Timing chain tensioner failure on a 2014 Ford Fiesta at 87k miles

I was reading a TSB from Ford last night and found out these engines have a known issue with the plastic tensioner guides. Mine just started rattling this morning after I dropped my kids off at school. Is there an aftermarket fix that uses metal guides or do I just swap in a new OEM tensioner?

2 comments

2 Comments

michael51918d ago

Man those plastic guides drive me nuts. I had a friend who ignored the noise for like two months because he thought it was just a loose heat shield. One day he's driving to work and the chain jumps a tooth, next thing you know he's got bent valves and a head gasket that's toast. Cost him over two grand to fix it at a shop because he didn't want to touch it himself. I've seen the Cloyes kit you mentioned and it looks solid but I've also heard people have good luck with just replacing the tensioner and guides with OEM if you catch it early enough. The key is not waiting around once that rattle starts. If I were you I'd pull the valve cover and check the guides for cracks before ordering anything. Sometimes the tensioner itself is just weak and a new OEM one quiets things down for another 60k miles.

anna_hill19d ago

I used to swear by OEM parts for everything on my cars. Thought the factory knew best and aftermarket stuff was just cheap junk. But after seeing how many of these plastic tensioner guides fail, I changed my mind completely. There's a company called Cloyes that makes a heavy duty timing kit with metal guides for this engine. My neighbor put one in his 2013 Fiesta at 95k miles after his OEM tensioner let go and it's been quiet for two years now. The plastic guides just don't hold up in these engines, especially if you do a lot of short trips like I do with my real estate showings. If you're doing the work yourself, I'd go with that kit over another plastic OEM part.