mjeff87

As happy as a 3.7 can be, lol

Whelp, it's officially done. Changed my signature and everything Got the oil filter changed (had to take off the serpentine belt to get a good grip on it). Flushed/bled the heater ore, aired up the tires, and gave the engine a good cleaning. It's back up to about 19 mpg in mixed driving, and lives again There really is an engine underneath all that crap, lol.

RIP good Sir. You had a hell of a good run. Truly one of the pioneers of the sport.

I was waiting for you or Buck to ring in on this one, lol

Pics just sent to me by my buddy down in Yulee, FL. Because.....Florida. +5 bonus points for the zombie.

My 02 TJ had a lockout......it was easily bypassed by inserting a 5A fuse in the "trans" slot in the fuseblock, LOL. Both of the Focuses I have (01 and 03) have them too. I had to pull the contact switch connector off and jump them with a short piece of wire to bypass them.

Junior, sorry for your loss. I remember your dad posting. A tribute vehicle to him is an excellent idea. Like Pete says, if you need help just holler. Jeff

I've done that before also....hoping to not have to resort to that though. Makes a real mess, and sometimes the filter rips open instead of twisting. And/or I cut myself on the jagged metal edges I can get a short strap wrench on it, problem is having the room to spin the handle. Filter placement on these things is horrific at best. I can get one of those cap wrenches that fit over the end of the filter. Problem is getting a socket extension threaded through the bottom end to twist it. In any case, I've got 3000 miles to figure it out until I need to change it, unless it fails somehow. LOL.

That wedge tool will go in the one drawer in my tool cart that houses the "buy-it-for-a-one-time-use-thing-and-never-use-it-again" tools. Like the 18mm crow's foot wrench I had to buy for the power steering line on the Focus, the camshat/crankshaft locking tool kit (again, Focus), drum brake plier tool, SWR meter for the CB radio, etc. etc. etc.

LOL, I drove it around the 'hood last night, took it down to get a pizza for dinner. But the real test is today, I drove it to work this morning. 35 miles one way, with about half of that on the interstate. Made it here fine. If it makes it home tonight I'll consider it fixed. Rich, I hear ya man. What's worse is when you take the time to make nice little piles of different parts/fasteners to keep track of everything and then either accidentally kick them or swat them right off the bench with a toolbox. For this project, I used ziplock bags and a sharpie for the million little bolts, punched the timing cover bolts through a piece of cardboard in the shape of the timing cover (all the bolts are different lengths but the same thread size), paint pens, zipties, and my phone camera to make sure I didn't screw anything up.

I did one little screwup though. Back when I had the timing cover off (the first go-round) I spun a new oil filter on since it was basically right there with nothing blocking it. I had to change the oil anyway since a bunch of coolant got dumped into the front of the oilpan when I pulled the cover off. Apparently, I over tightened it since I had such easy access to it at the time. When I got it all running and broken in yesterday I figured I'd change the oil again JIC anything got into the oil this time around (cheap insurance).....and I can't get the filter to spin now. Ooops. So I just drained the pan and refilled it with new oil, using the same (still new) filter. I'll have to get a strap wrench or something on it at a later date and get it off, but for now it's all good. Oh, and I couldn't find a stupid 5/8" socket when I was done also. I just about tore my garage apart looking for it, hoping I didn't leave it inside the engine anywhere LOL. After about 20 frantic minutes, I ended up finding it still attached to a short extension that I already put back in the blow-molded case. Talk about a relief! I am SUPER anal about keeping my tools organized when working on something, mostly so I don't end up scattering all my tools everywhere and then not being able to find what I need, but also to make sure I account for everything when I'm done and cleaning them all up.

Here's a shot showing the stupid $&@!% dowel pin on the cam face that I accidentally pushed in.....it's supposed to stick out about 1/4" and fits into a slot on the cam timing gear/tone ring (and keeps the whole contraption in time). Talk about a nickel holding up a dollar, lol. And, a pic also of the wedge tool I used to keep the hydraulic tensioner locked when I pulled the gear/chain off the cam to swap the new cam in. Without the tool, you have to take the whole front timing cover off to get to the tensioner to reset it once it pops. And the sounds of a happily running 3.7L (however happy these engines can be, anyway......) 20191218_175741.mp4

It is alive, lol. I ordered a wedge block to jam down inside the head to keep the tensioner from popping, was not expecting it to show up until later in the week. It was sitting on my porch yesterday so I called off work today and spent about 5 hours swapping out the camshaft and putting the engine back together. That tool was/is invaluable (only cost $17.99) and I got 'ER dun. Fired off on the first crank of the key and settled into a perfect idle. I got it up to temp, bled the cooling system, changed the oil and ran it down to the quarter car wash to blast off the 2+ months of garage dust built up on it. Darn thing is like a brand new vehicle......

