Quick Question .. I am going to replace some gaskets

[mccoyxx]

Hello ... have a quick question for you all ... I recently acquired a 96 Explorer Sport with the 4.0 OHV engine. It has a bad miss and uses tons of gas, I have posted questions and came to the conclusion. It either has an upper intake leak, injector O-rings are shot or the fuel pressure reg. is bad. I am going to go ahead and replace the upper intake gasket and O-rings on the injectors first, then if it doesn't fix it I will go further. However here is my question. It has 151k miles on it ... should I go ahead since the upper intake is comin off and replace the head gasket too ? ... it doesn't appear to be leaking, however the other gaskets on the vehicle seem to be a bit rough. Is this much more of a job to do with the intake off on this engine ? ... any suggestions/tips will be greatly appreciated ... thanks ... RSM

 

[mustangexplorer]

well you could replace it but y fix it if it isnt broken, see if i would do that and i was gonna pull the heads off i would get new springs and lifters and rockers and port and polish the heads, and then i would think i might as well replace the timing chain and check the cam so then its like a whole top end rebuild, but its really your choice if your that far why not just do a top end rebuild it wont be too expensive and you will make the engine run better

 

[2000StreetRod]

compression & oil consumption

Do your exhaust gaskets leak? If you have good compression and low oil consumption I would not go any deeper than the intake manifold. There is a lot more work to get the heads off and more expense. You may end up breaking off exhaust studs. I doubt you're supposed to reuse head bolts. You have to pay for head and exhaust gaskets.

 

[mccoyxx]

OK ... was just curious

I agree with the "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" motto on some things. I just had to recently replace a head on my S-10 and know what a hassle it is to do that ... so was just wondering. ... OK ... well guess I will leave well enough alone for now ... I just knew that on the S-10 it wasn't that much more of a deal to do the head gasket once I had gotten that far. Wish me luck ... I think I may end up sinking a small fortune in this "deal" I got ... lol ... Thank you for your time and have a great day ... RSM

 

[mccoyxx]

Ohhhh

Also ... I am unsure if the exhaust gaskets leak ... my first impulse at a guess would be YES ...lol ... but I am not sure ... it appears that this vehicle was bought and driven until now without any type of maintenance at all ... I already changed the hubs,upper balljoints/control arms and lower ball joints. Put a new exhaust from the cat back, new rear O2 sensor,autolite platinum plugs and autolite professional wires and a cold air intake cheapie deal from ebay . Also I bought the stuff today to change the tranny filter and gasket and new fluid and some rear end fluid also .... all I know is the OBD 2 code scanner says it has misfire on cylinders 4 and 5 and its popping a MAF code and an O2 sensor code ... have a MAF I got on ebay for $30 ... gonna replace that n see if it helps ... it won't hardly run at all with the MAF plugged in and runs TERRIBLE until its hot and still runs really bad even then ... after it warms it smoothes out, but lacks a lot of power !! ... I mean its really really on its face almost always ... I don't think its a cylinder compression issue however, because every now and then it will kick in for a few seconds and run like a champ ... plenty of power for the few seconds it runs correctly ... also when I first start it there is a very noticeable popping sound from somewhere near the engine compartment ... is there any chance I could have a stopped up converter and it not be overheating or smelling ?? ... sounds almost like one of the tin pans u get and pop the popcorn in that has the foil top ... and it does that until it gets hot and then almost completely stops doing it after its warmed up good.

 

[96eb96]

Also ... I am unsure if the exhaust gaskets leak ... my first impulse at a guess would be YES ...lol ... but I am not sure ... it appears that this vehicle was bought and driven until now without any type of maintenance at all ... I already changed the hubs,upper balljoints/control arms and lower ball joints. Put a new exhaust from the cat back, new rear O2 sensor,autolite platinum plugs and autolite professional wires and a cold air intake cheapie deal from ebay . Also I bought the stuff today to change the tranny filter and gasket and new fluid and some rear end fluid also .... all I know is the OBD 2 code scanner says it has misfire on cylinders 4 and 5 and its popping a MAF code and an O2 sensor code ... have a MAF I got on ebay for $30 ... gonna replace that n see if it helps ... it won't hardly run at all with the MAF plugged in and runs TERRIBLE until its hot and still runs really bad even then ... after it warms it smoothes out, but lacks a lot of power !! ... I mean its really really on its face almost always ... I don't think its a cylinder compression issue however, because every now and then it will kick in for a few seconds and run like a champ ... plenty of power for the few seconds it runs correctly ... also when I first start it there is a very noticeable popping sound from somewhere near the engine compartment ... is there any chance I could have a stopped up converter and it not be overheating or smelling ?? ... sounds almost like one of the tin pans u get and pop the popcorn in that has the foil top ... and it does that until it gets hot and then almost completely stops doing it after its warmed up good.

You can clean the MAF, I would also clean the used one too. Get a gray can of MAF cleaner.

The noise could be the catalytic converter heat shields, just get a nice big worm clamp or two at lowes or home depot.

I wouldn't do heads if there is good compression, but the lower intake may be a good idea. Usually you will be losing coolant/smelling if that is bad.

 

[2000StreetRod]

MAF clean & test?

Did you ever clean and test your MAF sensor like I suggested?

 

[mccoyxx]

I did take it apart and it was as clean as new ... I cleaned it and replaced it anyways and its still giving a code

 

[2000StreetRod]

New MAF

Maybe your new MAF sensor will help. I hope so. If not, don't give up until your vehicle runs like it should!

 

[mccoyxx]

me give up ? ... No Way !!

I'll get it fixed ... I also forgot to mention that I purchased a new Stant gas cap today ... the one it had on it was locking and it just didn't feel quite right when you screw it back on .. well it appears to be running much more consistent now on the highway , but is still not firing on all cylinders. I haven't tried to run it cold yet and see if it made a change. Just thought I'd share.