Maintenance on 02 sport trac with 86k miles

[user 78615]

Hello! I am new to the forums and just bought an 02 sport trac with 86k miles. Could someone please give advice/point me in the right direction with preventative maintenance?

Here’s what I Know so far:
1-this year/gen had timing chain issues. Some say changing the tensioners prevents issues, some say it makes them worse. What is the consensus on this? Mine currently runs great and makes no rattle, including startup. Oil changes have been kept up with. Does it make sense to change the tensioners while there is no issue?

2-my transmission shifts good and fluid is still light red, so I am planning on changing fluid in pan and filter to prevent future issues. Are there any other things that should be done at this mileage? (To my knowledge nothing else has been done like transfer case, diff., etc)
Thanks to all!!

 

[dvdswan]

Welcome to the site.

 

[Larry Holmes]

Hello! I am new to the forums and just bought an 02 sport trac with 86k miles. Could someone please give advice/point me in the right direction with preventative maintenance?

Here’s what I Know so far:
1-this year/gen had timing chain issues. Some say changing the tensioners prevents issues, some say it makes them worse. What is the consensus on this? Mine currently runs great and makes no rattle, including startup. Oil changes have been kept up with. Does it make sense to change the tensioners while there is no issue?

2-my transmission shifts good and fluid is still light red, so I am planning on changing fluid in pan and filter to prevent future issues. Are there any other things that should be done at this mileage? (To my knowledge nothing else has been done like transfer case, diff., etc)
Thanks to all!!

Welcome, presuming you have the 4L SOHC engine and 5r55e transmission you can plan to replace the timing chain tensioners soon. Use only OEM parts for this and it took me about a half day because I removed the right fender skirt to access the lower one. There are some good YouTube videos on the process. While it is apart for the left or top tensioner you should replace the plastic thermostat housing with a metal one because of a trend to crack and leak. Here RockAuto dot com is your friend. The transmission is sensitive and quirky so dropping the pan to change the fluid unless you have a problem is not recommended by the ST practitioners on this site. I’m just an enthusiast so when my trans started slipping I had a dealership service it successfully. Since the fluid looks good I would leave it alone. One of the best ways of refreshing the fluid I have seen recommended here is to incrementally draw a quart or so from the filler tube and replace the same amount over a period of time and miles until you know that all the fluid is new, red color. At 165 thousand miles I have yet to service the differentials or transfer case but that’s next on the list. Good luck with your new to you Sport Trac.

 

[EricP]

I've got an '02 with 150k miles. I've done all of the scheduled maintenance and a trans flush every 30k miles (in the early days of this forum, that was recommended with these transmissions). I think I had the pan dropped, instead of the flush, the last time. I don't believe I've ever had the tensioners replaced. Still runs great.

 

[user 78615]

Welcome, presuming you have the 4L SOHC engine and 5r55e transmission you can plan to replace the timing chain tensioners soon. Use only OEM parts for this and it took me about a half day because I removed the right fender skirt to access the lower one. There are some good YouTube videos on the process. While it is apart for the left or top tensioner you should replace the plastic thermostat housing with a metal one because of a trend to crack and leak. Here RockAuto dot com is your friend. The transmission is sensitive and quirky so dropping the pan to change the fluid unless you have a problem is not recommended by the ST practitioners on this site. I’m just an enthusiast so when my trans started slipping I had a dealership service it successfully. Since the fluid looks good I would leave it alone. One of the best ways of refreshing the fluid I have seen recommended here is to incrementally draw a quart or so from the filler tube and replace the same amount over a period of time and miles until you know that all the fluid is new, red color. At 165 thousand miles I have yet to service the differentials or transfer case but that’s next on the list. Good luck with your new to you Sport Trac.

Thanks for the info. I’ll plan to do the tensioners and thermostat before 100k then.