Brick to Quick - Swapping my '01 4.0 SOHC - Page 2

wingman358 · #16 09-22-2013, 04:40 PM

Another update. I got the new engine up on the stand and took it down to the heads.

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The broken intake had caused some bits of plastic to go down into the intake ports. Some pieces were wedged between the valve and seat, but nothing some mechanical fingers couldn't reach.

Got those pieces out and tried turning it over... no luck, it stuck after about a quarter turn. I poured about a cap full of oil down each intake port to get some lube into the cylinders. Also took the spark plugs out. They all looked pretty good except for #3 which was fouled and dirty. The center electrode was slightly eroded to a point but otherwise didn't look that bad. The only other issue with it was the threads were dark dirty, unlike all the others which all had nice clean threads. I've read that could possibly be oil making it past the valve guides and ending up in the spark plug. Any ideas?

After pouring in the oil and pulling the spark plugs I tried turning it over again and this time I was able to push past the resistance. I think it may have been a spot of rust or other corrosion on a cylinder wall

most likely due to the broken intake allowing rain down into the intake ports.. there was evidence of standing water on a few of the intake valves.

Here's a perspective looking down an intake port

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I checked the compression on each of the cylinders and wasn't getting very good numbers. Two out of the six were reading about 35 PSI, the rest were all 0 PSI. My guess is the valve seats and valves aren't mating properly, probably due to the above noted rust.. corroborating evidence to that end was a hiss emanating from the top end area.

After the initial compression test I fed a bit more oil in the cylinders in an effort to seal the rings. Got a higher pressure on the two good cylinders, ~100 PSI each and then a few more cylinders started to register ~15 PSI. Might be a gauge issue cause I noticed the hose is kinked. Will try a new one tomorrow.

I turned the engine over maybe thirty to fifty times after putting some more oil into the heads, and was able to get some oil flowing through the system enough to see some cloudy oil getting pumped through the cam rail orifices. Good news there. I only had to poke one of the orifices with a sharp probe to clear an obstruction.

Timing chain guides appear to be in good condition, though they are stock. Debating on whether or not to get the revised parts for the front cassette and chain tensioners. Probably should since I'm already this far disassembled.

Notice in the picture below how small the distance is between the edge of the bolt flange and the friction surface for the chain guide. It's like 2 maybe 3 mm. Seems like a little bit of a design flaw to me.

I noticed one of the fuel rails is slightly bent. Probably happened with the other damage (intake & valve cover).

djfllmn · #17 09-22-2013, 04:43 PM

ehh i would be wary of that motor

wingman358 · #18 09-22-2013, 09:53 PM

I am wary about it. But then again I don't need it to last for that long.

Can you say specifically what makes you wary?

wingman358 · #19 09-25-2013, 06:29 PM

Made some more progress.

Pulled the old engine out of the truck

It's sitting in the driveway now

I also did some work on the new engine. I soaked the gasket surfaces with kerosene to help loosen up the oil and other junk. Then I scraped and scrubbed to get most of it off.

The filter on the new engine was still left on from the junk yard. I had cranked it over probably close to 200 times by this point so I decided to pull the filter. I poured it out and it looked like crap

It poured pretty well, not too sludgey, but it definitely had some water in it and chunks of unknown origin. No metal shavings that I could see though. It looks pretty mud-brown, which I'm guessing is partly due to rust particles suspended in the oil.

So I ran several quarts of oil through to do a sort of flush. I put oil in the heads then hand cranked it for a bit with the filter off so oil would just get pumped out.

I also rotated the tires and put a new fuel filter in. Man I hate those snap ring junctions. Two of em went easy as pie but the third was a major bitch. I'm probably doing it wrong.

Now I just have to pull the oil pan, clean and flush some more, reinstall with a new gasket, then reinstall injectors with new orings, spark plugs, and then I can drop the engine in. Then new intake and valve cover gaskets, spark wires, EGR, DPFE, and probably some other things I'm forgetting. New power steering fluid, coolant, and a few quick oil+filter changes, and this baby should be purring like a rabid coyote. With lots of smoke.

