That is great news that it is running! Also thanks for the tip, the auto parts store hooked me up and I was able to get the fuel lines disconnected. I thought I made a stupid mistake by doing this myself when I got to the exhaust flange bolts. I could not get them loose. 3 hours later with a 24" breaker bar and a BFH they finally broke loose. Last thing to do is to take off the timing belt. Hopefully this isn't a real pain.

I had a question for you. The bolts under the intake manifold are real hard to get to. There is no way I will be able to get a torque wrench on it when I put this back together. Did you put the intake manifold on the head first, torque it down, and then install the head on the block?

Another note: When I took the 4 spark plugs out on the driver side I noticed they have never been replaced. Almost down to the insulator. I've taken it in to get new plugs and they never replaced them even though they said they did.

 

Mat, I don't know if you ever got an answer on the head bolt replacement question, but you should be able to reuse the head bolts on the 2.3. It's the 2.9 V6 that needs to have the bolts replaced when the heads are pulled. I built quite a few 2.3 engines for a friend who raced them in a mini-stock at the local circle track, and it's a good, stout engine. Timing belt is really easy to work with, just loosen the bolts on the tensioner, pry it back to take the tension off the belt, and snug down the adjustment bolt to hold the tensioner away from the belt and it will slip right off, provided you have already removed the belt shroud, which is more of a pain than the belt itself! Be careful not to turn the engine over after you have removed the belt, you could have piston-to-valve contact and bend a valve. (Probably not when turning by hand, but just to be safe. Don't force anything!) I never worried too much about torquing the manifold bolts, but I can generally feel when I'm tightening and get the tension on all the bolts pretty much the same. It's not as critical as the head bolts, or the mains/rods for example. If you really feel that you want to torque them, you should be able to do it with the head on the bench, but be aware that you will be making the head assembly that much heavier and more akward to handle when you are trying to reinstall it. It is crucial to set the head straight down onto the block in position, holding it as flat as possible. If you set it down onto the gasket with an edge or a corner, you will gouge the gasket and make a potential leak, and maybe have to do it all over again down the road. This is an 8 plug engine? Maybe the shop you took it to was too dumb to realize that, and only replaced 1/2 the plugs. The only way to be sure a job is done right is to do it yourself unless you have a mechanic that you can trust. When you get that head off, check it very carefully to be sure its not cracked. Look at the gasket too, to try to find where it might have blown. You can even check for warpage yourself, with a straightedge after you have scraped all the old gasket residue off. Get the block and head as clean as you possibly can, and then even cleaner. Wipe out the insides of the cylinders, 'cause crap will fall down in there. Turn the engine so that two of the pistons are at TDC and the other two are at BDC and wipe the exposed cylinder walls with a clean, lint-free rag. Then turn the crank 180 degrees and do the other two. Then repeat the process till the cylinder walls are clean and the pistons don't leave a residue behind when they go down in the cylinder. As long as you are doing all this, you might replace the timing belt. Pay close attention to the instructions for installing the timing belt and lining up the marks. You do have a manual, don't you? Hope that I've helped a little. -TD

 

hay mat,hows it going??? when i put the head back on the intake was on it,for a little 2.3 it vary akward, but like TD said be carefull putting it back on, mat i had a ? for ya did you do a compresson test before u tore it down,?? i know when i did mine i had nothing on 1-2 but 120 lb on 3-4 i have not checked sence i got it runnin so no big deal i was just wondering about your compresson, have fun take your time ,marvoles

 

Thanks TigerDan, that is a big help! I do have a Haynes manual but in some places it is hard to figure out what they are talking about. I haven't tore into the timing belt yet but have read the write up in the Haynes manual. Does anyone know if it is necessary to remove the crank timing sensor? I was hoping I didn't have to mess with it. I called ford and they said they don't carry tools and would have to order the crank sensor positioning tool and it would take 2 weeks. Also wanted to double check to make sure if I have this right, All the gaskets should use RTV sealant except the head gasket and exhaust manifold? Hey marvoles, how is it running? have you made the adjustments? No I didn't check the compression before I started. I probably should have just to see what it was. One reason I didn't was I could actually see where the coolant was coming out between the head and block on #1 cylinder. Well, when I discovered it, it was actually spraying out but when it cooled I could see it drip down the block.

