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yea thats true! the tranny is new so im good there.

so I found a good shop in colorado that sells used heads. they are going to rebuild and redeck one for me so that will all be like new. mine did end up having a cracked valve. Went ahead and ordered new tensioner, belt, timing chain and guides, head bolts, plugs, head gasket, piston rings and connecting rod bearings. I'll post up some pics.

So I got everything taken off and the head removed. It all looks good. It was just the spark plug threads. Going to take it to a machine shop and see what they can do. Im going to do the timing chain and guides as well as a bunch of small stuff, do you think I should pull the pistons out and look at the cylinders and replace the rings as well?

yes sir, finally got the engine out. what a pain. Got the tranny off and engine on stand. Going to start tearing into it. I'll let you know what I find.

so i ordered that piece off ebay and it fits thank god. got the slide hammer from advanced and it threads into it so I should be good to get that driver half shaft out. I was going to pull it up and out but there are 2 hard lines going across the engine for the power steering I dont want to mess with, so I will drop it out the bottom as the fsm suggests. Once I get the engine out and head pulled I will have a better idea of whats going on and can decide what to do. I really want a new engine or to overhaul mine, I need to know its all in good shape as I only want to do this once! Where is a good place to shop a new engine at? thanks guys

yea I saw that one. I really want to just overhaul my current engine so I know everything is new. While the engine is out Im going to do the timing chain as well. So far we worked all day saturday on it. Went to advanced and rented some tools, had a hell of a time getting the ball joints separated on the front left. Got them apart with a craftsman 2 jaw puller. Then the half shafts had to come out. Got the passenger side off easily, unbolted the brace and popped it out. The driver side however will not budge. I am looking at this on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/281490254023?item=281490254023&viewitem=&vxp=mtrto go around it so I can use the slide hammer. I guess that circlip on it is really tough to get out. Do you know any other ways to remove it? Also, I cant decide if I want to lower the engine out or lift it out from above. The book says to drop it, but I have always pulled engines out, and this way I can unbolt the AC compressor and not have to discharge the whole AC system. Anyone who has pulled an engine??? thanks

I have been reading the book and there are tons of special ford tools they show. have you guys found that you can get by without them? I think no matter what the engine has to come out and if I decide to rebuild or not it will be easier to do out of the car. I was thinking of replacing the timing chain either way while its out as well.

great post, thanks for the info. I will perform a leakdown test tomorrow. When I did the compression test the gauge held 85 psi so I assumed the threads were ok. As far a blow by, the plug looks ok.

I got the manual coming. Regardless, I need to pull it and see whats going on. Its idling really rough and has trouble starting every now and then. There are tons of engines on ebay for 3-500 used. They come with a warranty. I guess I will just have to price it out and see. The van is only worth 3-4K so a 2500 engine is out of the question. I just want to fix this issue and get some more mileage on it. It will really depend on how much damage it has on this cylinder, but I really feel its a exhaust valve. We will see this weekend!

Yea i saw that, I wasnt prepared to spend $180 on a manual. seems a bit high but I need it. I have decided to pull the engine and just take it apart and see whats wrong. Then order the parts and replace.

thanks for the good replies. Where is good place to get the repair manual? I have looked locally and havent found one yet. This is a 2010 transit and is in pretty good shape. Its got 180,000 miles but its mostly all highway miles. I did a similar repair to a pushrod engine and it wasnt bad. I was concerned when I took off the valve cover and saw the timing chain. Basically, the spark plug on the cylinder that has low compression came out while I was driving. I replaced the coil pack and all plugs but the misfire came back. I then did the compression test and found out how low it was. The threads were not in good shape on that cylinder so I helicoiled a thread in and got the plug in there good and the psi was still low. I will try to induce air and see if the valve is damaged. Would it be easier to just pull the engine? thanks!

thanks for the reply. yes I did do a wet test, when I dumped some oil into the cylinder it went up to about 92 from 85psi. when ordering new rings, should I get standard or .020 or .040 oversize? thanks

hello. I have a cylinder 2 misfire and replaced the plug and pack and had no improvement. I did a compression test and found it only to have 85 psi. The rings are shot and was wondering If I can drop the piston from the bottom, by removing the oil pan. I'd rather do that then pull the engine. any advice would be great. thanks

im having the same problem. I did a compression test and found that cylinder has only about 85psi where the others have close to 200. I am going to replace the rings on the piston. Can this be done from dropping the oil pan? thanks