Ford 350 1996

SuperHank · Mar 16, 2017

My emoloyee, who has an unending tale of woe when I comes to cars, has 1996 Ford van, 150k miles and the mechanic says the engine,that was working last week has "jumped timing"and won't start or run. The electronic analysis can't confirm this but they say they need to pull the cover off, etc. I have owned many cars and put a lot of miles on them and never has one jumped timing. Can anybody give me some guidence on this before l loan him some money. I spoke to the garage and they confirmed this tale.

HALGETIT · Mar 16, 2017

Very possible that it jumped time. if tensioner went bad it good very well jump time. if chain got slack in it could have skipped a tooth or 3. only way to tell is check timing marks on engine.

Dune Country · Mar 16, 2017

What engine?

If it has a timing CHAIN, the cam gear could be bakelite. At 150k the chain will also be stretched, so yes the cam gear could be broke or chain so loose it could jump timing BTDT

fixerupper · Mar 16, 2017

I had two Chrysler V8's jump timing when the timing chain got sloppy. One of them ended up with bent valves.

Steve@Advance · Mar 16, 2017

Being a 96 model, pretty sure it would be a roller cam. Those turn so easy it's rare to have a chain failure.

There are ways to check without going all the way into the front cover.

You can turn the crank pulley back and forth, feeling for the chain slack. If it has a distributor, you can align the timing mark, the rotor will be pointing to #1 or #6 (if 8 cylinder).

newhollandnut · Mar 16, 2017

I may be totally wrong on this but I was thinking those had a cam position sensor that could cause no start. Might try that. I think it's a pretty cheap part

RBoots · Mar 16, 2017

I don't know about the Ford gas engines, but GM for sure had those stupid nylon timing gears to reduce noise in quite a few of their engines. Replaced a few of them after I had a couple different vehicles that quit running/no start condition.

mmfan55 · Mar 16, 2017

If it has jumped timing: the valves will be out of time with the pistons. Very little or no compression. Not hard to run a compression test

dhermesc · Mar 16, 2017

You put Ford 350 in the title - is it an E350 van or a 351W engine? I don't know if the 351W engine of the that year had roller rockers or not (I believe the 302 did). If it didn't that engine could easily lose time with a 20 year old timing gear - Ford's were nylon coated just like Chevy's. I had a 302 in a 1988 F150 with only 70K on the clock eat its timing gear when the nylon started breaking off. It seems age causes as much damage as miles.

Batel · Mar 16, 2017

Very possibly true. As others have said, there is no reason to pull the timing cover. Can be checked via distributor cap. Kinda low miles but don't know how it was maintained. First one I saw was a 72 Chevy 1/2 ton with 75,000 miles that it dropped the chain into the pan. Four bolt heavy duty block with a two bit upper gear. I found that out because it had to be overhauled, bent a pile of valves and broke a piston. A lot of the old stuff had what I always heard called soy bean gears in them. Some kind of soy by-product in the disc with an aluminum gear and center.

jimg.allentown · Mar 16, 2017

That vehicle could have a 351W, a 4.6 or a 5.4. It may also have a 460. Makes a big difference which engine it is. The 351 - also called a 5.8 - has a cam in the block, and as others have said it has a nylon cam gear that can fail after a lot of miles.
If it is a 4.6 or 5.4, it has overhead cams and a complicated timing chain setup that requires major disassembly to access and repair.
Also, the 5.8 is freewheeling while the 4.6 and 5.4 are interference engines. I think the 460 is also a freewheeling engine.

Hobo,NC · Mar 16, 2017

One thang is for sure you post insufficient info you get insufficient info... Suck it up and fill in the blanks... Make, Model, Year, engine Size. The Vin. would nail it... Are give him the money if you are not worried about getting it back its better to give than receive. If it worry's you loan it to him take your chance you will get paid back.

Goose · Mar 16, 2017

Yeah. The 3.0 V6's in the '83 to '85 Buick Centuries, Olds Cieras and maybe others had them. I found one in an '87 3.8 in a Buick LeSabre once, also.

