nitsocymmot
New Member
- Joined
- September 8, 2003
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- atlanta, GA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '97 xlt
Boy, if you havn't had your timing chain tensioner cassette replaced on your 97 SOHC V6, DO IT NOW!!! The extended recall will run out very soon.
This all started last may when I bought my 97 XLT. It was cherry, in absolutely perfect shape with factory towing package, and 63000 miles on it. After a few months of enjoying it, it started to make this ratteling sound from the front of the engine, i thought it was maybe a stick resting on the fan, or something similar. It didn't sound like anything big, certainly not internal on the engine like valve tick or piston slap or anything like that. Well it turns out that the sound was the timing chain not being under tension and rattling like a loose motorcycle drive chain. The XLT died in traffic while my wife was driving it about two weeks ago. Just flat out died, the pedals went to the floor, and the motor stopped dead. I had it towed to Lou Sobh Ford in Decatur GA, (suburbs of atlanta) and walked in the door, where the guy standing at the desk was Scott Kuehl, the assistant service manager. I can't believe my luck getting such a great guy as my advocate against Ford Corporate. He knew immediately what the problem was just from my description. It took a few days to get a lift for the engine tear down, and then a few more to get the bad news. The cassette had exploded into the timing chain, causing it to jump timing, and because this is an interference engine, slapped the #1 piston into the valve, bending it. DOH!!
That hurt, I was looking at least $2k worth of work for a top engine rebuild on a vehicle I had owned for about 4 months; things were looking bleak. Scott had mentioned the 01m01 recall right off the bat and was now moving into action trying to prove that my engine damage was caused by the casette failing. He and the technician worked very hard to make the case, the Ford zone rep came out and things were not looking good. It seems that Ford Corporate took the position that only damage on the even # cylinders could be attributed to the casette failing. Scott and the technician jumped into action, getting a complete post mortem on my engine to the Zone Engineer by Fax. After a few hours of wrangeling back and forth, Scott called me with the good news.
I'm getting a brand spanking new engine courtesy of the Ford Motor Company.
Many thanks to Scott and the technician at Lou Sobh, I didn't even buy the XLT there and they treated me with outstanding customer service.
Guess what service manager will be getting every penny of my service from this minute forward?
This all started last may when I bought my 97 XLT. It was cherry, in absolutely perfect shape with factory towing package, and 63000 miles on it. After a few months of enjoying it, it started to make this ratteling sound from the front of the engine, i thought it was maybe a stick resting on the fan, or something similar. It didn't sound like anything big, certainly not internal on the engine like valve tick or piston slap or anything like that. Well it turns out that the sound was the timing chain not being under tension and rattling like a loose motorcycle drive chain. The XLT died in traffic while my wife was driving it about two weeks ago. Just flat out died, the pedals went to the floor, and the motor stopped dead. I had it towed to Lou Sobh Ford in Decatur GA, (suburbs of atlanta) and walked in the door, where the guy standing at the desk was Scott Kuehl, the assistant service manager. I can't believe my luck getting such a great guy as my advocate against Ford Corporate. He knew immediately what the problem was just from my description. It took a few days to get a lift for the engine tear down, and then a few more to get the bad news. The cassette had exploded into the timing chain, causing it to jump timing, and because this is an interference engine, slapped the #1 piston into the valve, bending it. DOH!!
That hurt, I was looking at least $2k worth of work for a top engine rebuild on a vehicle I had owned for about 4 months; things were looking bleak. Scott had mentioned the 01m01 recall right off the bat and was now moving into action trying to prove that my engine damage was caused by the casette failing. He and the technician worked very hard to make the case, the Ford zone rep came out and things were not looking good. It seems that Ford Corporate took the position that only damage on the even # cylinders could be attributed to the casette failing. Scott and the technician jumped into action, getting a complete post mortem on my engine to the Zone Engineer by Fax. After a few hours of wrangeling back and forth, Scott called me with the good news.
I'm getting a brand spanking new engine courtesy of the Ford Motor Company.
Many thanks to Scott and the technician at Lou Sobh, I didn't even buy the XLT there and they treated me with outstanding customer service.
Guess what service manager will be getting every penny of my service from this minute forward?
