SOHC Engine Removal/Rebuild/Install - Done!

[donalds]

He'll yeah
If I can be of any help just ask I have been following along good reading

 

[koda2000]

I should add big thanks to those who provided information and their experience. It made a lousy job much easier.

@david4451 (a special thanks for your contribution)
@410Fortune
@Tech By Trade
@1.8TTony
@allmyEXes
@donalds

 

[koda2000]

Bit of an update:
It's been a while since I've updated this thread, but I expect to be getting a clean bill of health w/in the next few weeks and that should coincide with the return of nicer weather in GA, so I'm beginning to start thinking about my SOHC rebuild project.

I just spoke to a machine shop specializing in cylinder heads, which is located about 45 mins south of me, regarding getting my cylinder heads checked out. Hopefully resurfacing is all that will be required. I will first be stripping them down and checking the valve/valve seats, though I'm not expecting any issues with the valves because the engine has always run very strong. I was quoted $300 to have both the heads boiled, pressure tested for cracks and resurfaced. This seems reasonable to me. If I want the valves vacuum tested it's another $30 per head. Hopefully the heads are savable (we'll see). I was expecting it to be fairly obvious as to where the head gasket had blown, but I really can't tell much. If I had to guess I'd say its between cylinders 4 and 5 because I had been getting a cyl 4 misfire (only on cold start) and the #4 and #5 piston tops are a bit cleaner than the other cylinders. All 6 spark plugs looked pretty much the same and normal The head gaskets (being MLS) showed no obvious signs being blown/leaking.

I wish I knew if this is the original engine to this truck. I saw no obvious sign that the engine had ever been out of the truck, but being it is a 4x4 type balance shaft engine in a 2WD I wonder. For a 200,000+ mile engine the cylinder bores look fantastic, have no ring ridge at the top and the cylinder hone marks are still apparent.

My next post will be to let you know what the machine shop finds.

 

[koda2000]

Update 2/11/20:
The weather in north GA has been crazy! Saturday it snowed 3+ inches and was around 30 degrees. Sunday it warmed up to the mid 40's and most of the snow melted. Yesterday it remained in the mid 40's and it poured rain all day (to the point where there were flash flood warnings and they even closed the schools today). Right now it's in the 70's, cloudy and super humid. Next 2 days it's supposed to rain again, colder with sun Fri and Sat, then more rain for Sun and Mon.

I had a little time today to start disassembling my heads. Beginning with the driver's side head, I removed the roller rockers/cam followers and the rocker guides, removed the cam shaft journals, cam shaft and oil sprayer. Then I broke up the 2 remaining plastic injector seals and removed the pieces. The process was easy with the proper valve spring compression tool and a magnet. So that head is ready for the machine shop. The passenger side head will be next. I am being very careful to keep all the pieces in the order in which they were removed. I will bag and mark each piece's location and direction as required to assure they all go back where they belong during reassembly. I also plan to fill the head's combustion chambers with a little gasoline to make sure the valves are sealing.

I'm concerned about the 1/2 tank + of 10% ethanol gasoline that's been in my fuel tank for about a year now. I'd put Sta-Bil in it, but I wasn't planning on it being a year + before I would have the engine running again. I've never been able to siphon the fuel tank on my Sport Trac. I think the ST has a screen in the filler neck, which prevents a siphon hose from getting into the tank. As I see it my choices are to hot wire the fuel pump to drain the tank or pull the fill hose off the tank and insert a siphon hose or drop and drain the tank. I think I'm looking at about 12 gallons of fuel. If the fuel is still viable I'll use it in my tractor, if not I'll need to dispose of it in an environmentally responsible way. Any suggestions?

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Pulling the fill hose and removing the fuel from that point sounds easiest.

Good luck.

 

[CDW6212R]

Hot wiring the pump is best if you have a strong battery and/or charger to feed it. It's not fast but similar to siphoning a tank.

 

[koda2000]

Update 02/12/20:
Today I stripped down the passenger side head. It went much quicker now that I've done it once. Probably took me 15-20 mins. I plan to bring the heads in to cylinder head shop next week.

One odd thing I saw is that one valve had rust on its back side. I think it was the cyl #3 exhaust valve. All the other valves looked very good, black but with no carbon build-up or ash. The truck did sit outside for many months with the intake and exhaust header's off. Maybe the rust was caused by this valve being open, but I don't believe any water got into the engine, as it had plastic over it, the intake ports had towels stuff in them and the hood was on... ? IDK. The piston for cyl #3 and the #3 spark plug and combustion chamber look good and just the same as cylinders #1 and #2. I'll see what the shop thinks.

I wish the weather was nicer. I have a ton of parts cleaning I'd like to start on. Some of the smaller stuff I'm thinking about doing in my laundry room sink.

 

[koda2000]

Head's going into the shop tomorrow AM. Finger's crossed they can be saved.

 

[koda2000]

Bad news. Both my heads are junk. They found 3 cracks in one and 1 crack in the other, but they have a reman'd set in stock. They come with a 6-month/unlimited mileage warranty and they will only cost me $300 more than having my old heads refurbed, which is a lot cheaper than getting remans from the auto parts store or RockAuto. I'd have thought it was rare for aluminum heads to crack, but it does explain a few things. I told them I want to see the cracks before buying their remans.

Oh well. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as nothing is ever easy on this truck. I think it's just cursed. Things like this were the reason I had originally said that I didn't think this engine would not be a good candidate for rebuilding. Hopefully there wont be any other expensive surprises on this journey.

