FORD EXPLODER REPLACING TIMING CHAINS PART 1

In today's video, I take you through my journey of replacing the timing chains on my 2008 Ford Explorer with a 4.0l V6 SOHC engine. This job is very labor intensive, time consuming and must be done properly. I wouldn't attempt this job if you do not already have experience working on engines. If you have not watched the last video I posted with this truck, please click the link below to watch! In that video we tore the engine apart to discover the source of the loud engine rattle, which turned out to be failed timing chains, guides and tensioners. In today's video we replace all of those broken components!
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Watch the first video here! • FORD EXPLORER ENGINE T...
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Tools used in this video!
TIMING TOOL KIT FOR FORD 4.0 SOHC
*Check it out here! amzn.to/3gDT4Gx
Metal Marking Paint Pen
*Check it out here! amzn.to/3HIogk1
CORDLESS ELECTRIC 3/8" RATCHET TOOL KIT W/ 2 Li-ion BATTERIES & CHARGER
*Check it out here! amzn.to/3sx63iR
TIMING CHAIN KIT 1997-2010 FORD EXPLORER 4.0 SOHC
*Check it out here! amzn.to/3LqwT4J
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Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of Advanced Level Auto, I cannot guarantee against improper use or unauthorized modifications of this information. Advanced Level Auto assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. Use this information at your own risk. Advanced Level Auto recommends safe practices when working on vehicles and or with tools seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of Advanced Level Auto, no information contained in this video shall create any expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or from the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not Advanced Level Auto.

[@cabdriveruk]

What a great detailed video of how the job should be done. You have given a lot people including myself the confidence to carry out this job. Look forward to part 2 and to hear it running smoothly again. Cheers, Jeff.

[@hammerhead6537]

Your videos are priceless. Your ability to clearly explain the problem and troubleshooting procedures is outstanding. Thank you for taking the time to produce your videos. Always a learning experience. Godspeed, Semper Fi, USMC.

[@robertmedina6875]

We are military family. Is Eric a Marine?

[@hammerhead6537]

@@robertmedina6875 I don't know if he is or not. Most of the time I Semper Fi so that any Marine that sees it will most definitely relate to it. I am old school, 68 years old, and I know that there are Marines out there that will see it, and appreciate it. And if Eric was not a Marine, that's alright, he seems like a hard working outstanding family man. So, I'm faithful to his channel! And a big thank you to your family for your/their service. Godspeed!

[@jonathonhernandez2322]

The mechanic changing my timing chains on my 2006 could not get this job done and had my truck for 4 months. Had to get it to a second mechanic that was able to get it running but there's still a light rattle and oil is leaking from the pan. I changed the lower gasket but it's actually the upper. If I have to lift the engine to change that gasket, as shown in this video, I think I'm going to junk it soon. This repair has been a nightmare, especially because I take care of my vehicle and am going to hate seeing it go. Wish I found someone as knowledgeable as you. Great video.

[@mikechiodetti4482]

GREAT REPAIR JOB! Definitely worth doing this if your keeping the vehicle a lot longer. No more slack in the chains should really make a difference in the vehicle's performance. I hope you get many many more miles out of this vehicle!

[@kinglangren]

Bought one from my neighbor for 500 a few years ago with the same issue . Decided against fixing it . Posted it for sale and I had almost a 100 people message me, so they are still a popular vehicle. I’m with you if it was now I would have fixed it as it would be worth it.

[@AKJeeper]

Yup - I would have elected to fix it as well. Vehicle prices are insane right now, and being that it's a southern rig, it's in beautiful rust-free shape. I'm sure someone would buy it in the event Eric didn't want to keep it. Too bad it's not a 4x4, a rust-free 4x4 Explorer would sell like crazy up here!

[@ramanpreciado2241]

Great SUVs besides the timing chain, would good for 500k miles of they didn't have that issue.

[@ernestwilson5591]

Wow, so much plastic being used, even on internal engine parts! And I bet Ford does not even acknowledge this! It's probably made strong enough to get you past warranty period! Great video.

