Has anyone else had the camshaft chain tensioner fail? I got a look at the top of the tensioner and it looks like a tab has broken off and the plastic/nylon tab that rides on the chain is pushed forward...it hasn't broken completely off but looks like it might. It looks like the oil pan has to come off to get the gears/chain and then get to the tensioner. Cool...guess we push the thing on to a lift. Sigh... May have found the elusive intermittent knock/clacking. Any ideas?
yep.....been there done that.Seen it completely break off and then the metal tab get ground off by the chain till the chain was digging into the oil pump boss.Just saw another that had a good crack on the plastic guide.The thrust plate and timing set is supposed to be changed around 50k miles,I would say with the increased stress of the aftermarket valve trains they should be changed sooner than that.If the plastic is not broken off however I doubt that is the culprit of the clacking unless the chain is slack.I have seen brand new thrust plates that needed to have the tensioner springs re curved because they left the chain very sloppy.I wonder if the Manley setup uses the stock thrust plate or if they improved it?God I wish we could get a gear drive!
Ya, a few of them have gone bye-bye. No, you don't have to pull the pan. You just need to finesse the bolts. But you will need to remove the pick up tube mounting bolt to inspect your pump. It can be done with the pan in place, but it's a muther. I hope this fixes it for you Jon, best of luck bud. Stock E and it doesn't cover the whole width of the chain. That's the only sad part so far.
x2.....I found that removing all the 6mm bolts and then just loosening the 10mm bolts will let the front of the pan hang enough to get the pump off without much swearing.You don't even have to drain the oil and you can get the pick up to pump bolt out easily.
Right on guys...thank you!!! Without having one in my hands it looks like the tensioner mounts in two places and the top mount for sure looks to be broken. The white piece looks way pushed forward. I think at this point it would be a good idea to look at my bottom gear (chamfer?) anyway. How much further along would it be to take the pan off? Edit: How much work am saving by not taking it off?
well if it's time to change the timing set......which I would if the chain has been bouncing around......then your not saving yourself any work.
Gotcha...that was my thought also and I will have a new one in tomorrow, as well as a new oil pump. It's not often I plan on getting in here so may as well do it. I'll get some pics just for the heck of it and let you know how it goes. Thanks Erik and Cam
To drop the pan, you have to drop the rack and pinion (two bolts). Not remove it, just drop it. Remove the cross member by the wiper cowl, unbolt motor mounts and jack the motor up...should give you enough room to remove the pan...Let us know how it goes. Good luck. I'm just buttoning up my motor this eve from having it down to the short block...put 4-1/2 hours into it, and DONE...phew...my legs and back aren't used to that shit.
Don't have to do that just to lower the pan.....no need to fully remove it.All you need is to let the pan down an inch in the front and you can remove the pick up tube bolt.
Kyle, I hear ya man. I'm 41 and lift and run a couple times a week, and OMG I couldn't even WALK after doing 4 rocker shafts and getting all the gay pushrods lined up! Hal, I had the service dept order a new oil pump when I knew I was going to have the "old" one off anyway. ~24k miles on pump, 7k on the 426. Erik, I mentioned the oil pan method to the tech helping me (well, I guess he is doing more than that now...lol) and he is going to give it a shot...apparently he is aware of the extra shit involved in taking the pan off. The white tensioner on the left side of the motor looks fine...I was look down at it with the cover tilted forward and had a funky angle...once I got the cover off and away after work I could see nothing was loose or seemed out of place. The black guide or whatever it is on the right side is way loose however. It is this thing clipped into a few square holes: I can pull it forward and back and it seems a few of the retaining clips are missing. I can't quite pull it all the way off easily but I feel like I could break it off easily. When I first looked at it the bottom was cocked way forward. I walked over to a 5.7 on an engine stand and it's black plastic guide thingy was tight as..., well, it was tight. What is it's purpose?
yeah, I understand that, I was referring to this: 38 and same here, and same here...LOL...but I slept like a baby last night....FYI and for ANYONE doing it...I bought a Miller 9070, and can send it to you to borrow for intake rockers and push-rod assembly...makes the job a whole lot easier...
Ahhhh, I saw that bastard when I ordered my Miller valve spring compressor...now I can see where that would help a bunch. I had my 11 year old daughter holding TWO pushrods against the rocker cup as I put it back together...LOL. I don't care who you are, there are a couple of exhaust valve springs that I just don't see how you would compress in a normal fashion with the heads on the car...kudos to Erik or Cam or whoever I read changed them all. I really hope I find something today...that loose plasticy guide thing just doesn't seem capable of causing the clacking unless indirectly it is allowing some slack in the tight side of the chain off and on, which causes the chain to bla bla bla.
yeah the springs are a bitch on the car and a two person job at that.Did that job twice and hated it and I have one more coming up that I am dreading.
Other than the cost of the gaskets and bolts....what's the advantage to doing it on the car...you're already that far, just take em off.
Some people would rather keep the heads on the car.....they don't like the motor cracked open.....and even though it's a PITA it takes less time than yanking the heads.
I'm just the opposite, i'de rather see the cylinder walls, piston tops, and fresh gaskets and bolts...tomato, tamata i guess.
