I am looking at buting a 2000 Explorer sport with a 4.0L. Now for a really stupid question, how can I tell if its a OHV or a SOHC motor? The belt replacement sticker under the hood shows routing for both types of motors and does not say which one it is. Can you tell by the VIN number somehow?

 

yes you can tell by the vin you have to look at the 8th number it will either be an X or E. If it is an X then it is the OHV and E would be the SOHC.

-Bash

 

Bash the 8th number is an x so I can rest assured it is the OHV motor. I have heard so many bad things about the timing chain cassettes on the SOHC motors I am paranoid. Up untill recently I had a 92 Explorer with 185,000 and experienced no major problems with it. I saw this 2000 sport model and my 16 yr old son really liked it so we are looking at it for him. I has 165,000 miles and just had a thermostat, water pump, intake manifold gaskets, battery and a 4 wheel brake job done to it, It seems that the owner ran upon some hard luck and lost his job so he wants to get rid of it. It is an auto tranny and I also understand that the tranny might be reaching it's life expectancy also, but hopefully not. Can you give me any insight as to any other problems I might be faced with in the not so distant future? Thanks for easing some of my paranoia.

Redboat

 

if it looks like the 92 engine than it is not a sohc.

the easiest way is the location of the plugs, ohv engines have the plugs below the valve covers.

 

They both do.

 

oops, i was thinking of my 4.6 engine.

 

The OHV engine is a pretty good engine as far as I can tell. My mom never had any problems really with hers.

 

I agree. My '96 has the OHV 4.0, and I have never had any major problem with it. Aside from standard maintenance, a water pump, IAC valve and a thermostat, it's been trouble-free. It has 133,000 miles and doesn't burn any oil that I can tell.

Speaking (typing?) of OHC engines: My dad bought a brand new 1966 Pontiac Tempest with what I believe was the first US-made overhead cam engine. It was a 3.8 liter straight six, and it could rev up to 6500 rpm - quite impressive for those days. That was one strong motor, especially with the 4-bbl Rochester carburetor and 10.5:1 compression.

Interestingly, its neoprene timing belt was easy to change, far easier than the belts on OHC engines today. The belt cover was held on with three Phillips head screws and two metal clips, and took only a couple of minutes to remove. I "cheated" when I decided to replace it by cutting off the old one and pulling the new belt over the cam and crank gears. Probably not a good idea, but it never gave me any trouble.

Why can't timing belts be that easy to change now?

 

I love my OHV 4.0. Its got 157k miles on it and still runs strong. Basic maintenence has been done to it, and i need to replace the valve cover gaskets, but *knock on wood* its been great. Wouldn't trade it for the SOHC for anything.

 

I have a 99 Explorer with the OHV. 168,000 no problem execpt I had to replace the IAC. However, the auto transmission had to be repaired last year. Pulling a 4000 pound generator around may have had something to do with that.