Ok so today my truck started to stall and loose power and when I cranked it after I peddled it home I herd a raddle noise from under the driver side valve cover so I took it off to look and the chain seemed tight and guides are good but I took a look at the bottom front chain and it was loose?. I don't see what could of made it loose the tensioner is on the to chain to the camshaft but the bottom chain has no tensioner it just has guids. But could it be a bad tensioner because if you see in the pictures when I turn the crank one side of the bottom front chain gets about a finger loose and if I turn it again it gets tight but loosens up on the other side? And also when I turn the crank I noticed the top front chain gets loose every other turn witch I'm thinking maybe tensioner problem I just replaced them about a week ago and it was running great until today please help!! Also I've noticed that the tensioner on the top front driver side chain gets very low almost all the way to the plastic???

 

Is this what you mean by "bottom chain": https://www.explorertalk.com/forums/...1&d=1285125593

If a guide has loosened then overhead cams won't be in time with crank as that chain is the main timing chain

Yours may or may not have the balancer shaft and chain, seen in above picture, and here: https://www.explorertalk.com/forums/...1&d=1285506979

Drivers side front chain, and tensioner pushing on guide: https://www.explorertalk.com/forums/...1&d=1285125609

 

Yes thats exactly what I meant about the bottom front chain. I have no balance shaft on mine. But I just don't understand how it got loose and also when I turn the engine over by hand the top chain that connected to the came shaft gets a lil loose to on the opposite side of the tensioner. I just don't get what happend



heres the pictures of what happened

 

Guide on the main chain(by your finger), looks like its too far away from Cam gear, hard to tell from the angle

Are these motorcraft chains?

Wondering if they could stretch, never heard of that.

Yes, on the long chain there would be some slack on the nontensioned side, but it should go away when you turn the engine over

 

As for the guide by my finger that is the only way it goes in order for the holes to line up. And as for the quality no they are after market from eBay I wish I could afford the main Ford parts but no. And as for the streching I mean Ive only driven it for a week. But I'm sure the chain is to loose because today the truck stalled and it cranked back up but it was idling bad like almost to shut off and i started to hear the raddle coming from under the driver side valve cover so i assumed it was the top chain but everything looked pretty good so then i took the timing chain cover off and vuala!!! The chain looked to be to loose for my comfort!! It wasn't even that loose when I installed it. I mean I just don't get what happend?? I know they are aftermarket parts but c'mon only a week?? But the only thing I can think of is the raddle maybe from the loose main chain and the poor running engine maybe from loose chain but how!!! The guids are in New shape.

 

Maybe it jumped time with the loose chain that's why it sounded like crap lol!! But what made it get loose in the first place that is the bottom chain I mean even if the tensioner went bad up top how would that affect the bottom chain it has no tensioners just guids???

 

I don't think its the top chain, it should tighten up once engine starts to turn

Its the lower main chain thats the problem

Do you have the old chain, maybe check the length?

And in this picture that guide on the left looks much closer than yours: https://www.explorertalk.com/forums/...1&d=1285125593

Hour galss shape like when your finger is pushing on it in your picture

 

Exactly!!! thats what I did it seems to be the same but I guess I the morning I can try to take the new one off and put the old one on and see how it fits. I even counted the links to make sure they were the same and I know they do both have 31links but its worth trying. I just don't understand how is it when I turn the motor by hand one side gets tight and then vise versa but never does both stay tight. I've gave the engine a couple slow turns very cautiosly to not jump a tooth but nothing. I can feel the compression when i turn it so i really dont want to belive it jumped time but then again why else would the engine loose power and stall?

 

No I don't think it jumped a tooth, but that loose the compression will be low which is why it stalled and runs rough

Something is not right on the left bracket, was there another piece, a guide layer that may have come off

 

I thought the same maybe a piece came off or something? But I just noticed in your previouse picture the left bracket is different than mine if you look closely because mine is like a pizza shaped metal plate with the curved black plastic and the leaf spring looking things on it. But on your picture in the middle of the chain it shows some type of yellow park with a bolt holding it in place mines not like that? And when I ordered the parts they did send me I believe it was for a 2001 Ford mountaineer but they said it would fit my 03 ranger?

 

You see the difference and the slack on the bottom left

 

That bracket just don't look right now that I look at it but that is what comes in the kit for the 2003 ranger?

 

The bracket I have look to curved at the top compared to the videos I've watched???

 

And it seems way to curved at the top compared to some of the videos I've seen

 

Do you still have the original guide?

Comparing the two pictures you can see in the one I posted that the top end of the guide is inside the width of the cam gear, yours is well outside of it

And you say it was tight when you first installed it?

This main chain was never an issue in the 4.0l SOHC just the tensioners for the long chains for the OHCs, so I would think any year kit would have the same main chain guides and chain

 

Thanks and i figured out the problem. You know that on the main chain you have to pull the pin on the tensioner and when you do the spings in the tensioner supposed to sping out and add tension to the chain. Well mine did but i thought that my engine turned counter clockwise so I noticed that if I turn the engine counter clockwise the chain makes presses against the tensioner and makes it go back to like if the pin was never pulled but then I found out that my engine turns clockwise if I'm facing it and i turned it by hand and the spings stay in place keeping it tigh

 

And yes every tensioner I look up online is just like mine. We're it lines up on the outside of the chain

 

So where is the rattle?

 

Good question? Do you think that because the chain was loose that may of been the rattle?

 

Yes the rattle and the poor running, but you said that wasn't the problem?????

 

Well no I meant I thought maybe it could have been the top chain from under the valve cover but that one looks fine so I didn't know if the main bottom chain being loose was causing the rattle and poor running. Until know that you believe it is the problem

 

Well the main chain times valves and crank, its the only timing chain that does that, the other chains just time valves for both sides to be sync'ed

Just bump starter motor to see which direction crank should turn, or look at harmonic balancer timing marks, BTDC

 

Ok do I bump the starter motor just to make sure it turns clockwise?

 

Sure, just put a mark on the crank so you know which way it turned

 

Oh ok that makes since thanks for that info!!!