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HELP!!! Timing chain broke????

follow the big cables coming off the battery. One will lead to it and it will be sitting right on top of the transmission right where it mates to the engine. Directly below the EGR valve. It's in the shape of a cylinder. If you've found the starter solenoid, the you've found the starter because it will be attached to it.
 
SVT#4967, thanks for the pics along with 69Boss302 for the description. With both of these I should be able to find it and pull out that sucker and HOPEFULLY find the problem.

Happy New Year!!!
 
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Aussie, I want to thank you for that warning. I stood out in my garage staring at the starter wondering how the hell I'm going to get it out of there. The bolt closest to the front of the car looks like I'll need two flex joints to get and the rear one looks like about a 1 foot extension will get it. Both of these I have but currently can not find! Also, my Chilton states to remove the nuts holding wires to the starter. I see wires running to the solenoid but there are no nuts holding them down. Any input on that?
 
you should see three wires connected to the back side of the starter. They are connected to a post and will be held on by the nuts. The starter itself is held on by two long bolts. Once you get in there, you will see it. It's hard not to miss.
 
69Boss302 said:
you should see three wires connected to the back side of the starter. They are connected to a post and will be held on by the nuts. The starter itself is held on by two long bolts. Once you get in there, you will see it. It's hard not to miss.
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Ok I got ya, I'll head out there and take a look. Thanks.
 
Although the starter is attached by two bolts, there are also two guide pins. The guide pins can and do corrode so once the bolts are out, you may need to pry, rock, gently pound, etc, to get the starter up off from the engine.

And yes, the rear bolt is very awkward to remove.
 
How did this "problem" start as a supposed snapped timing chain and no start condition and end up as a starter/ring gear one with checking engine compression and changing spark plugs and wires sprinkled in with the added bonus of a possible oil leak inside one of the plug holes? Somehow it seems to me that we're not getting the full background story and as a result a bunch of people are chasing down a bunch of unrelated gremlins. :confused:
Karl
 
98SVTC said:
How did this "problem" start as a supposed snapped timing chain and no start condition and end up as a starter/ring gear one with checking engine compression and changing spark plugs and wires sprinkled in with the added bonus of a possible oil leak inside one of the plug holes? Somehow it seems to me that we're not getting the full background story and as a result a bunch of people are chasing down a bunch of unrelated gremlins. :confused:
Karl
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Sorry for the confusion. It started with what I first thought was a timing component issue and further inspection revealed that it wasn't. Following that I thought it to be a compression/spark issue after talking to a mechanic briefly. But further research and thinking has led me to believe it is starter related as I made 3 points with earlier. It's been mighty stressful and I know I have been throwing ideas all over but I'm hoping I finally nailed it. I need to pick up a few tools tomorrow and we'll see if it truly is the starter.
 
xtascox said:
Aussie, I want to thank you for that warning. I stood out in my garage staring at the starter wondering how the hell I'm going to get it out of there.
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Your welcome my friend. That was my first thought when looking at the pics. I was just in that area looking around when I put the SVT air intake in and had similar thoughts ..... you know the o'l what if thing. I looked around in the how to's and maintenance a bit and didn't see one on this so you might consider doing one when your done. Take a few pics along the way. Now I don't recall but did you check if there is a fuse for the starter in the battery junction box under the hood?

Happy New Year
AF
 
Aussie Ford said:
Your welcome my friend. That was my first thought when looking at the pics. I was just in that area looking around when I put the SVT air intake in and had similar thoughts ..... you know the o'l what if thing. I looked around in the how to's and maintenance a bit and didn't see one on this so you might consider doing one when your done. Take a few pics along the way. Now I don't recall but did you check if there is a fuse for the starter in the battery junction box under the hood?

Happy New Year
AF
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Even if there is a fuse it wouldn't be of help. The starter is turning, I just don't think its turning the engine properly. I might as well do a how to while I'm at it. I'm going to pick up at least two flex joints tomorrow on my way home from work and some more extensions as mine seem to have vanished:shrug:. If it turns out not to be the starter, at this point I'm willing to push my 3 liters plans into the very near future.
 