Oh and I picked up a Taurus e-fan from eBay. Anybody have installation recommendations on e-fans? STL, you have one right?

wingman358 · #20 09-27-2013, 09:27 PM

Small update. I swapped oil pans cause the "new" one had some dents in it, probably from the salvage yard. Damn grease monkeys and their forklifts! I cleaned up the old oil pan and installed with a new Felpro gasket.

Swapped fuel rails cause one was slightly bent - it probably would have been fine but I had the old one laying around anyways so why not swap it in. Used new injector gaskets when installing. Also noticed the injectors from the old engine looked much much better than the new engine (thanks to seafoam?), so I reused the old injectors. Damn those things were tough to install. Not complex, just tough to press them in and get them to seat properly. I broke two (one with a hammer and the other ???) on the install.

Installed new spark plugs and the #3 wire because its a pain to get at when the engine is in the truck. Dropped the new engine in the truck. That was an adventure cause I didn't have anyone around to help spot/push/drink beer. Oh well, a little patience and hydraulic persuasion and the engine mated right to the tranny.

OOH! A little trick for getting the flywheel to line up with the torque converter: turn both so the holes/bolts are at the top.

I'll post up some pictures tomorrow.

wingman358 · #21 10-02-2013, 11:45 AM

Okay so the motor ran alright but definitely had a weak cylinder or two. Only CEL code was P0471 which came on about 5 minutes after running. Fuel bank 2 too lean I believe. Not sure if that was a leaky injector, intake gasket, or just poorly seating valves. It revved up pretty well but in drive and reverse the idle was very rough and actually stalled out on me. I did a few quick oil and filter changes and that definitely helped as did a 1qt dose of MMO in with the oil. Only big problem was it clicks loudly under acceleration over 1500 rpm.

So long story short I'm going to pull the motor and rebuild/remain it.

wingman358 · #22 12-20-2013, 08:04 AM

So I rebuilt the engine and dropped 'er back in the truck and buttoned everything up, only to have the truck do exactly what it was doing before - check engine light P0174 (bank 2 fuel trim too lean), heavy vibrations, low power, and loud erratic clicking under load. At least I didn't blow up the engine on first start. Not too bad for a first rebuild. But also not too great that it was still doing the exact same thing. At least I could rule out the engine mechanical condition (for now). So I knew it had to be either pulling in extra air through a vac. leak, clogged injectors/fuel rail, not sparking right, or malfunctioning O2 sensor/s.

I tried checking the O2 sensors and they tested good, checked spark plugs for fouling and gap, reapplied dielectric grease, checked for vacuum leaks, checked for correct hose and line connections, couldn't find anything obviously wrong with it.

Randomly decided to try pulling off the spark wires one by one from the coil to make sure the coil was putting out good spark and also to test the ignition system. So cylinders 1, 2, 3 all made great spark at the coil and pulling the wire all the way off would stall the engine. So I knew those cylinders were all working properly. This is where it got interesting. Pulling off spark wire for #5 did the same thing, but #4 and #6 were dead cylinders. They were getting good spark (at the coil and with the spark plug out of the cylinder) but just weren't firing right, because the engine didn't do anything when I pulled the spark wire all the way off - whereas I expected the engine to sputter out when I pulled the wire off.

So at least now I was narrowing in on the issue - dead cylinders #4 and 6. I doubled checked the firing order and the spark wire layout, and everything was plugged in the right way as far as I could tell. But then when I told my old man about it, the first thing he said was "did you check yer firing order?" and the part of my brain that would have usually said some smartass comment like, duh yeah I checked it 11 times, I decided what the hell, I'll check again.

Turns out the spark wires were never plugged in the right order, from the time I bought the damn truck all the way till right now. The friggin thing had the spark wires plugged in wrong! #6 was plugged into the spot for #4 and vice-a-versa. So now it purrs like a mountain lion, no harsh vibrations (guess the balance shaft wasn't to blame for that), no shuddering on changing gears, and no CELs!!! And now I don't even have to floor it to get up to 30 MPH. Feels fckin awesome! Damn I feel like a bauss and an idiot at the same time.

YEEHAWWWW