Greetings,
What a weekend! I completed the timing chain replacement in the wifes '93 3.0. The actual repair, that being new sprockets and a new chain took all of 1/2 an hour. The other 4.5 hours was used to remove the rest of the front of the engine just to get to the chain and sprockets, and another 6 hours to get it all back together and torqued correctly!!!!
The job really wasn't too bad. With the help of my good friend "Samuel Adams", we were able to save some money and learn some new things.
On the "Sam" Difficulty scale from 1 to 12 (1=too easy, 12= forgetaboutit!!), I rate this a 7 "Sam" job.
Not extremely difficult, just tedious and time consuming.
Oh yeah, Van started right up and hasn't run this well in about 2 years. If you haven't checked your timing in a while, I suggest you do it. You might be pleasantly surprised.
I also used Dealer parts (OEM baby!!) They were much cheaper than the Local Advanced Auto Or American Battery. Shop around, The Dealers are actually very competitive on certain parts.
Later,
Reever

 

Congrats Reever! Wanna come over and help with inner tie rod ends and bearings?

 

i was wondering how many miles were on the engine when you replaced the timing chain? also what was going on engine wise that lead you to the timing chain?..........thanks rick

 

hey rickm.....
I have a '93 shorty with a 3.0, with 110k miles. I replaced the water pump about 3 weeks ago( original pump). As i went to start the van after the pump replacement, the chain snapped. Originally thought it was an electrical problem due to no spark, but eventually diagnosed back to chain.
No real problems prior to the broken chain. Although, now van does run noticably smoother and has more "get up and go". Due probably to tighter/newer chain and sprockets. Timing is right on.
if you have any other questions, post up, i'm ususally lurking on this board

later
reever

 

thanks for the information. i was wondering about that job myself. i have a 91 ext. with the 4.0 litre. this past january i replaced the radiator,alternator and water pump, and i was staring at the front engine cover thinking that it would be easy to replace the timing chain at thatpoint... but perhaps a lack of foresight, or the fact that i was freezing, i didn't do it. now of course i regret it, the engine has 180 thousand miles on it, but is still very strong. hopefully i'm ok till 200 thousand + miles or so.
i helped a friend of mine put one on his 85 E-150. about 2 years ago, it had about 160 thousand miles on it, that was a lot of fun. i hope mine (aerostar) is more durable. his was used for towing a boat etc. which i assume puts more of a strain on it..? thanks again rick

 

Yo RickM....
If you already had all of the front off of your vehicle,( radiator, Fan, etc.) that was half of the "battle".
Once you cleared all of that away from the front, you have very good access to the "Timing Chain Cover/Housing". The only problem that I had was the mount for the A/C compressor on the lower left hand side of engine. I swear, Ford must have used all of the leftover bolts (actually I think it was 8) they had lying around to mount that sucker. I had a hell of a time getting my big mitts in there to uncrew them.
Once that was cleared, no real issues, pretty straight forward.
If you do want to change the chain, set aside about a day to complete. It took me 2 working days because I took my time and had a few while I was working.
Good Luck!
Reever