With roller lifters, there's not as much as a concern with cam wear as opposed with non-roller lifters.

 

Hi guys, in preparation for putting everything back together on sat I was looking to clean my intake manifold up. I've read the best way is to take it apart, take the fuel injectors out and soak it in diesel, then take a brush with some parts cleaner and clean it up.

Is this the the best way to do it or is there better ways? The intakes are full of carbon and the outside is pretty filthy.

Thanks
scott

 

Since you are not geared up to clean these parts, why not take them to the machine shop and have them do it professionally.

When you get them back your parts should look as close to new as possible inside and out.

This way you will not be stuck with contaminated fuel to get rid of.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I dropped the parts off at the shop the other day actually as they had been really helpful with advice on my head before discovering it was cracked so I wanted to throw some business their way.

I am planning on putting the car back on Sat and had a rough plan of the order of events I was going to take and wondered if anyone had comments/suggestions on my game plan. I hope to achieve the following:

1. Install head gaskets and get heads in place.
2. Torque heads in the 3-step process as described in the manual.
3. Crank the engine over by hand to ensure there are no pistons hitting valves etc etc.
4. Install Lower intake manifold with RTV on the rails etc.
5. Do a compression check on each cylinder to confirm there is a good seal on the heads etc.
6. Install the remaining components
7. Start it up and admire my work.

I guess one question I had. Should I apply gasket sealer around the oil ports through the head? I have read contradicting info on the forums. Some saying don't apply sealer where you didn't find sealer and others saying a thin layer will help prevent any future oil leaks. I am leaning towards a small amount but i guess it does mean that if I do need to take the heads back off for any reason I cannot re-use the head gaskets.

Again, thank you for all the help and advice so far. I really hope sat turns into a productive day for me!

Thanks
Scott

 

Don't put any sealer of any kind on the head gaskets, it affects the whole of the "seal" over all.
Don't handle the head gaskets, leave them in their package until you're ready to install them.
Clean-clean-clean.
No amount of debris can be in place when installing the heads.
A hair, a bit of dust, specs, etc. can cause problems.

I like to use lacquer thinner with lint free rags (if at all possible) until the rag(s) stop showing dirt.
You don't have an air compressor, so your shop vac will do.
There will always be lint from rags.
If you have an old velour shirt or one of those micro fibre rags, those are good for your final cleaning.
Paper towels are the worst, especially those blue shop ones.

Head gaskets really shouldn't be re-used, some will disagree with me there, but if the head ever has to come off again, there is usually so much carbon build up all over and dirt, the head gaskets can't be re-used.

 

Plus one, your parts cannot be too clean.

This includes the threaded bolt holes for the head bolts.

In the past when I did this type of work for a living, I would blow out each hole with compressed air.

Then with a Bottoming thread cleaning tap from a company like APR clean the threads.

This is a link to the type of tap I am talking about but not the size you need.

I do not know what size bolts are used on your Ranger.

When your done with the tap blow out the hole again and spray the threads with just a little WD 40 and blow them out again.

If the threaded bolt holes are clean enough, you should be able to take a bolt and thread it into each hole all the way to the bottom without the use of a wrench there should be no binding.

I am not sure if the rangers gaskets should have sealant on them or not.

I will say the dodge DOHC 4 cylinder that was known for leaking oil at the head gasket

We always used a hi temperature spray copper sealant on both sides of the head gasket.

I did not use this on every engine I did, but I did use it on any engine that had any surface imperfections on the deck of the block.

You may want to look into buying ARP studs for the heads rather than strech to yield bolts. if you do they will require different torque procedures.


ARP 911-0003: 3/8" x 16 Thread Cleaning Chaser | JEGS

 

I think this is what confuses me the most, is so many people have their way of doing things and its always different. Which makes it very confusing for a noob like me to understand what I am supposed to be doing.

I have an air compressor and a shop vac so I will use both. Think of me as the guy with all the gear and no idea! I have tools for everything but no idea how to use most of them.

I think we have some lint free dusters for the car so I will use them and replace them once I oil them up.

Does everything else seem ok in my sequence of events such as cranking it by hand, doing a compression check etc? It won't do any damage doing a compression check when it hasn't been run for so long?


Thanks for the link! I don't think I will have time to get the thread cleaners for tomorrow putting it back together. I have an air compressor so I plan to just blow the holes out before threading them. I am assuming I can just blow them out, spray a small amount of wd40 in then blow them out again?

I already have the yield bolts that were delivered yesterday so I am committed and will be using them.

I feel my stomach get in knots as I walk past the car and see it in so many bits with the pistons showing thinking it will never go back together. But plenty of people seem to manage it so I am hoping I can impress myself. I wouldn't have even attempted this without the forum.

