Looking for a tutorial

[Rooster-Alpha]

Hello everyone,

I'm glad to find a community dedicated to the Explorer. I've had my '99 Sport since '03 it has 147,000 miles on it and is still going strong. I have done all of the maintenance myself and it has been a great learning experience. I didn't know anything about working on cars before, but since, I have learned a great deal and am looking forward to learning even more.

The reason for my joining these forums is that I am changing the water pump tomorrow and have never changed a water pump before. I was wondering if anyone here could point me in the direction of a good tutorial on this subject. Video would be great, but I'll take anything I can get. I have the 4.0 L OHV V-6 engine (least powerful i know but fine for what i need).

Thank you and I look forward to being a part of this community.

Rooster

 

[Rooster-Alpha]

I found the tutorial in the index of this site. Very helpful. If anyone knows of a video, however, that would be even better.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I have one on the 3.0L, but it's not finished yet. Here's the link: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219713

 

[Rooster-Alpha]

Thanks for the welcome. Wish i would had seen this before i started the job yesterday I'll be finishing up today with a radiator flush. It turns out my radiator is extremely rusty. I think this is probably what killed my last pump and stupid me didn't think to flush the thing before installing the new one. When i got the new one on last night it started squealing worse than the old one. I really hope i don't kill this one because i don't have the money to get another. All i know to do now is flush the living hell out of it and pray.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Rooster-Alpha]

Water pump

Am I going to kill my new water pump when i do this?

 

[Rooster-Alpha]

I took the new water pump off and flushed everything out with a garden hose until it ran clear. (Radiator, engine block, reservoir, everything) Until it ran clear enough to drink, no trace of even the slightest hint of rust at all. Then re-installed the new pump and lo and behold it still squeaks. So it obviously isn't the water pump. Not gonna worry about it though after 140,000+ miles it cant hurt to have a new one anyway.

I know it's not the p/s pump, and I'm about 80% sure it's not the compressor. So i guess my next step will be the idler pulley since it's the cheapest, and if that doesn't work, the alternator. It's just so damn hard to tell where this noise is coming from and the garden hose trick just isn't working.

 

[coonerboy]

Is the serpentine belt in good shape? I have had belts that looked good but caused squeaking noises. If you don't know the age of the belt, I would put a new one on. Also while you have the belt off, manually spin all of the accessories to see if you can replicate the noise.

Not sure if the 4.0 has this or not but the cam syncronizer or cam sensor has been a known problem for causing squeaking noises. Might be worth checking out.http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161590

Try to do a little more in the way of diagnosis. Throwing parts at it will not only lighten your wallett even more for installing unneeded parts, it will waste time and cause you undue frustration.

 

[Rooster-Alpha]

The belt is good. I tried spinning everything by hand numerous times to try and isolate the problem but just couldn't get it to make any sort of noise. The squeak is intermittent, so i don't think i can get things spinning fast enough for long enough by hand to replicate the conditions in which it is occurring. If only I were a machine My engine is the OHV so no cam to worry about.

If you know any other way to diagnose this though I'm all ears and tight on a dollar.

 

[coonerboy]

Read posting #14 of the link i provided. Looks like it would apply for the 4.0 OHV

 

[jlsparky7]

Dont have one for a water pump but have some others you might be interested in. Check the link in my signature.

 

[Rooster-Alpha]

Read posting #14 of the link i provided. Looks like it would apply for the 4.0 OHV

I can't tell. Is he is talking about the crankshaft position sensor? What part would the OHV have that is similar to the camshaft position sensor?

 

[thunderhorse]

With engine running and EXTREME care, use a long screw driver, put the blade end on the suspect part and the handle to your ear. You should be able to hear if a bearing is going bad. Or buy an auto stethoscope.

 

[coonerboy]

I can't tell. Is he is talking about the crankshaft position sensor? What part would the OHV have that is similar to the camshaft position sensor?

I did a little searching and it looks like the cam synchronizer is at the rear of the engine on a 4.0 OHV. Check near the rear of the lower intake manifold. Should be right there. Would be a good idea to pick up a stethescope. You can get 'em cheap at harbor freight. Good luck

And another thing, the cam synchro, and the cam sensor are parts that attach to each other. Think of the synchro as the distributor and the sensor as the cap and rotor.

 

[Rooster-Alpha]

lol, yeah i've tried that with a socket wrench and a garden hose now. No luck guess my ears aren't trained enough yet:

would probably be easier though with an auto stethoscope though. I'll see if i cant pick one up at harbor freight like you mentioned. I'll be driving right by it in a few minutes.

 

[Rooster-Alpha]

***Update***

Ok, so i'm fairly certain now that it IS coming from the back of the engine so that would indicate the cam sensor/synchronizer. The question I have is. There are two parts to this thing the top which as mentioned by coonerboy is is the sensor and the bottom which is the synchronizer.

Would i have to replace both? What is it that actually causes the squeal? Is is from the two not lining up properly for some reason or is it the synchronizer rubbing up against the cam? also, I read on the other thread linked to this one that it has to be aligned properly when installed, but saw no explanation as to how. So, how do I do that?

I'm probably in way over my head on this one but I don't have the $181 it would cost to have this done for me. Not to mention you don't learn to do things by paying people to do them for you.