You're over on Garage Journal aren't you? I remember seeing this post over there (I think, anyway). Nice job

Ooops....right there in the very first post, too. You are correct Tim. Sorry OP, carry on...

Do yourself a favor OP.......before you install your TOB, you see those cheap little "u bolt/clips" that hold the lines into the body? Yeah, toss them and replace with the same diameter cotter pins. I've had the pleasure of one of those clips popping out within 100 miles of a new installation, and there's at least one other member on here that had the same problem also. It's really not fun having to pull the whole trans back off again after just installing it.

Did you ever overheat the engine? That's what usually leads to the seats dropping. Could very well just be a fallen rocker or 2. There's really nothing holding them except for pressure from the lash adjusters. Not a hard fix to pop them back into place, but a crapload of stuff to take off so you can actually get the valve cover(s) off to get to them. Stupid engine design.....

Yeah, they are numbered (1-4) and have a directional arrow stamped into them.

Probably...not, I dunno. I just grabbed them in case any of mine are cracked (they all look good in place, I'll know better when I take them off). They are just a solid chunk of aluminum, there's no bearing shell inside them. I don't think they are a fit-to-order part, because the bottom half is actually machined into the head itself. I do have a tube of engine assembly lube I'm going to seat the "new" cam in with. I suppose I could plastigauge the bearings to check clearances, but I don't know what the correct tolerance is....

Well, I missed my mark of getting this pig running by thanksgiving, but I'm making steady progress. I grabbed a camshaft (and bearing caps) off of a cherry '03 KJ in the junkyard last weekend and also picked up a new cam gear from my parts place for $35. Had to wrench on the focus this morning and afterward started tearing the KJ engine back down. The timing chains are still perfectly in time, but the passenger side cam slipped that dowel pin like I suspected. I was going to pull off the front timing cover again (still might) because the moment I unbolt that cam gear and the chain slacks, the tensioner inside is going to spring and there's no way to reset it without pulling the timing cover off and pulling the tensioner out. I'm trying an experiment.....I just ordered a nylon timing chain wedge off the internet that you use to jam down inside the head to keep tension on the chain (to prevent the tensioner from popping), should be here in a couple days. If it works like advertised, I should be able to insert it, take the gear off the cam, swap cams, and rebolt the gear without the tensioner popping. If it doesn't work, I'll just have to pull the timing cover and reset the tensioner....just a couple extra hours of work. The wedge tool was only $17.99, so I'm willing to give it a try. With any luck, I should have it running again next weekend.

Cam sensor, if I had to guess. If the 4.7 is the same as the 3.7, it bolts into the bottom front of the passenger side head. It's a Hall effect sensor, like the CPS, and there's a tone ring on the cam timing gear that controls spark.

P0353 and multiple misfires would make me suspect a cam (or crank) sensor.

^^^nice. I was operator on our old M543 wrecker in my company back in the day. The one and only time my rig broke down, I got towed by a HEMTT.

Yeah, I guess....but we're not most people Got the line swapped out today. Not too bad of a job, but one I'm not fond of doing again anytime soon. Had a heck of a time getting the pump/system bled afterward, took about 30 minutes until I got all the air out of the system. But, nothing is leaking now, lol. Got all that done, then putzed around with the KJ a bit. Got the whole engine stripped except for the front timing cover. Orileys had the correct sized puller I need for the harmonic balancer but it was rented out when I went to get it. Got one from Autism-zone but it's too big to fit and I quit trying to make it work after 30 minutes or so. I might get to it tomorrow, but my wife and I are meeting friends for lunch an hour away and then we're all going to the range to kill some paper. We picked up a new pair of 9mm's (for CCW) on a Black Friday sale as early Christmas presents to each other and we need to run a couple hundred rounds through them to break/sight them in. Might not have time for the KJ after all that, lol.

THIS is the problem child. It's a swivel joint/flared fitting that is not separately replaceable. What a stupid design.....