 

Be careful with the RTV, it's easy to overuse and can really foul things up. There was a thread about it, check it out: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ight=Silicone+
Also, if it's in the budget, it's well worth it to get the Chilton's manual. It gives you a lot of details that Haynes manages to leave out. I can't answer your question about the crank sensor for sure, but I looked it up in my Chilton's and it didn't say anything about it in the cyl. head removal section. On our race 2.3's, we ran distributors so I've never messed with the Crank Sensor. I think you're OK there. -TD

 

Thanks Again! The Haynes manual talks a little about RTV but doesn't talk about how to use it. That was a great thread, thanks for directing me to it!

 

hay mat hows it going,how far are ya give me a shout back

 

Hey marvoles, I got the timing belt off last night but I was an idiot. I got the harmonic balancer nut off with out too much problem (a 36" pipe wrench and a 24" breaker bar). I was hoping I didn't have to move the camshaft sensor but when I pulled the balancer back I had a problem getting the belt off past the belt guide. I thought I needed to move the sensor but when I took off the sensor the bracket was still in the way. I tried removing the belt again with a little more patience and off it came so I didn't need to touch the cam sensor after all. Now I have to go order the positioning tool. Anyway, the last thing is the head, I'll get that off tonight. I'll start putting this bad boy back together soon. I'll leave the positioning of the cam sensor as the last thing since I have to wait for the tool to come in.

 

Mat, look at the sensor real carefully and you might be able to see the marks from the bolts, etc. where it was positioned before, if you haven't cleaned it up already. You might be able to reposition it by aligning the old marks in the dirt/grease/whatever. Bolts usually leave some sort of mark or gouge in the metal/plastic they are tightened to, and you should be able to use that as an indicator. Don't know if I explained that very clearly, I ain't the most eloquent guy, knowhutimean? -TD

 

How critical is the positioning of the sensor? It doesn't seem like there is a whole lot of play with this. I don't think there is any side to side play and only about 1/16th or less back and forth play. Since I didn't touch the bracket the sensor sits on, it looks like I only have the one adjustment. Is this super critical to getting spot on?

 

Well, as I said earlier, I haven't had much to do with the newer systems, but as I understand it, that is basically your timing adjustment since you don't have a distributor. Of course, the timing is actually computer controlled, but it needs to have an accurate baseline to work from, so it's pretty critical. I would do a search on this site for Crank Positioning Sensor Adjustment, or variations of that, and see what you can come up with. There are some very knowlegable people here, and so many thousands of post that someone must have covered this somewhere before. Sorry I can't help more. -TD

 

The good news is I found out why my head gasket was leaking. I started unbolting the head and I found there wasn't any resistance to the bolt up front on the exhaust manifold side. That bolt had broken in half the threaded part is still in the block. All the bolts are out but I'm not able to budge the head at all. I've rapped on it with a soft hammer but it aint moving. I even got more agressive and used a hammer and block of wood and nothing. Even though the bolt is in the block I should still be able to get the head off right? I mean the head isn't threaded also so that the broken bolt is grabbing the block and head right?

 

Heh heh, disregard my last. I was really sweatin it and panicked. I finally got the head off. I removed the broken bolt and the head is straight. Everything is good.

 

hay mat ,i did the same thing u did so dont feel bad,i also took of the sensor,like u said there is not a whole lot for play i just put it back in where i thought it was ,and it started, GOOD LUCK ,marvoles

 

My Ranger is up and running! The reassambly went real smooth with only a couple of difficulties with re-routing the wire harness but it fired right up and seems to be going strong. I'll keep an eye on everything for a while to make sure there is no leaks.

Wanted to thank everyone for their input and the FTE forum in general. It really helped out during this job. Thanks again!