00M12 and Timing Chains? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

00M12 and Timing Chains?

Lazzman

Explorer Addict
Joined
June 27, 2005
Messages
1,395
Reaction score
4
City, State
Massachusetts
Year, Model & Trim Level
1998 Sport 4wd- V6 Sohc
I understand that if one does not perform the 00m12 recall the timing chains at some point will fail.

What exactly does upgrading the timeing chain tensioner in the recall do anyway?

I am told that even with the 00m12 recall, the timing chains will eventually need replacement at some point down the road.

What are the drivability symptoms of failing timing chains? I have upwards of 155k mi somewhat hard driven miles on my engine, I have not heard the Dieseling sound at start up yet.

I am told by other board members that it would be cheaper to get the engine rebuilt than to replace the timing chains?

Thanks
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





If there is not yet any deficiency in the stock parts, replacing just those is less than $200 in parts. The rear cassette requires engine/trans removal, so most people just pray for that to last longer.

The guides along the timing chains are plastic, the pre 2002 parts are prone to falling apart. When they do, the cost of repair will go up massively.

The timing chain tensioners provide automatic tension like the outside belt tensioner. There is two components of pressure provided by those two tensioners. Both oil pressure and a mechanical spring do the work, if either is reduced, the chains will become loose, and bad things will happen.

The noises reported are just symptoms of the looseness of one or both chains. If those plastic guides start to come apart, looseness will result, plus noise, and the plastic may get into the oiling system.

Again, the best thing to do is to replace the components which are likely to cause problems. Good luck,
 






Thanks for the info.

BTW what type of bad things happen?
 






If your tensioner or timing chain fails, because of the interference style engine in our explorers, the pistons will slap into the valves. thus the valves will bend, and you'd probably need new heads, or at a minimum replace the valves. As was already stated, youd need to remove the engine to get to the rear tensioner, which is definitely a huge job. If i keep my explorer long enough, I'd definitely keep driving the car until the chains fail, and then buy a reman engine.
 






I think you don't need to take the motor out to change the rear tensioner. As far as I know It could be done through the wheel well (right beside the spark plugs). You need to take the motor out when intending to change whole cassete. tell me if I am wrong
 






I am not sure about that one?

Thanks for the info.
 






The rear tensioner is separate from the rear cassette. It places tension on the rear cassette chain. It has 49 lbs.ft. of torque on it, and is accessible from the wheelwell. Remove the inner wheelwell, good luck.
 






when to replace timing chain?

Hey guys,

My v6 2002 explorer has 83,000 miles... Do I have to replace the timing chain? Should I do it? Can it be done in my garage ?


any input would be wonderful!
 






Fix

Hey guys,

My v6 2002 explorer has 83,000 miles... Do I have to replace the timing chain? Should I do it? Can it be done in my garage ?


any input would be wonderful!

YOu should replace the timing chain, if you have to take the engine out to replace the tensioners/cassettes. It is a massive job and you need the correct tools, these tools are not easy to come buy, they lock the cams on position at tdc to enable the belts to be changed and the engine timed.
NOT for the faint hearted I can tell you. If you do not have noise, dont worry.
You should listen for a tappety noise at start up and again at 2500 revs..........if you have this, you can usually get away with buying the 00m12 kit and doing that as a fix, it is an oil restrictor, new intake seals and a tensioner for the timing chain-LHS. Thats what most people would do, if you want to be perfect about it, rip the engine out after you get the tools and do both sides-you will find write up with pics of both fixes on this site- do a search for 00m12 and timing chain.
 






You should listen for a tappety noise at start up and again at 2500 revs..........if you have this, you can usually get away with buying the 00m12 kit and doing that as a fix
So what would a constant rattle noise indicate if the noise continues when the engine is warm? My SOHC makes a constant noise, and is almost more noticeable when it is warmed up. Is that a telltale sign that it is the rear cassette?
Noise is also made when first starting and at 2800 RPMs.
 






