Question about Hydraulic tensioners...

[tmh6202]

I recently suffered a broken left timing chain guide. Had the "Exploder Rattle" for some time, then one day it got way worse. Long story short, I decided to pull the motor, buy the kit per the TSB, and then left and right cam-timing chains, guides and such. None of the cam cassette kits came with the hydraulic tensioners. So I am looking at the ones I have now, which came out of the engine during the rebuild.

My question:

One of them seems very smooth when you apply pressure to the shaft that contacts the chain guide, and it moves about 1/2 of an inch. The other meets resistance at about 1/4 inch of compression. Is this normal or should they both have 1/2 inch of travel, or maybe only 1/4 inch of travel?

I have looked at all of the information available in Alldata and all of the information I have at hand and cannot find an answer to this question. Any help would be appreciated. BTW, the tensioners were replaced and are the updated version utilizing the smaller oiling holes.

Thanks!

p.s. I have oodles of photographs of the entire repair, from the time the truck was parked in the garage and the hood removed, and will have more, right up until the key is turned over once again. When I have a moment, I will type a narrative to accompany the photos, this has been quite the learning experience. :

 

[stup]

unsure about the tensioner question, but i had a few questions of my own. I am going to be doing this soon, and i had that same problem, where the noise just recently got worse, so i parked it and am gathering the parts to work on it. one of the things i need to know, do you have to remove the waterpump to remove the timing cover? i need to know if i need to pickup a waterpump gasket or not.

i think the recall was done on mine a long time ago but it never fixed the noise, they told me the noise was normal. now, several years later, ive read about it and know its not normal. if i didnt read about it on the net, i probably would have let it go till the chain broke or something. i was pissed that they didnt fix this problem years ago when they should have.

one other thing, did you need any special tools for the cooling fan? i know some you need a set of really slim wrenches. what did you use to set the timing?

edit: Would love to see some of the pictures, more specifically, the ones up close with the timing cover off, just so i can see what it all looks like before it comes off.

 

[tmh6202]

one of the things i need to know, do you have to remove the waterpump to remove the timing cover?

i need to know if i need to pickup a waterpump gasket or not.

one other thing, did you need any special tools for the cooling fan?

what did you use to set the timing?

edit: Would love to see some of the pictures, more specifically, the ones up close with the timing cover off, just so i can see what it all looks like before it comes off.

Yes the water pump has to come off. You can remove it and the fan at the same time, unless of course you wish to purchase the special tools, a wrench and a holder to hold then loosen the fan nut. So yes you will need a water pump gasket, and a front cover seal (unless you purchase the kit referenced in the TSB ( I can get the number for you later, don't have it handy right now, in fact I will list all of the part numbers I used for the repair, I will also total up what I've paid in parts so far.)

There are no timing marks on the engine, per se. There is however, on both the jackshaft gear and crankshaft gear, the number 98. The crankshaft keyway should be almost vertical resulting in the 98 on the jackshaft gear being in the right place. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. if these marks are not lined up, you will not have the four chains in proper time.

Oh, by the way, there is a special tool kit for the job. It has tools to hold everything in place while you loosen and re-torque connecting bolts for the timing system. YOU MUST HAVE IT, OR AN EQUIVILENT TOOL KIT. Bad news, it retails for $201.00 - $283.00. I was lucky and found for for $60.00 - Used Once! on Ebay, and it happened to be available locally so there was no shipping involved.

Good luck to you on this. I would recommend that if you are not a really proficient mechanic you might hire someone who is to do this for you. I have the benefit of having my brother in law help me, he is a schooled mechanic and between his knowledge and mine, we are plodding along fine. (so far that is)

So, my question still stands? Any ideas anyone?

Thanks!

Mr. H

 

[stup]

Yes the water pump has to come off. You can remove it and the fan at the same time, unless of course you wish to purchase the special tools, a wrench and a holder to hold then loosen the fan nut. So yes you will need a water pump gasket, and a front cover seal (unless you purchase the kit referenced in the TSB ( I can get the number for you later, don't have it handy right now, in fact I will list all of the part numbers I used for the repair, I will also total up what I've paid in parts so far.)

There are no timing marks on the engine, per se. There is however, on both the jackshaft gear and crankshaft gear, the number 98. The crankshaft keyway should be almost vertical resulting in the 98 on the jackshaft gear being in the right place. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. if these marks are not lined up, you will not have the four chains in proper time.

Oh, by the way, there is a special tool kit for the job. It has tools to hold everything in place while you loosen and re-torque connecting bolts for the timing system. YOU MUST HAVE IT, OR AN EQUIVILENT TOOL KIT. Bad news, it retails for $201.00 - $283.00. I was lucky and found for for $60.00 - Used Once! on Ebay, and it happened to be available locally so there was no shipping involved.

Good luck to you on this. I would recommend that if you are not a really proficient mechanic you might hire someone who is to do this for you. I have the benefit of having my brother in law help me, he is a schooled mechanic and between his knowledge and mine, we are plodding along fine. (so far that is)

So, my question still stands? Any ideas anyone?

Thanks!

Mr. H

i am more than qualified to do the job, im a tech at a dealership, just never really done ford work. i have access to alldata but i never saw a kit number in the TSB, will have to check it again. i found the tool kit for 169 from an online distributor, so im gonna buy it from there when i can afford it. good to know about the waterpump though, alldata doesnt even say to remove it.
ive also already bought most of the parts, but if there is a kit, and it is cheaper, i may end up returning the parts i have and grabbing the kit.

thanks for the info, im looking forward to doing this, probably gonna be a fun job.

 

[stup]

although i still dont have an answer for you, i do have another question.

I started teardown this week, almost ready to pull the engine out. one thing i cant figure out is where to bolt on the hoist eyelets so i can pull the engine out. alldata doesnt really show where to bolt them on, just a poor drawing from the front of where their chains go. so where did you put em?

 

[tmh6202]

although i still dont have an answer for you, i do have another question.

I started teardown this week, almost ready to pull the engine out. one thing i cant figure out is where to bolt on the hoist eyelets so i can pull the engine out. alldata doesnt really show where to bolt them on, just a poor drawing from the front of where their chains go. so where did you put em?

Hey stup, just sent you a PM on this question....

 

[01 Black Sport]

Hey tmh6202 post up some pics, would be greatly apreciated.

 

[tmh6202]

Hey tmh6202 post up some pics, would be greatly apreciated.

Go here: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toddsexplorer/

complete the request to join and I will approve it. There are photos of almost all aspects of these repairs. Including the answer to the tensioner question, photographically that is...

Todd