Pieces of plastic timing chain components in oil pan

[mikepier]

I am the original owner of my 99 XLT with 155K miles. Recently it developed a very light subtle metal clinging noise while the truck is idling, and I had suspicions that it was the timing chain.
My suspicions were confirmed when I dropped the oil pan yesterday and found 2 small plastic pieces of what appears to be the timing chain assembly.
Dropping the oil pan alone was a challenge since most of the front bolts above the front diff were rusted, and had a hard time getting them out with limited space to work with.

So now my question is how much longer can I expect the truck to run before I have more serious problems with the timing chain? I have decided that it is not worth putting more money into the truck at 18 years old, and will probably part ways with it after the timing chain breaks . It's a hard decision to make, but it does not make financial sense to me.

 

[koda2000]

There's no good answer to you question as to how much longer the engine will keep running. It could go another 50-60k or another 5-6k. The rattling will get much worse as time goes by. Use the noise as an indication of how much longer you have. Our first Explorer was an '01 SOHC and rattled like mad from the day my daughter bought it. It ran (and rattled) for another 60k before it finally jumped time. Then we junked it.