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Help diagnose please *videos*




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SOHC timing chain problem?

Try searching for timing chain and see if the symptoms are the same ones you are having.
 






sounds like the timing belt(ouch)
 






Timing chains/tensioners. Do a search of the forums and you will find out all that you need to know. Not an easy fix since the truck uses 5 different chains, some in front(where they should be) and some in the back(the "duh" part) which require the engine to come out of the truck to fix. The good news is once you fix it you'll have yourself a near bulletproof truck, at least when it comes to the engine. Good luck I hope that you get it fixed.
 






^I am leaning towards that. However, a mechanic showed up today to check it out. He said it sounds like the oil pump is not working. I see how he would say that because it does sounds like the engine is running without oil. I don't know if I buy that though.

Man, I hate not knowing a good mechanic...
 






Do you have oil pressure?
 






Is it possible the fan is hitting something in its way, id imagine that would be a much easier fix than the timing chain. I'm really no mechanic though, just a thought.
 






Is it possible the fan is hitting something in its way, id imagine that would be a much easier fix than the timing chain. I'm really no mechanic though, just a thought.

I had a similar sound on my '96 4.0. After using a hose to try to narrow down where it was coming from I thought the fan was hitting the shroud. Eliminated that and carefully put the hose on other areas nearby until I decided it was the serpentine belt tensioner. Got one for $50 at Napa and it was fine. Hope it's something simple like that for you too.
 






It's not the fan, 'cause the noise stops as soon as the engine is turned off, and before the fan winds down. I'm no mechanic either, but I think it would sound a LOT worse if you didn't have any oil getting around.
 






Its not the fan. The fan is not hitting anything.
Its not the oil. The oil guage reads as if everything is normal.

I spoke to a mechanic today and told him the symptoms. He seemed to know about the history of problems of Explorers. I said to myself, good. This guy knows what he is doing. He quoted me $1800 for the job. :rant:
 






Did you check the serpentine belt tensioner as bisjoe suggested?

I would get the right socket and a long bar and crank the engine manually at the main pulley -- see if you can hear the clicking that way. Remember to not crank the engine in the wrong direction. This is easiest done from underneath the vehicle BTW.
 






Its not the fan. The fan is not hitting anything.
Its not the oil. The oil guage reads as if everything is normal.

I spoke to a mechanic today and told him the symptoms. He seemed to know about the history of problems of Explorers. I said to myself, good. This guy knows what he is doing. He quoted me $1800 for the job. :rant:

The 97 sohc motors are prone to this.... it is the timing chain pre tentioner... same thing happened to my ex... while driving all of the sudden it started making noise... before this started happening ... sometimes when starting when cold there would be a ratcheting or clicking sound immediatally after it started and it would disappear as soon as the oil pressure came up.... less than a half of a second.... when the camshaft is stoped at a certain point it alows the timing chain pretentioner to let the oil run out of it... causing the noise untill it refills.... now what you hear is the timing chain slapping around on the inside of the housing because the pretentioner broke off.... i would not be running the truck like this... and once the problem is fixed.. change the oil before running run for 15 mins and change again... then for 10k miles change the oil every 1k miles to help clean any metal shavings and sludge from the other pretentioners...

to fix the problem you will need special tools from a ford dealer... this motor is not an easy one to work on...

the parts you will need to replace is about 200$

the ford part numbers are

f77z6020ab gasket list $10.46
4l2z6m289aa Cassette list $62.65
e6tz6700a Seal asy list $14.00
f0tz8507a gasket list $10.62
xu2z6k254aa tentioner list $69.22
yl2z6l266aa tentioner list $38.57
 






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