On Thursday, December 23, 1999 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, mel...@my-deja.com wrote:

I wish I would have read some of these articles before I bought my 2000
Ford Explore XLT. Well, Ford still has the same problems with the
2000's. My timing chain and cassette had to be replaced at 1,600
miles. (along with many other repairs). There is still an engine
noise that Ford can not identify. I have repeatedly complained about
it. I guess Ford is just sick of me. They have offered to buy back
this Explorer. Guess what??? I am taking them up on it.

In article <19991215005812.23758.00001090@ng-ft1.aol.com>,
jaz5437@aol.com (Jaz5437) wrote:

Just interested in hearing about anyone elses problems with the

timing chain

tensioners in the 4.0L SOHC engine.

I bought my '97 used in April '99 with 50k and luckily also bought

the extended

warranty (although it hasn't helped me really). I noticed the problem

a week

after I bought the thing. Took it in to have repaired. They had it

for two

weeks and didn't fix the problem. Was then told the tensioner was

being

redesigned and would be in in 30 days. Five months went by and still

no part.

Finally I took it to another dealer who tried to fix it again. Still

no go. He

then said there was another new design and was ordering parts. A week

later I

took it in again to have the yet again redesigned tensioner put in

and it still

didn't fix the problem. He told me that Ford had no clue what the

problem was

and was going to put a new engine into it, but the bad news is that

even the

new engines had not been corrected. So I took it in again only to

find that

Ford changed their mind. Ford had yet again redesigned the tensioner

so I was

on the parts list again. Three weeks have gone by and still no parts,

although

I was told to bring it in next Monday and parts should all be there,

but why

should I expect that after 8 months of screwing around that they will

finally

get it right.

Is this what everyone else has been through? Isn't Ford obligated to

repair my

vehicle by any means up to the retail value of the vehicle in a

reasonable

amount of time under the contract they signed with me (extended

warranty) ?

I guess one good thing is that it is still running, although the noise continues to get worse and I have been told that this problem has led

to the

timing chain failing and ruining the engine on numerous occasions.

Why can't they just get rid of the chains and retrofit to a belt

system and why

cant they just offer the V8 with the fully functional 4WD?

To everyone out there DO NOT BUY AN EXPLORER WITH THE SOHC ENGINE?

The few

extra HP or MPG will be made up for by the many sleepless nights you

will be

spending worrying about the POS in your driveway.

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

I know this thread is old, i was still in high school. I have a 98 4.0 sohc explorer for about 5 years now. i believe the timing chain tensioner is bad also. its sounded the same since ive had it. i always thought it was because it was wrecked it had
rattles underneath. it runs great and i hold it to the floor. i will drive it until it completely quits on me. 109k miles when i got it, now its at 145k. too many electrical interior components.

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