SOHC Engine Removal/Rebuild/Install - Done!

[koda2000]

I might keep the balance shaft going if you have the parts, and time it properly. I didn't pay the extra $75ish for the bigger kit to get those, so I plan to cut the chain on mine.

The balance shaft tensioner is very fragile, my OEM one broke on it's own at some point while I took the rest apart. It was intact when I first got the timing cover off(77,450 miles), but I noticed the tensioner(little spring steel part) broken and on the floor a day later before I unbolted anything in there. My balance shaft was way out of time too, no idea how it got that way. It was a pain to re-time it as I recall, it was a few revolutions out to get it back close and line up the dots/marks.

Yeah I'm familiar with timing the balance shaft. My balance shaft tensioner also broke. I found the spring in the oil pan. I'll probably just leave the balance shaft chain off. I don't see a Motorcraft TC kit that omits the balance shaft parts, or I'd just buy one w/out it.

 

[koda2000]

Update 3/8/20:
Today was a pretty nice day, around 60 degrees and sunny. I decided to get the hose out and start cleaning up my engine. I was particularly concerned with cleaning up the front timing chain area and the rear cassette area. These engines seem to really build up a lot of grime in these areas. I also removed the jack-shaft and found more broken pieces of rear cassette guide. I'm satisfied with how clean the block is now and the last piece I have yet to remove from the block is the oil pump.

Here's a few pics of what the engine looked like when I first took it apart (Gross!). Later today I'll post pics of what it looks like now.

 

[dfkimbro]

I looked at the pictures before I read the last line of your post, and I was thinking “wow that doesn’t look so great for the after photos!”. Of course, it made a lot more sense when I read that last line. I’m looking forward to seeing how it looks after you’ve cleaned it up.

 

[koda2000]

Here's the after cleanup pics...

 

[dfkimbro]

Looks much better!

Your dog doesn’t look real happy about it, though!

 

[koda2000]

Looks much better!

Your dog doesn’t look real happy about it, though!

She'd only be happy if the engine was made out of cheese...

 

[dfkimbro]

She'd only be happy if the engine was made out of cheese...

I actually laughed out loud at that. Thanks for the good laugh! I needed that tonight.

 

[donalds]

Looking good

 

[koda2000]

I pulled the oil pump today and cleaned it up. I'm going to take it apart and check it for signs of wear. The jack-shaft bearings looked very good, so I'm curious to see is any crap got into the oil pump and scratched the surface. I was a little surprised that the oil pump was bolted directly to the block w/out a gasket. Both surfaces are machined so I don't suppose much oil would leak and even if some did, there's no place for it to go except back into the oil pan. IIRC I've seen other oil pumps mounted w/out a gasket. I thought I saw a gasket in the Fel-Pro full engine set, but I haven't opened that box yet. If the oil pump still looks good inside I may not bother removing the rod and journal caps to check for bearing wear. I still plan on installing a new OE oil pump though. I also checked the block decks with a straight edge and my thinnest feeler gauge and they look. I guess I need to order my timing chain set soon and start getting the engine back together.

Update:
I ordered my new OE oil pump today. I also took my old oil pump apart and check it for wear. It had a lot of scoring inside. If you've ever dropped the lower oil pan on an older SOHC and found a gritty substance in the bottom of the pan (it looks and feels like sand) that's what destroys the oil pump. The substance is actually particles caused by the timing chains slapping around (a bit like a chainsaw). Fortunately after the grit chews up the oil pump its next stop is the oil filter, which catches any partials before they can make it to the engine's bearings.

It's back to raining daily for the foreseeable future, so there will not be much progress made this week.

 

[koda2000]

Update 3/10:
I ordered my new OE oil pump today. I also took my old oil pump apart and check it for wear. It had a lot of scoring inside. If you've ever dropped the lower oil pan on an older SOHC and found a gritty substance in the bottom of the pan (it looks and feels like sand) that's what destroys the oil pump. The substance is actually particles caused by the timing chains slapping around (a bit like a chainsaw). Fortunately after the grit chews up the oil pump its next stop is the oil filter, which catches any partials before they can make it to the engine's bearings.

It's back to raining daily for the foreseeable future, so there will not be much progress made this week.

