Advice please!

[JonC]

A little help from those more experienced please!

I've got a 98 Explorer (why else would I be here?) and it rattle a bit under load plus it stalls now and then when parking (steering pump load presumably).

It's gas-converted (Bigas system) and otherwise runs nicely except I lost 2-4 mpg by getting the plug gaps wrong and haven't been man enough yet to take the b.....s out again!

Anyway, looking through stuff on ebay as I tend to, there's a plethora of options for the rattle/stall situation from what I understand to be repected played (mostly Duncan & Justin) but with prices ranging from an £18.99 kit to a £650 fitted job, what do I actually want?

Duncan's £250.00/2 hours sounds like a great deal and well worth the trek but if so, why would I need Justin's £650.00 fix and what am I not getting (and do I even need it) by comparison?

If any of you more experience guys (including the men themselves) could enlighten me, I'd be most grateful.

Cheers!

 

[BIGHVM]

Hello and welcome to the forum mate- start with the oom12 kit, containing a revised front tensioner, an oil restrictor plastic piece and inlet manifold seals, also get hold of the rear tensioner and replace that at the same time, this fix worked for me for a long while- but it is not permanant in that the chain tensioners will continue to break up and in the end you will need the belts, tensioners and guides changed to be done, you will it cheaper if you need to do that as you have already done a part of the job by changing the tensioners.
Account for a whole day to do the work and be well armed with spare knuckles and a decent heavy duty socket set- you will need that for the rear tensioner. I dont have part numbers to hand, but you can search here for timing chain tensoners and a huge list will come up- its there someplace amongst pics of the work in progress mate.
I know in Justins case his price is to take the lump out and replace the whole lot- so you will never have to worry again (the best solution). I dont know what Duncan includes in his price mate, so cant comment. Just make sure you are having both front and rear chains, spockets, tensioners and guides replaced as its really not worth just for example having the front or the rear chains done only!

 

[Howard]

I have Justin do mine and what a difference. Well worth it. He does do a collect and return service too. If you plan to make her a keeper then the complete job is almost a must. I had done the oom12 kit myself and the rear tensioner. I have also done the oom12 kit for quite a few members here. However when Justin took my engine out he found that one tensioner had broken and the rest were cracked and about to brake. My advice is to get all the chains and guides done and then you will not have any more issues.

 

[JonC]

Thanks gents. I think I'm adequately convinced.

I do expect to have the truck for quite a while - bought it in July with FSH and a trifling 59k on it (and the gas kit) for £2400 so I figure it's worth spending a few quid on it.

It's a bit of a culture shock coming from a 24v Mitsubishi and I have to say the lack of power still gets to me now and then but at least I'll keep my licence!

It was a long toss-up between an Explorer and a P38 Range Rover and between the two I'd rather have typical Explorer problems than typical RR problems (dropped liners etc) so I'm sure it's the right choice and when this one came up it was a no-brainer!

It's good to hear from experienced owners and I appreciate the input.

Thanks again,

Jon.

 

[BIGHVM]

Mate any help you need- you can count on us, looking forward to meeting you.

 

[wetdog]

hey jonc, i've been away from this motley cru for a while now. but trust me, an explorer is far better than range rover.
at 59000 miles you should be ok with the oom12 kit for sometime, whilst you save up for the big job. just drop your oil regularly to stop the broken up bits of plastic fouling your oilways and it should be fine.

welcome mate, a good bunch on here.

mick.

 

[SB98UKexplorer]

its amazing to still see ex,s needing the kit despite that recall right?

 

[JonC]

Well that's what I thought till I bought this. The first thing I did was take it to the main Ford dealer and get them to run the recall report - there wasn't one in the UK!

This car has every piece of paper it's ever been issued with and I've got all the previous recalls. I was quite strong with them about it but apparently timing chains were US only. Obviously we're not sufficiently litigious obver here. Thanks Ford!