1st gen Primary and Secondary Timing Chain clarification help

[Justin00LS]

So while doing some preventative maintenance I thought I'd post on here for some suggestions and I'm glad that I did. I did not know that timing chain tensioners were an issue for the 3.9, and more so the 2000 and early 2001 LS's. Through my research I have found that the production date change from plastic to metal on the secondary tensioner was 4/15/01.

My thousand dollar question that I could not find.. Was the primary tensioner or primary chain made from plastic (and/or suffer from common failure) like the secondary tensioners?

I plan to order "LINCOLN LS 3.9L UPPER TIMING CHAIN TENSIONERS" from Christopher's.

 

[oddball]

There was a change in the primaries from a bicycle style chain (like the secondaries) to a multi-link chain. My '02 has the multi-link. The primary slides are quite large, so I don't think there's a common issue there.
The standard procedure for replacing the secondary chains requires removing the timing cover. At that point, it's only a few more minutes to replace the primary tensioners and slides, so why not? If you're doing a modified procedure w/o removing the timing cover, then don't worry about it.

 

[Justin00LS]

Thanks for your help! I plan to do the modified route of replacing the secondary tensioners and secondary chains by removing the valve cover gaskets. I always do a thorough job on anything I do, but I guess this time I'll just leave the primary alone and cross my fingers.