You could bet money that between 70,000 and 90,000 miles the gear would begin to shred, plug the oil pump, and spin the front rod bearing from oil starvation. I rebuilt a bunch of them in the day.

Bob · Mar 16, 2017

1. WHAT is your "employee" doing on the side that requires the possession/operation of a one-ton van?

2. I just bought a non-running a mid-nineties Chevy pickup complete with $3800 in work orders for $400.

Now, it runs schwell with a $17 generic coil.

(Just say'in!)

36Coupe · Mar 17, 2017

That vehicle could have a 351W, a 4.6 or a 5.4. It may also have a 460. Makes a big difference which engine it is. The 351 - also called a 5.8 - has a cam in the block, and as others have said it has a nylon cam gear that can fail after a lot of miles. If it is a 4.6 or 5.4, it has overhead cams and a complicated timing chain setup that requires major disassembly to access and repair. Also, the 5.8 is freewheeling while the 4.6 and 5.4 are interference engines. I think the 460 is also a freewheeling engine.

The 4.6L and 5.4L were not used in the Econoline in 1996!Those engines were not used in the Econoline until 1997!

Blackhole49 · Mar 17, 2017

Don't about Fords, but my sons 08 Cobalt jumped timing (it wouldn't even try to fire) with 82,000 on it and it is an interference engine. Luckily there was no damage and a timing chain set took care of it. In research it on the internet, seams that was common with that engine at 80,000 miles.

rustyfarmall · Mar 17, 2017

I have replaced many timing chains and gear sets on Ford V8s. Never do they give any warning. It will be running just fine, and refuse to start when you get back in.

jimg.allentown · Mar 17, 2017

Once upon a time...
I was working at a Ford dealer. A customer had a Ford wagon that suddenly quit running and would not start. He had it towed to a gas station nearby. After they sunk about $2000 in parts into it, they gave up trying to get it to run. They had it towed up to the dealer I was working for.
The service manager handed me the repair order and asked me to take a look at it. I went out to where the car was parked and tried the starter. Battery was dead. So, I went back inside and got a booster battery. Tried it again. Within 5 seconds, I knew what the problem was just by the sound of it.
We pushed it into my bay, and I went to work. Changed the timing chain and sprockets. Engine started immediately almost on the first revolution of the starter.
Then I was asked to replace all of the parts that the gas station had put on trying to make it run. I said NO!! Let the idiots that put all of those parts on do the job. They wanted to return it all for credit!

The moral of the story?

Diagnosis is your FRIEND!! Check it out BEFORE you start throwing parts at it.

Mike M · Mar 17, 2017

Maybe he has an old tractor addiction and has to haul them around ?

It is really not your employers business to know what you do on your own time.

Dean's · Mar 17, 2017

in 96 it was a timing chain and gears. The computer isn't going to tell you if it jumped time, there is no sensor that can tell you that. If a sensor has failed (like the cam sensor) then the computer could recognize that.

It is common for timing chains and gears to go bad. A quick test, if you crank the motor with the key and it turns really fast, more than likely it is timing chain and gears. But if you crank on it and it doesn't turn over really fast then I would say you have other mechanical issues. Maybe even as simple as it isn't getting fuel.

Hobo,NC · Mar 17, 2017

(quoted from post at 21:54:59 03/17/17) in 96 it was a timing chain and gears. The computer isn't going to tell you if it jumped time, there is no sensor that can tell you that. If a sensor has failed (like the cam sensor) then the computer could recognize that.

It is common for timing chains and gears to go bad. A quick test, if you crank the motor with the key and it turns really fast, more than likely it is timing chain and gears. But if you crank on it and it doesn't turn over really fast then I would say you have other mechanical issues. Maybe even as simple as it isn't getting fuel.

Possibly not on a 96 but a 97 yes the cam and crank sensor can be scoped for there position to determine Cam/Crank Correlation.
Even cranking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxAEBBUvu30

SuperHank · Mar 17, 2017

Lot of very helpful information, thanks and it looks like it did jump timing.

Ford 350 1996

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