I own a 2006 Mustang GT and unfortunately, one of the chain guide broke (on the right bank), leading to a knocking noise coming from the engine.
I brought the car to a mechanic who removed the timing chain cover and confirmed a piece of the guide is missing, we found it in the oil pan.
Fortunately for me, the chain did not jump one or several teeths.
My problem is, the mechanic is asking for 48 hours of labor in order to change both timing chains, with cam phasers, crankshaft pulley, oil pump and water pump (+ seals, solenoids etc...)
It is absolute madness.
Can anyone tell me what is the recommended amount of hours from Ford on order to do this job ?
Maybe he forgot a decimal point. Or maybe said 4 to 8 hours. You could have the engine removed, rebuilt and re-installed in 48 hours. The 4 to 8 hours is close to a dealership ERT for the work.
He didn't forget a decimal, I asked and he confirmed his 48 hours of labor quote.
I am located in France (I used to live in the USA 2 years ago and brought the car back to France when I moved back) so the problem is the garages can't access Ford's database in order to know how many hours it might take and how to do it.
Almost every mechanic tells me "I can do it but you must provide the job sequence and the torque specs", which I don't have.
Thanks for your feedback, around 10 hours was the amount I thought was right (plus or minus a few hours if there is an unexpected issue)
I got a quote from another shop, 750€ (15 hours) and I am waiting on 2 other quotes.
He is not planning on removing the engine from the car, it is not written on the quote. Even if he wanted to remove the engine, 48 hours is still a joke.
In one day maximum the job is done (8h for my first timing chains change on a mustang). It's not very difficult job. I did it 5 years ago on a 2006 GT mustang.
In France and in Europe in general you have so many mecanics thinking you are very rich when they see you coming with such a car. But the S197 is the easiest modern car I'm used to work with, particularly the 2005/2009.
750€ of labor can still be acceptable. Parts are not very expensive if you know where to search.
I was quoted 10 hrs labor to install the full FRPP timing kit, lash adjusters and rocker arms and oil pump. Did it myself and took about 12 hrs total time spent. So yeah, 48hrs is lunacy. I highly recommend doing all the above while everything is apart. If you're willing to tackle it yourself or want to "educate" the mechanic here is a complete video series on how to perform the job. Its the 5.4L 3v, but its the same for the 4.6L 3v.
It's clearly true people think you are loaded when you have a Mustang here, whereas I paid it way less than all those people driving brand new compact cars.
I watched the videos from Speed Academy on Youtube but I will watch these as well for my own information.
I also downloaded the Haynes manual, I will print it and translate it to French for my mechanic.
For the parts I plan on ordering on Rockauto, using the mid to high range priced parts to make sure that the quality is OK, I can't seem to find another website that would be so easy to work with when located in France.
On caution regarding Rockauto: they have a strict 30-day return policy; meaning you can return almost anything within 30 days, but after 30 days there are no returns, regardless of the reason. So make sure you check your parts right away when you receive them and return right away if there are any issues.
I ran into a couple problems with this recently -- (1) I purchased ball joints and left them on my shelf for a long time, then discovered the Rockauto listing was wrong and they did not fit my car; they would not take them back because it was too late, even though I explained their error to them; and (2) I also discovered that a grease fitting and clip-ring were missing from another part but it was too late to return it.
Thanks, I already ordered with them in the past and had 2 issues that were solved quickly, one alternator that went bad after only 3 months and 1000 miles (I don't drive my car a lot here, I have another one), they reimbursed me, and the other time I ordered front sway bar bushings and it was not the right ones I received (even though the reference was the right one on the box), they sent me new ones.
I moved the car to the new mechanic this saturday, and I ordered the parts this morning, they will arrive next monday.
This was good for me to see since I'm wondering if I will need to do the same work on my 2006 GT. Last year I accidentally let the oil level get too low which started causing the timing chain to rattle badly. Once it was figured out, refilling the oil made most of the rattle go away.
There is still a little bit of what sounds like a timing chain rattle when I tap the throttle quickly. It's not too bad as I can only hear it when the windows are down. Is it likely that I damaged a guide or something when the oil got low? How urgent would this be to get fixed?
Yes, it's possible that a small piece of the plastic guide might have broken off. At the moment it doesn't seem to be a problem but you'll need to have it fixed if the symptoms get worse.
Quick news here, I got my car back from the mechanic 3 weeks ago, he billed me 14 hours of labor, based on the fact that he never worked on one of these and that his hourly price was fairly low (50€/h, can be up to 120€/h in high end garages), I am satisfied.
So I made the mechanic change the full timing kit, oil pump, water pump, solenoids, spark plugs, oil and all the seals
Now I have to replace my O2 sensors in order to be able to go through the inspection.
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