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I just ordered the parts, and I thought I'd offer an update.
I was able to order all the parts s_vares has listed, plus a timing cover gasket set (Fel-Pro) for $412.55 including shipping.
All parts ordered from Rock Auto.
Thanb
I was just curious of what those brands that those # came to since your parts cost was so low. Cloyes timing chain set 9-0391SB
Well, I have a Melling pump, pan gasket and rear main seal on the shelf...those are getting done too. That and the rear ABS sensor is shot...for the 2nd time
I just finished the complete "full meal deal" job on my truck, so I thought I'd add to the pile of experience here so that maybe the next victim might have an easier/safer time with the job.
Quick backstory: About three weeks ago, I bought my truck off craigslist. Ad said something to the tune of: "2005 F150 extended cab, 2WD, 5.4L. 142K miles. May need new engine. $3500."
At this point I'd already done a ton of research here and elsewhere, so I was pretty certain the engine could be saved. Went out to look at it, and it was as expected. Truck idled like a diesel, and it was throwing a P0022 code. I bought it. (And it drove remarkably well, in hindsight, on the way home.)
This is day three of new (to me) Ford truck ownership:
See anything missing?
I almost hesitate to post any of these pictures, as I'm almost positive there are multiple nearly identical copies already posted to this thread (I've only read the first 50 or so pages so far), but there you have it. I pulled the timing cover because the driver's side cam chain was flapping in the breeze, to the point that I could see where it was chewing into the cover. I was surprised at what I found. Although the driver's side tensioner was, as expected, collapsed, it was the fixed guide on the passenger side (tight chain) that was in a million pieces--some unaccounted for, unfortunately.
What I could find of the guide:
Driver's side cam chain was wearing through the timing cover ribbing all the way down:
And blown CCT gaskets:
I guess I should stop here to suggest some tips for getting this far. Apologize if these have been covered already in this thread:
1.) Fan clutch removal. Luckily, I had stumbled upon a really cool trick on YouTube for using a short length of chain between one of the water pump pulley bolts and a timing cover bolt to hold the pulley in place while breaking loose the fan clutch nut (I used a crescent wrench with a cheater bar). This method works very well and is super easy.
2.) Harmonic balancer removal. The factory tool is criminally overpriced. We're talking about, essentially, pulling a gear here. You don't need anything fancy. I drove down to my local Harbor Freight, slapped down $20, and drove home with a whole set of pullers. The included 6 in. puller did the job just fine. An impact wrench takes care of the retaining bolt easily.
3.) AC system evacuation. I read in multiple places--this thread included--that you can do this job without evacuating the AC system to get components out of the way. Being cheap and lazy, I believed this advice. In retrospect, I wish I had just followed the service manual. Whatever I would have spent to evacuate and refill that system would have been MORE than worth it compared to the hassle I suffered both removing and reinstalling the passenger size valve cover. In fact, in the process of removing the cover, I scraped the farthest back cam lobe pretty well, leaving a little pile of metal shavings on it. I also watched way too much dirt and grit fall into the valve train while I wiggled and wrestled that thing out. And reinstallation? I had to have my brother come over to pull the lines as far as he could out of the way so that I could get the cover back in without disturbing or damaging anything. The AC lines are solid metal, and they just don't budge that far. Having all of that out of the way would have been extremely nice.
Which leads me to the next phase of exploration. That pile of metal shavings on the cam lobe was pretty disturbing to me. Camshafts are very hard, so the shavings were almost certainly from the cover (they brushed right off and didn't leave a scratch behind), but I wasn't going to take any chances and ordered a passenger side camshaft.
I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a good look at the lash adjusters and rockers, anyway, and it would also get the camshaft out of the way so I could better clean out the grit that got in there when I removed the cover. Before removing the camshafts (I ended up doing both sides just because), I inspected all 24 lash adjusters and rockers as best as I could, and everything looked great. I figured I'd just remove the camshafts, do a little cleaning, put the camshafts back in, with a new one on the passenger side, and all would be well.
