Hi

Here in Australia we call them Ford Explorer and it is a 2/1998 vintage with a 4.0 Litre V6 engine & Automatic transmission.

After doing some off-road rough country driving on the weekend.

I had developed a knocking noise in the engine on Monday and after diagnosing the fault I have narrowed it down to a big end bearing issue as the piston in one of the cylinders had smashed the spark plug.

I had removed the engine on Tuesday and now is the time to tear the motor down to individual parts.

Removing the motor was a mammoth task it self, " what were the Ford engineers think at the time of construct ? " LOL For a smallish engine it certainly occupied the whole engine bay and removing some items is certainly difficult if one has big hands.

I'm chasing a manual either in paper back issue or a PDF file that may exist on the internet. I'm after a very detailed manual not like the " Gregory's " manuals we have here in Australia which is very vague in information.

Also one I have a required parts list, what is the best place in the USA for purchasing good quality parts , Full gasket and seal kit , bearings , pistons , rings , timing chains and guides and so on?????

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Gaskets try Fel-Pro, Bearings clevite, Pistons Sealed power and same for rings.

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98 ford ranger xlt ex cab 4.0 v6 auto trans

For repair manual, we have Chilton's and Haynes...I think the Chilton's is better.

As for parts, try Summit, JCWhitney, Jeg's, carparts.com

(John Butler kicks ass, btw)

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2004 XLT 4.0 4x4, 3" PA body lift, 32" BFG M/Ts, Dick Cepek DC-2 wheels, Euro tailights, self-painted headlight mod, NAV/DVD/XM/iPod stereo (Pioneer AVIC-D3), Line-X, Westin step bars, AVS bug shield and window vents