I have a 2000 SVT with 167,000 miles on it. I have had a rattle sound on cold start-ups for years and have never been able to find out what the problem is.
In the last year I also have been getting a knocking sound from the engine bay at idle speed. I though it was a pulley since the knock only happens intermittently and always goes away once the engine goes over 2000 rpm. Also the knocking noise seems to happen when the car is in stop and go traffic on very hot summer days. The other day I hear the knocking noise and determined it was not a pulley but coming from engine. The knock is coming from front of the crankcase on the firewall side. Could this be the timing chain tensioners and guides? Also could the rattling sound on cold start-ups be related to this problem?
How hard is it to replace the timing chain tensioners and guides myself? The hardest thing I have done is replacing the air conditioning compressor on my car.
