My engine has been ticking for quite some time. A private shop told me that it is the timing belt tensioner. He seems to think that there is a recall out there for this problem?

 

I have a 98 expolorer sport that had the same ticking problem. It is caused by the timing belt tentioner, because their made of freaking plastic! Mine self-destructed and plugged my oil pump. needless to say, no oil pressure= bad day.
while there was no official recall Ford replaced my motor at no charge. they call it a program. If I were you I would get it in as soon as posible. The repair will take some time so ask for a rental. It took them a MONTH to replace my 4.0. Also very good to have your service records handy. I had to call all the quickie oil change places to get my records. So dont worry until the clicking stops. Thats when things get real ugly. If you own a 4.0 you already know its not very self servicable. You have to remove the motor to get to the upper oil pan. Not fun at all!!!

 

Oh yeah, on the bright side. This shouldnt cost you a dime, but do try to get a loner for down time. A new 4.0 installed is near $5,000. Ask to see the old tentioners to make sure no pieces of PLASTIC have made it into the oil pan. Oh by the way is your motor a sohc?

 

yes. 4.0 SOHC. Thanks for the info.

 

nvrstuck, I took my truck to Ford and they said that because I was over the 72000 miles that they call an extended warranty period, I have to pay for the repairs. I'm at 82000 miles now. Any ideas on how I can get Ford to fix this problem at no cost.

 

IZELLH,
My truck had 62,000 on it. They never said anything about it being a warrented fix. Its a defect as far as I know. Call some other dealers and ask for a number to a regional Ford Supervisor. The guy that finally made the call for my new engine covered the Miss-ala-louisiana area. It took forever, but it was worth it. I hope you get satisfaction, it would be pretty pricy to fix.
Be sure to let them know that your aware that MANY other people had this problem and had a no cost fix.(3 in the small company I work for alone) As far as I know no official paperwork was ever sent out to inform owners of the problem. If all else fails price the new tentioners and put em on yourself. You have to pull everything off the front of the motor(water pump, Power steering pump,ETC) to get to em, but hey at $50-$60 bucks an hour at the shop...do the math!

 

You can call the Ford Zone rep and argue all you want, but the fact is that it was an Owner Notification Program (ONP) and all it did was extend the warranty on the camshaft tensioners to 6 years, 72K miles (whichever comes first). Here is the letter that was sent to customer's of affected Explorers: