HELP !! Explorer dead in a puddle of coolant

[XLT Lou]

My 98 x with the 4.0 ohv overheated on the way home from work tonight,pulled over at a gas station and crawled underneath to find coolant spewing out of what I thought was the back of the water pump at the gasket. Picked up a new water pump and replaced it but the problem is the part of the engine behind the water pump ( what it mounts to ) is leaking. What is that Assembly called and can a average person replace it. Thanks in advance

 

[CAHUNTERMAN]

That would probably be the timing chain cover and yes you can replace the gaskets on it but it's a pain in the butt. I had the same leak and had to replace mine a year or so ago.

 

[XLT Lou]

Was yours the 4.0 ohv ?Was it just a matter of taking off the water pump then the timing chain cover or was there something tricky I need to know. Thanks

 

[CAHUNTERMAN]

Yes mine is a 99 4.0 OHV which should be the same. There is nothing real tricky just time to remove everything. You will need a puller to get the crankshaft damper (harmonic balancer) off. If you have a lot of miles on the engine you might want to consider replacing the timing chain while you are there.

 

[XLT Lou]

I can't get the balancer off !!!, I got the removal tool from Autozone and the M8-1.25-80mm bolts were to short so I picked up some 100mm one's(only 2 threaded holes in balancer and 1 larger un-threaded) but it won't come off and it's turning the crank(what am I f@#king up?) Any Ideas ????

 

[CAHUNTERMAN]

Maybe try tapping lightly and very carefully on the balancer with a small hammer while there is pressure from the puller applied. Also maybe spray some PB blaster between the balancer and the crank and let it soak a bit. I used an impact gun with my puller and the balancer pretty much just slid right off. Maybe someone else here has some better methods they can share.

 

[zonianbrat]

I have never torn down the front of a ford motor but i did pull apart the front of a Nissan motor. I am not meaning to speak down but you did pull the big center bolt holding on the blancer right? IF the motor is like the Nissan one then you dont want to turn that crank away from TDC if you are in fact changing the timing chain.

Hope I am not way off base, like I said I have not pulled apart a ford OHV engine before.

 

[XLT Lou]

After fighting it for 2 hour today the balancer came off , Got the timing chain cover off and found 2 things causing the leak,(The chain and tensioners looked fine) Pitting around the water inlet and a nice break in the gasket above the pitting. 2 questions, 1st-The pitting is just on the surface and has not gone thru the cover.Should I JB Weld it or will the RTV gasket maker I have fill it in. 2nd-How do you put the harmonic balancer back on, I'm not very keen to pounding on it with a hammer.

 

[CAHUNTERMAN]

Personally I wouldn’t use JB weld on anything but my kids toys. If the pitting isn’t too severe the RTV should seal it just fine. If it’s pretty severe I would replace the cover to be sure there won’t be any leaks after doing all that work. For installing the balancer, most of the time you can get it on far enough to get the bolt started and then just tighten the bolt to press it on the rest of the way. Some pullers are also designed to be used to install the balancer as well.

 

[XLT Lou]

Got it all back together today. No leaks or extra parts. Thanks for everyone's help.