Sludge in Ford Explorer 4.0 SOHC

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yowzer that is ugly. I feel for ya. I loved my 2000 Explorer, sold it just over a year ago. Wish I could have given you the engine, I babied that thing from the day it was new until I sold it. Ran perfect with 120K on it.

Good luck, that looks like a ton of work.
 
As I have said before oil change abuse is common. Some go 10 to 15,000 miles on dino. This happened to a friend with his 85 5.0 Mustang. He traveled a lot on his job and OCs just got away from him. Totally sludged his engine like the pics you sent. Had to have the valve covers and OPan removed to clean it up.
 
That isnot even bad.....You would havehad to havebeen a Mechanic back int eh 1980'sto really know bad sludge......I bet the engine in question got it's oil changed every year so it was probably doing 12K-15K per year on one oil change and was probably low each time the OCI was up! If they where lucky they might have toped up.......A lot of people that do not change their own oil go longer then they should. The CEO of Jiffy Lube chain which I think is under SOPUS in an article in Lubes and Grease's claime the national average is 9000 miles per their research of their own customer base. Never mind they preach 3000 mile oil changes to their customer base. So it is not a big leap for a non-car person to go from 9-12K wasy enough.
 
"The CEO of Jiffy Lube chain which I think is under SOPUS in an article in Lubes and Grease's claime the national average is 9000 miles per their research of their own customer base."

- That, unfortunately, seems very believable.
 
Originally Posted By: cos
"The CEO of Jiffy Lube chain which I think is under SOPUS in an article in Lubes and Grease's claime the national average is 9000 miles per their research of their own customer base."

- That, unfortunately, seems very believable.


I can easily see that being true also.
 
Man, that timing chain setup is very elaborate! I can't believe they use plastic for the guides (wait, yes I can!).

Are timing chain guide problems a serious issue with all Ford OHC engines? I know some 4.6L have problems with them.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Man, that timing chain setup is very elaborate! I can't believe they use plastic for the guides (wait, yes I can!).

Are timing chain guide problems a serious issue with all Ford OHC engines? I know some 4.6L have problems with them.


I never did with my old 96 Merc GM 4.6 even after 218,000 miles the valve train was as quite as new.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Man, that timing chain setup is very elaborate! I can't believe they use plastic for the guides (wait, yes I can!).

Are timing chain guide problems a serious issue with all Ford OHC engines? I know some 4.6L have problems with them.


Only the earlier engines had the issue AFAIK. They all have nylon guides.
 
I wouldn't bother cleaning and fixing that mess - the engine is done. You'd get it all together, and something will let go.

With that much sludge and debris in it, imagine the damage to the crank, bearings, pistons, rings....complete waste of time to fix once you see that - just chuck it!
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
I wouldn't bother cleaning and fixing that mess - the engine is done. You'd get it all together, and something will let go.

With that much sludge and debris in it, imagine the damage to the crank, bearings, pistons, rings....complete waste of time to fix once you see that - just chuck it!



on the other hand the guy had no clue it was that bad more the likely...... its been running like that for a long time possibly...... atleast try to clean it and see how much further it will go..... for that matter how many non car people are out there running their cars everyday that are sludged all up and have no clue its even like that, or that an engine could possibly do that.... or even know wth an engine is........

i'll quote the matrix here

ignorance is bliss
 
The 4.0 through 2002 has different guides than 2003+?

I had the tensioners replaced on my 2002.

there was this timing chain noise from 3000-3500 when warm.

since my ranger had an automatic and weighed about 4000# trail loaded it was very noticeable. As to accelerate at all you needed to be above 3k rpm.

Engine was still running strong at 90k miles when I sold it.
 
Last edited:
I rebuilt a mid 80's Jag 4.2 I6 and the nylon timing chain tensioner looked 1/2 as beefy as that. Nylon is actually better because less metal on metal contact. There's hardly any tension on the slack side of a timing chain anyway. The most occurs under deceleration or downshifting at high RPM's.
 
my 98 explorer with the 4.0 sohc had the same valve guide problem. Had an indy fix it. Seems fine except for a cold start rattle till warm, then ok. Never that much sludge as we changed the oil every 3-5,000 miles. In fact we changed the ol/filter every 1000 miles for three changes after the fix to help ensure plactic parts are out.
 
It should be a mandatory thing to become a BITOG member before owning a veichal. I was getting my Tacoma inspected last year and sway a Expedition with the V8 with its engine taking out due to running out of oil. Looked pretty clean but sad that the owner didnt pay any attention to the oil light.
 
Originally Posted By: Russell
my 98 explorer with the 4.0 sohc had the same valve guide problem. Had an indy fix it. Seems fine except for a cold start rattle till warm, then ok. Never that much sludge as we changed the oil every 3-5,000 miles. In fact we changed the ol/filter every 1000 miles for three changes after the fix to help ensure plactic parts are out.


Need to add. The independent shop charged me about $1,500 for the repair which included all chains, all guides removal of the engine etc. They gave me the old parts and allowed me to check on repair and take photos which essentially looked about the same as the examples shown.
 
I heard allot about the pre 2003 4.0's having problems with thos plastic guides. Happy my 4.0 is and 2004
05.gif
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top