Timing Problems V6 sohc?

[Lazzman]

My "X" sport is coming up on 133k mi and thus far it has been taken care of very well with Mobil 1 oil and routine services at schedule intervals. The problem is I am wondering whether I am having Timing chain/tensioner issues with this vehicle.

On several occasions especially when it is warm out I heard the dieseling sound at start up, I thought it might be an exhaust leak but it disappears after start-up. The only other symptom I notice is that the throttle response bogs badly when the whether is above 75 degrees or especially when it is humid out. When this occurs I can literaly watch the gas needle go down as the motor stays stuck at a certain rpm trying to make power. It is unmistakable and definately not my imagination as proven by the super poor 12mpg or less gas milage I get. On days that are less humid and cool the truck runs like a bear and gets milage up near 18-20mpg combined.


There is no engine light so I don't know what else it could be- BTW the ignition components (motorcraft plugs & wires) are new, so that is not the problem. Intake and fuel lines have just been Seafoamed as well.

I love this truck and just invested $$$ in the suspension and aftermarket engine components but a timeing chain issues would be to costly for me to repair.

Any help or advice is appreciated- Dealer diagnoses/repair in my area are jerks and would just try and bilk additional money out of me, so I need the right advice.

 

[Aussie Explorer]

Yes I get the same thing a dieseling sound manly when the truck is warm and then it goes away within 10 second’s to 2 minutes and it does not always do it.

To answer the question there is a 90% chance this is the early stagers of the timing issue. Try and trace where it is coming from on the motor I.E>1st top front, 2nd bottom front or 3rd from the back, anything apart from the 1st one will be expensive. At the same time the 1st one isn’t exactly cheap but when compared to the other 2 it’s nothing.

As for the bogging down I don’t see how the timing chain would cause this.

 

[Lazzman]

I really can't tell where the noise is coming from on the engine, it only happens when I start the truck and only for a brief half second when the motor initially catches, then its gone.

If the timing chain is not doing its job correctly the vehicle will run extremely poorly. A loose or stretched timing chain will yield poor timing/ which leads to bogging down/ which leads to poor gas milage.

I have never had timing chain issues in a vehicle that I have owned, then again this is the first vehicle with over 130K that I have had. I am curious about the timing chain issues because the V6 SOHC apparently has problems with this- and my truck has the right milage and is showing some signs of this problem.

It seems to bog and run real bad on especially warm humid days?? Whenever there is lots of water in the air I do not get a clean burn and the engine bogs and gets horrible gas milage. On cool days it runs like a 5.0 Mustang- very fast and powerful with fast gear changes. Wish I knew the problem.

 

[Aussie Explorer]

If it only rattles for a second then it is hardly a problem at the moment, you may get another 10-15k out of it before the noise starts to last longer and even 40k or more before a failure.

Warm humid day’s well that is the give away, any engine will preform badly when it is hot and humid.

From how you describe the rattle “it only happens when I start the truck and only for a brief half second when the motor initially catches, then it’s gone.”

The chain would have to be a lot more stretched and thus making a lot more noise to cause the engine to bog and loose power that badly, it would also be happening all the time not just on hot humid day’s.

I would be looking at other possibilities for the bogging down.

 

[Lazzman]

Good Point Aussie, thanks for the tip...