Dreaming of one mean 4.0: The Build up - Creager's 1992 Sport

[Premierexplorer]

Do you have to get a custom computer tune?

 

[sn0border88]

ya, try reposting that clip on putfile or youtube or something. streetfire.net also is a good site for auto video hosting.

What kind of exaust are you gonna put on the truck? Me thinks sidepipes

 

[Ronin8002]

Can't go wrong with a magnaflow or a flowie super 40

You don't have to get a custom tune with the setup he's got but it doesn't hurt either. Kind of hard finding a good custom tuner for the 1991-1994 explorers though.

 

[Creager]

Heres the new link, the web page said it may take a few momments to 'optimize.' So if it doesnt work right away, it should work in a few...

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/40f85f5a-a517-4ca5-b92e-3fc84b9dcf4f.htm

Side pipes would be bad ass. At the momment i was planning on using my old flowmaster 40 series muffler

 

[sn0border88]

sweet dear lord mother of mary baby jesus in the cradle HOLY HELL



Do you have a price and parts list since its all said and done now?

 

[bmxking5]

BMX dude, thankfully you are all right, somebody's gotta show me how to bleed the clutch! haha jk man, hope everything turns out alright for ya.

Glad you're alright too, cause having a stock (except intake and exhaust) 4.0 in my truck is gonna get old...so I'll need someone to show me how to build a mean 4.0.

Good news, got the truck finished yesterday. Tried flipping the clutch master cylinder (with the outlets at the top, and the clutch pushrod at the bottom) but couldn't really bleed it that way. Finally just went ahead and pulled it completely off (not as bad as it was the first time), bench bled it (set up resevoir on crate about 1.5 feet in the air, master cylinder on ground, hyd. line in a can of brake fluid w/ a small flat screwdriver stuck in the end to keep it open to pump air, pumped the master cylinder moved it around [pushrod on top, then bottom, then sideways, etc to be sure it pumped out all air....by the end I could only push the pushrod in about 1/2inch w/ the hydraulic line closed up] reconnected it on the firewall, cranked it up, been driving since then w/ no issues.)

Hopefully this will help you out getting yours finished. Good luck, and again congrats on pretty much being completed with the motor buildup.

 

[Creager]

I'm excited to report i got the clutch bled and i've been driving it around all day! The power is better then I expected, i love the balance between the cam and the gearing. It goes twice as quick as it did when it was stock. Its definatly no 13 second dragster, but it pulls damn hard especially above 3k and on up to 5k. I'm curious to what the dyno has to say...

Its a CRAZY feeling to rev the OHV past 4k rpms, and it still be climbing HARD. I was pulling 50 mph in second gear, i can probably hit 55mph (maybe 60??!!) but i havent taken it past 5k yet. The cam supposedly relines at 5200. Im sure the heads/intake/throttlebody/headers brings that up to maybe 5500 or so. I really need an aftermarket tach, since the stocker supposedly likes to lie from time to time.

I have a major exhaust leak at the momment. Its the bung for the secon oxygen sensor my truck didnt come equiped with, a fat bolt should take care of this.

Its cool now because i can cruise 70mph and be easy on it, without having to really get on it to keep speed. It accellerates from 70mph-90mph with amazing quickness compared to stock.


But at the momment i might have a pressing issue that is beyond the engine and the driveline. Driving this thing today, i could bearly keep it tracking straight! It may have been the suspension had softened up from sitting for 6 months, as it seemed to stiffen up after about 50 miles or so. We'll see tomorrow when i take it out some more.

 

[bmxking5]

Awesome, did you have to bench bleed it or...?

But at the momment i might have a pressing issue that is beyond the engine and the driveline. Driving this thing today, i could bearly keep it tracking straight! It may have been the suspension had softened up from sitting for 6 months, as it seemed to stiffen up after about 50 miles or so. We'll see tomorrow when i take it out some more.

I don't think that's your problem, sounds to me more like the entire front axle/steering/suspension is trashed....time for the next project (SAS)

 

[sn0border88]

+1

 

[Creager]

Yeah I had to put the master on the bench, made it much easier. I actually stuck the check-valve end into the resiviour, and used a peice of tooth pick to keep the valve open. After a minute or two of pumping all the air was out and it was spraying straigh oil! The slave i used a pesticide pump sprayer to pump in the oil, of course it was cleaned out first! The oil bascially just runs out the slave, i used a screw driver to open up the valve on the slave.