Today's Update 3/13:
New OE oil pump arriving today, along with some other parts I've ordered. Still raining with no sign of ending anytime soon.
I'm going to try to keep cleaning parts in between the raindrops. I just found out that my grandson's school is going to be closed for the next 2 weeks (Corona virus hysteria) so that's going to put a huge crimp in my schedule. Who knows what they'll decide to do in 2 weeks.

 

[ptf18]

Koda...ptf18 here...been following your "journey" of this engine rebuild. Thanks for the pictures...sometimes worth a million words. As for your grandson..... I'd put him to work helping Grandpa. Heck even if he does more standing around, just watching its all quality time. If he gets bored you can always talk about....girls. Keep up the good work. I'd be interested in seeing the transmission torn down and rebuilt.

 

[koda2000]

Koda...ptf18 here...been following your "journey" of this engine rebuild. Thanks for the pictures...sometimes worth a million words. As for your grandson..... I'd put him to work helping Grandpa. Heck even if he does more standing around, just watching its all quality time. If he gets bored you can always talk about....girls. Keep up the good work. I'd be interested in seeing the transmission torn down and rebuilt.

Unfortunately I've found I can't do much of anything with my grandson underfoot. He's hyperactive and talks non-stop, which would make it impossible for me to considerate on anything complicated and he would likely just loose or break stuff. Plus while he's out of school he needs to be home-schooled and they may decide to extend the period the schools are closed. As far as talking to him about girls... he's 7 so he still thinks all girls have cooties... LOL.

Regarding my transmission, I've decided to leave that for after the engine is done, back in and running well before I deal with the trans. Other than the reverse band slipping on steep grades it's always shifted perfectly in the forward gears.

 

[koda2000]

Update (of a sort):

I cleaned up some greasy engine parts before it started raining today.

I received my new OE oil pump and my OE oil pressure switch today's mail.

I found a pre-owned OTC 6488 cam alignment tool kit on eBay for a good price w/free shipping, so I bought it. I will be reselling it when I'm done with it.

Now I just need to order my Ford OE timing chain kit and stuff can start going back together.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Unfortunately I've found I can't do much of anything with my grandson underfoot. He's hyperactive and talks non-stop, which would make it impossible for me to considerate on anything complicated and he would likely just loose or break stuff. Plus while he's out of school he needs to be home-schooled and they may decide to extend the period the schools are closed. As far as talking to him about girls... he's 7 so he still thinks all girls have cooties... LOL.

Regarding my transmission, I've decided to leave that for after the engine is done, back in and running well before I deal with the trans. Other than the reverse band slipping on steep grades it's always shifted perfectly in the forward gears.

@koda2000

^^^^ best Grandpa ever.... some day the little Koda will be driving around in a Ford Explorer Gen 25, telling his kids about watching his Grandfather fix up the old Explorer Gen 2. And the young Koda will do all of his wrench work.

Well done.

 

[koda2000]

Update:
Received my OTC torque-angle gauge in Tuesday's mail and my pre-owned OTC 6488 cam timing tool kit yesterday. Also picked up a fresh tube of Permatex Ultra Black RTV for sealing necessary parts. I also received my new OE oil pressure switch and Ford OE oil pump last week, if I haven't mentioned those already.

I just submitted a RockAuto order for a a bunch of stuff I will need...
- Motorcraft radiator fan (my cracks have reached the point where I don't trust my old fan not to explode)
- Motorcraft oil filler cap (mine was impossible to remove w/out removing the neck it attaches to, due to a swollen O-ring)
- Wix oil filter (RA has a great price on Motorcraft FL820S filters @ $2.99, but you have to by a case of 12)
- W/P bypass hose
- Power steering pressure hose (my old one leaked a little)
- Motorcraft thermostat (old one, which wasn't that old, had seen the high-side of the temp gauge several times in it's final days
- Ford hydraulic timing chain tensioner gasket/washer

I also ordered an inexpensive 1/76" Allen socket to torque upper engine girdle stand-offs (how is it I didn't already have one of these?) and an inexpensive 29mm 6pt 1/2" socket to hold the crankshaft while torquing my TTY jack-shaft bolts ($11 vs $97+ for the Ford tool).

Edit: I later discovered that I did already have a 7/16" Allen socket. Now I have 2. Oh well, it was only $2.88.

