[slap8up]

I have a 2001 GT 4.6 SOHC which started developing a tap on the passenger side of the motor. It started out as a light tick at around 3000 rpm and slowly progressed over about a month to a constant tap over the entire rpm range. A friend suggested a lash adjuster was probably going bad so I purchased a set from summit racing for $160. I removed my valve covers and low and behold, the passenger side timing chain was !!EXTREMELY!! loose (I guess I found my ticking noise). I tore the front of the motor down, removed the timing chain cover and found that it had almost 1/2" of play between the guide and the chain. The tensioner on the left side does not seem to be getting tight for some reason (possible hydraulic issues???) while the right side is fine with absolutely no slop at all. I am the original owner and the car only has 60000 miles on it and gets oil changes and routine maintenance religiously. Other than spanking the occasional ricer it absolutely does not get beat on. It has BBK block huggers, flowmaster cat back exhaust, BBK cold air kit, BBK 86mm MAFS, and a BBK 78mm throttle body. Can someone please tell me if they've heard of this happening before and what would cause only the left side to go bad. Do I need to replace the whole chain set or is it ok to just replace the tensioners and guides. This car is my daily driver and I need to get it back on the road asap. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[jaehow23]

Dam, '01 original owner with only 60k on a DD? Impressed.

My car has a tick on the left side too and I never got around to look for where it was coming from. I'm gonna look today.

[slap8up]

Well, I use the term daily driver loosely. It is actually my "other" daily driver. My main vehicle is a company truck

[WhiteVenom]

#1 you might have the gears on backwards. They have a very stupid design and put "front" on one side. Well if you put them on backwards you just wont see anything and never know.

# 2 You put the chain on the wrong spot. You will have 2 copper looking chain links with 5 chain links in between each other. One goes on the relief on one gear and same with the other

#3 did you degree the cams and retard them all the way?


Chains and tenenisors are 250k parts. You shouldnt have to replace them. Did you put the guides on backwards?


There wrong with your parts. You have installed something impropley. Take the cover off and get a book out and go over everything.

Btw is it running on 4 cylinders or 8?

Cut your oil filter in half and check for material..

[slap8up]

Originally Posted by WhiteVenom #1 you might have the gears on backwards. They have a very stupid design and put "front" on one side. Well if you put them on backwards you just wont see anything and never know. # 2 You put the chain on the wrong spot. You will have 2 copper looking chain links with 5 chain links in between each other. One goes on the relief on one gear and same with the other #3 did you degree the cams and retard them all the way? Chains and tenenisors are 250k parts. You shouldnt have to replace them. Did you put the guides on backwards? There wrong with your parts. You have installed something impropley. Take the cover off and get a book out and go over everything. Btw is it running on 4 cylinders or 8? Cut your oil filter in half and check for material..

The car has never had any internal engine work done and the cams and timing components are factory and have never been touched. All that has been done to the car is simple bolt on performance parts. So what would cause a tensioner to go bad or a chain to stretch so much only on one side in a car that has 60000 and is adult owned and driven. Even with the tapping the car was still running great on all 8 cylinders and had ample power. There is no evidence of metallic flakes in the oil and it doesn't seem to have anything else wrong other than the left chain being way too loose.

[blkfordsedan]

IIRC, I read somewhere (a Sean Hyland book, I believe) that there were some issues with failures on the timing chain adjusters. I know Ford made some design changes to them, but I'm not sure when exactly or what was changed. I believe the size & style of the wear shoe was changed and the whole hydraulic adjuster assy was made more robust. It also seems that only one side of the motor was effected. It has something to do with the direction of rotation and the way the adjuster system is designed. I'll try to find it again. Here is a link to a thread on an F150 forum when the guy had a similar issue. Try to Google and see what you can find.


2002 F150 4.6L Timing Chain Rattle - Page 2 - F150online Forums