hood removal wasn't necessary to pull engine
 

this week i pulled the 4.6 in my stx for the first time and i was expecting to have to remove or at least pin back the hood, but didn't have to. everything i read or watched said i was going to need to do it. (i did remove the front grille area from the hood) i'm working on this alone, so it saved me a lot of hassle. might not have needed to remove the front bumper either, not sure on that. the flexplate and harmonic balancer both stayed on the engine. it was necessary to remove the plastic cowl piece that covers the body wiring harness or there would not have been enough clearance from the front to the back.

fwiw, here's some pics. it's a 2004 stx 126" reg cab, 2wd 4.6, stock wheels & suspension, etc


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...00e8fc02f1.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...ecb46f0949.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...b45a828827.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...8e0e9c938e.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...e9f21f86bf.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...6f468876c8.jpg

Good to know!

What are you planning to do with that 4.6l?

nothing special really. my plan is to pull the heads and do lock-n-stitch inserts on all the spark plug holes, a full gasket replacement, and just a general refresh. the engine runs pretty good overall with about 130k.

i got this vehicle about 13 years ago but don't put a lot of miles on it. it's always had an oil leak up near the a/c compressor area, and early on i tried to fix it in-vehcle by doing the front cover/oil pan/valve cover gaskets, but it didn't seem to work. i can't see anywhere else it could be leaking from, but i will open it up and see.

Oh, I see. Nice!

Let us know if you need help. Someone here likely has the answers. :thumber:

cool man, thanks! :thumbsup:

been working very slowly on this truck, but finally found out why that persistent leak and why my initial in-vehicle attempt to repair it didn't work. RH cylinder head must have been dropped at one time because it was cracked.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...73967ad7e0.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...fe6caf27e5.jpg

so, i bought these... (i am into it this far, didn't want to do just one)
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...798fc09882.jpg

what's nice is they already have the deep spark plug threads, so i won't need to lock-n-stitch
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...083ccc8837.jpg

reference pic of the original 4-thread heads. i did an in-vehicle lock-n-stitch repair after a spark plug blow out a few years ago (middle chamber in pic).
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...1af94fd7e3.jpg

looks like the only thing i'll need to do before bolting them onto the block is to plug for the tensioner boss on the rear of each head. for some reason they left them out... oversight? not sure. but weird because everything else is fully assembled and side-specific.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...713e916195.jpg

and lastly - like i said, into it this far - so i had the trans rebuilt
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...ca2994d6a5.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...58768c2850.jpg

Looks nice!

Interesting on the crack.

maybe "pete" dropped it on the assembly line, and decided to leave his mark on the block! lol
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...de9f4526bc.jpg

just an update i got this all back together and up and running. it is running good and the transmission feels great. i learned a lot from this project and will use the knowledge when i pull the 5.4 out of my fx4 next year.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.f15...796574dd22.jpg