I'm holding off on ordering my $525+) Motorcraft timing set until I see if I survive Covid-19. Other than that the only other things on my list of stuff to be ordered at this point are...
- Metal t-stat housing
- Pre-oiler system
- A/C high pressure hose assembly (mine seeps oil)
- A/C vacuum pump
- Group 65 battery (my old one was whooped and needed to be replaced when the ST was taken of the road 1.5 years ago)

Maybe the Federal government will send me a stimulant check soon so I can pay for my timing chain set ???

 

[koda2000]

So I picked up the 29mm 6 pt socket I ordered (on fordtechmakuloco's recommendation) to hold my crankshaft while torquing my jack shaft bolts. The problem is it doesn't fit! It's too small. IDK if maybe a 30mm size would work (it's not like measuring for a bolt as you're looking for something to fit over the crankshaft and lock onto the harmonic balancer's key. I don't want to have to buy/make a tool for this purpose, though the $70-$100+ special wrench would be the best way of holding the jack shaft (image below).

Edit: 29mm socket was too small, 30mm socket was to big...

Any suggestions?
Using my digital caliper I measured from the crankshaft's rounded bottom to the top of the HB key and got approximately 30.34mm. I'm returning the 29mm 6-pt socket and have ordered a 30mm 6-pt. I'm hopeful the 30mm will work, but I'm not convinced that it will. We shall see. If suppose if I decide to buy the special jack shaft wrench I can resell it along with the cam timing set. I'm still thinking about making my own too like YouTub'er curzroy did.

 

[donalds]

Carnage keep it up

 

[koda2000]

Update:
I think I found a tool I can easily make that can be used to hold the jack shaft by its front sprocket while I torque its front and rear bolts to spec. It's a scissor design made out of a long arm and a short arm with a bolt in it's approx center, which acts as the fulcrum. On the ends of each arm is a second bolt that you can cover with a short length of PEX tubing to act as a cushion. You then place the protected bolts through two of the holes in the jack shaft's large front sprocket and find a place to either attach or brace the longer arm of the tool to lock it in place.

This tool would allow me to torque the front and rear TTY jack shaft bolts w/out putting any strain on the new jack shaft chain. I think I like this method even better than holding the crankshaft with a socket. Now I just need to pick up some flat stock, three 3/8" nuts, bolts and washers and make my tool. I'm pretty sure this will only cost me a few dollars to make (with no welding required) and then I'll return the 29mm and 30mm 6-pt sockets I've purchased. The more I thought about it the more I convinced myself that there was no way I was going to spend $100 on the stupid wrench to hold the rear jack shaft sprocket.

Thanks for the idea @cruzroy.

 

[koda2000]

Update 3/22:
Kind of a crappy day out today. I didn't feel like working outside cleaning parts. I'd already given my engine cradle/upper oil pan a cleaning last fall, but I wasn't totally happy with it. It's a hard part to clean with lots of nooks and crannies. I decided to remove the stand-offs (the thing's that screw in and get torqued to 27 inch pounds against the cranks's main caps for support) and clean them up. They were amazingly gross as well as were the threaded holes in the cradle they screw into. I then brought them inside to the laundry room sink and scrubbed everything out w/Purple Power using an assortment of parts and tooth brushes. When I was happy that I'd gotten everything as clean as possible I rinsed/sprayed everything down with super hot water, dried everything and coated the threaded steel stand-offs with WD40, screwed them in all the way, bagged the cradle and put it into the growing pile of cleaned parts.

North GA has just started pine-pollen season, which lasts a couple of weeks, and we're also supposed to get about 3+ days of rain this week (which is good because it washes away the pine pollen). RockAuto parts are supposed to be arriving tomorrow and I'll see if I want to clean any other dirty parts in the sink. All the remaining grimy parts are engine peripheral stuff in nature, so no huge rush on them. Maybe I'll pull the cams off my reman'd heads and pre-lube the bearings and valve tappets/lifters. I also want to blow air through the oil sprayers to make sure the oils holes are clear. They should be fine, but it never hurts to check stuff and torque the cam caps.

Small victories...

Here are some pics of just some of my parts. The Sport Trac's interior is holding the remainder.

I'm also considering painting my engine block. I'll have to see what colors I have of VHT. Chevy orange maybe?

 

[koda2000]

pics added to previous post