Timing Chain Teardown Time

Hey, did you ever get your Lemon Sedan running? Did it take you less than the 36 hours I quoted you months ago? Mine has been sitting for other reasons. Looking though the threads I found myself repeating a similar mantra while working on mine. "You M$@#$@# F#%#$er!" Have your fingers recovered from those pump bolts?
 
:D Yes, I did get this thing running about 3 months ago or so. (I should have finished up this thread) It ran great for about a month then I had a misfire code on cylinder 6. SOMEHOW the fuel injector connector was disconnected enough to not allow it to operate.

Other than two codes that tell me the catalysts are defective it runs smooth and gets about 23.2-23.6 mpg.

As far as taking 36 hours I dunno. It broke down at the beginning of February and I didn't touch it for over a month. I worked on it for a couple days and then didn't mess with it again for a little over month. I have worked so much this year I didn't have time or want to work on it after working on airplanes all day, plus it was just too cold earlier in the year.

I finally ordered all of my parts and tools and then became half way serious on getting it together, working on it after work for a week then taking a week off on messing with it etc. I'm surprised I ever got it done.:rolleyes:

It was well worth it and I'm glad I stuck with it because I had thought about parting it out at one time. And as far as those bolts, the hydraulic fan pump is hanging on with three. :lol:
 
.your the man for this thread. Im about to do the same thing. Just Recieved my parts... question is how are your secondary tensions look now since youve put them in... i noticed those are the factory faulty ones... these are the updated ones. more solid construction... ford robbed me wen i brought the secondary tensioners from them.. $180.00 each :mad: ... these are only $80.00 each..

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Reading through this thread makes me glad I'm doing it on a stand and then doing the engine installation.

KS
 
Dark Kent said:
.You're the man for this thread. I'm about to do the same thing. Just Recieved my parts... question is how are your secondary tensions look now since youve put them in?.. I noticed those are the factory faulty ones... these are the updated ones. more solid construction... Ford robbed me when I brought the secondary tensioners from them.. $180.00 each :mad: ... these are only $80.00 each..
Click to expand...

Wow! I heard about the updated ones after I performed the install LOL :rolleyes:

To answer your question I haven't had the VC's off since I put it back together so I trust they are still in good shape, I've put about 30K on the car since then and still runs really well.
 
De-marko,

Thanks for all the great info and pictures ! I'm tackling this fun filled job as well not by choice either :D

Your information has been very useful!

Thanks !
 
Eh, other then some PITA bolts, it's really not that bad. If you take your time and work through it slowly and mark where everything goes, you'll do ok.
 
After seeing this thread, my engine bay looks empty with the LS1 compared to the stock 3.9. LOL. I could have the valve covers off in under 10 minutes, intake off in 20 minutes, heads off in a couple hours, etc.
 
great thread...but wondering how long to the lower tensioners last? I def want to do the upper tensioners cause of the threads I hear about those going...thoughts?
 
I think it would depend on how long you want to keep your car. On mine it was the passenger side upper tensioner only that was making all the racket. My thinking is, if one is going bad the others are not too far behind I would imagine. So, with that thought in mind plus wanting to keep my car I just knocked everything out at once and that is a great peace of mind! ;)

On the other hand if I was short on money, didn't have the time, didn't care, didn't know what I was doing or was just going to sell the car, well then you can get by with what others have done and just replace the offending upper tensioner.
 
well, being it's our only car at the moment, I would be at better peace in mind knowing that at least the upper two were replaced. Once I get my other car up & running, I can take a day to knock the rest of the tensioners & chains. I still have to look into getting the solenoid replaced in the transmission as well so...lol. Def want to keep the car, but it's hard when the wife & I have to share a car
 
FWIW, it took me and a friend 4.5 days to do the chain replacement on my 02. We're not the fastest, and we did several other things, but one day is somewhat aggressive.

Also, the failure of the uppers is generally due to the poor design of the plastic body. The revision (metal body) is more reliable. The lowers did not change. The friction material can wear out, but if you have the later style primary chain (thin links instead of bicycle links), then that's pretty unlikely.
 
