Ford Explorer 1999–2002 — technical service bulletin
Bulletin 0281 · NHTSA communication 637920 · issued Apr 29, 2002
Technical service bulletin
communication type
Engine and Engine Cooling
component
1999–2002
model years
14
vehicle entries
Official summary
Some vehicles equipped with the 4.0 sohc (single over-head cam) engine may exhibit a primary timing chain rattle noise. *tt
Vehicles covered
- 1999 Ford Explorer
- 2000 Ford Explorer
- 2001 Ford Explorer
- 2002 Ford Explorer
- 2001 Ford Explorer Sport
- 2002 Ford Explorer Sport
- 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
- 2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
- 2001 Ford Ranger
- 2002 Ford Ranger
- 1999 Mercury Mountaineer
- 2000 Mercury Mountaineer
- 2001 Mercury Mountaineer
- 2002 Mercury Mountaineer
What a TSB means. Technical service bulletins are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls, and repairs are not automatically free (warranty extensions are an exception worth checking). The full document is available via NHTSA’s vehicle lookup.