2015 Explorer sport , 101K miles water pump ... should I do timing chain too ?

[Gride]

After recently replacing the water pump and timing chains I wanted to chime in to answer the original question of whether or not to replace the timing chain when replacing the water pump.

My Explorer had 127300 miles when I did the replacement. The timing chain did not appear to have any noticeable stretch, the guides had very little wear, and the tensioners seemed to be in good condition. Since I planned on replacing all the timing components, and ordered the parts, I went ahead and replaced all of the components.

I honestly think the vehicle could have gone double the distance with the original timing chain (just my opinion). The weak link is the water pump and I doubt the replacement can be relied on much past the 150k mile interval. My advice if you are in a pinch is to replace the water pump at/before 150k miles and if you end up keeping the vehicle to 300k do the timing components at the same time as the second water pump interval.

Otherwise, if peace of mind is your thing (which is why someone would be doing a preemptive replacement of the water pump anyway), I’d just replace everything while you’re in there, as the cost difference is a couple hundred bucks, with no real increase in labor.

 

[94Eddie]

Overall, the 3.5L/3.7L engines are very reliable and durable outside of the water pump issue. Timing chains and guides are basically a lifetime component in these engines.