MAYBE another broken valve spring???

[2manymustangs]

2002 Explorer sport track 4.0 SOHC

Well, after a leisurely drive to Denver and back to St Louis I was planning my next oil change (have switched to Valvoline full synthetic).

I drove around for a few hours on Saturday putting around and to my surprise I came up with a flashing CHECK ENGINE light.

Codes are 304 and 316 if I remember correctly which comes up to Cyl 4 misfire.

The engine lopes at an idle and is acting the same way it did two years ago when the #6 cyl exhaust valve spring broke (right in the middle). Compression test yields little or no compression and I can feel a light pulse in/out when the engines runs and I hold my finger over the end of the compression tester hose.

Im pulling it apart tonight.

Any input on valve spring issues would be appreciated. It has been running great since the last valve spring issue about 40K miles ago. I dont tow much at all and the car gets driven very adult like... Im at 150K miles presently...

 

[2manymustangs]

Confirmed...

Another broken valve spring...

Last time Cyl 6, this time Cyl 4...

When I did the repair previously I did check to ensure that all of the lobes/followers were oiling properly...

The million dollar question is why exhaust valve springs both times???

If anyone knows a trick to replacing the spring/retainer/keepers WITHOUT the service tool I would be most apreciative of the input...

Bruce...

 

[janolsson]

Hey bruce
This is how i did it

I used 1/2 an old pair of grips that i shaved a little with my grinder. I bolted something across the head to lever against. It was a bit fiddley as i was only depressing one side of the spring. Using one hand to depress i caught the collets with a magnet on a stick.

 

[2manymustangs]

Hey bruce
This is how i did it

I used 1/2 an old pair of grips that i shaved a little with my grinder. I bolted something across the head to lever against. It was a bit fiddley as i was only depressing one side of the spring. Using one hand to depress i caught the collets with a magnet on a stick.

TY for the photo sir, nice work! You must have a very steady hand and nimble fingers...

I have been working from the bottom side with my lever (under the bottom of the cam) so that the spring is fully exposed. I gave up with this approach last night when I nearly lost the second keeper down into the front timing chain passage. I called in a favor and borrowed the service tool from a local ford dealer (through a mechanic friend). If the tool works properly I may buy one and change out all of the springs IF I encounter this a THIRD time... I have been lucky thus far and havent enocountered anything more than the spring breaking...

Thanks again for your photo!

 

[2manymustangs]

Well, my sport track is back together and running as smooth as ever.

I did manage to get the ford service tool for this repair (valve spring compressor) however I was NOT able to use it to get the retainer in place, it shrouds the valve step too closely and there is no way to get the retainers in place. I used a open end wrench (taped up with electrical tape to protect the cam lobe) and was able to coat the retainers with grease to make them stick to the valve stem. I worked them in one at a time while I had the piston at BOTTOM dead center and an air hose from my compressor to the spark plug hole (to hold the valve in place).

I did use the ford service tool to get the cam follower back into place.

Coating the grooves on the valve AND the retainers was the trick to making the retainers cooperate. Even on the end of a stick magnet the retainers had a mind of their own UNTIL I coated them with sticky molly grease.

CAUTION!!!!!!!!! When using a lever OR the service tool to compress the spring and install the cam follower go very slow and use the tip of a screwdriver OR such to push the valve down along with the spring. I suppose since I had the grease on the spring retainers it didnt wedge and bind together. As I compressed the spring I noticed that the valve didnt want to move down so I had to push the valve down as the spring was being compressed... (and yes, before you ask, the compressed air was already REMOVED)...

One note that I would add about oil/oil changes... I switched to Valvoline full synthetic about 15k miles ago and much to my surprise, when I opened the engine I noticed that it is much cleaner looking inside the head/valve cover with NO sludge whatsoever at 150K + miles...

 

[rsblaha]

New member here... I have a 2006 Explorer XLT 4.0. Got it two weeks ago in a trade in. Last week got a check engine light after a 52 mile trip. Did not go on with the return trip. Took it to Ford service. They told me it was a mifire code. They compression tested it and and found no cracked plugs or compression issues. They thought it may be a broken valve spring. They stopped there because I have no warranty as it was an "as is" deal. I wish to know probable causes for the engine light. Vehicle has new plugs and wires and has 53K miles. Runs smooth but sometimes shakes a little while waiting for a red light. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[2manymustangs]

Sounds about right....

Get a compression tester and see if you have anything on the cyl that gives the misfire...

DONT keep driving the car or very bad things could happen... In my case the springs stayed in place and apparently were just letting the valve float enough to contaminate the combustion mixture and cause a misfire...

The spring is about $4.00 but the labor/time to fix it is, well... Pure hell...

The compression tester fittings can be used to fill the cyl with compressed air (direct connection to your air compressor) and keep the valve in place while you VERY carefully change the spring...

Pack all of the areas on the head with paper towels to prevent the keepers from falling down into the engine when your trying to replace the keepers...

I ended up using a large open end wrench (15 mm or so) that is taped up with electrical tape to prevent scarring of the cam... Just use that as a lever against the cam to compress the valve spring...

I coated the end of the valve and the keepers with grease to make the keepers STICK into place when changing them... Its a real *****...

remember to pack all voids on the head to keep from loosing the keeper down into the engine...

I think in both cases my springs broke when towing and the engine downshifted hard (going over 4,000 RPM)...

With the grease on the keepers they wont bind up like you would expect them to so be very careful when putting the rocker back into place, you may have to push the valve back down into the engine by hand (carefully/slowly). THe compressed air comes off as soon as you have the keepers back in place, otherwise you cant compress the valve spring to get the rocker/cam follower back into position...

Dont bother with the ford service tool, it works good for takeing the rocker in/out but its no good for the valve spring keeper replacement...

reply back if you have more questions...