Ranger 4.0L SOHC Tensioner, T-stat housing, etc replacement (graphic intensive)

[CowboyBilly9Mile]

Thought I'd post a few pics of a project currently underway in hopes that it may help someone down the road. It started out as replacement of the thermostat housing, a common item to develop a leak on these engines, then in the name of reliability + longevity, I decided to replace the tensioners (think, access, this is the time to do the LH side), the RH valve cover gasket was replaced due to some seepage and *probably* the intake gaskets will be replaced. It's very much worth noting that on this application and contrary to the Ford FSM, the intake does NOT need to be removed in order to replace the LH tensionser, as will be seen below. Also, the idea here is NOT to create a detailed write up but rather, post up some reference pics and a few comments/pointers along the way. Comments will be below subject pic.




Uggg, thermostat housing again.






Removal of upper housing piece allows inspection which confirms it's the housing and not a seal.










With the T-stat housing removed, it can be seen that access to the LH tensioner is a straight shot and can be accomplished using aand the appropriate length extension. Removal of the tensioner is next.

 

[CowboyBilly9Mile]

And.....more pics to follow.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Great post Bill!!

 

[smokey]

The older stuff is so much easier to work on.
Nice picture walk thru

 

[CowboyBilly9Mile]

Thanks guys, whittling away at it now, no particular deadline, just keep whittling away. On the old stuff, yeah, the bloat of the 60's-70's-80's and on some things, 90's made work easy. This thing, doing most anything sucks, I just snugged up the fasteners on the LH valve cover, the fasteners back at the firewall, they sucked, glad I had a good variety of extensions, swivels, an extension with an end that works like a swivel (those are really nice!). You ought to see the clamps around that thermostat housing, they really need to go together just one way and workspace is tight, I may get there tronight and I'll take a pic, it'll suck. While not a part of this project, I've got a really nice tool for removing hose clamps in tight spaces, one end is like one of those squeeze to work out your hand devices, the other end slips onto the ends of the clamp......squeeze the end in your hand, it ratchets and releases the hose clamp, thus saving you 30 minutes of time and a couple ounces of your body meat fighting a clamp.

I pity anyone that has to/had to replace the right side rear cassette and timing chain on one of these engines and in part because of this concern, this is why me and others replace the tensioners, think of it as routine maintenance. To get to that back cassette and timing chain, you get to yank the engine or *maybe* drop the tranny and slide the engine forward or tilt the back down. Either way, it'll suck. And if you don't index things before disassembly, you will probably need a special tool to index everything if what I've read (more than once in different places) is correct. Remember, the SOHC engines used on 4X4's have four timing chains, so if you need to get into it deep, enjoy.

 

[fatherdoug]

Plastic thermostat housing? I had no idea.

 

[dustybumpers]

Nice write up!

 

[john112deere]

Good pictures. How many miles you got on that thing?

I pity anyone that has to/had to replace the right side rear cassette and timing chain on one of these engines and in part because of this concern, this is why me and others replace the tensioners, think of it as routine maintenance. To get to that back cassette and timing chain, you get to yank the engine or *maybe* drop the tranny and slide the engine forward or tilt the back down. Either way, it'll suck.

I've long figured (since before I bought it, in fact) replacement of a right timing chain cassette could be a repair that'll total my truck. Past 10 years or so years in road salt country, I don't think I'd bother with that much effort.

 

[CowboyBilly9Mile]

128K. Other than running a quality oil with regular changes, IMO and given how easy the job and cheap is, if the only PM I were to do in the name of timing chains matters it would be to replace the RH tensioner. Some people say that if you hear timing chain noise (can be be pronounced on startup), that you might fix that with new tensioners. I"m sure that fix has worked for some, but I bet by the time it gets to that point there is some accelerated wear on the cassettes that isn't in anyone better interests.

 

[CowboyBilly9Mile]

Next few pics show RH valve cover reinstalled along with vac hoses, wiring, cooling system hoses and coolant tube assembly.

Next is installation of the upper and lower thermostat housing, hoses (pay attention to clamp locations) and associated parts along with alternatior wiring. It's worth noting that contrary to what the Ford FSM says regarding replacement of the two temperature sending units, removal of the intake is NOT required to gain access to replace these (each is held in by a clip, could be different if they are the threaded type).













***Pay attention to wire routing so as to not have future abrasion issues. Pics shown in this thread show OEM location and routing for all hoses, clamps and wiring, including spark plug wires.