Anyone know the service interval for a timing chain on a 98 4.0L engine? My truck has 180,000 so I would think it would be close?

Greg

 

To my knowledge, there is no service required.

 

A chain, and gears are wear items, there definitely is a service life to these components. Chains stress and stretch under normal conditions, there is no way Ford could have engineered around this. Im sure they wouldn't anyways, seeing as they could make quite a bit of money from a timing chain swap.

 

True, they do wear, and I am sure yours are wore some. However they are designed for the "life" of the engine. If you were rebuilding the engine I would replace them. Otherwise they are good until failure. Do not get mixed up with valve timing "belts" that have a scheduled life and replacement at about 60-100k miles.
Dave

 

Running it until failure is fine, if the engine has clearance between the valves in the piston, in the case that it breaks, I wouldnt want to bend a valve. That would more costly than just chainging (haha) it. At anyrate, though it has 180,000 miles on it, it runs awesome. I might just change it for the heck of it. Thanks though

 

Most engines will last at least 300,000 miles if maintained properly. The timing chain usually is still intact when the engine fails, so don't even worry about it. Most engines usually devvelop a rod knock from worn bearings which will develop sooner if you don't change your oil often enough. Another one that will kill an engine is overheating, most people don't pay any attention to thier cooling system, or will drive a car that low on coolant and keep going even if it's hot.