I am in struggle land. Is there a surefire way of knowing if I have cylinder 1 indeed on TDC and both valves closed when cylinder 1 piston is up for "TDC"?

 

TDC will be on the compression side. If you pull the #1 spark plug and but your finger in the hole you will feel air pushing out as you turn the engine over. Stop when you feel the air, than check the crank pully and line the timing mark.

 

How do I do this just as a "one man band"?

 

paper towel. Crank it slowly till you hear it pop out.

 

Okay, thank you!

 

no such luck. I tried and tried.

 

I put a long, slender screwdriver into the spark plug hole in an engine once to watch it rise as I cranked the engine over to TDC. There was no chance of any binding or cylinder wall scratching.
However, this was an upright 4 cylinder engine. The V configuration will work against you a bit but you know what I'm describing.
Get a wooden dowel just a bit smaller than the spark plug hole (to hold it straight) and see if you can see it (mirror?) be pushed out the hole.
Put inch dashes on the wood with a Sharpie

 

Pull out all 6 spark plugs
Turn crank manually, clockwise, it should turn freely/easily with no compression on any cylinder, spin it at least 2 full turns

Put #1 spark plug back in, finger tight
Turn crank manually until you feel the resistance of compression, continue to turn until mark on pulley is aligned with pointer on front cover
You are at #1 TDC compression stroke

If you are not sure repeat, you WILL FEEL the resistance


For other cylinders
Its a V6 engine, so 1 of its cylinders will be at its TDC Compression stroke every 120deg, 360deg in a circle, so cut "the pie"(the crank pulley) into 3 sections

Like this: https://etc.usf.edu/clipart/40500/40...a_40529_lg.gif

One of the lines already has a mark on the pulley, #1 TDC mark(its also for #5)
Use a piece of tape to mark other 2 lines/slices of pie on the crank pulley, so pulley now has 3 "marks" 120deg apart
Put a spark plug in any cylinder you wish to find TDC Compression stroke(all other spark plugs need to be removed)
Turn crank clockwise until you FEEL the resistance
Continue to turn until you are lined up with the next "mark" on the pulley and the pointer on front cover
You are at TDC Compression stroke for the cylinder with spark plug in it, 100% for sure

 

Is there a good write up on this forum about performing an intake manifold gasket set job? I am needing to do such....

 

1997 Ford Ranger 4.0 liter OHV is the application.

 

Clean the head surfaces and lower intake surfaces
A tube of RTV sealant should come with lower gasket set, of not you will need some
The silicone/sealant is applied to the block between the heads at the back and front, a thick bead, there is no "pressure" in this area, the valley, seal just prevents blow-by and any oil vapour from coming out from the ends of the lower intakes seal to block

Put a thin layer of sealant on the heads around the coolant passages and intake valve passages, this will hold the gasket in place, install gasket(s), some are one piece others are 2 pieces
Flip intake up side down and do the same thin layer of sealant on the passages
Sealant bead is already applied to block at both ends, right, lol
Lower intake into place
I would use Blue Loctite(low strength) on the lower intake bolts as they like to loosen up

Lower intake tightening sequence is a bit different, most sequences do center out crisscross, this is edge to center crisscross
3..5..7..2
1..6..8..4

Tighten to 8ft/lb first time around then to 14ft/lb as final

Upper intake just has 6 studs/nuts, start at the center and crisscross, 10ft/lb then 18ft/lb, shouldn't need any sealant here

Check the lower intake bolts for tightness after a few weeks of operation, as said the like to loosen up

 

I am at the fuel rail. What is the best way of going about removing the fuel rail? Disconnecting the fuel lines at the quick connects?

 

Yes, you can get an AC/Fuel line disconnect set pretty cheap like these: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/..._AC_UL400_.jpg

Got a set years ago and no complaints...................yet, lol

 

Thank you for your time and efforts for communicating and typing up everything. I really appreciate it.

 

Do I need to remove the camshaft position sensor? I didn't need to remove camshaft position sensor to remove the lower intake manifold, which is currently off, but upon removing lower intake manifold I found myself having to sort of tilt it (the lower intake manifold) upwards and pull outwards towards the front of the engine. I didn't know if I needed to remove camshaft position sensor or not?

 

No, you shouldn't need to

 

I am attempting to replace the fuel injector o rings while I have the manifold off. The injectors are stuck in the lower intake manifold and I can't get them out even after soaking in PB blaster to try to free the injectors up from the lower intake manifold, but to no avail. What is the best method to removing a seized/stuck fuel injector in the lower intake manifold?

 

If you can spin them then they are just being held in by the O-ring so you just need to pull them out while rotating them, brute force
If you can't spin them then more PB Blaster and wait until you can

 

I am puzzled to as why in the fel pro intake manifold gasket set to as why I have two paper upper intake manifold gaskets and 6 o ring type gaskets.... I only pulled off one paper upper intake manifold gasket during disassembly... help? please.

 

4.0l OHV was used from 1990-2000 and had upper different intakes over the years, also has the Fuel Rail, sandwiched between upper and lower intakes, did you remove the fuel rail from lower intake?
Don't really need to

The plastic upper intake may use "paper" or O-ring

 

I did remove the fuel rail from lower intake manifold to service the fuel injector o rings and the upper intake manifold still has the o ring type gaskets recessed into the plenum, were they should be.... I was just confused when the set included two of the fiber/paper type gaskets, that looks like I only need to utilize one and the o rings? Or utilize both fiber/paper gaskets and o ring type gaskets??

 

No, never two gaskets at the same location

 

I am putting it all back together and I am struggling figuring out the throttle cable and cruise control cable ends were they clip on to the throttle body on the upper intake manifold. Is there a good picture of how these cables ends should clip together and on the throttle body? A good write up/tutorial? Youtube video? I am embarrassed...

 

Throttle linkage should have 2 "*****" on it if it was factory cruise, the cable ends have sockets that just snap/push on to the *****, different length cables so can only go on one way

Didn't see any pictures of that setup

 

I figured it out. Thanks for all your help thus far.