1999 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer 4x4

[Basdrive5]

Hello,
I'm trying to learn more about a P1309 code for my above vehicle. I've seen a post with similar issues, in that, it misfires or looses "energy" under power. There is 275,176+ miles on it. Even though it has many miles, until a week or so ago, when I needed power I very much had power!!!!
Unfortunately now, I have almost none!
I replaced plugs and wires so far. Sounds better and feels better, however, still not right. I took it to a garage... They're telling me that the timing chain could be slipped, guard may be broken, or something. They are also trying to tell me that there are two timing chains on either end of the engine and the only way to get to them is to pull the engine... WTF!? I NEVER HEARD OF SUCH CRAP!!!
Anyway I'm trying to learn more about this and if I can fix it. Any ideas please?

 

[XLTrunner]

Your mechanic is correct regarding the location of the two timing chains (and, difficulty in replacing them) if you have a SOHC motor. However, could also be something like this as read in another forum:


Quote: "I found a great reply in another forum about this code. This is for a Ford specific code.
The code means that there's too much variance in the speed of the firing of the cylinders and therefore the misfire monitor is disabled, in a nut shell
the pcm is saying the car is running too rough to pinpoint exactly which cylinder is misfiring. This can be caused by problems with
cam sensor or circuit
crank position sensor or circuit
maf sensor or circuit
coolant temp sensor or circuit
pcm

If you have one cylinder that's missing really bad then you can generate this code. Assuming that the 2 sensors you changed are working as they should then you might have to looka t doing a cylinder balalnce test, compression test etc to determine if you have any weak cylinders and then go from there, how does the car run?
Hope this helps."

 

[koda2000]

If you've gotten 275K+ out of a SOHC V6, you've done very well. These engines can have timing chain problems at as little as 75K.

Had you had any rattling noises at startup (early symptom) or while idling sounding like a diesel engine, or under medium acceleration at around 2100 RPM? Have you ever noticed your oil pressure gauge jump around like crazy? These are all signs of failing timing chain components and yes the engine has to be removed to fix them (and you're talking over $2000 in parts & labor). Definitely not worth fixing on a '99 with close to 300K on it. For your sake I hope is something more minor, but these engine are known for developing timing chain issues.