Miles on your rig with timing chain rattle

[thshc8]

Can somebody help me with mine. I have noticed a slight chain noise for a while, but very very faint. Then I was pulling onto the interstate and had to accelerate fairly hard. When I let off i noticed a loud noise from under the hood. I pulled over and popped the hood. It was very loud and coming from the upper left side of the engine toward the front of the valve cover. It was still running normally aside from loud rattle. i saw a youtube video which sounded much the same as mine but didnt see any info there. I shut it off and had a friend tow me home. Im just trying to pinpoint the problem so i can decide what action to take from here.

 

[eqppwqqep]

Can somebody help me with mine. I have noticed a slight chain noise for a while, but very very faint. Then I was pulling onto the interstate and had to accelerate fairly hard. When I let off i noticed a loud noise from under the hood. I pulled over and popped the hood. It was very loud and coming from the upper left side of the engine toward the front of the valve cover. It was still running normally aside from loud rattle. i saw a youtube video which sounded much the same as mine but didnt see any info there. I shut it off and had a friend tow me home. Im just trying to pinpoint the problem so i can decide what action to take from here.

My 4.0 SOHC has made so many noises since I bought it that I am not surprised. It's supposedly not difficult to remove the valve covers, I would pull one and look at the chain.

Wait, which one of the chains is in the front, left or the right? Never tore into mine.

 

[thshc8]

The front one is on the left side.

 

[Bill MacLeod]

99 E/B sohc with 268 Kilometers (166 k miles)
Purchased used Oct 2003 with 94 Kilometers (58 k miles)

Upper intake O-rings and chain tensioner replaced at approx. 110 kilometers under warranty in Feb. 2004. Previous owner had done normal oil changes using dino oil.
Since purchasing this truck, I have used only synthetic oil (various brands) and have changed at 6 kilometers (3700 mile) intervals. Block heater is used every morning before start-up when temps drop to below 35 F. There is always a brief rattle at start up only, especially in cold weather.
Last week I changed the lower oil pan due to corrosion on the outer surface. I did this as preventative maintenance before it actually started to leak through the rusted areas. The inside of the pan was just like new. No sludge whatsoever and no peices of plastic. Guess the chain guides are still intact and will continue to use synthetic oil on a regular bases.
Just my experience.

 

[bluestream1]

Synthetic oil or Dino oil will make no difference in guide life. Also, if you are changing you oil at 3700 miles that is a waste as you can go much longer. Try a used oil analysis if you want reassurance.

 

[jr_96]

I have 96k miles on mine and it rattle intermittently where the rattle will be really loud and then some times nothing at all

 

[M3maximation]

Mine rattles only on startup for 20-30 seconds, I just bought it at 115k.

I've already ordered new front and rear tensioners. Not going to do entire kit.

 

[krispy97xlt]

Just replaced my timing setup on my 01 sport trac with ~100000 miles

 

[doug625]

I'm at 192,000 with rattle since 60,000. Just tried synthetic blend oil and no more rattle, or least no audible rattle.

 

[GT2000]

my 02 ranger has got 206k alot of which was towing small trailer, she rattles plenty, more so on start up then anything, always had 3k regular oil changes

 

[allmyEXes]

Click below to read a lot about it
4.0 SOHC Timing Noise

 

[PUR PONY]

my 06 started rattling only on start-up about 150K... now at 170K im replacing them. I removed the rear tensioner and could feel loose plastic in the hole. Pulled the engine down saturday and when i removed the pass side valve cover, the guide is completely "gone".

 

[donalds]

Click below to read a lot about it
4.0 SOHC Timing Noise

It's a shame the op in that thread deleted all of his reference vids

Mine had 280000 thousand miles on it rattled at 2500 rpm and cold start

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Bought my 2001 Ranger with 52,000 miles and it rattled. I now have 181,000 and it still rattled, until today. It always rattled around 2400-2600rpm up through somewhere around 3600rpm or so.

I noticed today that the rattle was completely gone, all day. I had to pull out in front of some traffic in a hurry and gave it about 3/4 throttle. It sounded like a bicycle chain that's trying to skip a tooth. Almost an identical sound to a dry, crunchy u-joint, only a lot louder. It's gonna blow up any time now. I suspect what was left of the chain-tensioner is now in the pan.

I came here and signed back in looking for the timing chain rattle check-in thread but I couldn't locate it.

I'll be buying a 2006+ used Mustang engine from Ebay more than likely.


Sorry for drudging up an old thread but I couldn't find the other one I was looking for.



GB