Jval1283 said:
well, being it's our only car at the moment, I would be at better peace in mind knowing that at least the upper two were replaced. Once I get my other car up & running, I can take a day to knock the rest of the tensioners & chains. I still have to look into getting the solenoid replaced in the transmission as well so...lol. Def want to keep the car, but it's hard when the wife & I have to share a car
Click to expand...

Totally understandable, been there. It took me a few weeks to get this done, but I was only working on it here and there after work and had my Mustang to drive in the mean time. Probably will take more then a day though.
 
ya...I figured doing the whole job will take some time, so I'll prob just knock out the upper two
 
Can I assume that since the last post was in april of 2009 you found something inside the motor that made you decide not to finish the job?
I hope you got it finished and the story has a happy ending.

I just got a line on two 01's...cheap. Like 2500 bucks. Given the cost of the parts not to mention the labor time envolved I'm thinking of passing on the deal.

If I did decide to go for it, from what I've read so far, I'd be pulling the motor to do the job.

Has anyone done it that way? Was it worth the extra effort?
 
jaded1364 said:
Can I assume that since the last post was in april of 2009 you found something inside the motor that made you decide not to finish the job?
I hope you got it finished and the story has a happy ending.

I just got a line on two 01's...cheap. Like 2500 bucks. Given the cost of the parts not to mention the labor time envolved I'm thinking of passing on the deal.

If I did decide to go for it, from what I've read so far, I'd be pulling the motor to do the job.

Has anyone done it that way? Was it worth the extra effort?
Click to expand...

Might be better off getting a used 02 motor.
 
jaded1364 said:
Can I assume that since the last post was in april of 2009 you found something inside the motor that made you decide not to finish the job?
I hope you got it finished and the story has a happy ending.
Click to expand...

Yes, I finished up the motor and everything ran great! I had started another thread on having the car complete, but in hindsight should have just put it in this thread.

After all the work I put another 55K on the car. I eventually sold the car to a guy I used to work out with and he bought it with just a tad over 200,000 miles and still runs like a sewing machine with an untouched original tranny to boot.

I should have kept that car. :rolleyes:


HERE IS THE "IT'S DONE THREAD": http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=54442
 
Great news!

Glad to hear you got her together and it al worked out well.

Couple of questions,

If you had to do it again, would you pull the motor?

How many hours did it take you to do it roughly?

Exactly which parts did you change and how much did you end up spending on the job?

Thanks,

Wayne
 
jaded1364 said:
Glad to hear you got her together and it al worked out well.

Couple of questions,

If you had to do it again, would you pull the motor?

How many hours did it take you to do it roughly?

Exactly which parts did you change and how much did you end up spending on the job?

Thanks,

Wayne
Click to expand...

If I had it to do over I would do it the same way. I think it would be more trouble to pull the whole engine with everything that is attched to it. You'd still have to disconnect A/C lines, fuel, exhaust, tranny, heater hoses, hydraulic lines for the fan (GEN I), wiring etc. From what I have read it's easier to drop the motor with the subframe from underneath then pulling it the classic way. Personally, I wouldn't want to do all that....I just don't see an advantage to it.

I spent around $900-950 for all the timing chain components and that was everything from tensioners, tensioner arms, chains, VC gaskets, front cover gasket etc. I bought the parts from Max that used to cut some deals for us members, but I don't think he is around anymore. I spent some extra while everything was apart, like a new A/C compressor, water pump, sway bar bushings, coils. I figured if all that was out I might as well do it all at once....not that you would have to do that obviously.

Total hours would be hard to estimate because I worked on it sporadically over the course of 2 or 3 months a couple hours every few nights or so. Plus some of that time was cleaning and hot tanking parts. I wasn't in a hurry because it was not my only car.

Well, let me say that with the experience, if I had to tear into it today and had to hurry, I truly believe I could do it in 2-3 days at 8-9 hours a day staying steady.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask, hope that helps.:D
 
Thanks for the info. To be honest I'm glad I passed on the deal.

In your case, I totally understand doing it.

In my case, I'd by buying it to flip it, make money and build on my business. In my case, it's not worth doing it.
 
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