[@factsalways7749]

Nice lesson, as always…. Welcome back👍🏿. You are very valuable. You demonstrate how caring, & respectful true mechanics are to their crafts. Plz do an episode 1day talking hw you became sooo knowledgeable abt cars. Hw you acquired so much knowledge. That’d be a great episode to young ppl - considering many are looking for a pro manual field. Anyhw, thank you. You are THE BEST at explaining mechanical diag & repairs on yutube. Sir!!!! 👍🏿

[@josedejesusvelazquez6863]

Eric, muy pero muy buen trabajo. Mi admiración y respeto y que Dios te siga bendiciendo con más sabiduría. Recibe el mejor de mis saludos desde Tijuana B, C. 🇲🇽México 👍👍👍

[@isalmankhan1]

Great work as usual, really enjoyed & learned how to time these engines properly👍 Thanks for sharing Bro, Stay Safe👍

[@Smashachu]

If i've learned anything in life as a child who used to take apart everything my parents owned to see how it worked. You can always take something apart, it's putting it back together that's the hard part.

[@ganeshnarayan5505]

Shoot watching your channel is better than watching tv . Great work Eric.

[@IanHurford]

Great content as usual & great too have you back with your informational videos. Hope you have managed to sort all your issues out.

[@sabrekat7904]

That's a great video and highlights the fact that finding all the destoyed parts,wherever they are. is essential.You could do all the timing chain work then one small rougue part totals the engine.Bet you were mightily relieved about the water /transmission oil issue.

[@gilron9585]

Great video, I never saw a detailed video of chains and pullies before :)

[@ramonmaldonado4884]

I didn't even notice this video was 50 minutes long until I finished watching it 😂😂 .. good stuff.. These are a pain to work on lol

[@arthurmiller8336]

Keep up the good work you are a great mechanic I guess I've been working on stuff since the 1980s from what I can remember

[@ottoporres1301]

Thanks for sharing your expertise. Job well done.

[@no-worries-its-okay]

I really enjoy your videos. Keep making them! I'm enjoying this project too by the way.

[@larrysheran]

The fastest way to fix a Ford Timing Chain is to throw away the Ford and buy a Toyota! LOL *** Eric, thanks for all the knowledge you share with us. I've been following you since you sold your tools, left your shop and went solo! At the beginning you had a lot of uncertainties but i'm glad you made that decision. It turned out well for you. You deserved it! Best of luck to you and your beautiful family!

[@ChrisB-cx6td]

Yeah just keep some quarts of oil in your trunk as many Toyotas burn oil 😂

[@larrysheran]

@@ChrisB-cx6td lol true

[@21Piloteer]

@@ChrisB-cx6td Keep living in 2006

[@juanchavez2231]

Very detailed video, I’m having the same problem and I’ll definitely be using this video for reference, thanks a lot.

[@DLMorel]

Nice to see you back, glad you`re posting again

[@38911bytefree]

Thanks for putting up the vid Eric, tons of time over more time to edit. Serious hard working. You are right about the used prices, plus ... you can still buy a ticking bomb .... better stay with a truck you know.

[@juanvasquez7148]

gracias Erick eres un excelente maestro gracias por ensenarnos cada dia

[@linginfelterh]

Hope the hack hasn’t hurt the channel too much. Don’t give up, never know which video it will be that will blow up.

[@chriscadman5715]

Enjoyed every minute of it!

[@davidlondon3111]

Great video Eric. Glad it’s working out

[@gflores7018]

Welcome back Eric Good luck on this job, definitely not a easy job.

[@robertprelewitz4511]

A lot of WORK!! But that is one nice looking truck. 👌 Well worth the effort. Thank you for the video!!

[@Texasknowhow]

Great video. Just right on details. Good post editing.

[@samrugtiv3839]

Well done eric looking forward to part 2 .thank you my friend for a very well done video. Sam

[@jamesbeckwith780]

Welcome back. Keep the great videos coming.

