Hey guys, as you guys know i bought vonhanson's truck in the summer and did a couple mods to it but near the end of november motor started to have problems and i lost compression on cylinder 1 and 2 so i stopped driving it and have been slowly taking out the engine by myself, pretty big task considering ive never really done much on cars before but i got the hayes manual and found some sites online so i started and im doing pretty good. I have to take out the AC condensor and unplug a couple more electrical things before i should be good to unbolt it from the tranny and take it out. Hopefully when i do buy myself a new motor i can get it back in without having to go to a shop and pay crazy amounts of money for them to do it. If anyone has tips on taking engines out and getting them back in all would be appreciated.

 

I have done several motors and transmissions at work if you need any help feel free to PM me and ill do what i can. So Haynes may or may not be of help. It could be harder or easier being a non factory engine all depends on how it was spliced into the trucks systems. Good luck and hope everything works out for you!

 

OK thanks! yeah ive noticed haha especially since its not in an explorer but between the haynes and a how to of taking a 4.0 explorer motor out im figuring it out. Do you have any advice on what to do to the new engine before i put it in, like checking the timing belt/chain and stuff like that?

 

Do the seals i just put a five speed in my truck and i was rushed for time and didn't do the rear main because it "looked" ok now i have a small leak and have to pull it again in the future. Timing chain depends on miles i just swapped mine while i was doing the timing cover gasket and it had a good bit of slop at 145000 so for peace of mind may want to at least check it mine was a pain and id bet my 3.0 has way more clearance up front than the 5.0 in there. But just cheek gaskets for signs of leaks and anything that may be hard to reach once its in. I can't think of anything specific other than that to check before.

 

Sucks to hear about your issues. Vonhanson has been getting back on, maybe he can shed some light on your motor issues

 

Hey James!

I saw the updated photos a bit ago, sorry to hear about problems though, how many miles have you put on since you bought it?

Most everyone was just stock plug and play, the only thing custom was the starter button which was a green and red wire i believe.

 

ok thanks, i was definitely going to do the timing chain, thanks for the info about the seals.
Thanks vonhanson, its not bad its kinda fun taking it out but now i gotta drive around in my junker haha I put around 3500-4. Yep i found that out yesterday taking the starter out, i only have a couple things left to pull before i have to find myself an engine hoist. I also think i found out why the AC wasnt working, im pretty sure there was no refrigerant in it, it was under no pressure at all. So ive already found my next project after putting the engine in haha

 

Yeah the AC never was refilled after the swap, Never had the High pressure sensor hooked up either, wouldn't be to hard to get going again.

 

It should be a great truck when its all back together thats the one mod i wish i could do but it would never pass emissions where i live so ill keeping building up my 3.0 lol.

 

yep, i might have found a steal for a 5.0 crate engine with just under 3000 on it for 1250 but i gotta call them on monday. what do you guys think is a good price for either a new engine or one a used one with anywhere from 100k to 140k on it.