Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting timing chain tensioner

1995 contour 6cyl auto. i recently eas replacing the fly wheel, which was jammed so in doing the removal i turned the wheel backwards. when i installed the new wheel the motor would not start. i was not getting any power to the coil. i checked the timing chain and i removed the chain tensioners and cleaned up the area. i pushed in the cylinder on the tensioner and inserted a pin in the hole but when i installed the tensioners and removed the pin nothing happened it seems that the spring stayed compressed and the cylinder moves in and out freely. my question is; how do i get the spring to release or does the oil pressure release the spring? as it is now there is no pressure on the chain from the tensioners. please advice. thanks for any information on this. John

I may be wrong but in all my experiences with timing tensionors both hydraulic and spring loaded they don't require oil pressure besides the chain could slip during startup and ruin your valves.

It sounds like your tensioner failed and valves hit pistons and that is what caused your lockup.

At the very least I would remove the heads and have them checked for bent valves, etc. since it is a 95, I would have new seals put in as well as a valve job. The head bolts are tty and need to be replaced.

There are new modified tensioners for the 95 with are used with a backing plate. Ford has a kit out to use these new tensioners as well as upgrading and replacing all your timing components....

It may be simplier to pull the whole engine and insert new rings and bearings also......

sorry,
Bob