bengaltiger14

While driving the other day, my check engine light came on, then I heard a loud rattling sound coming from the engine. I pulled over, turned the truck off and popped the hood. I noticed a fairly large sized hole in cover just above the timing chain (see attached) and that oil had spewed all over the engine compartment. I did notice recently that the trucked seemed to skip a bit while driving at constant speeds. Mechanic seemed to think that the timing chain or timing chain guide broke causing it to hit the cover. Mechanic doesn't seem to think that replacing the timing chain is a good idea on an engine as old as mine. This engine has 260k miles on it. If anything, mechanic suggested that the only real option is to have a re-manufactured engine from Ford installed. Any thoughts on this? Like I said, this truck is a 2004 with 260k miles on it. The transmission was rebuilt at around 200k miles.

bengaltiger14

Any thoughts? I guess my question is: Is it worth it to replace the engine with a remanufactured engine from Ford? Should I have the timing chain/guide repaired instead although the engine has 260k miles on it? Should I dump the truck and buy a used one? I have no experience with this issue.

Martian

Also thinking it was the chain guide. Not the first time I've seen it on this forum.

Moved thread to 2004 - 2008 for more visibility. 04-08 users are VERY familiar with this problem.

tuflehundon

What's the cost of the repair quote for your engine? I think that would be the deciding factor for me. My 02 Explorer 4.6l had to have the timing chain, and tensioner replaced. Cost for mine was $3500 by the time everything was said and done. Mine shredded and went into the engine, so the engine had to be rebuilt. I only had 120K on it at the time.

I just had the 5.4l engine in my 08 replaced by the dealership under warranty. They used a Ford engine, and the final bill submitted to the warranty company was approx $7500. I have seen other here get quotes for reman engines between $5000-$6500, depending on the reman engine brand, and mechanic. I don't know much about which brand of remans are better or worse than the others, so hopefully someone that does can chime in on that. From what I have seen, the Ford remans are the higher priced engines.

If your transmission is strong, and the rest of the truck is in good condition, I'd consider a reman engine, if you plan to keep it for a while. You won't get much for the truck as is.

Is your truck paid off? That was a deciding factor with my Explorer. It was nearly paid off, we had 3 more payments on it at the time, and the rest of the truck was strong. So it made sense for us to fix it. It now has almost 200K on it, and my daughter drives it.

dyeguy1212

iTrader: (1)

What he said. It sounds like you won't be doing the work yourself, which means it's going to be a pretty costly repair. I recall looking up the cost of timing chain covers a while back, and man they are (unnecessarily) pricey.


The timing components (chains, guides, tensioners) are pretty cheap. Probably want to do phasers and VCT solenoids while you're in there.


If the engine was good other wise, I'd just fix it and move on. But if the price of a reman is comparable to the cost to fix, get the new engine.

tuflehundon

That's why my Explorer ended up being $3500 to repair. I had them replace a few parts that tend to be issues with that engine, and are generally expensive to repair due to labor. But since he was already taking things apart, it was just the cost of the parts. Smart to do some things while you have it open.

bengaltiger14

Thanks for the responses. The quoted price to replace the engine with a Ford remanufactured engine is $5,000-$6,000. They did not give me a quote to replace broken parts only because it is still unknown what all may be affected. The truck is payed off in full. The only other issue with the truck are cosmetic and there is some humming in the rear end at around 50-55 mph. The transmission is strong to the best of my knowledge.

tuflehundon

My replacement was at the Dealership, so that may account for the higher price. I wasn't footing the bill, so I didn't care.

I think I would lean towards the reman engine in your case. That is, if you plan to keep the truck for a while. That's the only way it would make financial sense to me. $6000 down would get you a really nice newer truck, but then you'd have payments again.

nrivera04

Do you know the history of the motor? Well maintained, inside free of sludge, etc... To do a full timing job you're in the neighborhood of 3K.

At 250K+ I'd be more inclined to go with a reman engine without knowing if it extends beyond just timing components.

bengaltiger14

I purchased the truck with 80k on it. I changed the oil regularly and have never had any other issues with the engine other than having to pull and clean the IAC once because is was stalling at idle speeds.