[@stevenlatham4397]

Talk about over engineered complexity, excellent video and dedication as always. Good catch on the pieces stuck in the block. That would have been heartbreaking to do all that work and have it last 15 minutes.

[@ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO]

Yes. That would have been devastating! Thanks for watching!

[@stevenlatham4397]

It makes you realize that timing the 4.6/5.4 liters wasn’t that bad lol.

[@petergarofolo9385]

Enjoyed the video very much. It's what you do best. 👍👍

[@ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for watching!

[@khalidkfy7368]

Very hard and professional job 👏

[@luis140500]

Great job man 👍

[@gaelylesly]

muy bien demostrado este video tocayo como siempre. saludos desde el valle

[@ChadtheDad23]

Took me almost an hour to finish the video, can't imagine how many hours you put into doing the job and making the video lol good work man

[@ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO]

Too much time lol

[@jackiemay9471]

good going worth waiting for

[@tomh6779]

That engine was not one of ford’s better idea’s. They tried saving money by re engineering an old school 4.0 liter to a modern variable timing engine. It made good power with a little bit better MPG. Serviceability not so much lol. Great job and thanks for posting.

[@robc7323]

Nice job! I did the timing on my 2005 Mountaineer-4.0 SOHC last summer at ~230K miles. It had the startup rattle + rattle at ~2500 RPM. I drove it for ~5 - 7k miles with the rattle before the repair and the timing was still good. The only tensioner that broke in my engine was the primary tensioner (leaf springs) between the crankshaft and jackshaft. It was sitting just below its original position just like in the video. I pulled the engine and did all of the guides/tensioners/chains/sprockets gaskets/front+rear main seals while I had it out. The compression was surprisingly good for an older engine so I did not mess with the heads/piston rings/etc. I am currently ~240k miles. If anyone wants to attempt this job, I suggest trying to use OEM parts... ford updated some of the guides/tensioners in later model years. Ford does not offer a kit so you have to compile a list and order a la carte (PITA). I heard some of the aftermarket parts can grenade prematurely so if you plan to keep your ride long term, take that into account. If you go aftermarket.. at least get Ford hydraulic tensioners. I have hear some bad things about the aftermarket ones not holding tension. The early model year Explorers ~2000 - 2003 were particularly prone to breaking timing chain guides. I have a 2005 and some of the parts I got from Ford were different color plastic so I assume that these are updated from the ones that were in my block. I got ~230k out of the original parts so I hope to get some decent mileage out of these. The 4.6/V8 guys are lucky since all of the timing components are up front.

[@94SexyStang]

yes but the 4.6 have a Horrible reputation of blowing spark plugs out of the engine, I've seen SO many engines running down the road on 7 cylinders......the v8 problem is WAY more common than the v6 timing chain issue.

[@mainecrab]

You can prime the oil in the tensioner by holding the gas pedal and cranking with it depressed, it will not actually crank but will move the oil into the tensioner from the starter cranking.

[@C0Y0TE5]

As ford recommends

[@juanheredia4426]

Excelente video compa

[@user-ti6et9hj2i]

33:45 Thank you for mentioning the orientation of the crank gear (some of your fellow youtubers did not). I put mine back on flipped the other way and the harmonic balancer would not go back on all the way. Had to take it all back apart to flip it around.

[@HatBilly2008]

