Brown Betty's Oil Pan

[4rd Xplora]

Pulled Brown Betty's oil pan just for grins, since it such an easy job, just to see what, if anything, was inside, found this. The larger piece is a quarter of an inch, I didn't measure the smaller piece. Betty's about to turn 200K and as I've stated before the engine was replaced sometime in 2017 or early '18. I bought Betty in '19 with 171k on her. The first start of the day is done with the accelerator held to the floor and cranked till the oil gauge shows pressure and then started, she had just started a cold start short rattle, 1-2 seconds, and I read here that this was a good way to start it. There is no rattle on start up the rest of the day. The timing chain tensioners were changed in '22 and oil has been changed on a yearly basis since only a little over 29K in 5 years (synthetic) has been driven. Looking at these pieces, is it time to drive her till she leaves me stranded or junk her?

 

[4rd Xplora]

Did some research, it appears the larger piece is a tab on the upper portion of rear timing chain. That plastic tab slips into a groove on the metal backing at the top and then hooks on to the lower part of the backing. The tab broke off, but the external tensioner on the chain holds everything tight. I really don't believe there is much to worry about at this time, unless the chain somehow slackens up. The tab is located on the second from the left chain (yellow one), right side, plastic piece against the chain, in the groove at the top. The smaller piece is a part of the tab. The external tensioners I replaced are Ford units.

 

[Stynx]

Well that sucks. I love my old explorer but we are looking to sell ours specifically because the timing chains guides can trash it so quickly. It's a shame because there's so much to like about these things but I'd rather get some money back out of the truck instead of having to junk it.