We have had rain for the first time since Helene came through so the removal of the 4.0 has stopped until the ground dries. All I'm lacking are the bell housing and torque converter bolts.

Did get some cleaning done. All the rods and pistons have been ultrasonic cleaned. Got the oil pan clean, surprisingly enough the pain is an aluminum finish and not black. Why are all my rover oil pans black? Is it an active rust prevention system???

Heres an oil pan not covered in gunk.



Not to make some block off plates so I can pressure test these blocks.

My 4.0 block that I'm removing has some pushed out freeze plugs. Im assuming the PO put straight water in it when it began spewing water. It did run, although rough and with no brakes. I did add coolant to it in pure concentrate form every time I ran it around the yard but I likely never got it hot enough to open the thermostat, when I began unhooking hoses I found what looked like pure water coming from some areas of the engine and then pure coolant from others. I have several 55 gallon drums of our free coolant pulled from chillers at a local plant. Perfect for test running motors without wasting 10 bucks a gallon.

I'm suspect as to the block being trash.

I'm tempted to put the timing cover from the 4.0 on the 4.6 with the dowel pins removed from the block, do a few spins of the crank for alignment purposes then torque down. Maybe run it 50,000 miles with an oil pressure gauge, tear down to inspect for wear and then put it back on the road if pressures seem good and oil pump surfaces look good. Worse case scenario it becomes another knocking Rover V8.

Any thoughts or input? Original with pins misaligned made it a little over 80,000

 

I answered my own questions about access to top bell housing bolts. In the 03 the heads were off, I was able to access a few top bolts with the closed end of a 1/2" wrench.

On the 01 the heads are on so that idea is a no go. I pulled the transfer case mounts and brackets. This allowed me to lower the transmission enough were I was able to get all the passenger side bolts (6) out in about 20 minutes.

I used a ratchet strap to pull the transmission to the drivers side. So much more room for activities in that space after that.


Was going to go after the drivers side but the rain moved in.

Was able to access them with in order. 1/2" socket. 6pt shallow. 3 inch extension. Swivel joint. Last but not least a 6 inch extension. Used a 3 ft pipe that barely fits over the 3/8 ratchet handle to break the bolts. Most came out with my fingers turning the extension after that.

I'll update what it takes to access the drivers side next.

 

Missing a push rod on #8. Most have eaten it. The mouse nest under the intake must have been there so long their waste are through the pan gasket.. or they ate through it. Maybe the mice stole the push rod????

The lifter was laying exactly where she sits in the pic.

 

Low oil pressure light was on the few times I moved the rig around the yard.

The mice not only stole a push rod(it's not in the pan), they were the source of the low oil pressure




Have one scored cylinder. In my opinion the block is trash.

Perhaps the push rod is mangled somewhere in the block

 

Well that's a new one.

 

Disappointing news. I had hoped to put my 4.6 rotating assembly in this block.

The timing cover was at least salvageable so I'll be able to run the 4.6 with the oil cooler.

The 4.6 is in the stay away vin range. Not sure if it's ever been changed by plan on removing the dowels putting the 4.0 on the block. Install the new engine along with an oil pressure gauge, see how long she lasts. As previously mentioned the odometer reads sub 86,xxx miles. Several bell housing bolts were very loose so either an incompetent assembled it from the factory or did so after an engine change at a dealer/shop

The 4.6 has a few cam bearings I don't like.

I see a few vendors selling "finished" cam bearings. I'm assuming these are supposed to be bearings I can just press in and install the cam? I was under the impression one had to install the bearings then line bore for proper fitment? If these have already been worked perhaps I can just toss them in the freezer over night and press in quickly, cut out the need for a machine shop?

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Very few mis-aligned dowel engine blocks made it past 30k. GIven you said it had loose bellhousing bolts I am guessing it was changed. Have you mic'ed the cam bearings? Are they scored? Did you put the cam in and spin by hand? The cam bearing bores should have been line bored at the factory, you should be able to just put in a finished one and go with it.

 

The cam spins freely, one of the bearings feels like it has more wear than the others.


And yes, the loose bolts and nearly flawless head gaskets lead me to believe this engine was replaced. The first may have gotten 30-40k and then this one ...similar. Which is why I'm wanting to try it without the alignment pins to see if if I can get it to live a little longer than that. At least until I can find a 4.0 with leaky head gaskets or thrown front prop/damaged trans.

 

No shocker that I had some oil pump housing scoring. Laid some 220 down on a true workbench, covered it with dawn and water, cleaned it up pretty quickly. Much more on the cover than inside the housing.

 

Just out of curiosity, what are the "stay away" vin ranges?