Saving your 4,0, engine. The early warning signs of timing chain issues on the 4.0L are almost always ignored. Yes, the timing system is very flawed in design, but there are steps that you can take to prolong the life of the timing system and engine. The first part in this timing system that gives is the chain tensioners, which leads to broken guides and eventual failure. As the poorly designed tensioners age, they become weaker (as we saw in the video) and cannot hold down the guides to keep adequate pressure on the chains. This is especially true on cold starts because oil does not reach the tensioners immediately, which allows the timing chain to slack and bang off the plastic guides, creating the characteristic 4.0L "startup rattle". After many cycles of this, the guides break and the rattle becomes constant while running/under acceleration until enough of the guide material is broken and the timing jumps--leading to an often catastrophic failure as these are interference engines. This can be prevented, or at least prolonged, by replacing the chain tensioners every 50-70,000 miles with new OEM units (Ford still makes them and they are cheap); they're outside the engine as seen in the video and easy enough to replace that a DIY'er can do it. Another issue that isn't spoken about nearly enough is the use of improper oil filters on these engines. These motors NEED oil filters with anti-drainback valves (OEM Motorcraft FL820S or equivalent) to help against oil starvation on startup to the chain tensioners--this alone will help prolong the lifespan of the timing system in these motors; the same ironically applies to the 4.6L SOHC V8 which can suffer from similar timing issues. Both the tensioners and oil filter are cheap insurance that almost anyone with minimal mechanical knowledge can do in their driveway. It's not uncommon to see these reach very high mileage, even while rattling around on broken chain guides--they're actually quite durable motors. Notably, the original nylon chain guides on this engine from 97-01/02 97-01/02 were deemed to be too weak by Ford, and the timing components were revised. Later models do fare better, however, all of these engines will eventually run into timing issues unfortunately as the design is just inherently flawed as a whole--the trick, again, is to catch it in time. The upside is that they made literally MILLIONS of these engines and parts are easily obtainable. I've owned and continue to work on a number of cars with this engine. By far the worst 4.OL timing failure l've personally seen so far was an 01 Ranger on original chains blow a hole straight through the driver side valve cover at around 260k.

[@orlyman24]

Great video and wise decision to fix your Explorer...used vehicles are quite expensive these days.

[@pollcrazy]

Wow! Was going to buy an Exploder , glad I did not.

[@mercedesfriesland]

Nice long video with nice tips and tricks

[@williamwhite9767]

Man, I didn't know how easy I had it changing timing chains on the old small block chevys and once on a 73 Cougar Cleveland V8. Only one chain instead of four!!!! But they had to changed often due to the lack of chain tensioners and those nylon teeth breaking on the cam gear.

[@Garth2011]

Back then the upgrade was to buy Cloyes Double Roller Timing Chains and forget the OEM nylon idea that hurt so many.

[@bertrandducouedic8621]

Great video. Good you saving this teuck

[@onrdetailingnews802]

Great job buddy great video

[@bobscott3148]

Great video

[@jwkmpli]

thanks lots of great tips :)

[@ReparadorAficionado]

Great videos

[@billikonomou9474]

Welcome back mate!!

[@ROADKILL4147]

nice job and that was alot of work :)

[@JimmyMakingitwork]

Great video and thanks for the heads up on the .CZ scammers, I had the same email and almost followed thru, only pausing because my channel is still small so it was too good to be true. I saw your video while deciding what to do and it saved a lot of aggravation. I hope you have it all sorted out by now.

[@The_Redkween]

Eric, you’re always working on that Exploder. 😂

[@arthurmiller8336]

I have only one timing chain and I love it

[@moonpeach4684]

👍thanks bro

[@mavricxx]

Honestly, if you need to do any timing chain, do it it right the first time and do them all. Don't cheap out cause it'll comeback and bite you in the ass. I've had this happen to me so many times but I'm not a professional mechanic, just a diy guy but I've learned so many lessons along the way.

[@antoniorodolfo9805]

You are beast master teacher the best

[@amjadzidaoi4011]

Waiting for the next video. Following you from Iraq.

[@gezdipz5425]

After just doing my timing belt on my audi 2.5tdi a lot easier than this,fair play you need the patience of a Saint. Moral of this story is don't buy a vehicle with a timing chain lol,keep up the great content 👌

[@arthurmiller8336]

I do like your torque wrech

[@HUBBABUBBADOOPYDOOP]

Are you old enough to remember the Jetsons? There were 2 major competing companies. Spacely Sprockets & Coswell Cogs. Your timing chain is driven with *_sprockets_* and a timing belt is driven by *_cogs_.* Most diesel engines use gears for crank to cam to fuel pump, and some inline 6 cylinder use gears. My '71 Nova had an inline 250ci, and used gears.