It's supposed to be a lot warmer tomorrow and plus I'm just about over my cold so I'm hoping to accomplish the following things tomorrow:

(Some are completely unrelated to my issue at hand and are just little things I've been wanting/needing to do.)

1. Drain coolant and remove hoses blocking the removal of the starter
2. Actually remove the starter and inspect it and the flywheel
3. Remove rear valve cover(already started but got to cold) and prep both for paint
4. Drop front bumper so I can work on my new grill and foglight design
5. Replace O2 sensor 1, bank 1
6. Do about a 1500-2000 yard workout at the pool:laugh:
7. Sit back and play some need for speed pro street on my brand new 19" wide screen and call it a day.

Probably not that order but you get the drift
 
Today I got all but two bolts off the front bumper because I ran into an issue that ended up being good and bad at the same time. I could not for the life of me remove the driver's side lugs... butttt.... I was torquing it so much that it turned the motor! And by doing that I was able to determine that the noise heard when I tried to start it did not come from the motor. Things are really screaming at me that its the starter. Luckily there's a massive coolant hose right above one of the bolts I need to get to and that means I get to drain the coolant. There's a problem with that too. I can't find the coolant drain plug on the radiator. My Chilton and other threads I've read say its on the back of the radiator all the way to the passenger side of the car underneath. Yea well I can't find it. If anyone can tell me exactly where the drain plug is and what to do about the stuck lugs please chime in.
Thanks.
 
The drain plug is a on the bottom passenger side of the radiator. It looks like a large flat thead screw. I usually don't bother with the plug and just pull the lower hose, it's easier.
 
twocontours said:
The drain plug is a on the bottom passenger side of the radiator. It looks like a large flat thead screw. I usually don't bother with the plug and just pull the lower hose, it's easier.
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Makes sense, I'll probably end up doing that since I heard the plug like to spray coolant everywhere. A hose would be a little easier to control.
 
The lugs make suer the wheel is on the ground and put a cheater bar on the handle of the lug wrench. use a bit of PB Blaster ahead of trying to break them free. IF it doesn't work get a longer cheater bar.
 
Aussie Ford said:
The lugs make suer the wheel is on the ground and put a cheater bar on the handle of the lug wrench. use a bit of PB Blaster ahead of trying to break them free. IF it doesn't work get a longer cheater bar.
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I'll give it a shot after work on Monday. I have never had so much trouble getting lugs loose on anything. Maybe once its on the ground it will give. Thanks.
 
the lower mounting location for the radiator is probably blocking your view of the drain screw. Bad location.

xtascox said:
Makes sense, I'll probably end up doing that since I heard the plug like to spray coolant everywhere. A hose would be a little easier to control.
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yeah, found that out the hard way! Good thing I had a good size drip pan ready as my girls brother loosened the screw. The bad thing is that screw doesn't come out, it just sits there. So as the coolant is rushing out that screw is in the way making the coolant spray everywhere. With the large drip pan I was able to catch a lot of the coolant though, and oil dry took care of the rest.

Why would they put the drain screw in that location? I like my Honda's when doing this, I unscrew a drain screw and the coolant flows down through a small tube making draining the radiator much cleaner. It takes a while but it's much easier and cleaner.
 
Ummmm... no need to pull any coolant hoses. Yes the front bolt is a PITA but it can be done from under the hoses. I've done it on two of my cars.
 
ctmystique said:
Ummmm... no need to pull any coolant hoses. Yes the front bolt is a PITA but it can be done from under the hoses. I've done it on two of my cars.
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That's a relief to hear. Care to elaborate on how you did it? I can't fit a ratchet over it. I guess I could try a wrench but I don't have any metric one's so I'll have to get a set. Do you know what size it is?
 
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