223thecure
Member
- Joined
- September 20, 2015
- Messages
- 20
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- City, State
- Perth & Manila
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2005 Eddie Bauer Explorer
4.6 Timing Chain Replacement - SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME !
Recently purchased a 2003 Exploder with 4.6 travelled @ 250K Km = 156K miles.
When I viewed the vehicle, the engine oil was brand new & it drove really well inc the auto shifting smoothly.The engine oil looked like it was a lot heavier than 20 or 30 wt so I drained it & refilled with full synthetic Penzoil 5W30 that was branded as being suitable for engines requiring 5W20.
Prior to actually changing the oil, a rattling sound from the engine appeared that sounded like 'pinging' under load so after 'Internet diagnosing' the problem, it seemed timing chain slap was the most likely cause of the noise.
Being in Australia means that all USA car parts are ridiculously expensive so I purchased from Rockauto.com a Cloyes timing chain kit. Kit + freight via Fedex came to AUD $268 & to purchase locally was around AUD $450 ... so a considerable saving to buy 'ex USA' instead of locally !
When I pulled the rocker covers off I was confronted with lots of new 'clean' oil plus spatters of old black gunk plus there were 'mud' stains inside the rocker covers that looked very old.
Looks to me like it had no oil change for a long time then just recently had fresh oil & filter fitted ... hence new oil over the black gunk ?
After removing the front timing cover, I found the guides to be in near new condition but the RH cast tensioner was not tensioning that chain or holding oil pressure. Ah haa ... there is the culprit ! Upon removing the LH tensioner, I found it FULL of old black gunk ... Which was surprising as it was holding pressure & still tensioning the LH chain.
The chains, guides & tensioners appeared to be near new.
So I started to clean up inside the heads & the black gunk came away easily & the heads were really clean + had what appeared to be new SPS bolts securing them onto the block.
My best guess is ... this vehicle previously had a blown head gasket & was driven around like that for an extended period. At some time the heads were pulled off & maybe faced & reconditioned, a new inlet manifold & radiator were fitted, I assume the chains, guides & tensioners were also replaced. Only dodgy part was the centre of the thermostat had been cut out. The vehicle was full of red dust so it was probably from the HOT North West and some bush mechanic used all his skills to stop it over heating by cutting up the thermostat ?
So fitted new guides, chains & tensioners, lined up the timing marks ... double checked everything ... then triple checked again before reassembling. You don't need any special tools to do this job .. just be careful & follow the instructions to the letter.
Upon turning the key it fired up instantly & the computer fast idled @ 2000 RPM then it settled down to normal idle. All sounded great, nice & quiet .. but when driven, still an intermittent 'pre-ignition' type sound when mild acceleration ... At full noise there are NO 'rattles' etc ... just the sweet sound of a V8 engine !
I also replaced thermostat, tensioner pulley and serpentine belt. the only thing that was in any way noisey on the front now was the water pump ... and when spinning by had has NO real wobble, free play or noisey sound when rotated ... but has slight 'chunk chunk'sound ... not enough that I felt warranted replacement.
Now I'm thinking maybe water pump IS noisey ... just not sure that would make that sound under load & no sound off the throttle ?
Any thoughts as to where I go from here ? I don't believe it is a rod knock ... as it is intermittent ! Vehicle drives beautifully & is not using or losing coolant or oil & air conditioning is freezing cold !
Any input would be appreciated !
Recently purchased a 2003 Exploder with 4.6 travelled @ 250K Km = 156K miles.
When I viewed the vehicle, the engine oil was brand new & it drove really well inc the auto shifting smoothly.The engine oil looked like it was a lot heavier than 20 or 30 wt so I drained it & refilled with full synthetic Penzoil 5W30 that was branded as being suitable for engines requiring 5W20.
Prior to actually changing the oil, a rattling sound from the engine appeared that sounded like 'pinging' under load so after 'Internet diagnosing' the problem, it seemed timing chain slap was the most likely cause of the noise.
Being in Australia means that all USA car parts are ridiculously expensive so I purchased from Rockauto.com a Cloyes timing chain kit. Kit + freight via Fedex came to AUD $268 & to purchase locally was around AUD $450 ... so a considerable saving to buy 'ex USA' instead of locally !
When I pulled the rocker covers off I was confronted with lots of new 'clean' oil plus spatters of old black gunk plus there were 'mud' stains inside the rocker covers that looked very old.
Looks to me like it had no oil change for a long time then just recently had fresh oil & filter fitted ... hence new oil over the black gunk ?
After removing the front timing cover, I found the guides to be in near new condition but the RH cast tensioner was not tensioning that chain or holding oil pressure. Ah haa ... there is the culprit ! Upon removing the LH tensioner, I found it FULL of old black gunk ... Which was surprising as it was holding pressure & still tensioning the LH chain.
The chains, guides & tensioners appeared to be near new.
So I started to clean up inside the heads & the black gunk came away easily & the heads were really clean + had what appeared to be new SPS bolts securing them onto the block.
My best guess is ... this vehicle previously had a blown head gasket & was driven around like that for an extended period. At some time the heads were pulled off & maybe faced & reconditioned, a new inlet manifold & radiator were fitted, I assume the chains, guides & tensioners were also replaced. Only dodgy part was the centre of the thermostat had been cut out. The vehicle was full of red dust so it was probably from the HOT North West and some bush mechanic used all his skills to stop it over heating by cutting up the thermostat ?
So fitted new guides, chains & tensioners, lined up the timing marks ... double checked everything ... then triple checked again before reassembling. You don't need any special tools to do this job .. just be careful & follow the instructions to the letter.
Upon turning the key it fired up instantly & the computer fast idled @ 2000 RPM then it settled down to normal idle. All sounded great, nice & quiet .. but when driven, still an intermittent 'pre-ignition' type sound when mild acceleration ... At full noise there are NO 'rattles' etc ... just the sweet sound of a V8 engine !
I also replaced thermostat, tensioner pulley and serpentine belt. the only thing that was in any way noisey on the front now was the water pump ... and when spinning by had has NO real wobble, free play or noisey sound when rotated ... but has slight 'chunk chunk'sound ... not enough that I felt warranted replacement.
Now I'm thinking maybe water pump IS noisey ... just not sure that would make that sound under load & no sound off the throttle ?
Any thoughts as to where I go from here ? I don't believe it is a rod knock ... as it is intermittent ! Vehicle drives beautifully & is not using or losing coolant or oil & air conditioning is freezing cold !
Any input would be appreciated !