so choices will be made. We shall see.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Nice to see someone take some real
Pride on their work. I’m sure it’ll end up great.

 

[CDW6212R]

115k is a great number if it's right. It's about 15 years old, so change all of the gaskets and seals that are no problem to.

Now's the time to do something with the trans while it's all down. I'd do the solenoids and some or all of the Sonnax VB upgrades, that's all on the bench at least. My current 98 had a few shifting issues yesterday at work. I'm going to watch it closely and have to decide if it has to have that kind of work done immediately, or if it can wait a week or two. I'm hunting around to see if I can find all of those items for the 4R70W that I have bought. I am still missing a box that has my trans tools in it, and there are a few spare parts in there too I'm sure. The accumulators were also not all available the last time I checked, supplies are scarce.

 

[CJYoung]

I got to San Diego and back yesterday with the "new" engine safely. Left at 4am, got home at 8pm. Had a nice drive with my son. Talked about car projects all day and other fun stuff. We don't get that opportunity too often. So it was a nice drive.

Thats great!! More person to person, Dad to Son is needed these days

 

[SuperGordo]

115k is a great number if it's right. It's about 15 years old, so change all of the gaskets and seals that are no problem to.

Now's the time to do something with the trans while it's all down. I'd do the solenoids and some or all of the Sonnax VB upgrades, that's all on the bench at least. My current 98 had a few shifting issues yesterday at work. I'm going to watch it closely and have to decide if it has to have that kind of work done immediately, or if it can wait a week or two. I'm hunting around to see if I can find all of those items for the 4R70W that I have bought. I am still missing a box that has my trans tools in it, and there are a few spare parts in there too I'm sure. The accumulators were also not all available the last time I checked, supplies are scarce.

I have a local wholesaler that I get all my auto trans parts from. So it's pretty easy to get stuff.

 

[SuperGordo]

Nice to see someone take some real
Pride on their work. I’m sure it’ll end up great.

Thanks! Need to keep the EX running. I don't get to drive it much, but it is fun to drive. As well I've done so much good work that is still holding up I couldn't let an engine that died at 260K be the death certificate. At this point if I can get this motor in the EX and running well, and service the trans, then it won't need anything else for some time.

Other than a paint job.

 

[SuperGordo]

Did a little tear down on the new motor tonight. Got the water pump off and the right side accessory bracket. I tried my hardest but still broke one water pump bolt. I know you all can guess which one! Passages inside the timing cover and water pump are fairly clean. SO that is a good thing. I also noticed that the yard was decent enough to not cut up the wiring harness. So the harness is completely intact. So that is cool. Going to see if I can get the upper intake plenum off before I quit for the evening.

 

[SuperGordo]

OK, I got the upper intake AND the lower intake off. I broke one Intake bolt. And I'm sure everyone can guess that one too. Thankfully since the last time I had to extract those previous broken intake bolts I got my MIG welder back from my buddy. So that hopefully will make things simpler. All that said, the motor is very clean inside! Very happy to see this. Enjoy! Hope you are all doing well.

 

[410Fortune]

That is a clean 5.0!