 

you can use the new bolts to help clean the holes and threads out.

they need to be clean enough to able to spin the bolts all the way down and back up with your fingers only.

this way you know they are torqued properly and not just binding in the threaded holes.

if they bind you can have properly torqued bolts but the cylinder head will not be torqued down evenly resulting in a possible leak or multiple leaks.

 

Thanks! I will put them in with my fingers first of without the head then to confirm the passage is clear.

One more questions I had, should I soak the new lifters in oil before installing them or install them dry? Again I have read conflicting guides on best practice.

 

I always manually pumped them with a push rod while the lifter was submerged in oil until I did not see any air bubbles.

After that soaking them in oil while your working on other stuff will not hurt.

 

dottm

http://www.fme-cat.com/Docs/1425.pdf

Here's some info about head gaskets and bolts.
Some you will know _ it's just common sense.

TTY (torque to yield) bolts work best with Fel-pro's Perma-Torque head gaskets.

 

Thanks! I will put them in some oil and remove the air. Thanks for the advice.

Awesome! Thank you! I read through it and was pretty comfortable with it all so I am feeling a little more confident. I will update everyone tomorrow as to how I get on...

Thanks
Scott

 

Just a quick update guys...

I got the lifters replaced and they all came out very easy which was a nice start.

i spent a couple of hours cleaning the block last night. I got it so clean I could see the original machining marks so I took that as a good sign. I was air blasting them, shop vacuuming etc etc. I put the head gaskets in without any gasket sealer etc as the instructions explicitly said not to put any on. They are a little tacky anyway so I'm assuming imthey were Pre-coated in some adhesive. I got the heads on and torqued the bolts as described in the manual. It was a lot tougher doing the 90 degree turn at the end than I expected but I marked all the bolts to ensure I got the full 90. I then poured some oil down the middle of the block over the crank

I replaced the fuel fuel injector o rings and rebuilt the intake manifold/fuel rail. I put the RTV on the rails and around the coolant holes as described in the manual and lowered the intake manifold into place. I then let the RTV cure overnight and felt it was a good point to break.

This morning I tackled the rocker arms and got them replaced. They we're quite a challenge getting the mounts off so I just tapped them with a rubber mallet to slide them off. I got them all replaced also and was feeling pretty proud of myself. I placed some assembly lube on both ends of the push rods and sat them in the lifters before tightening up the rocker arms on top. I cranked the engine over by hand to heck for any resistance, pistons hitting valves and valve movement. It all looked great.

I put some more RTV on the join between the heads and intake manifold and slotted the gaskets in before applying the valve covers. I then did a compression test on each cylinder and they all came back within a few psi of each other which was a great sign so I carried on.

I competed the remainder of the rebuild and the best advice I could ever offer... label every bolt that comes off, every connector hat gets unplugged etc etc. it saved me so many headaches. It was a breeze putting it together.

I then cranked her over and she started on the first attempt! What a rush to hear it kick into life! I was so ecstatic! It runs sooooo smooth. The engine sounds great and there was a slight miss previously which is now gone also and overall it just seems quieter and more consistent.

So after all the good news there is still some bad... I'm still getting oil collecting at the bell house opening. It's not much at all but it's still there. It doesn't drop but I wiped it clean, drove 20 miles and checked and there was a thin layer of oil back there. I'm hoping it's some residual oil and as the engine gets hotter it's getting runnier and collecting at the bottom. I will keep an eye on it over the next few drives. If it's not residual hen I have absolutly no idea what can be causing it. May be time to admit defeat and give up.

I also can't get the exhaust connecting right to the manifold. The bolts are slightly worn and rounding. So rather than keep trying I bought new gaskets and I'm going to take it to an exhaust shop and have them install them and replace the bolts etc. the reason I mention this is the final issue I'm getting is hat it appears to be running rich. I get a strong smell of fuel at low speeds while driving it. Could the blow in the exhaust be causing a bad reading on an o2 sensor and cause it to over fuel? There's no CEL and there are no pending codes either. I checked he fuel lines again and they are on tight and the injectors seated well with no fuel collecting anywhere on the lower intake. I know a really common cause is the vacuum lines but I checked them thoroughly for any cracks etc. I actually picked up a spare set at the breakers yard just incase and compared them before installing them. So o don't know what else could be causing it.

Again I wanted to give a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has offered me advice, guidance and help. I wouldn't have tackled this without this resource and I now feel I have a great base of knowledge on this engine. I truly appreciate it and feel I'm on the home straight (as long as the oil is really just residual oil) to getting this truck running well.

 

I am glad you got it back together.

If you have a exhaust leak get that repaired and maybe you will get lucky and the fuel smell will go away.

I hope the oil you noticed is residual.

 

thanks for the reply. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't barking up the wrong tree with the fuel smell. ill get he bolts and gaskets replaced and see how it goes after that.

Thanks for for your advice and input. There were lots of suggestions that helped me along the way.