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Performance Upgrades - Maintenance - Modifications - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street Trucks. Covering the Explorer, ST, Sport, Lincoln Aviator, Sport Trac, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Aerostar. Featuring H.I. - Human Intelligence.
I traces the plug wires twice. They are the same as in the manual. They are correct.
It doesnt have anti theft.
Would connecting and disconnecting the battery a billion times mess with the computer and subsequently the sensors?
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I replaced it after, thinking i messed it up somehow. It was rotated when.i took.off harmonic balancer, due to lack of proper tools. It was rotated again putting it back on. Changed cps with #1 at TDC thinking it would set itself. No go. From what i read this engine cant be timed, is that right? Would the cam position sensor do this? It ran fine, except a ground short somewhere, before all of this.
The crank gear is kept in place by the harmonic balancer. With the balancer off, the crank gear can back out of the keyway on the crank. This will allow the crank to rotate but not the cam. Causing it to be out of time.
I'd check your timing. I've done so, but with the passenger valve cover off. It allows you to see what the valves are doing in relation to TDC.
You'd have to pull the balancer off and rotate the crank until the crank gear's pin seats, then put the harmonic balancer back on.
In that scenario though, the harmonic balancer couldn't go in all the way and would likely be sticking out an extra 1/8" to 1/4". That should be noticeable by looking at the belt. If the belt is perfectly straight from underneath then I'd rule that out.
However, I personally had a helluva time with the key that holds the harmonic balancer in place. It's possible that when you re-installed, it pushed the key off and your balancer, while tight to the crankshaft, is not oriented properly. This would cause a severely out of time (advanced/retarded) crank signal sent to the computer.
I know im being stubborn about this but....i unplugged the coil pack, put #1 at TDC, then put the 6th tooth from the gap in line with the pointer and the mark on the balancer. No change with firing or symptoms. Is there anything else i can do before taking the balancer back off? Id like to try everything else before getting there.
I wouldn't pull the balancer unless you had to push the crank gear back into the key slot on the crank. The only concern being if you rotated the crank with the crank gear backed out of the slot. Then the crank would move and not the cam. And it takes more than a couple rotations before it backs out on its own.
The crank def didnt back out. was very diligent about nothing movng, plus what i just did reinforced that it shouldnt be timing. any suggestions as to the sensor issue? what would cause the sensor issue and make it seem like a timing issue at the same time? WTF am i missing?!!
I just watched a video from YouTuber McCuistian, he's a school teacher and very experienced in automotive repair. He worked as a dealer tech at Ford for a while, in exactly the timeframe where our first gens came out. Every so often he'll have a war story or some tidbit of info that is very interesting and relevant to us.
He talked about a Bronco that had the same engine setup as ours and the timing was off. Chain and sprockets were perfect though. What had happened was the harmonic balancer bolt wasn't tight enough and the crank sprocket wasn't being pinched by the balancer tight enough. This caused the stress of the crank rotation vs resistance of the cam rotating to basically shear the crank key right at the sprocket.
I don't know if this is your issue but it sounds very interesting.
Makes no difference. If it's leaking around that area then it's the water passage through the timing cover, no doubt about it. However, double-check that it's not coming from higher up like behind the alternator or power steering. The lower intake manifold water passages love to leak on these 4.0L OHV engines.
I hate to hijack a thread but since it was already once and since the OP and the hijacker have left the thread to die I don't feel so bad so here is my question. I have a leak I'm hoping from the timing cover which i will check first but I believe it is coming from behind the alternator so I'm fearing it is the lower intake manifold water passages. What should I look for to verify this and can it be "patched" or does the manifold need to be replaced? Thanks for any help.
I hate to hijack a thread but since it was already once and since the OP and the hijacker have left the thread to die I don't feel so bad so here is my question. I have a leak I'm hoping from the timing cover which i will check first but I believe it is coming from behind the alternator so I'm fearing it is the lower intake manifold water passages. What should I look for to verify this and can it be "patched" or does the manifold need to be replaced? Thanks for any help.
To definitively diagnose it, pull the alternator and you should be able to see in there. The manifold doesn't have to be replaced if that is the source of the leak, it just needs a new gasket. Daunting job but if I can do it, anyone can. It's just one of those things where you gotta take your time and have all the info you can.
Thank you actually it is leaking from behind the AC compressor (driver side). Trying to get the upper intake manifold off currently. Noticed some oil pooled inside it not sure how dire that is. On the right side of the upper there is a diaphragm looking piece about three inches in diameter that has a one inche solid line that runs to the exhaust manifold mine is all rusty but appears it needs to be removed to remove the upper. What is that and any advice. Sorry don't know how to attach photo from iPad.
Behind the AC is common, that's where mine leaked. You can view that spot and verify by getting a flashlight under the intake tube and looking down behind the compressor and power steering pump. If it's all gummy and wet, then you know for sure.
As far as that pipe, that's for EGR. I can't recommend a method for getting that off, I've not had to do it. Just be careful and remove it where you can, avoiding anything close to the exhaust.
I was really worried about the corrosion on the bolts for the EGR but I hit 'em w/ some kroil and they broke free easily. We just about have the lower off. Interested to see how well reinstallation goes with all the vacuum lines etc. I'm not out of the woods yet but thanks for your help.
Try to be easy on the EGR tube and not break it. It will break at the exhaust manifold if you put pressure on it. I know from experience, that these are a pain to replace if they have been in service for any length of time.
I was doing an intake reseal, like you are and I leaned on and broke the tube. What followed was several unsuccessful hours with various cutting tools to cut the tube from its fitting, 4 broken exhaust bolts, and the eventual removal of the head to drill broken bolts. I just pulled the engine and did a complete reseal.
To make it worse, I did this a second time to another one not just a few weeks later! Luckily the exhaust manifold came off with no issue on that one.
Yikes! When I saw that EGR and how rusty it and the bolts were I was nervous I would sear the lower one so I soaked i twice w Kroil and both came right off. Thanks for the heads up now I'll have nightmares about that tonight. After messing with this today and I'm having my sixteen year old son really do the work I popped the hood on my '06 Jeep Wrangler and showed him the room and simplicity that is the 4.0L I6 I sure do like that engine but I'm really excited to get my Navajo up and running especially wanting to see how a tranny cooler helps it. Last year I pushed it hard running down I-25 to southern NM and got the transmission HOT. I was worried I fried it so I did a tranny oil change in Advanced's parking lot and still running.
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Sorry didn't want to scare you but just wanted to give you a worse case scenario, that I unfortunately did twice!
I'm currently fooling with the third on my JP project. But it's totally torn down to the frame and will be much easier to manipulate this way. This truck is rust free and it still is giving me issues, but I'll take it as everything else has been breeze.
