marc954

Greetings guys.. I'm confused and lost to say the least lol. I have a 98 mustang gt 4.6l. A while back i was at my mechanic for some work and he told me my timing chain looked like it didn't have long. Long story short he said that when that happens ppl usually look for new cars or they do engine rebuilds. I was looking into buying a rebuilt engine and that's a definite option. However if I can fix the problem I don't see y not. A friend of mine also mentioned that a PI swap is another option. I'm open to any ideas that point me in the right direction. Thank you guys in advance.

Z28KLR

Timing chain set - guides, tensioners and new chains, is less than $400 in parts. Maybe around $200 if you're a real bargain hunter.

So not really sure why he says most people opt for a rebuilt engine or new car in this scenario, it's nowhere near the end of the world to have that stuff replaced. Where catastrophic engine failure can occur is if pieces of the plastic guides break off they will end up in the oil pan and usually from there end up restricting oil flow into the pickup tube. Or next option is if the chain tensioner fails then the chain will skip a few teeth on the cam gear and the engine gets destroyed from the pistons making contact with the valves.

But if you're not at that point yet then just get a new timing chain set installed.

And PI swap is an option, but those parts by themself don't address your timing chain issue and would add quite a significant amount of work to the job.

marc954

thank you. he was telling me that the job is over 1000 bucks..is this accurate?

movielover40

I'd shop around.

Seems pretty high to me.

CPTCO

My guess as to what he means. If the timing chain were to break, the pistons could possibly get into the valves. At that point, you'd be better off buying a rebuilt/new engine. New timing chain now would be the cheapest option by far, assuming there are no other major issues.

marc954

Thank you I appreciate your insight that really made sense.

oxfordgt

Never once heard of the timing chains breaking on a 4.6L. Timing sets are not expensive at all. I have ones sitting in my garage including chains, guides, tensioners, cam and crank gears that I bought for my head swap and it only cost $73.

If you can take bolts out and look at pictures you can install your own timing set very easy.

WhiteFoxGT

a perfect first timer DIY job is a timing chain on a mod motor

Z28KLR

Nothing's more fun than having your car towed to a shop with half of the engine in the trunk.