2004 Expedition Timing Chain Tensioner Questions

[MattP1976]

I have an 04 Expedition with a 4.6 swapped from an 04 Police Interceptor. I replaced the chains, guides, and tensioners when we did the swap. I used aftermarket tensioners. I did NOT replace the oil pump. The problem now is that after the vehicle warms up, I'm hearing what sounds like time chain rattle from the front cover area. Seems to be the passenger side. I took the belt off to eliminate pulley noise to verify. Is it possible my oil pump is not pressuring up the tensioners enough? Is it possible that plastic material from the original guides made it past the oil pump pickup screen and may be blocking the passage? What tensioners and oil pump do you recommend?

I'm about the pull the pan and front cover to retrace my steps on the timing job.

Thanks!

 

[John Stephan]

If you had broken guides and never dropped the pan, its guaranteed to be partially blocked.

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[MattP1976]

If you had broken guides and never dropped the pan, its guaranteed to be partially blocked.

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I pulled the pan and cleaned out the pieces. I also took extra care to clean out the screen on the pickup tube.

 

[1955moose]

Best bet to check oil pump, is screw in a pressure gauge with any adapter's you need straight to oil pressure switch port. Just because you cleaned pickup screen doesn't mean pump isn't tired or failing. A lot of the early 3 valve motors had oil pump problems. A Melling replacement is usually what most here recommend. But check your pressure first to see if it's within spec's.

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[MattP1976]

Update: I pulled the front cover to replace the plastic tensioners with the cast iron set. I noticed some wear on the tone wheel for the crankshaft. After inspecting the wheel and the front cover, it appears as though the harmonic balancer was not far enough up on the crankshaft to hold the tone wheel in place allowing it to rattle against the cover. I went ahead and replaced the tensioners and reinstalled the balancer to the correct depth. No more rattle. Lesson learned.