Coyote Cam Timing Chain Maintenance

[1958cyclist]

Hi All:

I recently read in the March issue of Mustang Times, John Clor's story regarding regarding the failure of his Gen 1 Coyote in his F-150. As I recall, he had something like 168,000 miles on the motor, presumably it was well maintained, and as his story starts, the motor began to develop the "Coyote Tick" which upon visiting a local dealer was told that they all do this and not to concern himself with it. As the story proceeds, the tick get increasingly louder finally resulting in his truck completely shutting down while on a highway trip. Post teardown and examination revealed a broken cam chain.

I guess my question to the group would be, is there, or should there be some kind of wear check or maintenance done as the mileage climbs on these motors regarding these chains? If I recall from my motoring past, that some overhead valve driven motors did require a timing belt/chain replacement at certain mileage intervals.

I don't know if John's experience was a rare occurrence, but its association to the "Coyote Tick" seems worrisome.

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[80FoxCoupe]

On a daily I'd change out the chain, tensioners and guides at 100k. On my 16gt I do all that plus valvesprings every year.

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

I suggest you don't link the "tick" to the timing chain. If that was the case over 90% of Coyote has failing timing chains LOL Also this person claiming to have maintained means nothing, can't make a decision on a single occurrence.

My 1st Gen coyote ticked from day one all the way to 130K miles, ran like a champ.

But to answer your question check out this thread

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/coyote-longevity-prospects.183181/page-4#post-3691649

Specifically this post

Now I personally would not even worry about it if its not making unusual noises until maybe 150K miles. But if the engine is boosted or abused might consider earlier change. The timing chain in this car is supposed to last lifetime of the engine but shit happens. Based on the number of engines with issues I would say its more of a rare occurrence.

 

[DrZed]

The manual on the 18+ says a light will illuminate on dash when time to change timing chain. Based on revs, temp and other inputs I’m guessing.

anybody else saw that?

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

The manual on the 18+ says a light will illuminate on dash when time to change timing chain. Based on revs, temp and other inputs I’m guessing.

anybody else saw that?

Yeah mine says this on the Mach 1 supplement Manual.

 

[80FoxCoupe]

I got a wrench light recently and referenced the manual. I was like damn Ford is going all out.

 

[1958cyclist]

Thanks All:

I don’t have many miles on my Gen 2, but knowing that once it breaks into the 6 digits, maybe be a good idea to swap out the above mentioned items.

 

[Jaymar]

Yeah mine says this on the Mach 1 supplement Manual.

I'll be dammed, never saw that in the manual. Neat.

 

[Racin4ds]

I think these chains and guides would last the lifetime of the engine *IF we weren't using the 20WT water thin oils they want us to use for CAFE/MPG reasons. I use nothing thinner than 5W30 in my trucks, stangs, any Ford with a mile long timing chain. Never once have I had any ticks or issues with high mileage. Don't be afraid to use Zinc and moly supplements either, they keep the chains alive and new oil formulas barely have any antiwear agents in them anymore.

 

[1958cyclist]

I think these chains and guides would last the lifetime of the engine *IF we weren't using the 20WT water thin oils they want us to use for CAFE/MPG reasons. I use nothing thinner than 5W30 in my trucks, stangs, any Ford with a mile long timing chain. Never once have I had any ticks or issues with high mileage. Don't be afraid to use Zinc and moly supplements either, they keep the chains alive and new oil formulas barely have any antiwear agents in them anymore.

Yes, after break in, I've been running a 5W-50 ever since. Ford specs this for the Shelby variants, and so far so good. I agree that they spec the thinner viscosity for fuel economy reasons.

 

[Sycostang67]

Life of engine, just like converters and grease less u-joints? We shall see how long the chain lasts. I tend to drive like an old man with the occasional spirited drive. I’m only at 8k miles so I have a ways to go though. I was worried about the chain on my wife’s wrangler with the 3.6 as it’s just over 100k. Then I saw a tear down video of a 626k mile 3.6 with the stock chain. Engine was still running but throwing cam timing codes as the chain had stretched so much. It would be nice to think the 5.0 chains were that robust.

 

[Racin4ds]

Life of engine, just like converters and grease less u-joints? We shall see how long the chain lasts. I tend to drive like an old man with the occasional spirited drive. I’m only at 8k miles so I have a ways to go though. I was worried about the chain on my wife’s wrangler with the 3.6 as it’s just over 100k. Then I saw a tear down video of a 626k mile 3.6 with the stock chain. Engine was still running but throwing cam timing codes as the chain had stretched so much. It would be nice to think the 5.0 chains were that robust.

I can almost bet you anything in the 5.0 is more robust than that 3.6 abomination ;)

 

[tdstuart]

Coyote tick is not timing chains although timing chain failure and excessive stretch may result in a tick similar to the coyote tick.

If the coyote tick starts getting louder than I would worry.

As referenced by another poster I tore down my motor with 100k miles. The plastic tensioners do get noticeable groves from the timing chains eating into them. If you plan on driving the car somewhat aggressively I would recommend changing tensioners, tensioner arms, and chains at 100k. If you are boosted more frequently and upgrade to the 350 primary chains and boss tensioners.

I wouldn't worry about it. Seems like an abnormal failure to me. There's cars that come into my dealership under warranty that have lost a whole cylinder. No one talks about those because it's not normal and likely a defect in the manufacturing of either the engine or an external engine component (intake runner, injector, spark plug, etc.). This timing chain sounds similar.

 

[5doorsoffury]

i was under the impression that rev limiter and lots of fast rpm changes shock the chain repeatedly stretching it or wearing out the tentioner with extensive travel bounceing off the limiter. is that not the case with engines that fail due to broken chains . can they really wear out under normal conditions for a normal car before 150k?

 

[1958cyclist]

i was under the impression that rev limiter and lots of fast rpm changes shock the chain repeatedly stretching it or wearing out the tentioner with extensive travel bounceing off the limiter. is that not the case with engines that fail due to broken chains . can they really wear out under normal conditions for a normal car before 150k?

I don't know...that's why I posed the question. Other than the Mach 1"s manual note about regular track service and the need, I've haven't seen anything cautionary anywhere else. I've owned several other smaller motors that explicitly mentioned timing chain replacements at certain intervals. Speaking of tensioner replacements, MMR has some nice units should anyone be considering replacements.

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