friend just told they got a 2001 explorer with a 4.0 sohc in their shop with a bad cam tensioner... have to pull the engine to change and called local ford dealership for advise... have to change the engine! wtf! glad got the last year of the 4.0 ohv after hearing that

 

so one guy with a bad tensioner on his 2001 explorer is grounds for you claiming the ohv's were better than the sohc's? that's pretty lame.

 

it is when you need a new engine because of it

 

ONE GUY hahahaahahahahaahaha hahahahaha hahahaha every 4.0L SOHC is gonna have chain tension problems at some point and time.. a shop at the end of my street does atleast one a week..

and i am with D it just needs tensioner and "maybe" chain...

but personally i do agree i enjoy the OHV more, better low end grunt.. its tried and true push rod style motor.. idk personally i'll take that over SOHC..

 

according to i heard due to the way the sohc is designed... easier to replace the engine ( can't just slap another tensioner on there is ALOT more to it, for one the engine has to be pulled to do it) more than one guy the dealership i used to frequent does these on a regular basis

 

I work at the shop at the end of zach's (redneckstone) street. we do them all the time. i would never ever ever own one after working on them. the 3.0 vs. the 4.0 sohc are like the tortoise and the hare. the hare (sohc) has to stop every so often to get a cam tensioner and the tortiose (3.0) just drives right on by (very slowly that is)

 

cam being driven off the rear of the engine, no timing marks etc (specialized tool kit needed to install) adds $$$$ to changing just a cam tensioner

 

But haveing owned both. I hate the 4.0 OHV It is as slow and useless as a 3.0. I have one now and have owned several It sweats just trying to haul its own weight let alone the weight of any trailer or payload you want. Almost useless for a truck that does more than get from point A to B

~HJ

 

I agree with John, I hate the 4.0L OHV with an undying passion. I have the SOHC in my Ranger, love it, but I'm driving an Exploder with a 4.0L OHV while I get the Ranger fixed (unrelated problem) and it's slower than snot. I gun it everywhere just to get it to go, once it gets into the powerband it jumps, it's really a poor engine. I hardly ever have enough power to push 5th gear out of it and usually leave it in either 3rd or 4th to get anywhere.

I'll take the SOHC thank you very much.

 

I sold the 4x4 5sp 4L OHV for the 4x2, auto, 4L SOHC. Night and Day difference, SOHC +1

 

you guys musta had really ****ty OHV my splash with over 135k on the clock was freaking insane... i loved it

 

Im with stone, I hated my SOHC and love my OHV.

 

only thing i dislike about my 4.0 ohv is fuel mileage...wish it could be a bit better

 

 

my 4.0 ohv has 249000 miles on it and i can churp 3rd gear

 

Ive got no complaints about the 4.0 SOHC, runs fine for me.

 

^^^^Yup yup....

This must just be a Ford thing, because I know many MANY people who have SOHC motors that have 200,000+ on them with no problems. (most notably the Dodge 4.7 liter V8)

 

meh it does not bother me how long it last, if it dies tomorrow I'd still be proud of it. I have overheated it countless times, idles forever sometimes, pulled trailer for hours at a time, drove to South Carolina 3 times, once with a trailer, been to Michigan a million times and starts everyday, and runs like a champ.

 

The only thing that worries me is the fact that I am looking at getting another vehicle with the SOHC. I sure as hell don't want to get one if this is going to happen after 100k...

 

anything pre 03 you will have trouble with its suppose to be fixed in the new models, but its still not super strong, but is better than the 01-02 rangers and earlier explorers

 

^^^Well then forget the Explorer sport I was going to look at...lol

 

lol sorry.

 

Like I said I have had several 4.0 OHV's (Three that I can think of,not to mention my parents had every year of explorer from 1991 to 2001, they each had one and traded on in every other year) and they are all dogs. If you think yours was mean, you really need to drive some other vehicles. I can't wait til the spring when I get to buy something else. I am sick of wanting to jump out and run ahead. Not to mention I drove this truck home from the dealership when it was brand new (I worked at the ford dealer my Dad bought it from so he had me pick it up after work) and it was a Dog then. My mom had an Identical explorer in XLT trim with the SOHC engine at the time (both were white with Grey running boards too, looked like we had a fleet going then) and we could take that hunting and it would pull our dog trailer and all the gear like a champ. The OHV would struggle to hit 70 and get about 12 mpg with the same trailer. Heaven forbid we even try hooking up the horse trailer. The SOHC towed that like a champ too (Not that I'd recommend it, but my Dad is slow to learn he needs a truck to match the task, He just ordered a new 08 superduty! :) to bad it has the ugly front end :( )

Here is the trailer that is struggled with:



~HJ

P.S. Both of the 2000 explorers were/are 4.10's with auto's, only difference I can think of other than engines and trim level were 15" rims with 235's and 16" rims with 255's.

 

Wow I find this funny due to the fact that AllData says it pays 1.7Hrs to REPLACE BOTH TENSIONERS on the timing chain.

You can get to it through the wheel well. Very easy. Your friend got his *** handed to him.

Ill happily change both of them for you and only charge you 8 hours labor instead of 11-20 hours to swap a new motor out.