SOHC Death Rattle Prevention?

[David in NC]

Is there any way to prevent or delay this failure on the SOHC engine? I wrecked my '99 XLS and am looking for a replacement. It seems that when I find a good looking X it turns out to have the E engine. Does this problem hit all SOHC's or just some? Can it be prevented? Delayed? Lessened? Or should I avoid this engine? Thanks.

 

[David in NC]

Are some years better than others? Worse? Has Ford ever cured this problem? Do the 3rd generation X's still suffer this problem? Thanks

 

[99ex22]

Ive been driving mine with the death rattle for over 20,000 miles with no problems at all...Runs great other than the rattle in the mornings when it's cold. I just use 10-40 valvoline high mileage. (synthetic blend) don't know if that helps.

 

[JoeCool6972]

Ford has a TSB on them to replace the timing chains, tensioners and gears. Unfortunately this is not a free service like a recall.

 

[htrdlncn]

I am a recent X-Sport owner From what I have read on here all SOHC
up thru 03 have the tensioner problem. From the postings I saw
its about $900+ just for the parts and tools to fix it correctly.(front and back)
not to mention a total pain is the ass to do .
Double that minimum if you pay someone else to do it.
Just doesnt make
sense to spend that kind of time and dough on an engine that already has
100,000 miles or more on it.
So in my case Ill just keep driving mine till it blows up then pickup a new
Mustang (05-08) SOHC for around $1000 from the JY and swap the intakes/accesories and be done with it in a day or two and have a fairly new engine to boot..

 

[privetryan89]

Mine been rattling since i bought it 3 years ago. I figure ride it till it dies and then go from there. I like the mustang idea.

 

[99ex22]

I also like the mustang idea! It looks like all of us death rattle victims have the same idea....drive it til it dies then go from there lol.

 

[privetryan89]

the rattle comes from the timing chain. there are two in these trucks. one in the front of the block and one in the rear of the block. both are hard to fix but the back is the worst cause you have to take the engine out to do it. So just drive it till it dies and go from there.

 

[ZBlackBeast]

^^ agreed mine had the death rattle and before i was going to sell it i wanted to get a motor out of the J/Y and rebuild it and drop it in.. someday.... some day

 

[Ford_Nova]

Im having the same problem. The guy i took it too said that the damage was already done and no more could be done. Was he right when he said that? It rattles pretty bad and i have a 500 mile trip from here to home and back and i dont want it to blow up on me on the way there. Am i safe to drive it or no?

 

[chapsdeva]

I've had my rattle for over 90K. At first I thought it was just pinging, but this forum gave me the truth. There are many on this site who've been rattling away for many many miles with no problems. Now that I say this it will probably blow up tomorrow..............:roll:

 

[BobWiersema]

Ford has a TSB on them to replace the timing chains, tensioners and gears. Unfortunately this is not a free service like a recall.

If you are the original owner Ford will repair or replace the Engine for no charge (depending on the millage, under 90K I think). Mine was replaced at 87,000 when it dropped dead. The rebuilt long block and labor was $4,700 and it was stamped "No Charge To Customer" I'm not sure if this program is still available, they didn't tell me about it, I had to ask. If I remember correctly I found all the info about this on alldata.com a few years back.

 

[Silver X]

Mine rattled for 40000 miles before I changed the engine. It was getting really bad, but never broke down. It was getting too close to winter, so I just went ahead and changed it before possibly getting stranded in the snow.

Picked up a Ranger engine with 4k miles on it for about $1k shipped. It has all the redesigned heavier duty timing chain parts. Runs great now and should last a long time with no worries.

 

[Togman]

Anyone had one break down on them?

Just wondering, since mine just started, has anyone had one break on them? Mine seems to be coming from the from the front of the motor. (After it warms up it is fine, but when it is really cold in the 20's, it hates life.)

Any advice? Anyone ever pay someone to do just the front?

 

[Silver X]

My friend's '99 Explorer broke it's chain. It only had 57k very easy miles on it. Not really any warning that it was gonna go. It only had the rattle for a week. Fortunately he was at work sitting in the parking lot when it broke, and we have a shop full of technicians. One of the guys even had a brand new 4.0L sitting there.

I had my front chain replaced twice under warranty. Each time it lasted about 30k miles before rattling badly again. Never actually broke though. They never did the rear chain either.

 

[BIGHVM]

I could not read all the posts about this but, I can say to change the tensioners around 20k will help along with a really good oil and filter change in time- these engines are cursed with this FORD FAULT and can only be managed not fixed- some here in the uk have spent around a grand geting the chains, tensioners and guides changes.....But then we or MOST of us missed the recall on that or there was no mention here what ever! the tensioners are eeasy to replace at least and dont wiat till you hear a noise, just do it and trust me every 20 k or you may here my words ringing in your ears when it goes bad! Good luck and take remember experiance is better than any manual!

 

[Togman]

Cost to fix the Death Rattle

Did Ford ever quote you on how much to fix the Death Rattle?

 

[Joey P]

I could not read all the posts about this but, I can say to change the tensioners around 20k will help along with a really good oil and filter change in time- these engines are cursed with this FORD FAULT and can only be managed not fixed- some here in the uk have spent around a grand geting the chains, tensioners and guides changes.....But then we or MOST of us missed the recall on that or there was no mention here what ever! the tensioners are eeasy to replace at least and dont wiat till you hear a noise, just do it and trust me every 20 k or you may here my words ringing in your ears when it goes bad! Good luck and take remember experiance is better than any manual!

Does replacing the tensioner take care of the 2500-3000 rpm rattle that happens? And when you say easy, How easy are we talking about? I've searched and I just can't get my head around it, pull engine out, take engine apart, replace everything, etc. I just want to start with the easy stuff first and see what happens. I really don't want to get into timing and everything.

And to the OP. I don't have an answer for you, I'm trying to figure it out myself!

 

[CDW6212R]

Change the two cam chain tensioners, and see what noise you still may have. Get the TSB kit that includes that front cam chain tensioner, plus intake gaskets, and a check valve for the tensioner. That will cost well under $100, is that too high for you.

If you still have a noise, then you will be faced with changing the front jackshaft chain and its tensioner/guide, plus the the front cam chain(cassette). Those parts require a special tool set of at least $150, the parts will be under $150. All of those parts are pennies on the dollar compared to waiting for the engine to blow up. Good luck,

 

[Burnrubber1968]

I have a 185.000 on my 99 explorer...my rattle is only in cold weather...when it warms up the motor is quiet..I keep my oil change and use synthenic oil..maybe that helps from blowing up...if I bump the starter ..then start the motor there is no noise...thinking the slack has been taken up........hope this helps