I pulled my cousins 97- 500 explorer apart sunday, (low compression) and the timing chain had popped off. And also took a few teeth off the crank sproket with it. The ratchet pawl tensioner appears to be ok, as well as the rest of the engine. Is this common for these early 500 engines with high mileage? I wonder if the sproket could have been worn to start with, and caused the rest to go?
Is there anything else that should be done while im in here?
Im open to any and all suggestions, We thought about the HO cam, but he's on a tite budget.