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Found a wrong sized MAF housing, and a broken air filter latch and intake tube. I put the original air mass sensor into a spare 4.6 large housing, and put in my spare 4.6 filter box and intake tube....
There is a little bearing rattle from the belt tensioner.... This truck has the original head bolts so I suspect that at 143000 miles, she is going to need head gaskets sooner than later....
It is amazing how much less rust is on every nut and thread and part in the engine bay. Not a Cali car, but not bad for 16 yrs old..... Three amigos showed up today. No big deal..... Runs great. lots of power, seems like much more than my 01 4.6. Shifts into Hi Low Lock Unlock without issue. Quiet and smooth on the road. 'tight' steering, no play. Shocks a bit weak but not bad, and some cheapo soft tires.....Tracks straight. Had a downpour yesterday and no inside leaks that I could find. I think this car spent most of its days garaged, until the last few years..... Even the cross member bolts are not rusty!
There are definitely some improvements to engine design for the 04 compared to my 01. Unfortunately, it has the SAI plumbing all over.
Key fob fix: Buttons shot on OEM board. Using: 10 Pieces RED 3x6x2.5MM Tactile Tact Push Button Micro Switch Momentary C33 off ebay, I soldered on new buttons. Works great and fits the aftermarket cheapy fob cases....
replaced a shattered front bumper with OEM from rover's north. Taking the old one off was harder than putting the new one on. crush cans OK. Probably the first big rover part that went in super easy. I thought about a steel bumper, but since everything is so nice and stock, I will just maintain the stock look for now. All bumper screws and bolts came out easily, no real rust. The driver side bumper bar flex mount 13mm nut was the only tough one, but you can get a flex joint socket w/extension behind the washer bottle neck, through the wheel well, so not that bad.....
The only issue was removing the headlight-to-body screws where two snapped right off. So had to drill out and placed in two 6mm threaded inserts (with plenty of antiseize and new bolts). If you don't have one of the thread-sert compression tools, I highly recommend it. Deeze nuts can be used in several places on the body when the welded body nuts and bolts fail.
TIP: don;t look for overpriced hard to find plastic fasteners. For the headlight washer hose retainers, I just bought some generic autozone types, smoothed out the pin (just the retaining pin) on the OEM ones, and devcon plastic welded the two mushroom caps together. Works great.
You will have to transfer some of the speed nuts from the old bumper to the new one (like for the fog lights and the fog light fascia mounts), and reuse 4 of the old screws on the bottom of bumper. All the rest of the hardware is new and comes with the bumper, such as the bumper bar, lower grate, and the rubberized side mounts. It does not come with the center screw cover.
I have a spare set of black leather front seats with heat in good shape, but were dyed a tad darker than OEM. Also have a full second row seat set in black vinyl/cloth in decent shape). you or anyone can pick them up for free 44709. PM me if interested.
about 500 miles on the walker CPS, no problems. Changed out a cracked gauge bezel for a good spare and used my 3D printed bezel repair retainers ( https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3436728 ) . I also changed out the steering wheel. The leather on the original was peeling off on the backside top from sunstroke. The old steering wheel was on pretty tight. A 2 arm puller (sitting in the center console) had just enough grab on the cast frame to pop it off. I had to remove the large nylon wire fastener first.
Tip: when you press the fog light button, the gas flap should NOT open.... apparently, the green plugs fit both switches.....
Sooooo.......been driving the 04 as a daily when no salt on the roads. Still no issues with the walker CPS. developed a small a coolant leak. The only drip I could find was between the driver cylinder head and the block at the rear...sooooo...decided on doing a head gasket change. Everything was fine until one stupid SAI flex pipe decided to stick to the head adapter and twisted up. And the dipstick would no come out of its hole! Must be bent on other end....every single other bolt including ALL the exhaust manifold bolts and lower flange nuts came out very easily. Alll the original style head bolts came out easily! The lower intake bolts were not really tight at all. I'm not complaining, just made my job easier. Surprised she didn't have many more leaks!
someone did a top end job 'recently' using VR gasket set. Looks like they replaced the original heads without machining them, and just hand polished the surfaces. Also, they left a hose clamp off the throttle warmer outlet (it wasn't leaking there though). Found a goober of stop leak in the driver rear head gasket at coolant channel, and gasket had deteriorated there as well. Block looked great, all liners flush, and hone marks visible all the way around in all cylinders. All new coolant hoses, new water pump, new radiator. I fixed some of the wiring harness covers, and relocated/redesigned the CPS mount bracket so I can reach it now. Whoever rebuilt this did a nice job overall. No stripped bolt holes, no missing bolts. Even all four coil mount bolts were in place.....
new heads on...will torque tomorrow using new ARP studs and the new ARP 3 step tightening guidlines (to 70 ftlbs)...
first pic is me using a rubber hose to vacuum out cylinder debris/deposits...I find this safer than wiping with a rag , which packs carbon down the piston gap....then the get a careful wipe, and light coat of oil...
