2000GTFOOL

Trust me mine had 78k when the problem started.. I WAS LIVID... The kicker is LOTS AND LOTS of people seem to have the same problem.. ALL on the passenger side.... Can you say faulty parts...... Some people had it happen during the break-in period... I really wish Ford would stand behind thier products, are they turning into GM or what??

6mustang6

i know man. That really sucks. I just pray i have a good set. but knowing my luck ill be having to re-read your write-up one day.

2000GTFOOL

Ok.. Here is the deal, FORDmerged the part numbers for the timing chain guideson the 99-04 Mustang GT's with the 4.6L SOHC. Unfortunately they are using the replacements from the 99-EARLY 2000 GT guides as the part number. That part number will NOT bolt up to the LATE 2000-2004 GT's.. This poses a problem to people like me who have engines/cars that were built late in the production run. Ford was UNABLE to get me the guides I needed as they have mistakenly assumed all the 4.6L used the same guides and mounting points, which they don't. They made a note of my complaint and hopefully they will re-visit the part #'s and application.

I found the parts that fit the late 2000-2004 models at AUTOZONE.

According to the Autozone Part #

716436
716437 These are the VDP part #'s.

Hope this helps anyone else doing this service. It has been apain in the *** that the parts I ordered didn't fit the car.....

Nitti00GT

I had pics of my front cover when it was off but I can't find them now. A good way to tell is just count the number of bolts on your valve covers. That will tell you if you have a windsor or romeo. I think the romeos have the same number for both sides and I think it's 11 and the windsors have a different number of bolts per side. Also the water pump pullies are different. The windsors are pushed out in the center where the romeos are in.

MrChubs1

The pink scooter and the Haynes manual scare me the most. I assume the scooter is your daughter's or sister's, but the book? [:-]

Mark99GT

Did you actually try to bolt them up? Im using all of the timing equipment from my 99 on an 03 shortblock with no issues at all.

99BlackPonyGT

ford dealership wanted 1600 to do this lol... "15 hours of labor, and $400 for tensioners, guides, and gaskets"

oh and the OP should definately get a contributor tag for this

Derf00

The scooter was his mode of transportation during the work and his inspiration to get it done quickly/correctly the first time!

Goodwrite up though. I wonder if the V6 models suffer from the same thing as a lot of them have ticking (not slapping like that though). Since the chains are vertical, I wonder if this scenario would even be possible.

Mark99GT

Hey, did you get this up and running yet? Just an FYI here, I just noticed this... You didn't mention holding the camshafts in place while you removed the tensioners and gudes in your original post. The camshafts will rotate, causing the gears to "jump teeth" in the chains when you remove the tensioners. It happens quickly and if you're not paying attention you won't even notice it. Visually everything will look fine, but your camshaft timing will be off which could be disasterous. If the camshafts rotate you need to re-time them.

Oh, and if you have metal and plastic pieces floating around in your oil there's a good chance they're stuck in the pick up tube screen as well, which can restirict oil flow. I know when my rod bearings went, my pick up tube screen was a mess with shavings (and it had a huge chunk of my radiator cap stuck in it, don't ask, I don't know). Unfortunately you have to drop the entire oil pan to look at it...

adam_ferguson

the reason the guides did not fit is because 99-00 models have a windsor block , whereas the later models have romeo blocks.