Constant rattle may be your tappets- it is possible your cam is defective, or the followers................a little unusual unless really poor oil care has happened in the past- tell you what I would do, I would but a good quality engine flush, great quality oil,(make sure it is the correct grade) and a decent filter, use the flush and run the engine as it says on the tin, then follow with the oil change. By the way rattles can be misleading, I had an evil rattle on mine till I crawled underneath and banged everything with my hands, I found a bolt had snapped on the exhaust, near the cat converter- it rattled all the time, you could do this will the oil is draining-(these bolts on the exhaust are under a hell of a lot of pressure, hot/cold/wet/dry/salt etc, mine were rusted through and just flakey to the touch!

The oil change with the flush will free up the tappets if that is the cause, oil restriction is terrible thing and wrong grade, or extended oil change intervals may be the cause of your noises- let me know what you find please.
 












Thanks for the info. Great link BTW!
I use amsoil and change regularly at 4000 miles (only reason for so short duration is because I am paranoid) with K&N filters. I haven't really searched for rattling exhaust or anything like that, it may very well be as that bay is a huge resonance chamber in a sense.
I'll check it out tonight!
Thanks
 






Thanks for the info. Great link BTW!
I use amsoil and change regularly at 4000 miles (only reason for so short duration is because I am paranoid) with K&N filters. I haven't really searched for rattling exhaust or anything like that, it may very well be as that bay is a huge resonance chamber in a sense.
I'll check it out tonight!
Thanks

You should follow up on any engine noises. These SOHC 4.0's have serious needs(no belts, they are chains), and left ignored the engine will die.

FYI, I suggest that you not use K&N filters, air filters anyway. Basically all oiled filters do not filter as well as others. The greatest cause of internal engine wear comes from the air passing through the engine. The source is from what gets past the air filter. The best prevention is to use the best air filter, it is more important than the oil or oil filter.

I use Amsoil products, their oil, oil filters, and air filters. Using the best products, you can go up to 25,000 miles on the same Amsoil oil(and oil filter). Regards,
 






The greatest cause of internal engine wear comes from the air passing through the engine.
Gotta be honest with ya, I had never heard that before but it makes complete sense. I actually never used the oil to "recharge" the filter because I have read from posts here that it can cause accumulation on the MAF and cause pinging and other problems. Based on what you say, it would be better to simply pitch it and use a disposable one and just replace it every 3000 miles or so.
With regards to the noises, I couldn't agree with you more. This noise is beginning to surface and I don't have any intention to "ride it out..." Based on my 10,000 searches, CDW6212R- you seem to know quite a bit about these SOHCs. At this point, I know for sure that I am have a vacuum leak as it is quite audible, I have serious reservations about those stupid O-rings. That fix is an easy one, and while I have it apart, I will replace the front tensioner as well as the rear tensioner. My question to you (which may not be answerable realistically, but why not try;) ) addresses the constant nature of this noise. Does the fact that it sticks around at idle and never goes away indicative of the rear cassette?
Thanks
 






The vast majority of issues have all been related to all of the parts except the rear cassette. That is hard to believe, but truly there are almost no cases to read about where the rear cassette fell apart. I have suggested to others to do everything else, and hope that the trend continues. I did all of mine except the rear cassette, I hope to reach 150k and more before considering any new work.

I had a Volant air cleaner and swapped to an Amsoil EA air filter at the same time as I did the oil. I have had many K&N filters with no trouble, but I didn't know about filtering qualities until last year. The special EA filters are high like most high end stuff, but they need no oiling(vacuum once a year), and last four years. Mine was about $35, but over four years that's not bad at all. My 99 truck is for commercial use, so I plan to try to get 15,000 miles from the oil.

For a long term keeper vehicle a bypass oil filtering system can really clean oil, as well as big rig engines. They are high, as in $130 for a basic system, and the filters are over $30 each. Good luck,
 






I hadn't heard of many rear cassette failures either, though mine is getting higher mileage, around 153K. Still, for an engine that has had regular oil changes, tranny fluid changes, and tune-ups every 50K miles (plugs, wires, etc...), I haven't replaced a single part of the engine with the exception of the idle pulley. Pretty darn good IMHO.
I'm hoping this is just the tensioner, but I guess I won't know until I just replace them and see.
I've been thinking about throwing a by-pass filter in and I just might if this noise is resolved easily. WHy not make her last another 150K! ;)
cheers,
Greg
 






Back
Top