I was wrong. Here's a picture of the very last rocker I pulled out of the engine:
I missed it on first inspection, as it was tucked right up against the firewall, and the roller is hidden under the camshaft. The roller was frozen solid, with several flat spots having been worn into it, the camshaft eventually even machining the frame down a bit. You can see the scratched up cam lobe as well.
So make that two new camshafts. And 24 new rockers and lash adjusters just to be thorough...
Which leads to reassembly--and a couple more tips:
1.) The camshafts are not identical and need to be installed in the correct side. The driver's side camshaft has a longer end protrusion (where the phaser mounts) than the passenger side. I'm too embarrassed to get into detail about how I discovered this...
2.) While waiting for my camshafts to arrive from Tasca (good price on parts, but paid $65 for 3-day shipping only to receive them eight days later. F-you, Tasca...), I thought I'd get a head start by installing timing components ahead of time. This turned out to be stupid. The service manual describes a specific order in which to install components, and there's a reason for this. I had to remove and reinstall the tensioners and swinging guides in order to get the timing chains onto the phasers after installation. Just follow the instructions...
3.) It's easier to install the new crankshaft seal with the timing cover off than it is to install with the cover on as described in the service manual. A large socket and rubber mallet will do the trick. You can also use the old seal as a perfectly-sized driver to tap in the new seal.
4.) If you removed the crankshaft position sensor from the timing cover in order to clean one or both (and you should), reinstall the sensor BEFORE putting the timing cover back on! That is, unless you like removing and reinstalling your AC compressor as well, because it's going to be in the way. Ask me how I know...
5.) The tool for reinstalling the harmonic balancer is also criminally overpriced. I tapped mine on with a rubber mallet, using a large socket as a drift until it got far enough on that I could pull it the rest of the way on with the retaining bolt. This is a torque-to-yield bolt, so you're supposed to use a new one when reinstalling. There's a complicated torquing procedure, but I had no way to hold the engine in place to put proper torque on it, so I just hit it with the impact wrench. Hopefully it stays put.
6.) Many people ignore the valve train because, I think, they're scared off by both the expense of the stupid valve spring compressor and the time and hassle of removing the three rockers that you're supposed to remove before removing the camshafts. This is not necessary, though, if you're careful. The camshafts are held down by five bearing bridges with two bolts each. Just follow the factory torquing pattern when removing the bolts, turning them out slowly and evenly (maybe 1/4 or 1/2 turn per bolt and then repeat) until all of the spring tension is off. Same goes for reinstalling the camshafts: Put all of the lash adjusters and rockers into place, lay the camshafts on, replace the cam bridges (they MUST be put back in the exact location and orientation where you got them from), and slowly work your way around the bolts in the factory torque pattern until the bridges are all tight, following up with a final torque to 89 in.lbs.
7.) If you're missing pieces of one or more of your cam chain guides, you're going to need to drop your belly pan to fish them out. This is MUCH easier with a 2WD truck like mine. Quite simple, in fact, just four bolts and drop the crossmember out of the way. I was happy to see that the oil pump pickup screen was clean, but there sure were a lot of little pieces of plastic down in that pan. If you drop your oil pan, you should know that the factory bolts that were holding it on are torque-to-yield, so they need to be replaced. Call up your local dealer and ask them what the price for 14 (IIRC) of these new bolts would be if you want a good laugh... I drove down to my local hardware store and bought a bagful of grade 12.9 M8-1.25 x 36 mm socket cap screws for less than the cost of a single factory bolt. Reusable, too! Just check the internet for torque specs on such a bolt (and check for yourself on the length; it may have been 39 mm now that I think about it).
