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Rebuilding The Ford 4.6L

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Timing Components

Romeo

1999-’00

The chain guides on all the early Romeo engines had a steel backing and a plastic wear surface. They also used the thin crank gear (1.00˝) and the thick (.200˝), powered-metal reluctor wheel. The reluctor wheel we took off an early core had a F2LE-12A227-BB engineering number on it.

2001-’04

Ford made two changes to the timing set for Romeo in ’01. 1) They switched to the Windsor all-plastic chain guides that were mounted differently, and, 2) they used a thicker crank gear (1.180˝) along with a thinner (0.100˝), stamped metal, reluctor wheel. The reluctor wheel we took off a later core had XW1E-12A227-AA stamped on it.

Windsor

1999-’04

The Windsor motors used an all plastic chain guide from ’96 through ’04, so the only difference in the Windsor timing set was the change to the thick crank gear and the thin reluctor wheel in ’01.

Summary

That’s the story on all the major components, but it still doesn’t tell which ones were used for any particular vehicle, so we have included some charts along with this article that do show which castings were used for each specific application, year by year.

You may notice some surprises when you read over them. We were surprised to see that the Expedition had a PI Windsor motor in ’99, a NPI Romeo in ’00, and a PI Romeo in ’01. And we were even more surprised to discover that there were PI Windsor motors in the ’01-’04 F150 Super crew pickups and that they came with a Romeo VIN code, especially since there weren’t supposed to be any 4.6L Windsors built after 2000.

With all that in mind, here’s the disclaimer:

We’ve spent a lot of time researching all the applications so we think the charts are pretty accurate, but there may be some more surprises, so let us know if you have any additional information to share.
Here are some things you need to know before you do it wrong the first time.

Ring Sets

The Romeo and Windsor motors used different ring sets so the top ring grooves weren’t the same. Don’t mix them up.

Intake Gaskets

The holes for alignment pegs for the intake gaskets have been moved from the inside of the port to the outside and back again on some of these engines, so it’s hard to know which intake gasket set to send with the long block unless you physically check both of the heads before you ship the motor. We have eliminated the problem by drilling both sets of holes on the intake surface so either gasket will work.

Crank Gears and Reluctor Wheels

Be sure to use the matching crank gear and reluctor wheel. The engine won’t start and run if you are using the thin crank gear along with the thin reluctor wheel. Installing the thick crank gear with a thick reluctor will crack the front cover when you bolt it on and lock up the engine, too.

Knock Sensor Holes

It appears that all the motors with the PI heads used the new style knock sensor that was held on by an 8.0mm bolt or stud, so make sure all the PI Windsors, starting in ’99, and all the PI Romeos, beginning in ’01, have an 8.0mm hole or stud.

The F75E Windsor block came with both 8.0mm and 12.0mm threads in the valley, so you must use a block with the right bolt hole for the specific application. Some rebuilders avoid the problem by drilling and tapping all the Windsor blocks to 12.0mm and sending a thread insert along with each engine. If you choose to do this, we would recommend the “Bigsert” made by Timesert (p/n 58121) that reduces the threads from 12.0mm to 8.0mm

All of the cast iron Romeo blocks we’ve seen have 12.0mm threads, so you can either send the Timesert with the motor or include the OEM stud (p/n W704602-S309) that has 12.0mm threads on one end and 8.0mm threads on the other end.

Cams

We’ve seen some Romeo cams that have had the keyways in an unusual location relative to the number one lobe. We couldn’t find any cam gears with different keyways, so we were at a loss until we talked to the guys at Gopher Motors. They heated a cam red hot, removed the snout and discovered that it was galled on the outside because it had spun on the inside of the tube when the engine locked-up and bent all the valves on one bank. With that in mind, be sure to check the location of the keyway relative to the number one lobe before reusing any of these cams.

Conclusion

The two valve SOHC 4.6L has been one of the most popular engines in many of Ford’s cars, trucks, vans and sport utilities since 1996. The three valve engine that’s used in the Mustang, Explorer, Mountaineer and some pickups today is doing an exceptional job, so it’s inevitable that it will replace the two valve motor, probably within the next year or two, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are five million two valve motors out there, just waiting to come see us. 

Doug Anderson is President of Grooms Engines, Parts, Machining, Inc., located in Nashville, TN. He has authored numerous technical articles on engine rebuilding for Engine Builder magazine for more than 15 years. Anderson has also made many technical presentations on engine building at AERA and PERA conventions and seminars.

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