Is my old explorer worth saving?
My first car was a ‘98 SOHC 4.0 4wd and it’s been sitting for almost five years now. I love this car to death and believe me I put it through hell and back lmao
I had a small leak from my oil pan and when I went to change the gasket I discovered part of my timing chain guide in the pan. So I decided to at least change the tensioners to alleviate any issues temporarily. While doing so I accidentally cross-threaded one of them causing a crack in the head where it threads in. I wish I had photos of the waterfall of oil that went everywhere.
It’s got almost 180k I think, and obviously the timing chain probably needs to be done and iirc my transmission was probably due for a rebuild. What are steps I could take to get her on the road again? I’m pretty mechanically inclined and have done all the work on my cars since I was 16 but obviously not a professional mechanic, so I’m trying to avoid dumping a bunch of money in the wrong direction. Any advice from anyone familiar with these engines would be appreciated!
Edit: I might add that aside from the obvious everything else is in good shape, no rust, interior is in great shape aside from normal wear. I always stayed on top of regular maintenance. My friend has long suggested I just engine swap it with something lmao.