"Those problems even exist on Explorers up to 2002. The SOHC truly is a bunged design."
The above from a previous post is not helping me to feel better about resolving my problem. I took my 97 Explorer with the 4.0L SOHC (4x4) in for 100K mile service and the engine light was on. They said it was the cam tensioner that needed replacement. When they unbolted the tensioner from the back side of the engine, the threads came out with the bolt. They said their was no real way to repair it. A larger size bolt could not be tapped and threaded into the engine, I was told after two attempts to fix it. They used some kind of liquid weld on it and I've had a serious oil leak since. This causes the oxygen sensor to foul and I was going to spring for a replacement engine this summer. One site says they recommend a used engine for this model because they do not rebuild certain engines that are built too thin for machining and this is one of them. I found one with 32K miles for $995 but I'm wondering if there are other recommendations considering the problems with the SOHC engines. Can I put a more recent engine into it? The rest of my Eddie Bauer is in great shape. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.