Issues with 4.0 SOHC motor - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Kris B · 02-24-2012, 19:49

I have a 2004 ford explorer with the 4.0 SOHC, it has about 150k miles on it right now. The timing chain guide hit the valve cover and put a hole inside it, and its running a little rough. It simply acts as if the idle is set too low. I speculate that the slop in the timing chain, or it jumped time causing the rough idle.

My main question is should I replace the motor, or replace the timing gear set and its components? Of course I want to have a good longevity from this repair

One thing I noticed is, the cam and rockers are coated very well with oil, so I'm assuming the lashers are producing enough oil, the rockers are pretty solid and there isn't any gouges in the cam. I also noticed the intake ports were pretty heavily coated in carbon. The motor is $2,400 and the timing gear set, with all the gears, chains, cassettes and guides is about $450. To rebuild the top end is going to run me about $1,400.

Thanks,
Kris B

**R.S.LOGAN** · 02-25-2012, 13:34

Your decision what you spend on car , tough one to decide . Could also consider what warranty you get with engine compared to just replacing / rebuilding unit .

Kris B · 02-25-2012, 18:30

Yeah its definitly a tough one... I pulled the motor today and realized that the head gaskets may be leaking. I'm going to do a replacement engine, due to the cost of rebuilding the entire engine is practically the same as the replacement engine, and I dont have to mess with the rebuilding process.

The warranty is 3 yr / 100k, which is the same as Jasper and it includes replacement parts and labor

**R.S.LOGAN** · 02-26-2012, 04:20

Think you've made the right decision going for the replacement engine .

Kris B · 02-26-2012, 17:50

Any tips on removing the balancer? The balancer I have has worked very well for every motor I've encountered, except this one. The center bolt of the pin is too large, and hits the side of the balancer. I've looked at new pullers and they've got the same problem. The book and everywhere I've looked, gives the instructions exactly what I was going to do.

The only thing I can think of is to put the bolt back in about half way and let the puller push against the bolt? I'm afraid of trying to heat it has the teeth for the crankshaft position sensor.

**360ci** · 02-29-2012, 19:57

If the engine went out of time it'd only be a matter of time before other internal components start to fail, or break. I can't help you with the balancer...