Newbie here, just got '00 2dr Sport - milkshake included

[Bmore Xplore]

Hi yall! As mentioned I'm new and will be posting a hello in introduction forum soon. I just purchased a 2000 2dr Sport 2wd 4.0l w/ auto. It is completely stock with 133k. Truck is in great shape, perfect body & paint, like new interior, nwe tires on chrome rims. Honestly it looks like it could have just left the showroom floor. It was purchased new by an elderly gentleman and it's obvious he has taken very good care of it over the years.

Now the bad, yup you guessed it - dreaded coolant in the oil. I know this can only be only one of a couple reasons. I haven't gotten my hands on it yet and won't for roughly a week because I need to make some room for it at my house. Just trying to get a head start even though I'm pretty sure what is gonna need to be done . First thing I'm gonna due is run a compression check to verify it is a head gasket ( or head ). I've spent the last few days reading everything I could find on this forum as well as others and concensus seems to be bad factory design on the V6 heads and they are pro email to cracking and head gaskets are very prone to blowing. Another common issue seems to be the I take gaskets as well as the manifold prone to splitting ( I was already aware of the manifold issue from other Ford vehicles ).

I guess I'm looking for suggestions on purchasing new heads. I did note some suggestions on here about heads but I noticed a lot of the threads were very old and was wondering if any newer / better options availible. I think one I saw repeatedly was J & C? Another thing I was looking for some advice on was he manifold itself. Repair methods / reasonably priced replacements - not sure I want to drop $400 bucks on one and buying one used may not be that smart.

At this point it's all speculation till I can get my hands on it and run some tests but wanted to mention a couple things. In regards to the head gasket - upon start up from cold it ran very smooth, seemed not to have loss of power, and no smoke or fluids noticed out of the tail pipe. Might this be an indicator of it being an intake gasket as oposed to a head gasket? Any tips, suggestions, or anything else anyone would like to add before I jump into this would be much appreciated . I would like to get this back on the road as quickly and cheaply as possible. I don't mind spending money but with the age of this truck I Def don't want to drop a ton of money into it . I will be looking to do some basic stuff to it such as a system and a mild drop to it - something like a 2.5/4 static drop.

So this truck is in ,your neighborhood and has been for sale for over a year now. I think I called about it maybe 6 months ago and owner told me it needed a head gasket and I didn't want to mess with it at the time. I did notice the price was dropped several times over the last year so I decided to stop by and talk to the nice older gentleman again just to see where he was at now. Well to my surprise he told me I could have it for scrap value just because he didn't want to see it crushed. Well I couldn't turn that down and I now have me yet another project lol. I will keep the thread updated as I go and I'm sure once getting her back on the road I'll be here for some advice on the custom side. Thanks all and I look forward to participating and thanks for the add!

 

[ranger7ltr]

Please add a bit more info ...

First congrats on your new project!!! I understand that line of thought as I bought my 99 Explorer Sport to "play with" back in 2008...

But what engine do you have in her? It will either be the OHV or the SOHC 4.0 liter V6...Both are decent engines if not abused...

The OHV engine is an underpowered unit and will crack heads if overheated... Mine wasn't overheated but the PO did not do maintenance on it and the engine killed the oil pump due to sludge... And I still dropped the pan, cleaned the bottom end, replaced the pump and drove the truck for almost 50k miles before needing to do anything to the engine...

The SOHC engine is diefintely a more powerful engine in the Explorer but it does have its weak points. Specifically the timing chain/tensioner/guide setup for the cams...That engine has aluminum heads that will warp more than crack if overheated but neither are prone to coolant leaking if even kinda maintained...

Granted I built a new engine for my Ex in 2010 when I found a cylinder wear damage during a cylinder head swap but if I had not removed the heads on the original block I could STILL be driving the original engine right now... The compression on all cylinders was 150-160 psi even with the damage I found...And I too bought my heads from J & C and have done business with them for years...I have never had a problem with their heads...

I guess I would do a coolant pressure test first and see if you can determine where the coolant is coming from... A compression test would be next and when you remove the spark plugs you might find the coolant leak if there is indeed one into a cylinder...My biggest issue with this truck was a rusty gas tank due to it sitting for a couple of years with a half tank of fuel in it and the tank rusting and even cleaning, boiling out and coating with POR-15 did not help... I finally replaced the old tank with a brand new tank and the rust issues went away...

I have found that the lower intake gaskets can leak coolant and the upper gaskets will leak vacuum over time... I have replaced both during my using my Ex as a daily driver...But I never had a coolant leak into the engine on either engine...

And good luck with this project and post some pics of it... We all would like to see a clean 16 yr old Explorer...

 

[Mike65]

Bmore, if you have the 4.0 OHV in your Sport I just purchased NEW cylinder heads for my 00 Ranger 4.0 OHV from J&C Enterpries in West Virginia. They are new cylinder heads with more casting between the valves the the factory ones. I purchased them from their site on E Bay, they were $385.00 for the pair. I have had them on the engine for only about 200 miles but seem to be good. Here is the link; http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-4-0-FOR...ADS-/272208455756?vxp=mtr&hash=item3f60e3684c

 

[koda2000]

Coolant in the oil is a huge deal. It ruins the bearings. If you have the OHV engine you can replace the heads (assuming that's the problem) if it's the intake manifold gaskets that's not a big deal, if it's a cracked block (from freezing) it's junk.

If you have the SOHC engine, I'd look for a replacement engine.

 

[boominXplorer]

If it's a sohc I have seen the freeze plugs rust out from the inside. I saw an 03 that ran great with coolant in the oil. Took the heads to the machine shop and they found 2 of the freeze plugs under the cam were leaking coolant into the oil.

 

[Bmore Xplore]

Thanks for the responses and links guys. I'll have to check to see which motor I have. I wasn't aware they were both available in 2000, without knowing I was kinda thinking the sohc was in later model trucks. Good to know thanks. I think I'm gonna run the compression test first as I have a compression tester. I left my coolant tester at an ex's house and I ain't going there literally or figuratively lol. After running the comp test I'm gonna drain and fill the oil, flush and refill the coolant so I can try to gauge how bad the leak is. I'm thinking I should let it run at about 1500 rpm so the coolant system has some pressure? Also, if Intake gaskets are leaking will that be easily visible? Also an intake vacuum leak was mentioned, I think it would have a horrible idle when cold if that was the case no?