505 Td timing chain/gear mess up

Anup Pahari (apahari@erols.com)
Wed, 26 May 1999 22:41:15 -0400

My search for an xd3t engine for the wagon I am restoring came to an
abrupt and, up to this point, unfortunate conclusion today.
Our 85 505 TD sedan suddenly died on the road about 1/4 mile from home
as my wife was returning home from the gym. She told me that the car
stalled and died and before it did, a funny metallic noise came from
the engine. She tried to start it again and it started, but when she
tried to give it some gas to go, it would not move, and subsequently it
died again. That's when she walked home to break the news to me. Since
the car was on a busy road I quickly packed some towing rope and
together we went and towed the vehicle home.

The bad news obviously is that this engine will have to be removed and
worked on. The good news may be that I won't have to look any further
now for an xd3t engine. The question now is how much work the engine
might need. The timing chain is probably not broken, but it has
probably jumped a few notches and most likely the idler sprocket or the
tensioner is broken. Given this, how extensive a damage should I expect
to see when I remove the engine and open up the timing chain cover?
what are the key areas to check for damage? Would valves be in danger
of being bent under these circumstances?

Once I have the engine out I will probably go for a rebuild given that
it has 170K miles on it. Looks like it going to be a summer filled
mostly with 505 underbelly over my head...

Anup Pahari