- Joined
- Feb 27, 2009
- Messages
- 5,681
- Reaction score
- 542
- Location
- Kailua-Oahu, Hawaii
- What engine do you have?
- V6 engine
- What year is your Sport Trac?
- 2005
- What Generation is your Sport Trac?
- 1st Gen Owner
Replaced the rear tensioner at 75,000 miles as a preventative measure. Factory install did not have a crush washer so I installed an OE replacement tensioner without one. Factory torque spec for both tensioners is 32 foot pounds using new crush washers or 49 ft/lbs. if reusing. Started at 40 foot pounds and increased in 5 pound increments until oil stopped seeping. Had to loosen and re-torque six times until 70 foot pounds to finally seal. Yikes! STANDARD length 27mm six point socket is much better suited for the rear tensioner with less chance of slipping than the deep well socket required for the front tensioner. Also replaced the common leaking right valve cover gasket that was dripping oil from the outboard rear corner onto the exhaust manifold for a long time. PITA, but finally no more stink. Oil stains ABOVE the rear tensioner is the giveaway.
5000 miles later decided to replace the FRONT tensioner. 2005 Ford Workshop Manual says remove intake manifold and thermostat housing for LH tensioner removal. Almost everywhere else I've read says intake removal is not necessary and to disconnect negative battery terminal, drain coolant below ECT sensor level, remove sensor, throttle body, upper hose to t-stat housing, and oil fill tube for the Job 2 engine. With a 27mm deep well socket, extension, and breaker bar I'm ready to attack. Not so fast. Bottom of intake interferes with socket. Lot's of wiggling and pushing and the socket is on. Tensioner breaks free very easily. Ratchet gets harder to turn the further the tensioner comes out. Socket is rubbing the bottom of the intake. Hear a POP when the tensioner disengaged from the head threads. Oh-oh. Weird sound but it's out. Should have followed the Ford Manual earlier, but to re-install and prevent cross threading loosened eight intake bolts with a 1/4" drive T-30 socket and extension. Also taped the socket and extension together to prevent socket loss in the dark intake "valley". 1/4 inch of extra clearance was all that was needed to prevent the socket from rubbing the bottom of the intake. Cleaned head threads and tensioner contact surface, stuffed paper towel inside the 27mm deep socket so the tensioner fits over tensioner hex without touching the "wave" crush washer. Applied bearing grease to hold the washer centered on the tensioner. Started by hand threading the tensioner from the front of vehicle three full turns. From right side fender with ratchet and extension tightens easily two-thirds of the way then stops. Remove and try threading old tensioner. Same result. Found an M22 x 1.5 tap locally for $80. EXACT same Irwin/Hanson tap from Amazon was $12.44 including shipping. Always prefer supporting local business, but don't support price gouging. I can only believe the increasing down force on the socket when removing the original tensioner caused the piston to strike and damage the inside threads when the tensioner became disengaged from the threads in the head. Lesson learned is BEFORE proceeding LOOSEN THE INTAKE IF IT INTERFERES WITH THE SOCKET. Anything that causes the socket to skew off center is very bad. As mentioned above, factory torque spec for both tensioners is 32 foot pounds with new crush washer or 49 foot pounds if reusing. Ended up having to torque the tensioner in the repaired threads to 60 foot pounds after 55 still leaked. Scary torque, especially when so much material was removed from the aluminum cylinder head threads after tapping. Using a very slow steady pull on the torque wrench, and fearing that sickening feeling of threads "slipping", I felt and heard that wonderful click instead. Released, pulled again, and CLICK. Rejoice! Averted a VERY expensive cylinder head replacement, or at the very least a Heli-Coil or thread insert. In my case I only needed 1/4 inch of added wiggle room, but failure to loosen the intake caused a lot of unnecessary stress and wasted time. Luck was definitely on my side.
Top two pics shows socket intake interference.
Bottom two pics shows tensioner with the socket hitting damaged threads and tensioner finally home after repairing threads.
5000 miles later decided to replace the FRONT tensioner. 2005 Ford Workshop Manual says remove intake manifold and thermostat housing for LH tensioner removal. Almost everywhere else I've read says intake removal is not necessary and to disconnect negative battery terminal, drain coolant below ECT sensor level, remove sensor, throttle body, upper hose to t-stat housing, and oil fill tube for the Job 2 engine. With a 27mm deep well socket, extension, and breaker bar I'm ready to attack. Not so fast. Bottom of intake interferes with socket. Lot's of wiggling and pushing and the socket is on. Tensioner breaks free very easily. Ratchet gets harder to turn the further the tensioner comes out. Socket is rubbing the bottom of the intake. Hear a POP when the tensioner disengaged from the head threads. Oh-oh. Weird sound but it's out. Should have followed the Ford Manual earlier, but to re-install and prevent cross threading loosened eight intake bolts with a 1/4" drive T-30 socket and extension. Also taped the socket and extension together to prevent socket loss in the dark intake "valley". 1/4 inch of extra clearance was all that was needed to prevent the socket from rubbing the bottom of the intake. Cleaned head threads and tensioner contact surface, stuffed paper towel inside the 27mm deep socket so the tensioner fits over tensioner hex without touching the "wave" crush washer. Applied bearing grease to hold the washer centered on the tensioner. Started by hand threading the tensioner from the front of vehicle three full turns. From right side fender with ratchet and extension tightens easily two-thirds of the way then stops. Remove and try threading old tensioner. Same result. Found an M22 x 1.5 tap locally for $80. EXACT same Irwin/Hanson tap from Amazon was $12.44 including shipping. Always prefer supporting local business, but don't support price gouging. I can only believe the increasing down force on the socket when removing the original tensioner caused the piston to strike and damage the inside threads when the tensioner became disengaged from the threads in the head. Lesson learned is BEFORE proceeding LOOSEN THE INTAKE IF IT INTERFERES WITH THE SOCKET. Anything that causes the socket to skew off center is very bad. As mentioned above, factory torque spec for both tensioners is 32 foot pounds with new crush washer or 49 foot pounds if reusing. Ended up having to torque the tensioner in the repaired threads to 60 foot pounds after 55 still leaked. Scary torque, especially when so much material was removed from the aluminum cylinder head threads after tapping. Using a very slow steady pull on the torque wrench, and fearing that sickening feeling of threads "slipping", I felt and heard that wonderful click instead. Released, pulled again, and CLICK. Rejoice! Averted a VERY expensive cylinder head replacement, or at the very least a Heli-Coil or thread insert. In my case I only needed 1/4 inch of added wiggle room, but failure to loosen the intake caused a lot of unnecessary stress and wasted time. Luck was definitely on my side.
Top two pics shows socket intake interference.
Bottom two pics shows tensioner with the socket hitting damaged threads and tensioner finally home after repairing threads.