 

[donalds]

Cracked aluminum heads I haven't seen that yet

 

[koda2000]

Cracked aluminum heads I haven't seen that yet

Me either. I guess the previous owner must have overheated the crap out of it. I know that it's never been overheated in the 5 years I was driving it.

 

[donalds]

Me either. I guess the previous owner must have overheated the crap out of it. I know that it's never been overheated in the 5 years I was driving it.

Dam drove it with cracked heads and broken guide s that gives me a tiny bit more respect for that engine A LITTLE. Lmao

 

[CDW6212R]

Good catch though on the heads, smart to have them checked thoroughly to start with. I wonder how often the SOHC heads will crack, and if it's just heat that would do it. I had two overheating issues with my SOHC, one was 270* I recall when the electric fan was disabled(marine circuit breaker tripped by washing the engine the day before). Both of my issues I caught early, and lost between a quart and less than a two liter, each time. I never saw issues after those two events, but it did trip the thermostat(fully open) both times.

Hopefully that SOHC will now be good for a solid 100-150k miles when you get it back in.

 

[koda2000]

I'm now making plans to load and fire the "parts cannon" for the first time. It took me quite a bit of research, but it appears the best quality, most complete gasket set I can find is the Fel-Pro 2601898 - which lists for $302.99. It includes the the things pictured below... I've attempted to paste the pic below. Let me know if you can't see it and I'll try something else.

 

[donalds]

I'm now making plans to load and fire the "parts cannon" for the first time. It took me quite a bit of research, but it appears the best quality, most complete gasket set I can find is the Fel-Pro 2601898 - which lists for $302.99. It includes the the things pictured below... I've attempted to paste the pic below. Let me know if you can't see it and I'll try something else.

Picture don't work
It don't surprise me Felpro is the best option

 

[koda2000]

Picture don't work
It don't surprise me Felpro is the best option

Sealed Power set is about $50 less, but for my money Fel-Pro is the best. I'll try copying the image from another source. If that doesn't work try the link below. Set seems very complete.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...MIt7rykrzS5wIVCatkCh3zmQJnEAEYASABEgKy5_D_BwE

 

[koda2000]

Costs - Off the top of my head, other bits I'll need to be purchasing:

Motorcraft oil pressure switch SW7676 $10
Motorcraft Timing chain kit 4L2Z6M290AA 7U3Z6A257A $530
Melling rear engine block jack shaft seal/plug MEP335 $25
Fel-Pro TTY Headbolt Kits ES72171 (2 required @ $25 ea) $50
Fuel Injector Seal Adaptor Kit F77Z9G512AA $25
Simmons aluminum t-stat housing for '01 Sport Trac (2 sensor) $135
TTY Harmonic balancer bolt $6
Oil pump Melling M128 (requires new pickup/screen) $70
Sealed Power oil pump pickup/screen 91532YN $42
(or Ford OE oil pump $50 'ish using old PU/screen)
Insta-Lube pre-oiler kit $350
Exide Group 65 battery (Home Depot) $100
New harmonic balancer $80-$100 $100
---------
** Sub Total $1,443
Reman cylinder heads (pair) $700
Fel-Pro full engine gasket set 2601898 $302
---------
*** Total $2,445

Note: This does not include engine rod bearings and TTY rod bolts, any
special tools required (or my labor). I vacillate between thinking I'm crazy
and about the purchase cost of a another used pickup truck. Looking at it
in this way I can justify the expense of rebuilding my engine.

In retrospect I wish I'd bought the best 2001 ST I could find with the fewest miles I could find. back in 2015. The cost would have come out to be the same and I wouldn't have all my labor into it, then again my original intention was to flip this ST and make some money on it. Oh well, sometimes you gamble and win, sometimes you loose.

Incidentals:
Rod bearings and TTY bolts (if needed)
Oil and filter
Assembly lube
Antifreeze
Mercon V for power steering
Ultra-black RTV
Pumper steering high pressure hose
A/C high pressure hose
R134A

 

[koda2000]

Update - 02/19/2020:

I went to pick up my reman'd cylinder heads today. First I had them show me my cracked heads. Sure enough, now that they're cleaned up it's easy to see. The passenger/right side head had cracks on all 3 cylinders between the valve seats. The driver's side/left head was cracked between the valve seats on cylinder #4. Apparently, according to the cylinder head guy, it is quite common for the 4.0L SOHC heads to crack between the valve seats when overheated, much like the 4.0L OHV heads are prone to cracking. I wouldn't have thought this would be the case on an aluminum head, but when overheated perhaps it's the steel valve seats expanding that causes this to occur... ? I'm really surprised this engine ran as good as it did for 4 years and only started loosing antifreeze during the last 3-4 months before I took it off the road in the Fall 2018.

The reman'd heads look almost new (photos to follow) machined, cleaned and glass beaded. So that's one major hurtle behind me. Now I can start ordering parts (see my previous post). As soon as we get a string of nice days in a row I need to clean up the engine block and then I can finish checking the bearings and remove the oil pump. Then, once the needed parts and gasket set arrives, reassembly can begin. I want to get the "heavy lifting" part of this project completed before the sweltering weather returns, which can be as early as mid April in GA.

 

[donalds]

Thx for the update
Now is the fun putting back together which is the fun part imo

 

[koda2000]

Thx for the update
Now is the fun putting back together which is the fun part imo

I agree. Putting it back together is the fun part. I just ordered the full gasket set, head bolts, harmonic balancer and balancer bolt from Summit. Next on the list will will be the timing set.