timing chain question

Just trying to narrow down the posibilities of what my problem could be. Has anyone ever had their timing chain jump or slip a few teeth because it was stretched and put the engine out of time?

The stock balancer looks good as far as the ring that the crank sensor reads. I've run a koeo test with paper clip and all I got was 111 (pass). I haven't done koer yet. The plug and wires are new when the head gaskets were done in January. Motorcraft 8mm wires and platinum plugs. I've pulled the plugs and they look ok.

It runs like it's missing a cylinder or maybe running out of time and there is some vibration in it, maybe if it's out of time it would cause this. And a big lack of power. Could it be the balancer? Could it look ok and still be bad and would that make it run like it's out of time?

A little background on how this problem started. I was trying to do a power brake burnout for my son and it just wouldn't spin the tires. It's been losing power and performance and had gotten to where it would sometimes just chirp the tires. It used to smoke them very easily. I thought it would at least spin them doing a power brake, but it wouldn't. With all that power and torque and no where for it to go, what would be the thing to go bad causing the bad running I'm having?

I need to get it going again, it's my daily driver and I'm running out of people to ask for a ride.

As for the code testing, would it show if the coil pack, DIS or any of the other sensors were bad and causing the problem?

Thanks for any and all help.


David

I don't think I can add much above what was mentioned the last time we talked about this except to say that there is almost no chance of a timing chain issue. Ours has a positive engagement tensioner that cannot back off unless it breaks somehow (never heard of that happening). If you've eliminated everything else, I still tend to think the HB may be the problem. It is consistant with your symptons.

Ok, thanks Dave! I've been in touch with Victor at Spinning wheels working on a deal to get a new one. I hope that's all it is and nothing internal. I'll let you know how it goes.


Thanks again,

David

NCredSC said:

Ok, thanks Dave! I've been in touch with Victor at Spinning wheels working on a deal to get a new one. I hope that's all it is and nothing internal. I'll let you know how it goes.


Thanks again,

David

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i think i would do compresion check before i bought balancer .
also can you take off 1 plugs wire at the time to find out which clyinder seems to be down this is where i would start .if you find 1 clyinder that is causing problem change that 1 plug fisrt and wire to see if it makes a difference !if you like me with very limited funds try things that cost little to nothing first .this also eliminates things 1 by 1 . i would sugest not buying balancer unless you see signs of damage on yours .i tend to think the cam sensor would go bad first . call me if you would like to talk 919 217 0976
jeff

i dont recall mine missing when my hb broke . it rev real slow it would barely go up hill and ran warmer than normal , it had no wobbles or visible signs till i took the bolt off , if yours is missing check spark plugs first

i would

i would get a pair of well insulated pliers and while the engine is running take off one spark plug wire at a time from the coil pack. the ones that dont change the idle are the cylinders that are weak or not firing. if its a random thing id say likely the balancer-if its the same cylinders not firing look into the coil pack. good luck, mike

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tbirdboy said:

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Agreed

I think a little more "scientific" diagnosis is in order. Before replacing parts an accurate and detailed diagnosis is a GREAT idea.

The best way to identify weak cylinders is by doing a cylinder balance test. If you don't already have a tester, go to AZ and get one. It comes with a book that will not only tell you what the codes mean, but it will also tell you the correct way to perform the tests.

XR7 Dave said:

Agreed

I think a little more "scientific" diagnosis is in order. Before replacing parts an accurate and detailed diagnosis is a GREAT idea.

The best way to identify weak cylinders is by doing a cylinder balance test. If you don't already have a tester, go to AZ and get one. It comes with a book that will not only tell you what the codes mean, but it will also tell you the correct way to perform the tests.

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Dave, I got the haynes book that has the codes in it. I'm gonna pull the plug wires one at a time and see how it runs. If it runs the same with each wire pulled, is it more likely to be out of time and if I do replace the balancer, should I replace the crank sensor too while I'm there?


Thanks,

David

NCredSC said:

Dave, I got the haynes book that has the codes in it. I'm gonna pull the plug wires one at a time and see how it runs. If it runs the same with each wire pulled, is it more likely to be out of time and if I do replace the balancer, should I replace the crank sensor too while I'm there?


Thanks,

David

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Pulling plug wires is not going to be the most help because it kills two cylinders at a time, not mention it's not good for the parts (including yours )

If you really want to do it the mechanical way (hint, balance test is better) then unplug injectors one at a time, NOT the plug wires.

I'm still not convinced that you have isolated the problem as being a general lack of power or a miss. That is why I like the cylinder balance test. It not only isolates the dead or weak cylinders but it tells you how bad they are.

XR7 Dave said:

Pulling plug wires is not going to be the most help because it kills two cylinders at a time, not mention it's not good for the parts (including yours )

If you really want to do it the mechanical way (hint, balance test is better) then unplug injectors one at a time, NOT the plug wires.

I'm still not convinced that you have isolated the problem as being a general lack of power or a miss. That is why I like the cylinder balance test. It not only isolates the dead or weak cylinders but it tells you how bad they are.

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Dave, just did the KOER with paper clip and got a 48 (coil pack 3 (C) circuit failed). Does that mean I need a new coil pack???



David

Dave,

How do you perform the cylinder balance test ? BTW, I've got a code reader and the haynes manual.

David

on my otc scan toll its in mode 4 running engine test
you are welcome to borrow my scanner if you want to

jwhit said:

on my otc scan toll its in mode 4 running engine test
you are welcome to borrow my scanner if you want to

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To all that have given suggestions and info on my problem, I'll be doing a code scan Thursday morning to see what other codes I'm getting. I know one of them is (48- coil pack circuit failure). I've been told this would cause the problem I'm having. It's only running on 4 cylinders, I feel like a ricer.

I'll post the results and hopefully, it will be running again later in the day.

Thanks for all the help. Special thanks to "jwhit", he let me borrow his scanner.

David