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97 sohc cam chain

Hello, I had my vehicle at the dealers after I lost oil pressure. They said that the front cam chain guide assembly was broken due to lack of lube through timing chain guides. Also I would need a new engine. I found out that there is a service bulletin for my vehicle regarding the front cam chain guide assembly. There is an additional coverage for 7 years or 100,000 miles. My vehicle has less than 100,000 miles.On the service bulletin it states: Some vehicles may have the cassettes that are broken into pieces small enough to cause potential problems with the oil pickup and lubrication system. The dealer does not know if Ford will cover the cost of a new engine. He told me to bring in my maintenance log and all receipts. I guess they want to see if the problem was caused by driver neglect. I told him that I purchased the vehicle in 2000 and the owner kept the receipts for tax purposes. I contacted the previous owner and he doesn't have the receipts anymore but he did give the name of the dealer he had his vehicle serviced. I will pass that info to my dealer. Who keeps receipts of oil they buy when they change their oil? I am by no means a mechanic but I feel my engine problem was caused by a faulty cam chain guide assembly. Does anyone have any opinions on my situation, do you think that the extended warranty should cover the cost of a new engine? If Ford does not cover the cost, is there anyway I could change their minds?

Thanks John

Reply to
John
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You're probably right assuming that the engine damage was caused by complications from the timing chain concerns. Never the less, Ford will want proof that the maintenance was carried out at acceptable intervals and may even go as far as questioning you about any abnormal noises in the months previous to the failure.

While I don't necessarily agree with all of Fords policies, I can see them get a little testy if people fudge their oil changes because someone said they do it all the time or when relatively minor repairs are left go until the car wont move anymore (this is something we see often - obvious problems ignored and the car is driven to destruction).

I hope things go well for you in your task at hand, but I would be surprised if you got anything more than a cost shared repair.

-- Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

Reply to
Jim Warman

The following is a brief description of my experience. Vehicle: 1998 Explorer Sport, 4.0 SOHC V6, 4WD, Automatic, 64K miles.

At ~50k miles, excessive noise, front timing chain tensioner replaced, no cost.

At ~59k miles, barely ran, sounded like diesel, rear timing cassette replaced, Ford covered 80% of repair cost, my out of pocket complications from the timing chain concerns. Never the less, Ford will want

Reply to
Stever

Steve,

Do you know what model years have this issue with the cam chain? It sounds like addressed this problem in the latter years. I am curious since I may be buying a used explorer in the future, but would rather not deal with this cam chain issue. I have seen this one come up quite a bit in this forum. I have a 1993 Explorer with over 150K which runs very solid but rides like a wild bull.

Thanks,

Tom

Reply to
Tom

Search

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for sohc rattles, sohc timing chain, etc, and you'll find that, even in 2002, Ford has yet to fix the issues with this POS engine.

Reply to
mailinglists

This problem with the cams in this motor is such a disappointment. My 97 Limited has the 4.0 sohc and I love the performance and fuel mileage I get (~22 on the highway). What I don't like is the fact that I had to pay $150 to get the tensioner kit replaced because Ford ended their recall at 72,000 miles. Whats even more disappointing is that I brought it in to have the

4WD fixed and I asked them to look at the engine to see if the cam chain guide kit had to be done yet (this one is limited to 100,000 miles and i'm closing in fast). They said the noise I was hearing was a broken piece from the first kit that I had to pay to have them install! I'm just waiting to roll the odometer to 101,000 and have my engine blow because the chain guide finally gave way.

-- Dave Earle

Reply to
Dave Earle

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