97 4.0 OHV Oil Leak- Timing chain cover

[SeattleExplorer]

Hello everyone, I've been lurking and learning a little from you guys and now I have a question that I couldn't find already answered.

Lately my rig's been leaking from the front timing chain cover. I notice a rattle on startup that got me worried about the timing chain tensioners- until I found out that my engine is actually the OHV 4 liter, not the sohc as I had previously thought. I figure the rattle on startup is just low oil pressure due to the leak. So now I want to know how feasible this fix is for me.

3 years ago, at 138k miles I had a shop do a bunch of work that included removing the timing chain cover. I'm at 175k miles now and the seal has failed and there's a significant amount of oil coming out. I'm going to show the shop, but I doubt they'll do anything to help me (without paying them to re-do the work).

I had a different shop that I now trust more (my dad uses/recommended them) look at the leak, and they quoted 1200 parts and labor to replace the cover, water pump, and gaskets. What I want to know is if I can do this on my own, or if I'm asking for trouble. I'd be wary of touching the cover if this was the SOHC engine, but this being the OHV I shouldn't have the tensioner issues to deal with. This car still has life in it, but I can't justify spending over a thousand bucks on a job I may be able to do. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[ranger7ltr]

It comes down to whether you want or can do the job...

The OHV 4 liter Ford engine only has 1 timing chain with a tensioner under the front timing cover...There is an oil seal around the neck of the harmonic balancer and of course a gasket sealing the the timing cover to the front of the engine...

Both the seal and the timing cover gasket can leak...The timing chain can make noise if the tensioner doesn't get proper oil pressure or is worn out...Same for the chain and/or gears...

Now I would ask why the timing cover needs to be replaced...I can see doing the water pump for age reasons but the timing cover generally doesn't wear out...And since the cover is being replaced, is the timing set included in that estimate? Parts wise the total is not going to be THAT much so the majority of that estimate, imho, is labor...

I replaced my engine this past spring and replaced the timing cover, the water pump, and the harmonic balancer since I was building a new engine and the old balancer had cracks in the rubber ring...You will also need a timing cover gasket set to get the front seal and the timing cover and waterpump gaskets...For the parts I replaced, I paid a lot less than $100 and that includes shipping...Take a look at this link; this is where I got my parts from...http://stores.ebay.com/SPECIALTYENG...b=328822&_sid=262691978&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Of all the steps involved in replacing these parts, the tedious part is removing the accesories to get to the front end of the engine...Plus you will need to remove the radiator shroud, the engine fan, and the harmonic balancer to start to remove the front cover...

If your engine is due for maintenance, this would be an excellent opportunity to change the coolant, thermostat, and flush the cooling system if needed, replace the serpentine belt, change the oil and oil and gas filters, and inspect all the cooling system hoses...I mention this because right before I changed my engine I had the heater control valve break while looking for a minor coolant leak and lost all my coolant from the engine...

It is not a difficult task; it does involve hand tool usage and a bit of skills...Except for the replacement of the fuel filter and installation of the harmonic balancer there are not any special tools involved besides hand tools...And the balancer tool can be rented and returned to Autozone or other parts houses for a net cost of nothing...If you decide to tackle this job the site can be an invaluable source of information...

Just search and ask away!!!

 

[joe doe]

1200.00 parts and labor??find another mechanic.
they must be buying all parts from ford.
my mechanic took my cover off replaced the gears,the chain, the tensioner(with parts i brought him)the gasket and all other components (my pump was new already)for 200 bucks labor .
total job including the gears,chain and guide,tensioner........under 300 bucks.

i am so glad i have an honest mechanic

 

[SeattleExplorer]

Thanks for the responses!

The shop that quoted 1200 said that was about 200 parts and the rest labor. He said that the timing cover has been updated, so the new one should be put on. So between the new cover, water pump, and gaskets he arrived at ~200 for parts. Has anyone heard about this "cover redesign" or is that bogus?

I think I'm going to do this fix myself. I'm shopping for the parts now-anything I should have on hand before starting that isn't obvious?

 

[ranger7ltr]

Timing cover re-design?

Is it possible? Sure...Likely? not very...ford stopped building the 4 liter OHV engine in like 2000-2001 so any further engineering development is unlikely...

If you are going to do this repair yourself, I would recommend having all the parts you want to replace on hand and the tools needed as well... A torque wrench and the balancer puller/installer and a selection of metric wrenchs/sockets are needed...Oh and don't forget to have a tube of rtv/gasket coating for the gaskets/seals...

I can't think of anything else you should need to get this done...Oh actually you WILL need to replace the center bolt as it is a torque to yield bolt and the dealer/Ford parts supplier will need to be sourced for this...

 

[SeattleExplorer]

Very good info, thanks. I have a Haynes manual on the way, I assume that'll give me the torque specs I need. Honestly I've never even thumbed through the manual, so I'm not sure what I'm going to see in there. Will it give me a good run down on proper gasketing, or should I just keep searching the forum?

 

[joe doe]

the cover comes right off on the ohv engine .a balancer puller is not needed ,you will not have to remove the balancer.
its only a handfull of bolts to get the cover off once you get to it .
4 or 5 of those will be from underneath at the oilpan.just be carefull not to damage the oilpan gasket when you pull the cover .to be safe just add a very small bead of rtv at that junction when you reassemble it.
be prepared to change your oil as well,when the cover comes off antifreeze will lean down into the oil pan .theres no way to avoid it ,the coolant passage goes thru that cover .

just so you know at 140,000 miles my chain had no actual slack in it ,i just elected to replace everything in there while it was open.

i used pci timing components and so far so good.this was 2 months ago ?give or take