Hey all, on my 2000 ford ranger xlt’s 3.0L in order to remove the intake manifold I have to remove the pushrod on cylinder 3. So I rotated the engine over until that valve went all the way down and the rocker arm had a little play. After installing the manifold now when I tighten down the bolt on the rocker arm everything gets really tight and the arm has no play. What am I doing wrong? Shouldn’t the arm have play as it did before I took it apart to get the pushrod out and manifold on? Please help I’m lost.

 

I’m not 100% sure but I believe you’ll need to rotate the motor so the valve is closed and then tighten up the rocker. If you’ve only taken one push rod out, he’ll only have to worry about that one cylinder. I’m not sure where you check, but you can find out what you tighten and torque the rocker down to.

 

so oddly enough, I went back out to the garage this morning to try and tackle this issue and overnight it fixed itself. I walked in and grabbed a hold of the rocker arm and to my surprise it had wiggle so I proceeded. I guess my only question now is why would Ford design a push rod to go through the intake manifold like that every other rod did not need to be taken out except for that one because the way they designed the intake manifold. For a second I debated on cutting the manifold, but did not want to risk ruining it. I only ended up getting the oil in and purged today as I had a short amount of time to be in the garage. Planning on dropping the motor into the truck next weekend. Fingers are crossed.

 

It’s not really only Ford. There’s a lot of motors that have push rods going through places you’d never believe. When you tighten down the rockers, it’s putting pressure up against the lifters so it probably let off some of the pressure. They need to be tightened down to a specific torque setting. That way they’re not too tight. It sounds like you got it going. That’s great

 

It just seems like a rather odd of a design to me but I haven’t been inside many engines. I did torque them to 24ft lbs and am still baffled but glad it fixed itself overnight. Did get the ball rolling progress is just a little slow thankful to everyone reaching out, hopefully updating this weekend with a success story! Lol

 

Well, I successfully got the truck back together late Sunday afternoon. Truck started very hard but was sort of expected as it was its first start up, but I got it running and idled it long enough to get some heat into the engine let it cool off checked and topped off fluids then closed shop for the night. Yesterday I did the same thing started it again starting hard, warmed it up shut it off let it cool off and checked all the fluids again. Then I took it for its first test drive this time starting easy, drove around 10 miles parked it checked fluids when cool. Went for another drive starting easy again, put another 10 miles on then parked it for the night. After work today I go to start the truck again for another drive it starts very hard again, but I get it running this time go on a 20 mile drive to autozone to return a battery get back in the truck it starts easy drives the 20 miles back home no issues so we’re around 60 miles on the rebuild and I’m wondering why is the truck starting hard when it’s sat for a long time and everything is cold but once it’s warm you almost breathe on the key and it fires up. Could it be the computer still learning everything as the truck sat disconnected from the battery for months? Is it a cam synchronizer issue? Did I not get that positioned properly when installing? But then again if that wasn’t in the correct position wouldn’t the truck not run correctly? Could it possibly be air still trapped in the fuel line? Any ideas? Lol🤷🏼‍♂️

 

I’m thinking it’s spark or fuel? Most likely fuel. Here’s what I would try. When it’s cold try squirting a little bit of starting fluid into the intake. If it fires right up then you know it’s a fuel problem. After many miles have you driven it? I think the computer is learned enough. The cam sensor I believe can be off a little bit, but the computer will compensate for it. At least in my case it did.

 

I agree I’m thinking fuel also, will have to try the starter fluid out see if that makes the first start up easier. I’ve done a few tests and I think overnight I’m somehow losing fuel pressure. Yesterday my first time trying to fire it up I put the pedal to the floor in order to shut the fuel injectors off and it did not once try to fire so I’m assuming fuel isint leaking into the intake overtime. I then cycled the fuel pump 5 times with the key and tried to fire it, it struggled and eventually stumbled to a smooth idle. I immediately shut the truck off waited a few seconds turned the key and it fired right back up no issue so my thought on the truck having to be warm was incorrect leading me to think I’m losing fuel pressure so I’m going to let the truck sit all day today and hit the purge valve on the fuel rail after work, I should see a burst of fuel right off the bat, if I do I suppose im not losing pressure and it’s something else. Truck has around 80 miles on rebuild now, everything seems to be running great other than the hard starting on the first start up of the day. Thanks for the reply will let you know what happens!