Actually I've been thinking about that all day. hahah, a solid axle would probably keep me going straight a little better. Right now it’s so nice with 32's/4.56 and the 422 cam. I've got all this gear which the engine loves to use.

Whatever I end up doing, I am going try to keep the gearing lower then you would want a stock 4.0. This cam likes the extra low-ness to pick up, and get up past 2k. So if I went with 33"s, I might want 4.88's to go with it. I don’t know, I got to get a better feel for the new engine, I'm still being very cautious with it.

With the 422 cam, the 4.0 likes to coast around 3k-3.5k rpms. This is probably where ill get the best gas mileage. I want to try this thing in low range, mahahah.

---
UPDATE: 07-18-06

Before I can start looking up places that dyno near me, I got a coolant leak I need to straighten out.

I drove (8 miles) to work yesterday without an issue, other then the exhaust leaks which were more annoying then anything. When I left work I drove (3 miles) to Advanced Auto to see if they had any oxygen sensor plugs. They didn’t have any thing that fit, but in the process I noticed a boiling stream of drips coming down one side of the motor.

It wasn’t a huge leak; I maybe lost a pint at most. I drove it home keeping a close eye on the temperature, and proceeded to find where it was leaking. It was leaking around the upper hose for the heater core, which is positioned atop the lower intake. I noticed the clamp on this hose seemed loose, maybe I forgot to tighten it down or it loosened up somehow, but I repositioned it closer to the intake and snugged it down real good.

Water pooled around pretty much everywhere on top of the lower intake. Not in any extreme amount as I didn’t experience a significant loss in coolant, like a half a pint or so (on top of the intake).

Today, I went looking for those plugs again when I heard the faint boiling sound. The engine was not overheating, it was actually running cooler then it has been. When I followed the sound I found it to be coming from a small pool of water a top the rear portion of the lower intake. I'm not sure if this is leftover water from yesterday, or if my lower intake has a hairline crack in it, but I'm going to remove the upper intake and the fuel rail and check out what’s going on back there.

I noticed that the rubber boot for the closest fuel injector in this area was practically melted; I don’t think the water caused this, i remember cleaning one of those boots (might of been this one) which kind of weakened it, the water might of just made it worse. Again I’m not sure if this water was standing over from the incident yesterday or if this is a new issue. We'll see. At the moment, the engine is running fine, if not better then it has been.

Does anyone know if those 'boots' are supposed to hold back water or something? The water appears to be leaking from around, or underneith the boot. When i mean boot, there is a peice of rubber surrounding the base of the injector. Are the injectors watercooled? I can't figure how how im getting water on top of the intake, when all the water passages and junctions are below this plane. So far, driving short distances doesnt cause the leak to appear, its when i drive some 20 miles or more.

 

[Creager]

So! It turns out that my boiling problem was not coolant afterall. It was boiling gasoline! I took off the upper intake and fuel rail to find that particular injector in peices. The body if it was fine, but the tip was cracked three ways and came out in chunks. The gas was leaking out around the injector body, heating up from the heat off the intake, and boiling. Talk about a close call. I replaced the injector and the problem was solved. I also got the exhaust leaks fixed, i noticed a light power increase with the exhaust sealed.

To the dyno? Maybe not quite yet... I drained the water and noticed a rainbow effect across it. I know tons of oil got in the water jackets when i was building the motor (constanty spraying down the cylinders with WD-40 and coating them with 10w-30), oil most likely entered through the water ports when i had the heads off. No biggy, im going to flush the water a few times this week and make sure everything is fine. As of yet, this thing is running pretty good.

 

[sn0border88]

Wow, you got really lucky. That could of been disaster. Odd how gasoline boils...

 

[Creager]

I talked to mom who has a degree in geological science or something like that, she was telling me that yes gasoline can boil, but its flashpoint is actually a lower tempature. Pretty scary!

On a side note, has anyone seen the different types of injectors that some places sell for these things? My factory injectors have a plastic tip with a needle for the nozzle. Napa sold a injector labeled for the explorer that had three holes (alighned like spider eyes) for a nozzel. Interesting enough, the reman'd injectors were $25 more then new ones. The new ones were the different style though, i was hesitant to put that on there.

Do you have a price and parts list since its all said and done now?

Check the first post

 

[Jefe]

On a side note, has anyone see the different types of injectors (nozzle) that some places sell for these things? My factory injectors have a plastic tip with a needle for the nozzle. Napa sold a injector labeled for the explorer that had three holes (alighned like spider eyes) for a nozzel.

that's the design that injectors are these days. I'm not sure they would even make the old style anymore. I'd also be worried about mismatched injectors as theres no guarantee they are flowing equally.

