For those of you who did your own timing chain replacement....
 

This is for the 4.0 SOHC timing chain rattle TSB.

For those of you who did your own timing chain replacement....

Did you buy the special tool kit to hold the cam/crank alignment?
Or did you borrow them from a dealership, auto parts store, etc?

I plan to do mine soon and would like to save the $150 on buying the toolkit.

Let me know

I will be the first to tell you that if you decide to do this yourself, you are better off(if you have never done this) letting someone with experience do it for you. You might save some money by doing it yourself, but if you make the slightest mistake, it could cost you way more than just letting someone with the tools do it. You HAVE to have the tools to correctly install the chains and you either have to remove the engine or the transmission to replace the rear one. If you want to see a breakdown of the engine, go to www.pdpracing.com and click on gallery. Project Blue Streak(my truck) has all the detailed pix you will need to make your decision.

Well I am not a novice at working on cars. I have worked on my own cars for about 8 years in my dads garage that he has been running for over 15 years. I have tore down and rebuilt the motor in my 93 Probe GT (24v DOHC V6). I have no fear in removing all the components on the front of the motor to expose the front timing chain. I dont plan on doing the rear jackshaft, i just want to fix the noise coming from the front chain. Thus I am wondering what others who have done their own timing chain replacement did when it came to purchasing or borrowing the OTC 6488 cam alignment toolkit.

So did you do your own ? Did you purchase the toolkit or did you borrow it?

the sohc motor has four timing chains, two in the back and two in the front.
as far as tools go i have no idea. i think in 2002 they made an updated chain guide kit for the "rattle".

I plan to only do the front 2 chains and guides and tensioner. I just want to eliminate the noise.
I plan on buying the 2U3Z-6D256-DA timing tensioner "rattle repair" kit.
" The Kit includes an improved Primary Chain Tensioner, as well as updated Primary Chain Guide, Primary Jackshaft, and Crankshaft Sprockets. Required fasteners, Primary Timing Chain, and Front Cover Gaskets are also included."

The sohc 4.0l has 3 chains. one connecting the jackshaft and crankshaft, one connecting the jackshaft and driver side cam, the jackshaft is located in the block where the "camshaft" would be located in a standard cam-in-block design. On the rear of the jackshaft, you have a sprocket that has no keyway or splines that is bolted to the jackshaft by a t55 or t60 torx. this sprocket connects the jackshaft to the passenger side cam.

I never said you were a novice, but take my advice. You will also need a new camshaft sprocket bolt(if it isnt included). This is a very tedious job and it probably will not fix the rattle. If you decide to not take my advise, I hope everything turns out ok for you.

So the rattle kit from the TSB does not fix the rattle? I am not being a smart a$$ here, but if replacement/updated parts don't fix the problem then I wont do it. I am almost certain it is the timing tensioner as I am getting the rattle all the time from 2k-3k rpms. Any suggestions on what else the noise could be?

I will make note of needing a new bolt and pick one up at Ford.

I worked at a dealer when this whole thing was going down. I was just starting college at the time for automotive technology, and when I was at work, I was basically looking over the shoulders of a few guys at the dealership.

Anyway, long story short, most of the guys didn't even want to do this. Not because it didn't pay well, but it's pretty involved. I'm not questioning your ability to properly repair or rebuild a engine, but in all honesty, even the guys that did 5 or 6 of these had problems every now and then. It's definately not a do-it-yourself type of thing.

In either event, good luck whatever you choose to do.

The book says 18 total hours for a skilled mecanic. The skill level is a "B" for the job. Reality of something this complex, should take about 30-40 hours for someone doing it for the first time without a car hoist and/or tranny hoist, and all the proper tools. So, bringing this in to get done and doing it yourself has alot of offer. 18hr of labor in a shop will cost about $2k + parts. Doing it yourself would cost 1 FULL weekend, and about $230 (depends on where you get these) in parts. So overall about a $2500 bill if you bring it in and a $250 if you do it yourself.... What is your time worth to you? from there you will need to decide.

The TSB work done by my dealer definately fixed the rattle in my case.

I plan on doing this work over my Xmas to New Years break. Not the best way to spend a few days of vacation but I want to get it fixed before I bust the chain and need a new motor. My dad runs his own auto repair shop so I have all the tools (minus the speciality tools) readily available.
I am ordering the OTC 6488 tool kit from ebay and getting the TSB parts from the Ford dealership. I have the cd from fordcds.com and may also purchase the Ford Motor Company DVD repair set from ebay as well.

I will attempt to create a How-To guide to this as I go if time permits. I am betting alot of people on this forum could really use it as it seems like most people take their trucks to the dealership to get this work done.

Just started doing mine
 

Wake up thread! I'm halfway through my 2006 ranger rear timing replacement. So far so good. New parts are coming tomorrow. I ended up buying the OTC tool kit. I can't find anyone doing this job without it.

Me too! If you have any better ways to do things post them..

I bought the tool kit (OTC 6488). It costs a lot but if you elect to do this work versus paying someone thousands, the tool is cheap.

You should consider pulling the passenger side valve cover and inspect the chain and port for broken parts. I had only a rattle in the front, but before performing only the front repair, I inspected the rear and found the guide to be demolished with large pieces in the bottom of the chain port. Oddly, I could not hear the noise and could easily have assumed only the front had a problem. The chain was guided only by the upper guide attachment bolt which was half worn through. Once that failed, most likely the chain would slip on the sprocket. Also, if you have a 4x4, you have a balance shaft and the tensioner bolts can only be installed with the upper oil pan off. I elected to pull the engine and do all of the chains. It wasn't so bad and I put the engine stand 6 feet from the beer fridge so I never got thirsty.

Just to clarify, if you have a 4x4, the engine has a balancer that is chain driven from the front. If you have a 4x2, the balancer was not installed and this chain was not needed. In both cases, there is one back chain driving the passenger side cam shaft. The front has a jackshaft drive chain, timing chain for the driver side cam shaft and a balancer chain, if installed.