[@miceinoz1181]

Good vid Eric, lots of comments from people on the bad desugn. Clearly they have never worked on the 1st Gen Audi V6 TDI! Lots of chains on that.

[@dans_Learning_Curve]

I live in MN and saw a rust free vehicle being considered to be junked! Glad you made the decision to repair your timing chain! Did you check book time on this job?

[@onrdetailingnews802]

That's a pretty color on your truck

[@moumenahmed4500]

I hope u make some educational videos about how to use an oscilloscope and some examples for each signal waves... Like and share salute from Morocco.

[@tomh6779]

Actually I might be wrong about “variable timing “? Maybe it’s just ford’s efforts to do overhead cams. Yeah! Bad idea. Thanks again for the great video.

[@moonpeach4684]

👍

[@TwistedTune]

I’m struggling HEAVILY with removing my upper oil pan in my 08’ explorer. The front differential is in the way, but that’s a big pain to move out of the way, and the oil pan almost seems stuck even though all the bolts have been removed

[@juansquestbro2008]

Let’s go

[@brianaugust1594]

Great Job‼️However, Where's the Next Video, never saw the engine priming the startup and you mentioned a radiator you just jumped to another repair job we'd love to see the rest of the video on the Explorer ..Thank You👍🏆

[@ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO]

I am currently editing it. I will be posting this week. Thank you for watching!

[@keithkillion4245]

What type of puller and what size bolts did you use to remove dampener/crank pulley ? I am eorkung on a05 same chain problems but dampener wont come off,bolt holes are much larger tuan the 10 mmx1.5 metrics,only bolts i had that fit were 1/2_x13, put them in puller,installed puller,tensioned puller center bot and bolts pulled out of dampener stripping threads out of holes.before you ask,have removed center bolt of dampener and used a push bolt that slipped in crank hole no problem. Only other option can see is get a titan 3 leg caged hook puller but am afraid of pulling dampener apart. Any suggestion? Again it is a 05 4.0liter v6 explorer.

[@Scott.Farkus]

Remove the Jack Shaft retainer plate, remove the jack shaft then use the extra space it creates to push the dowel back through the two pieces of the guide, and reinstall the jack shaft. Ha ha, you got lucky with that cassette. 👍

[@ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO]

Thanks for the info

[@randytolin3059]

4.0 best engine Ford makes period

[@pucmath]

Does anyone else feel like they're watching a horror movie? Those pieces of guide at 28 minutes! Stuff that nightmares are made of.

[@stealthg35infiniti94]

Eric you're a Master at your Craft. But I believe that Exploder will be a money and time pit in the future. True ,the Chip Shortage is causing new car prices to sell for MSRP+ and used cars sell 50% above their value. Hopefully by the end of the this year, the Chip Shortage should come to an end.Then you can unload that vehicle and buy something more reliable.

[@artykslam]

do you have to remove the entire engine to replace just the head gaskets

[@kilogulf1164]

This literally just happened to my 09 explorer yesterday. Debating on fixing it or swapping for a V8 engine

[@hpelisr]

Yes you should fix, everything is inflated right now. even used cars are high.

[@user-cr3eu7vc4n]

Hello, please tell me how to set up the gas distribution mechanism? since the mechanism is completely lost, the camshafts spun without a crankshaft. Thank you!

[@edemmet1598]

I'm trying to see if there's any way to find out if a timing belt has been changed I bought a used explorer it runs great but I noticed when I was looking it up on Google

[@netrioter]

I had one of these with a 302..it was decent. I had 4 of these with the 4.0 SOHC. They all died around 150k miles. Ford only made a few bad engines. The 5.4 Triton,the 360 Truck and the 4.0 SOHC. You are a rarity because nobody really works on this motor..they just replace it with another one and do the chains before installation. Nice video

[@jdtv...9134]

It's a very easy job to f****** to. When I was putting mine back together I advanced the timing. 15.5 is the absolute Max.