8.) One last rebuild tip: Due to the way the valve cover grommets and bolts are, it's best to install the grommets and bolts in to the covers before installing the covers. But then the bolts hang below the covers and make it harder to slide them into place. Something I tried that worked extremely well was using masking tape to hold the bolts up above the gasket surface so that they'd be out of the way for installation. Once the covers were in place, it took no more than a few seconds to yank all of the pieces of tape off, and the bolts dropped into their holes.
The only factory tool (or imitation, I think) that I bought was the phaser locking tool for torquing the phaser bolt. It was super overpriced and came with a worthless wedge tool (I'll explain below why it's worthless), but it worked quite well, and I'm glad I got it. Something about vice grips on my new camshafts (even on a non-critical area) rubbed me the wrong way...
As for parts, I went all out. All parts except gaskets were OEM and latest revisions except for the gaskets, which were Fel-Pro. http://www.ebay.com/itm/251283472452?viewitemversion=&item=251283472452&view=all&tid=1627030678015&vxp=mtr price I could find for OEM phasers and timing kit, and http://www.ebay.com/itm/261549100318?viewitemversion=&item=261549100318&view=all&tid=1599004594016&vxp=mtr on valve train components from that same seller.
All told, I replaced both camshafts, all 24 rockers and hydraulic lash adjusters, crank sprocket, both phasers, tensioners, chains, guides, VCT solenoids (the newer solenoids have check valves to prevent oil drainage, so this may be worth doing if you have an older truck like mine) and seals, all gaskets (including oil pan, which was the most trashed out of them), crank seal, new VCT solenoid body gaskets (removed the bodies to check and clean passages), serpentine belt, a couple of tools, OEM coolant, a couple Motorcraft filters, and a six gallon case of Motorcraft 5W20. Oh, and a replacement bulb for the odometer LCD (quick job, btw). Total cost less than $2000 for a lot of peace of mind. Still out less than $6000 down the road after tax and title for a truck in really great shape. Not bad!
Which brings me to my last piece of advice/rant that I've arrived at, having done about 50 hours of research and 20 hours of climbing in and out of my engine compartment:
I can't believe that Ford hasn't been sued into oblivion over this series of engines, as stories like mine are ridiculously common on forums like these (at least I knowingly walked into my situation; I feel really bad for those that bought these things new and their engine blew up right after their warranty expired). That being said, I read a lot of stories from people who spend a lot of time or money trying to fix these problems, only to skimp out and end up with a recurrence a few miles down the road. Which brings me to why the cam chain wedge tool is a worthless tool: Why in the world would you spend the time to do the hard part--removing the valve covers--and not pull the timing cover off to see what's going on under there? It looks like the primary source of failure for these engines is tensioner seals, leading to low oil pressure in the cylinder heads and VVT system. If you've gotten as far as exposing the cam phasers to replace them or lock them out, spend the extra two or three hours to get the timing cover off and replace those tensioners or guides whether it looks like they need to be replaced or not.
And why stop there? These are oiling issues, so likelihood of hidden damage elsewhere is increased. Had I replaced my phasers and timing gear and buttoned her up, I'd have spent over a thousand dollars to leave my engine in a state where metal bits would have been flying around in no time due to an exploding rocker. It's free and takes--at most--a couple of hours to remove the camshafts, rockers, and lash adjusters to check and see what's going on. And, again, if the truck has a decent amount of miles on it, why wouldn't you spend less than $500 to replace all of that stuff one way or another (assuming the camshafts are still good)? Even trucks with good phasers and tensioners sometimes lose lash adjusters and break rockers, so why wouldn't you throw fresh stuff in there once you've done all the work to get the engine open?
I think there's a reason that Ford and most shops suggest complete engine replacement instead of fixing all of these problems: Because it's just as expensive if they were to actually fix ALL of these problems! Wedge the chains and swap/lock your phasers, and you're gambling on a seriously expensive waste of a whooooole lot of time. That's just my take.
Oh yeah, truck runs great now. Nice and quiet, and it pulls just fine.
04-01-2015, 02:29 PM
