Ford 4.0L Timing Chain Replacement, Cloyes 9-0398SB 

Hi

Sig Guy same here since it's for my work truck.

Esdras Ibarra I'm going to try changing out the tensioners first. I ordered them from Ford (could get them cheaper, but I wanted quality with this particular part) and will see if that fixes the issues I'm hearing.

GoTrump - So I swapped out tensioners this last week. I went with genuine Ford parts, not just the ones from Napa, in a rare move to have the best quality part for that particularly important part of the engine. They were kind of a B to get out, but I got them swapped, and it's much quieter now. I also saw I was low on oil (since you have to drain all the oil to do this process anyway) and I think that contributed to the rattle. At any rate, the chain rattle is greatly reduced, and I think we are in good shape. now if I could just figure out where I have a tiny leak in the coolant system that causes that noxious burning coolant steam from under the hood. Arghh..

Good to see some sharing good information as the guy in the video doesn't clarify this.

Great trouble shooting by your team. Does Cloyes employ engineers or QC on their staff? 3/8" is a HUGE difference!!!!

Brian, thanks for the kind words on the video. It is difficult to say, but being a startup rattle, it is more than likely an issue with the hydraulic tensioners. In the early 4.0L SOHC engines it was more likely to come from the rear bank because of a lack of oil to the tensioner. This was addressed by Ford with the addition of the oil restrictor rod that is shown in the video. Engines with the restrictor rod installed have about a 50/50 chance of noise coming from either bank. All that said, if you've got a startup rattle, you may want to replace the hydraulic tensioners. If the rattle is only heard at startup then you are getting oil to the tensioners, but one of them isn't staying primed up over a period of time.

You're very welcome, I actually just got done pulling the engine and replacing the rear plastic tensioner.(It was shattered into 50 different pieces) I replaced the 27mm tensioners 6 months ago and it didn't do a thing for the rattle noise. It was one hell of a job, and it took me 10 days. I had to pay the transmission shop over $250 to re-install the transmission because I couldn't do that part myself. I get there to pick up my beautiful red Ranger and start the engine and I heard the rattle coming from the front this time. I was just devastated. It's like the front tensioner broke right after I fixed the one in the back. I can't believe I done all that work, and now the noise is louder. I guess I just have to take my beating and fix the front now. I'm really thinking about lifting the body off of the frame this time and converting it to a 4-wheel drive.UPDATE: I took my beating and tore down the whole front part of the engine and after I removed the front timing chain cover I noticed that the primary tensioner on the passenger side (the one with the 7 metal leaves in it) was busted into four different pieces and it was laying down in the oil pan. I also replaced the primary guide on the driver's side. I'll give another update when I put the engine all back together and start it up. I really hope this fixes the rattle.

Brian Smith You can't. The engine is a 4x2 which means there is no balance shaft. If u converted it to a 4x4 without a balance shaft, that engine would rumble like crazy.

LOL ... I hope you were kidding. That balance shaft on a 4X4 4.0 is useless. I bet you can put 2WD 4.0 SOHC engines in 4X4 trucks all day long and not notice a difference between the two.

Brian Smith Not kidding. Build a 4.0 without it. It's there for a reason. The weights on the crank can't absorb all the vibrations. You'd be surprised how much it helps.

souldnt be that hard tho

The balance shaft was not aligned correctly that motor will have a good vibration . There are 2 shafts in the balance unit that need to be aligned not just the drive sprocket

Thanks for posting!

I ordered a rear JS bolt from Ford in Humble TX with no luck (varios times) finally went to Mac Haik Ford on I-10 got it.

it’s german

Thats why they changed because it was bullet-proof and long-lasting. Planned obsolescence can't have things lasting too long, smh😑. Ford warned about this crap and what would happen to engineering standards.

Where were you able to find the TTY bolts? Im trying to avoid having to go to Ford if I can help it. Cheers

So did you get away with just doing one chain because I can't afford to pull the motor it only sounds like the one in the front of my 2003 ranger is giving me issues

@@manuelseniceros9550 Have you checked the hydraulic tensioner?

around what millage does it need to be replaced ?

Did mine at 207,000 the balance shaft chain was the worst one , the chain was hitting the cradle and real loud. but the rest were a little loose , but now as quiet as ever .. happy happy

was it making a grinding noise because the one we have is a 2002 and has over 220,000 on it ind it's making like a grinding/taping noise

Hey Ron. Quick question for you since you pulled the heads. Do you know what special process and tools he's talking about in the video required to remove and reinstall the camshaft roller followers? Thanks!

