could someone explain to me how our engines work as far as bing SOHC and waht the advantages are of the SOHC....

i think some 4.0s have the OHV (i think that what its called), what is the difference in this and the SOHC?

sorry guys, id just like to know a little more about my engine, my first Ranger v6....

my 94' had the 2.3, but idk if it was DOHC, SOHC, or OHV

 

OHV engines have the cam in the block and actuate the vales with lifters and pushrods. The cam is turned with a single short timing chain. The SOHC engine has a cam in each head which actuates the valves directly. Its more efficient overhead cams but Ford made it way to complicated. The SOHC 4.0 engine have 3 timing chains, 2 on the front of the engine and 1 on the back. The one on the back is spun by a jackshaft which looks like a cam but it has no lobes and it is in the same location where the cam would be in a pushrod engine.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/camshaft1.htm

 

i love pushrod engines. so much torque!

can't say the same about the sohc lol

 

Read this, it might give you a better understanding.

HowStuffWorks "Camshaft Configurations"

 

haha, i found this page before you posted it, it helped a little.

 

soch more power better engine period :}

 

Its SOHC and no not really. It would be fine if Ford didn't make it overly complicated and prone to timing chain faliure.

 

but hasnt the timing chain problem supposedly been fixed after the 06 model year or something?

 

Supposedly. But then again it was fixed in 03 right? My truck is an 03 and it rattles. Not all the time but it does it.

 

LOL i hope so....well i just read the wikipedia version of it, it helped me a little more....i just dont understand why one is better than the other...

 

Basically with a OHC engine there is less stuff to soak up power. A pushrod engine has pushrods and lifters to move around along with everything else while the OHC engine doesn't. Less weight in the valvetrain translates to more power at the crank.

 

downside of the sohc at least in my experience, is there's no torque! but plenty of power on the top end. but with a pushrod engine, you get lots of torque down low. but im sure the supercharger on my grand prix had something to do with that. but damn, those motors are easy to work on. i dont even want to see the 4.0 in my truck

 

damn im slipping in my speedyness.

 

your 2.3 ranger was a OHC

meaning the cam was directly opening the valves on top of the head in time with the crankshaft by the use of a timing belt

your 4.0 SOHC uses the same idea...
the cam is on top of the heads and are timed to the crank with a timing chain

the OHV engines are the same as the classic small block engines with the cam in the middles of the block, the camshaft is still turned using a timing chain in sync with the crank and the cam uses pushrods and rockers to open the valves on top of the heads

 

well i guess time will tell!

around what mileage do they start to **** out?

 

I think its random. I doubt you have to worry about it though.

 

the SOHC will make more torque than the OHV ins stock form but you have to get the RPMs up. This is where a manual might really take advantage of the SOHC.

The timing chain issue was fixed in 03, the rattle is here or there in engines. my 03 does not have it. if you had the timing chain issue you would know it.

 

hope not!

if so, well, then it'll be v8 time lol

 

Sorry, but that statement is not based on fact with regard to the Ranger 4.0 engines. I have the Ford graphs of the torque and horsepower ratings on the 98 4.0 OHV and 01 4.0 SOHC Ranger engines. The OHV engine does produce from 3 to 5 lb-ft more torque below 1500 rpm. At 1600 rpm they are equal. After that the SOHC engine develops more torque and at 2750 rpm it is about 12 lb-ft higher when the OHV engine peaks out at 225 lb-ft. The SOHC engine continues on and peaks out at 3000 rpm at 238 ft-lb. The SOHC engine torque then drops off slowly to around 4850 rpm but is still producing about 225 lb-ft. At that rpm the OHV engine has fallen to about 165 lb-ft. Above 4850 the SOHC torque drops off quicker but is still producing about 175 lb-ft at 6000 rpm.

One of the main advantages of the SOHC engine, besides not having all the valve train extra weight to move around, is it also does not have the push rods coming up through the heads. This leaves much more room to design better intake and exhaust ports. This results in a better breathing engine. That is why they produce so much better top end power. Unfortunately, the long chains are one of the main disadvantages in reliability.