Hello all. Ive heard the 4.6 tritan is an interference engine. I might have broken timing chain but havent removed anything yet. Truck dies one mile from house. I left it for the night and returned in the a.m. truck started up and i limped it home making an awfull tick noise. The tick was already present before it died but not nearly as loud. My question is this , should i count on buying new head for that bank and pistons or just start looking for a different motor? Oil is full but pressure guage was spiking all the way counterclockwise and then back to normal range . Any input muchly appreciated, thanks. Brand new to this site

 

Sounds like it may be time for an engine replacement. However, if the timing chain breaks, it will not run, period, and will probably be locked up so it won't even turn over.

It might just be a blown out spark plug if you are lucky, that can be repaired with a Timesert. You need to start looking at that. Losing oil pressure concerns me, there are probably internal issues.

 

Thank you for the response. Im pulling cam covers tomorrow.. and timing cover. The ticking to me sounds like something is being starved of oil. My buddy says exhaust manifold leak. Im checking the plugs too. I bought it used knowing nothing about its history. Frame and drive train are 98 but i have a 4 door supercab which didnt exist till 99. Truck has no body rust and everything was working fine so im going to keep it. Again thanks. Darren from b.c.canada.

 

If you're lucky, a new timng chain/etc will fix it. But, the pistons may have hit the valves and that will be hard to know without a new chain and compression test I suppose. A boroscope might tell you something.

 

i had a bad miss..... turned out to be a hole in a piston....

 

Checked every plug and no loose ones or missing ones. I was hoping with fingers crossed that that would be my issue. What a pain getting drivers side back one. I guess my knuckes needed to bleed. Motor replacement of some sort i suppose. I still want to tear it down cause now im curious. Missing my 4.9l inline. Should have kept it. That one had no timing chains . Gear on the cam and gear on the crank.real simple.

 

Many years ago, a coworker bought a new Bronco with the inline 6. It didn't have that many miles on it when those timing gears failed..... So, I suppose anything can fail.

 

It looks like if i take front clip/rad support off i might be able to pull trans with motor. Not a lot of room there. The only fluid leak anywhere that i noticed was rear transfer csse seal . No relation to issue.im stumped. We have a pick n pull here but most motors are the 5.4 . Lots of crown vics though. One 09 econoline smashed up in the back. Its a 4.6 2v. Maybe too new for a 99. As for the explorers i dont know how they got a 4.6 wedged in there in the first place. Our used parts availability sure sucks in canada. I have the windsor as well so if i find a romeo that is my only reason for pulling trans. Flywheels are different. Lining it up properly kind of scares me too. Master rebuild kit is another option but to be honest that goes beyond my skillset and or tools needed. Im a journeyman carpenter and backyard/redneck mechanic lol.