Ronald Tober hey do you have to. set the. timeingchain if the chainjump. timeing.

Your warranty is cover by the vendor that you purchase the components from. Most major parts stores offer the lifetime warranty along with labor claim programs that will help pay for damages if the parts are found to be at fault. Check with your vendor to see what kind of coverage they offer and if you would qualify to file a labor claim if necessary.

I verified that I, indeed, have a broken secondary chain on the left cylinder bank. When the chain broke, it jammed up the jackshaft sprocket, causing the primary chain sprocket to slip and go out of time, resulting in the left bank of cylinders mashing up the exhaust valves. Yes, I used a new jackshaft bolt and torqued it according to Ford. And it took plenty of force to remove the bolt. I have no idea why the chain broke. I have a bunch of pictures here: www.dropbox.com/sh/onj1yl2sx6epx68/AADesXSm8BXlvtXDj5q1m_L-a?dl=0 So far, there have been four issues with the Cloyes products during this process: 1.) When the left bank secondary timing chain cassette arrived from Rock Auto, the plastic guide was broken. Broken how, why, I do not know. It didn't look like it could have been broken in shipping with how it was packaged. Who knows? 2.) The primary chain guide did not fit--the mounting bosses and oil galley plug are of equal height. The guide didn't fit because in order for it to fit, the oil galley had to be recessed in. I used washers to space it away from the mounting hole. I think that worked fine. 3.) The primary chain tensioner went kiddy wumpus as shown in one of the pics in the link above. The roll pin worked its way out a bit causing the plastic wear surface to not be parallel with the chain. 4.) The secondary chain broke. I have no idea why. Bad tensioner? Just look at the broken chain links. There are broken links in 3 different places on the chain. Strange. I really think that I somehow got a defective chain. It was wet with oil, the parallel alignment of the sprockets is perfect... as far as I can tell, the tensioner was functioning as it should. My cylinder head rebuilder says that although he hasn't done a lot of these heads due to the economics of repairing these engines, he has never had someone call him and ask why a timing chain broke on one of them.

Cloyes has failed on many occasions.

Call 1800 junkyard and shush

Timing chain has nothing to do with oil change lol

How you think chains get lubricated? Run shitty/dirty oil and plastic guides will wear out faster. Then chain will get loose

Or buy Chevy your call

@@nessiedestiny8252 wow really how do you think the timing chain gets lubricated

Those bolts, with proper torque-to-yield functionality, do not exist in the aftermarket. At this time Cloyes would be purchasing OE bolts and selling them at a markup to include them in the kit. For now customers can save money and purchase them separately, or reuse (not recommended.) We are currently working with a bolt manufacturer to produce proper aftermarket replacements. Hopefully they will be available soon.

You need a bigger hammer

I would trash that engine and find a good used one from the boneyard, install it then sell the vehicle. Been driving Fords for over 50 years and after watching this video would never consider buying a vehicle with one of these engines.

@@northdakotaham1752 I'm about to install the engine , I'm confident enough that this time it will work, aleast to sale it and to get the mercedes my wife deserves , instead of this explorer ....

@@gused82 I like the Explorer and have two of them but both with V8 engines. Where I live all wheel or 4 wheel drive is a must. Good luck on your project!

Well since I got no response, I did my own homework and figured I'd provide an answer in case anybody else has the same problem. After speaking with the tech that did the install, installer error was not the problem. I pulled the hydraulic timing tensioner from the left bank and discovered that the Cloyes hydraulic tensioner was defective. The tensioner is supposed stiffen up once primed with oil. No matter how much I tried, the tensioner wouldn't prime. I still had the old tensioner I had purchased from Ford over a year ago and that one was very easy to prime. I installed it and voila! No more rattling/chattering!!! You can't assume new parts aren't defective. I hope this helps somebody else in the future.

This reply helps people in the future if they think of buying parts from Cloyes.

Yes. Tensioners should be pre primed before installing to ensure hydraulic seals. This is very important. See yt for pre priming tensioner.

Missing a lot of technical points bro!

Exactly, you will torque the bolt to 35 lb/ft then turn the bolt an additional 90 degrees (1/4 of a turn.)

10,4 Thks. @@Cloyes01

The 427 SOHC probably runs a close second place to the 4.0 SOHC.

John Floyd That is what I thought. But if the 2 head castings were in fact the same, the left and right head gaskets would be the same but they are not. The differences are actually significant.

Ford took the OHV block and made it SOHC. I agree with you, wish they would have kept everything on the front.

