Timing chain damage?

[Cody]

I've had my 2001 4.0 sohc in 3 times in 13,000 miles to have the chain rattle repaired. I was told once that a explorer they were doing the same day as mine had serious damage inside from the chain vibrating. They found metal shavings inside and a piece of the chain guide laying in the oil pan. Has anyone else heard of or seen this? Seems to me that ford is trying to cover up the fact of the damage being done to the engine from this problem. My Explorer has been in 12 times now for this problem. Its time to get a attorney.

 

[Rick]

Yes it's a known problem. If you have really been in that many times I would be trying to find some help. Did you buy the Explorer new?

 

[kevin p]

I live in England,and my '97 Explorer with 86,000 miles [not km] has just had the timing chain and guides replaced by Ford free of charge. They wern't noisy but as my car had to go in to the dealership for something else anyway they said they would do the mod because the car was less then 7 years old.

 

[jsun]

My truck is currently in the shop for repairs for maybe the same reason? They stated that the engine is being dismanteled at this point. I may be able to add more to this in the next day or so.

Also, the Ford dealership is looking after the cost of materials, and labour. I have no Warranty on this truck, and I just recently purchased the truck ~2months ago with 72K Killo's from the used dept.

 

[tenikiwon]

97 SOHC

I have the noise too and today some mechanic made it sound like my truck was going to break down SOON and I may face serious problems. Do the explorers have the __________ engine or something. Meaning if the timing chain goes while running I'll have SERIOUS damage? Or is it just like my Plymouth Sundance where when it goes you just need a tow and a new one?

 

[jsun]

To be honest with you, I'm not sure if the 4.0 is a non interference engine or not? Meaning if engine damage will be caused from the break of a timming chain.
Sorry, I'm just learning as I go along here, as the truck is a addition to my life style.

Cheers!

 

[RickPA]

The 4.0 SOHC is an interference engine and if the chain goes a lot of bad things will happen.

I had my chain cassettes changed 2 years ago. They were fine for a while but the rattle came back. Not all the time but mainly when the engine was warming up or if was shut down briefly and restarted hot. The noise goes away as oil pressure build back up.

I took it back to Ford and a tech listened to it. He and the Service manager agreed that it was there but it was an acceptable noise and that there was nothing to worry about. Were they wrong?

 

[jsun]

I thought there was a recall 00M12 or something? Excuse my ignorance as this is from memory.

I thought the recall was for noises heard at cold start up only, and the dealer should cover this?

My notes are at home, but I would look into this further.
I'm sure the recall was for the camshaft or something.
I did find more info on the net when I searched for that recall #. You may want to try this???

What year is your ex?

Jason...

 

[RickPA]

Your memory is intact! I had the work done before the recall. I chipped in some and Ford and the dealership did too. When the recall came out Ford reimbursed me for my share.

The Service Dept. is not the best but basically honest. At least I thought. They told me the rattle is a loose chain banging against the plastic case. It's considered a normal noise at this point. Also they said that if the chain jumped timing it would wreck the engine but that it just doesn't happen. Although they were the ones who recommended that I get the replacement tensioners because damage had occurred. So the story seems to change as time goes on.

I have '97 XLT with 97k. Should I hit up the dealer again? Is there real evidence that this condition does cause damage?

 

[Majisto]

I don't see how the chain could jump timing unless it suddenly grew or lost links. Now it CAN slip, and cause problems, but I don't think that is happening.

My SOHC makes a chain-like noise if I accelerate from a dead pretty hard, but you only hear it if you have the windows down and you are listening for it. I kinda like the sound personally. But once the motor revs up, I don't hear the chain anymore...

 

[jsun]

That sounds reasonable. It may not be an issue at all??? It doesn't hurt to ask another mechanic, or continue this conversation on this forum to the gurus. It's a confidence thing, and I personally would want to feel confident enough to take my truck on long trips, or avoid unnecessary costs if you can prevent them to begin with.

The noise I had was loud and embarrassing...especially at a drive through with the cement barriers.

I wish you luck, but I personally would not be to concerned at this point, unless you notice a difference in noise/performance. But unfortunately, I'm a weekend mechanic, and I learn the hard way!!!

Cheers!

 

[tenikiwon]

Mine too goes away sometimes it takes longer than other. Sometimes it can be heard accellorating.

I don't mine noise, but damage it not cool.

 

[Nate1]

Well, I know the noise you are talking about, mine came from failing rear cassets and tensioner, and cost me $1300 total to have fixed. Trust me, neither 00M12 nor 01M01 cover this on our engines (or at least mine), I spent about two weeks trying to get it warranted, and everyone told me it wasnt.
Also, it is a fix that doesnt satisfy you, in most cases is just decreases a noise till it is mostly inaudible, or removes a noise. I hate it, but I think its a wise fix to do.
And I really didnt like the noise, to me it screamed 'FIX ME SOMETHING IS WRONG!'
-----Nate

 

[Cody]

What I was hoping for when I started this thread was to hear from someone that has worked at a dealership and has done one of these repairs. But keep the information coming. My arbitration hearing is April 29.

 

[tenikiwon]

Another Question

I was just thinking that I bought my truck in Oct 01 with 59k miles. Is there a change that the previous owner had the warrenty work done? How could I find out?

Again, I don't care about the noise, just don't wanna V-8 swap yet (NO MONEY )

 

[RickPA]

Cody,

Sorry if the thread wandered. I don't remember what the TSB's limitations were. But if your EX is a 2001 you're still well within warranty.

I can say that when they replaced my chains the noise went completely away, for a while. I read somewhere that an owner saw the info that comes up on the service writer's screen and it said to do the replacement if it was a customer concern, in other words I guess they don'r consider it to be "life threatening". Still it's a poor design that already cost them a lot of money and it should have been fixed in 1998. I would guess the fix lasted about a year.

I suggest that you be polite with the arbitrator as these guys have a rep. for being (thinking they are) god-like, and give him the facts.


Good Luck

 

[tenikiwon]

Called Ford

They are still going to get back to me, but sounds like they will replace the chain guides for free (up to 100,000 miles. I'm at 96.9k now!) Don't know about the tensioners and what not, but I will have them do it all while they have it apart. Sounds like I finally found a decent shop. Hopefully their work will match the customer service I've recieved.

 

[jsun]

Congrats!

Hopefully the shop wasn’t playing one of these April fools on ya...

Glad you found a dependable shop to do the work for you…For Free!

I’m still waiting for my truck to have this work completed. 1 out of the 12pcs ordered to change out the timing guide was shorted on yesterday’s delivery. Once the work is complete, I will post my opinion of the satisfaction of the repairs, and hopefully the rattle will be gone.

Good luck!
Jason…

 

[TPLYNCH]

Re: Another Question

Originally posted by tenikiwon
Is there a change that the previous owner had the warrenty work done? How could I find out?

Ford should be able to tell you whatever work they have done to the truck. Whole service history should be on their computer system.

 

[RAZOR]

Tenikiwon, I had my engine replaced at 67,ooo mi. due to chain guide and cassette failure. You can find my story if you do a search on the 4.0L SOHC engine. Ford replaced the engine at N/C. The only things I paid for was new hoses, the belt , new distributor wires and 6 new sparkplugs. I had a choice whether to replace these parts or not. I chose new because they were all original. One thing not mentioned in the story was the Ford authorization code on the invoice AUTH CODE:0752 I hope this may be of some help to you!