SOHC question

[CDW6212R]

The upper intake is removed, but not the lower or the heads. The front dress of the engine is a lot of parts and work of course.

 

[tmh6202]

so you don't have to take the engine out, you just have to drop the transmission? thats kind of relieving, but i think if i'm diving that deep into the engine, id rebuild the top end.

Having just completed this job, engine out, I'd say that I do not think you could do it by dropping the trans. I had tossed that around too, but the location of the rear cassette retaining bolt and jack shaft bolt are too close to where the fire wall would be to acurately line them up. Not too mention, you have to get to the cam bolt (upper right of picture, it is buried under the firewall lip when in the vehicle), with enough leverage room to torque it to 62-65 foot pounds, tough to do with only fingertips on the wrench. In the picture below, the blue arrow is the location of the cassette retianing bolt, the green arrow is where the jackshaft bolt is located (rubberized steel plug removed) and the red line is the rust line from the transmission bell housing. There is about 2" of speace between the cassette retaining bolt and where the firewall would sit. You need a T-55 bit to romove it and those are about 1.25" deep, plus the thickness of the rachet, I really do not think it would work.

Not to mention, for everything you'd have to disconnect to drop the trans, it is probably easier to pull the motor. If your guides are in bad shape you will need to inspect the rest of the block components, the heads and cylinders for debris. The front section of my block was littered with pieces of plastic, of all sizes, these are much easier to remove if the engine is on a stand. If the entire guide is shot, there may be pot metal debris throughout too. Failure to remove the debris would just be asking for failure. In fact, the fella I purchased the needed tool kit from told me that his engine blew up big time two days after he completed the timing chain repairs. Big time bummer.

Mr. H.

 

[CDW6212R]

Thanks for the good picture. I agree that it it tight there, but the cam bolt is the hardest I believe, and I was able to R&R it okay. The special tool kit gives you the proper socket and wrench to rach the cam bolt, seeing it is the hard part.

If you have the tools and ability to remove either the engine or trans, I'd call it a toss up. It's about the same amount of labor either way. Concentrate on existing symptoms, if something is amiss now, then begine the repairs now. Don't put it off, a whole engine rebuild or replace is a much more expensive job. Good luck,

 

[chiefinbig]

I own a 98 sohc, I love this motor due to the power, although I had all 3 timing chains repaced, I had no problems with that. What I have a problem with is the intakes cracking
under heat stress.

By the way I had the timing chains replaced while having the heads replaced, total cost
minus the cost of the heads. 2800.00 . And they replaced the rear chain without pulling the motor, just loosen the motor mounts, jack up the engine and drop the oil pan, not
alot of room but it can be pulled off.

 

[memhorn]

tmh6202 -- and everyone else -- thanks for all the great information.

Do you have a recomendation for a dealer in Austin, Texas? My 98 SOHC with 155,000 has started making the sound at idle. No way I could do this work, but I might pay $1500 or so for the front repairs if I thought the mechanics would do a good job.

Or, I wouldn't mind driving it till it drops and have a rebuilt engine installed, but the prices I have read about are more like $5000 than just the $1000 mentioned in these posts.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[CDW6212R]

... And they replaced the rear chain without pulling the motor, just loosen the motor mounts, jack up the engine and drop the oil pan, not
alot of room but it can be pulled off.

Welcome and I'm glad that you appreciate the SOHC engine. If they told you that the rear chain was replaced(and did not remove trans or engine), they lied to you.

The rear chain is held in by the same cassette(plastic guide with steel parts) and one bolt going into the head. That one bolt and the rear jackshaft bolt cannot be accessed with the engine and trans bolted together. They must be separated to get at the rear cassette, period.

The rear timing chain tensioner is in the right head. That can be easily replaced in ten minutes with the right inner fender pushed aside.

 

[chiefinbig]

Sorry Im not from the Austin area, Im from the Houston area. My suggestion
is to find a reputible shop in your area,find out if they have the tools to perform the tasK ( cost my mechanic 800.00 for the chain tensioner) and ask
alot of questions. also get an itemized list of the prices he is paying for the parts. My mech. thought that I am an idiot I guess and tried to charge me 500.00 for the braided fuel line that goes from the intake to the fuel reg.
needless to say I towed the thing home and finished it up myself.... helps that I turn wrenches for a living. Im sorry I cant help more..

 

[chiefinbig]

The engine was not pulled nor the trans. BOTH heads were replaced, that is how we were able to do it. I wouldnt have believed it myself if I hadn't seen
it myself. You can pull it off. I promise..

 

[chiefinbig]

almost forgot , the cassette were plastic and I broke everyone, Also droped one into the
oil pan,that is how. we pulled it off.

 

[memhorn]

Thanks for the suggestions, Chiefinbig. BTW, I am ashamed to say I have never heard of your hometown. Thought I knew them all, but guess not!!

 

[FineLineMtrsprts]

Well after reading all of this looks like im out of the market for a 97-00 SOHC Explorer sport...back to trying to get a 5.0 explorer.

 

[CDW6212R]

The engine was not pulled nor the trans. BOTH heads were replaced, that is how we were able to do it. I wouldnt have believed it myself if I hadn't seen
it myself. You can pull it off. I promise..

Ah, that means that they left the jackshaft bolt and that gear in place. That is fine because the gears are not weak links. You discovered it, the problem is all of the plastic parts and thin steel tensioner pieces, plus the internal springs of the head tensioners. Messing with the heads is a big job, it's good that your shortblock was okay.

 

[Monte131]

rear chain on my '03 destroyed!!!

I also have a 97 sohc with 88,000 miles on it. It is in exelent condition and so far no major repairs. My question is what are some early indications that the timming chain and tensioner will be needing attention or is this something that goes out with a bang and leave you stranded someplace.

Thanks
Art

Art, there is a lot of info in this forum about the timing chain issues. they do exist and in my opinion have not been corrected by ford until after '03. My truck stalled on me one day and would not start. the right side cassette failed horribly with no warning. there was no rattle from the engine and was running fine. The guide broke into a dozen pieces, jammed the chain and broke the sproket bolts on both the balance shaft and the camshaft. The head needs to be redone due to valve/piston collision and a whole new chain/gear set installed. My lowest estimate was $3000 USD. so i am doing it myself. Engine is on the stand now and I am going to buy the parts today hopefully. The motor only has 86k on it. I have heard of this issue at as low as 40k miles. A poor design in my opinion, I am very dissapointed in FOMOCO.

 

[Monte131]

OTC 6488 kit ok for '03 4.0 v6?

Does anyone know if the otc 6488 kit is a viable tool for an '03 4.0L? The otc description says its good up to 2002 but it looks like it would work so I just wanted to check.

Thanks in advance,
Monte

 

[CDW6212R]

That is a good question. The tools mount to the end two valve cover holes of the heads, and then hold the camshaft. It would be good for all of us to know if the heads and crank balancer remained the same for the later SOHC 4.0s.

 

[Monte131]

That is a good question. The tools mount to the end two valve cover holes of the heads, and then hold the camshaft. It would be good for all of us to know if the heads and crank balancer remained the same for the later SOHC 4.0s.

I purchased all my parts today and the dealer said they would be in tomorrow.
However they could not sell me the alignment kit. But the guy at the parts counter said he was "pretty sure" the OTC 6488 kit would work. Wouldn't you know I found one on e-bay for $150 so I'm going to give it a go. Once it arrives I will post and let you know if it worked or not.
Regards,
Monte

 

[CDW6212R]

Thanks Monte, and the $150 is about the normal price for the kit when it turns up on eBay.