[@JimmyMakingitwork]

I remember doing that cassette in one piece...:/

[@LSmiata]

Great video! My opinion only....Ford went with a block design from the 70's or 80's that had cam in block, then decided to make it an OHC. You can clearly see the front of the engine and 1st timing chain going where the cam would be on a "cam in block". What a POS design. No wonder we get our ass kicked by Japan and newer Asian entries. They start with a clean paper and work it to modern standards. GRRRR FORD! Same thing with Ranger 3.0 and 4.0 engines. Use 50's tech to control spark from a distributor......and how about the oil "pressure" gauge. NOT it's a dummy light disguised as a meter.....GRRRR! I loved my 04 Explorer with 4.6 v8 in Eddie Bauer trim until it got totaled...grrrr...and right after, I'm talking days, that I replaced the rear axles seals and axle drive boots.....unlucky, but it was a NICE ride. Hate me but now back to GM or Toyota.

[@Garth2011]

Very complete crap design...too much drama in this engine and not enough durable parts. Bad engineering, flawed tensioner design and lack of robust parts.

[@LSmiata]

@@Garth2011 Cheers Garth, I went on a rampage. GM and Toyota have there issues, but Ford is ? I really loved my Explorer....4.6 will last 500k miles! other engines.....

[@HatBilly2008]

Who many miles did you get before the problem with the timing gears, and chain started. I have a 2007 ford explorer 4,0, it has 50,000 miles.

[@tombeam]

Do not prefill your oil filters, it actually slows down oil pickup from the pan, because you have to push air thru the oil filter then pickup oil and filter it. We are just talking about a second or less slower. So not too bad.

[@douchedidit9222]

Rockauto where you guys at support this guy sponsor him

[@David-yy7lb]

Nothing beats the simplicity of cam in block engines with one timing chain 👍🏿....what a stupid design to have a freaking passenger side timing chain on the back of the engine WTF🤦🏿‍♂️🤦🏿‍♂️

[@Garth2011]

That's a lot of work to use low cost parts. Cloyes makes them and they are all USA made (I believe). Some have said Borg Warner makes some of the parts for Cloyes.

[@keithkillion4245]

What are these e torque bolts?

[@goodolboy5228]

Does that Explorer have a recall for a faulty passenger side airbag? My 07 Ranger with the 4.0 did.

[@ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO]

I'm not sure. I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks for the heads up!

[@ericgessner2618]

I have to do this to a 04 is your 4x4 or is that 2wd

[@raymondjacobs8429]

Those Castle lugs on the pickup look as though you could unscrew it to get it apart, you have an old one now.

[@davntelisha19]

You right about that car prices are threw the roof bought a 2007 caddilac escalade 6.2 liter for 12,000 dollar with 200k on the dash supposedly they change the engine out with a engine that had 100k on it a month before I bought it but man that was the cheapest I could find everyone else wanted 15k to 17k for a old 2007 caddilac escalade it's crazy

[@ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO]

Crazy times we're living in

[@ufartface]

ford needs to put 20 or 30 more chains in the engines to keep their service departments busy at $100 plus an hour- i wouldnt own one if they gave me one

[@mitchlu]

You're the best! And BTW-thanks to you, I enabled 2-step verification on my Google account. Now I must wear my phone on a necklace.

[@ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO]

Guard it with your life! Make sure your phone has a password. Also, if you are using the google Authenticator app, make sure you go to settings and enable privacy screen. This will require Face ID or pin code to open the Authenticator app. Incase someone steals your phone and manages to unlock it, they can’t open the Authenticator app.

[@mitchlu]

@@ADVANCEDLEVELAUTO I definitely will and thank you for those additional tips...can't wait to see the follow-up video to this Explorer! Enjoy your weekend!...