bought a 97 explorer 4ltr SOHC v6- help

[nichola123]

need help:exp:

we bought a V6 explorer at the auctions on friday night , when hubby was driving it home he thought the exhaust was blowing, when he arrived home and checked the exhaust it appeared it was really more of a rattle. It sounded like it was coming from engine area, not constant when ticking over more constant when driving.
engine is running even, however the rattle can be very loud, some water out of exhaut. I do not live anywher near bucks so I will not be able to come to Howards so any help without suggesting 1000+ round trip would be helpful. What do you think it could be so we can rule out the cheaper problems first

What kind of checks can we do ? What type of price will it be to get the timing chains parts only supplied, if this ends up being the problem ? Do you need special tools what kind of price are they, how hard is the access to the areas, my husband is a diesel mechanic and is not as good on the petrol cars.. so technical help would be appreciated.

 

[Howard]

Check the obvious stuff first. Heat shields on the exhaust can come loose. Various other things could cause a rattle. The timing chain type is more pronounced when cold and usually happens at about 2,500-2,800 rpm. If you check out this post http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=487634&postcount=33 you can see what is involved for the OOM12 kit. If it is the timing chains themselves there are several posts on here about how to do it and it is quite involved, special tools required for timing etc. Hope that helps.

 

[nichola123]

thanks for the link, we have read it and can see whats inolved, is this the most common cause of a rattle in this model as I see many have tried with this kit, can you tell me roughly how much they are??

secondly can you add a link to the bigger job of doing the chains as we have searched and as yet cannot find it and an idea of pricing of the parts to do that

thanks for your patience and help

nichola and paul

 

[Howard]

The OOM12 kit parts are about £50 plus vat. On all the ones that I have done this has cured all or most of the rattle. The thing to bear in mind is whether the rattle goes away once the engine is hot. If not then it could be the main chain that requires fixing. Here is a link to the main chain replacement. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161701 I do not know of the UK prices for the parts. If you look on ebay there is a guy in Aylesbury that does the job and he posts his prices on there. I realise that it is too far for you but he may be able to help with parts etc.

 

[shaunskiman]

Hi Nichola if your after a OM12 kit try here go onto e-bay click on shops then search by name type in allparts24, you will see he has the kit for less than £50 notes, mine took about a five days to arrive but it sure did cure any rattle that my truck had hope this is of help
Cheers Shaun...........

 

[nichola123]

thanks, this sounds like a cheap place to start, lets hope this is actually the problem as everything else looks expensive