Floyd, The heads are different castings. As you can see, there is no hole drilled for the hydraulic tensioner on the right bank cylinder head. The chain is in the rear because the engine block is offset side to side. To have the chain in the front, would have made the engine several inches longer and you would need a front cover all the way to the bottom of the right cylinder head.

The rear jack shaft bearing may have spun on the engine causing loss of oil

Very common problem for these engines.

No, the tensioners have gasket rings that seal the oil. Do not use silicone/RTV on any threads, and especially on the hydraulic tensioners. Silicone/RTV can clog vital oil passages.

Engine jumped time?

It really depends on where you are at in the process. But either way you will likely need to loosen the camshaft sprocket bolt and rotate the camshaft to the proper position to install the tool, then tighten.

It was made in Cologne Germany. The reason for the complexity is that it is simply the older 4.0L pushrod block with SOHC heads retrofitted on.

@@Cloyes01 it's still a poor design

made in cologne, Germany

Yes, that is correct.

Thank you! No, we only supply timing components and related parts.

Yes, the kits we offer for the 4.0L Ford SOHC engines contain the latest designed parts for that engine. The components will be direct replacements for the later model 4.0L's, and the complete kits will also retrofit the earlier model engines to the later style arrangement.

Amazon actually sells some

It would be ideal if you could lock the jackshaft in place while torqueing the bolts, but we are not aware of any tools that exist to do so.

Leave it ford to fk it up

One of your sprockets are backwards

Yea and when you blow thatn up your 4.0 sohcpos is there to change the timing..

@@Z-Ack get rid of the vehicle and go buy a 5.0 vehicle. If you can find one that is.

As long as everything was in time when tightened then you are OK.

Yes sir you are correct. I couldnt tell if it was align correct or not it was hard to see underneath there.

Yes, the 9-0398SC set will work. The only difference is the crank sprocket and the additional balance shaft components in the 9-0398SB and 9-0398SC kits. The front jackshaft bolt is 2L2Z-6279-AA and the rear is W703167-S430.

@@Cloyes01 Thank you very much. That's great news.

You are likely seeing the camshaft being pushed forward and back by the valve springs as you rotate. Once the tensioner primes up with oil it will limit this movement and tighten the chain.

You will still follow the same procedures, but you will need to get the camshafts realigned first. Try to rotate the crankshaft to a position where all 3 pistons are down on one bank. Then rotate and position the camshaft on that bank using the tool from the tool kit. You will then repeat on the other side. Once both camshafts are properly positioned you can move your crank to the correct position and install your crank holding tool.

Could be idler pulley/puller tensioner

Wrong place to ask this. If you have Facebook, join Ford Ranger Crazy, has over 14,000 members. Very good info. If not, consult The Ranger Station forums.

Matt Belle you can use the one that goes in the engine while running it but it may not give you the necessary tension to assure correct cam timing

Yeah, they do break. And this is an interference engine so the valves are usually damaged when they do.

Not so much the chain as the plastic guides.

Just replace the engine like I do if you got a expo or ranger with ohc engines so much easier and cheaper. I'm on engine number 3 now within 5 years

got a big ol pile of that 5.3 junk in the scrap pile behind shop also, just like the ford keep em serviced and they will last. over heat or lack of oil changes will scrap em.. dumb asses comes in all flavors/// take ex wifes friend ran a 2002 merc mountaineer 4.0 over 550,000 miles doing hospice work in south georgia using mobil 1 synthetics deer totalled vehicle never replaced engine or trans, you can service the holy crap outta a vortec 5.3 and it won't last that long period. i have turned wrenches all my damn life.. worked in gm and ford dealers and just bought a new 2019 ram lol..

@@charleshollingsworth1583 I agree Mobil 1 and service is key. However 550,000 miles on an original 4.0 🤔 . Also 5.3s are used in high performance aircrafts . I have a 5.3 with a 200 wet shot of Nitrous daily driver with stock bottom end lol. Only issues with 5.3s is lifters which is a 3 hour permanent fix.

@@charleshollingsworth1583 didn't realize they call the 5.3 a vortec?

why heck yea man 5.3 are ok engines just replaced tons of them a lot from customer abuse to just pure oil consumption issues to oil pressure loss then you get a good one that never goes into shop as with anything. but when you have 30 out back of dealer under warranty useing oil sheesh with pissed off customers..

If the engine was running strong before teardown then the valves are going to be fine. Bent valves will cause a terminal misfire in every cylinder where they are bent.

Cloyes Gear & Products, Inc. (Aftermarket)

lorton4life I left mine in they last for 400k

Hi Tim, the 9-0398SB will work for any 4.0L SOHC engine with a balance shaft. 2 or 4 wheel drive.