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Head Gasket change on '93 Ranger 4 liter 4wd automatic

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sunrse777

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February 13, 2007
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City, State
New York
Year, Model & Trim Level
'91 XLT Supercab 4X4
I have the blown head gasket symptom.... bubbling into the coolant overflow tankk and overheating ...... plus rough idle.... no coolant in oil or oil in coolant thankfully!!!! I am pretty sure its the right side headgasket, so I am going to pull that head.... Any pointers on do's and don'ts on this procedure for this engine ?? Thanks in advance.... :rangertan:
 



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Leave the fuel rail connected to the lower intake. It makes life much easier..

If you can, get the rubber valve cover gaskets intead of cork. Same with the lower intake gasket, get the metal/rubber one (I got my valve cover and lower intake gaskets from fastpartsnetwork.com).

If you have never had your exhaust off the heads, start spraying them with penetrating oil now.

Even if you find issues with the head gaskets, get the heads checked. It is pretty common for the 4.0 heads to crack and you don't want to figure it out after you have it all back together.

Also, the head bolts are torque to yield with a torx head. That means go buy another set of bolts and make sure you have a good torx bit for you 1/2 drive ratchet and torque wrench.

Thats what comes to mind right now...

~Mark
 






Thanks Maniak..... If anything else comes to mind, let me know......
 






This could be me in a few weeks if I get that 93.... do a compression test before you strip everything down....


Si
 






Check your thermostat, sounds like it might not be operating correctly, try checking your waterpu,p also. Here is a trick you can try, the next time you are overheating, pull off the intake tube and see if their is any steam coming out. I had cracked heads and this was the only way to tell, I barely had enough coolant in the oil to show up on the dipstick.
 






Thanks BlakeofDoom ..... already changed the thermostat. Will check the watrpump next before resorting to pulling the heads. Actually, I will do a compression test before that..... Does anyone know on the 4 liter heads, where the typical area is that they are most prone to crack ??
 






Out of the 4 cracked heads I've had I have seen them cracked in different places (some had multiple cracks)

Between the valves (had them pinned)
Shoulder at the back of the head (raised round part on the top of the head, under the valve cover).
Between water jackets.

~Mark
 






Compression test results before starting job .....

Cylinder#1 = 125psi 2 = 125 3 = 135 4 = 0 !!! 5 = 150 6 = 165.....
Tried #4 again after squirting in some oil ... still 0 .... probably bad valve ...
Will be pulling heads soon .....
 






How to disconnect fuel lines from fuel rail??

I'm taking everything off this 4.0 Liter to get to the heads. I'm down to the lower intake manifold and I am wondering how do I disconnect the two fuel lines ? When I start to turn the one in the front off, the hose wants to twist with the fitting. Is the fitting just stuck and will spin if I soak it with PB Blaster ?? Or do I even need to take these fittings off?? Can I raise the intake manifold far enoungh to be able to get the heads off and clean the gasket surfaces without removing them ?? Can anyone that has been thru this before give me some pointers ??? Thanks...
 






The end of the fuel line (the part you put the wrench on) should spin on the line. it sounds like its corroded or just stuck.

You will need to pull the lower intake off, getting the heads off and getting everything clean will be a real pain if you leave the intake in the way. You can leave the lower intake and fuel rail connected together. It will actually make things easier as you won't have to try to get all the injectors lines up and fuel rail reconnected if you don't take the fuel rail off in the first place.

~Mark
 






One head at a time ...... ??

Thanks Maniak ...:thumbsup: that's what I figured,, the fitting is just corroded so that it won't spin... I'll soak it and try to free it up... I just wanted to make sure, first time I've had to dig down into this engine.....
Based on the compression on the right bank (1,2,3 ) .. I am taking left side head off first.... depending what I find will determine if I take the right side off or not....... Would you just do both heads even with what I found for compression ( see post above ) .?? Thanks...
 






I would pull both heads and get them tested/fixed even though you got good compression on 1-3. Its possible they are cracked, but not bad enough yet. Since you have to buy a gasket set anyway (and head bolt set) might as well get the other side checked/fixed ahead of time.

BTW.. I am assuming 1,2,3 is on the right side (passenger side) and 4,5,6, is the drivers side. Many people get it backwards (I was one of them for a bunch of years)..

The 0 pressure on #4 is odd.. even a cracked head will normally still give you some compression. Its got to be one heck of a crack/break to get it down to 0.

~Mark
 






Maniak- Yes,, 1-2-3 are the right (passenger side). I will pull both heads.. Have you purchased rebuilt heads or gaskets lately ? Just wondering which gaskets seem to work best,, Fel-Pro ? And if there is a good place online to buy reliably rebuilt heads..
As far as the number 4 cylinder.... I think it's a pre-existing valve problem.. I will know once I get the head off... Thanks
 






I used a felpro head gasket set, but then also bought a set of Ford rubber/metal valve cover gaskets and lower intake gasket. I didn't want the paper/cork stuff there..

I got those parts (rubber/metal intake and rubber valve cover gaskets) from Torrie as fastpartsnetwork (an EF vendor).

I ended up using a local machine shop to clean up and fix my heads as I tried getting a set of rebuilts from a place in Phx called Bills cylinder head exchange. But the heads from Bills sucked. The 1st set was cracked and excuse I got was that they had misplaced the test plugs so they were tested. Bill's cylinder head exchange will never get any business from me again.

I've heard of people buying new heads from alabama cyl head, but I have no experience with them. I "think" those are new castings too.

~Mark
 






Gasket types..... Ford vs FelPro

Maniak- I looked on the fastpartsnetwork site for the intake and valvecover gaskets, but only saw an engine overhaul gasket set for the '93 4.0L. Do they sell the intake and valvecover sets separate ? And did you use the Felpro head gaskets because you or others have had better success with those ?? Felpro has what they call PermaDryPlus vavlecover and intake gaskets .... ever heard of those ? :rangerred:
Thanks.....
 












I only went with felpro because it was what I could get locally. As for the individual gaskets from Torrie, I sent him an email through fastpartsnetwork (might have sent a pm, I can't remember) and told him what I was looking for.

I then ordered through him..

I've seen those other felpro (dry) gaskets recently when I was looking for some for the 460 motor but I didn't look into them much.

~Mark
 






I got a great set of heads from a place in ca for 192 ea complete. They looked really good. In fact, they looked exactly like a set of factory heads. They said they were factory heads that they got from a place in china through a network called worldTrade or something where you place buy or sell bids on an international network.
Dunno, but just blew a gasket and/or warped a head as I have a fouled #5 and bubbling coolant so when I get them off and inspected I'll let you know how they held up. Should have em off by 11/ 08 sunday pm
 






what is "torque to yield"? Is this different than other typical torque -ing processes?
 



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When installing the head bolts, the last and final torque down you do isn't to a certain ft lbs. You actually turn the bolt 85 degrees. They do this because these bolts stretch, which is why your "supposed" to throw them away after using them once.

~Mark
 






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