Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: Tdbo
Lasts forever, so long as the cam synchro doesn't bite the dust.
The 3.0 is a great engine for a Taurus. It does nothing for a Ranger.
I got better gas mileage with my 4.0 then I presently do with my current 3.0.
The 4.0 also had more power and was more fun to drive.
I kind of feel that the 3.0 wasn't really necessary when the 4.0L OHV was offered since that 4.0 was about as reliable/economical, but I am glad it was offered alongside the SOHC. As discussed in another thread, the SOHC can be a good engine, but they definitely had some major design issues especially with the timing chains and t-stat housing that can be a real pain in the [censored] to deal with. The cam synchro is a glaring weakness in the 3.0, but is also an easy and cheap fix. I'd rather do that than a t-stat housing on a SOHC. I think I paid $80 or so for the last Motorcraft cam synchro I bought, and it's a 30 minute job. The hard part is dropping it in so it lines up right. I haven't tried the method of using the alignment tool with the engine at TDC, I just mark the intake.
As for killing a 3.0 by way of the cam synchro, I think in practice that's hard to do since total failure usually happens after a long period of hard to ignore warning signs. When my truck chewed up its first one, it made a ton of racket. Squealing and chirping that was obviously abnormal and obviously not the belt. With the second one there was no noise, but the truck was bucking and jerking bad when cold. Granted, I am familiar with these trucks and knew what was up right away both times, but still, it was pretty much impossible to ignore what was going on. I can't imagine how bad the symptoms must get for someone to run it to total failure. Even then, they would have to ignore the check gage light and the oil pressure gauge dropping to 0, and then they would have to ignore the engine noise. I'm sure some people are capable of doing that, but really, that's totally preventable with the slightest bit of common sense.
I do wish someone would come up with a new design for the synchro that would be a permanent fix, but I can live with it as a design fail. Other than that the engine is stupid reliable and can take a beating. Unlike my OHV 4.0, the Vulcan has no red line on the 6K RPM tach...maybe that's why it drinks so much gas.
Is the cooling system a problem on the Vulcan Rangers? On the Tauruses they corrode the cooling system terribly.
I changed the coolant regularly on mine so it wasn't a problem.
The last few years of Jeep 4.0 engine had the same problem. The cam synchro (cam "stator") would fail to drive the oil pump.
IMO, the issue of the cooling system on the Vulcan is merely the outcome of poor maintenance. My philosophy in purchasing a vehicle is to go with vehicles that have a track record, find the issues with them and compensate for those issues through enhanced maintenance that addresses those issues.
I drove a Vulcan Taurus over 275K. The original water pump had 250K on it when I replaced it. I replaced it as a maintenance item because it was torn down replacing the timing chain (also done as a maintenance item.) Prior to that, the only cooling system problem with the car was the replacement of a radiator at 54K. That replacement was not necessitated by poor design or maintenance, it was caused by an unfortunate meeting with a rogue deer on a Monday morning.
Do the maintenance, and there will probably be no issues.