 

[catchup]

damn i just read this whole thing and it took me about a 1hr to look at all the pic with detail lol, man this is a great build up! but my questions are 0-60mph? what is your fuel mileage? 0-85mph?(since it only goes to 85), any guess on your horsepower?...i might start soon on my 4.0ohv build up, maybe not has crazy as yours but i hope to get 190-220whp

 

[Creager]

The fuel mileage I’ve gotten so far has been around 12.5 mpg =P But I’ve been WOT practically everywhere I’ve gone, which is actually pretty consistent to what my MPG was before when I dogged it around stock with just low gears. I’m expecting around 16-18 mpg when I finally calm down and let this sucker coast around. Horse power, there is no telling. It starts pulling real hard at 3000rpm. 5000 is overkill. This thing keeps 75mph so easy; I barely have to use the throttle to keep a constant speed. Before I swear I had to floor it to just get it to 75 and keep it there. Now, 1/4 throttle @ 3k rpms and the speedometer needle hustles past 75.

0-60 time and 0-85 time is incredible compared to before, a stock 4.0 cant even imagine; twice as peppy, if I say so myself. The other night I out-accelerated a stock Third Gen Sport on the highway. The guy was flying down I-85 @ 80mph, blowing past me. I was doing 70 at most; I got on it, caught up with him, and blew past him at a cruising speed of 90-95mph. I got up ahead slowed down to 75 and watched him get on it. Now, he was doing at least 95mph screaming that SOHC to catch me. I let him get 3-4 car lengths in behind me, dropped it in to forth, brought the engine up from ~4000 to 5000 and walked right past him as he tried to pass. This thing may be peppier than a stock SOHC, unless he really wasn’t getting on it, but it sure sounded like he was revving that sucker. Made me feel good =)

1st 0-35mph
2nd 35-50mph
3rd 50-75mph



I rev 3100rpm @ 75mph in OD. Around 3900 in 4th @75mph. The best RPM for the MPG is around probably 2600-3000. Stock that was 2200-2500. With all the mods combine, 2900-3100 feels right where the engine wants to be. The highest I’ve revved is 5500 so far, I don’t think it wants to go any higher, hehe, which reminds me I need to get an aftermarket tach.

This thing is going to be nasty on the trails; it is a beast in low range. Now, I can use all this gear I got. The low end suffered a little bit under 1500k rpms. But it’s got just as much torque, if not more above 1500k. After 2k it’s over, not contest. But it doesn’t matter, I can only notice the small loss in low end when I’m in 2H or 4H, it’s impossible to tell in low range, 5mph in low and I’m revving almost 3000rpms already. It does 5 mph by the time I got the clutch fully engaged. I wont even have a chance to notice the loss in low-end.

Dyno soon!

 

[aldive]

I have been following your build with great interest.

You are to be commended for one hell of a job.

 

[410Fortune]

Awesome, get yourself 6 new injectors, O rings and hats.
You think you are making enough power to upgrade to 24# injectors? Will require a new MAS or calibrate your MAS...not sure if the PCM needs a chip.

I know how it feels to get it running again, this 4.0L is nice!

Can I see some more pictures of your flaming river steering shaft? I believe one would solve some of the real close clearance issues I have with my headers and body lift...thanks!

nicely done!!

 

[95offroadx]

all i got to say is wow! i have been running ideas through my head on how to get more power, but it hasnt left the drawing board yet, but i cant wait to see the dyno sheets,

 

[Ronin8002]

your mileage should go up as the engine breaks in....and when you take some lead out of that right foot you should still be OK with 19# injectors unless you decide to add nitrous or something, but even then 19# might be OK since with Nitrous you'd be jacking up the fuel pressure for enrichment most likely. You've seen Jimmy's (8secsplash) truck, he's running an 65 shot with an Aeromotive A-1000 pump and huge fuel lines and is fine with 24# injectors, pushing about 300rwhp and over 400rwtq. On a stock computer also, by the way. Not that a tune would hurt in your case though, if you can get it.

Those pintle style injectors are supposed to be stronger against very high fuel pressures, but the disc style (w/ 3 holes) are supposed to give better fuel atomization. Either style should suit your purposes IMO.

Again, awesome build, glad everything is working out as advertised Wouldn't be surprised to see 180-200 rwhp and 250-280 rwtq.