Ford_babe150

This thread was very helpful when it came to working on my truck this weekend. If you are going to be doing all the work yourself, I suggest buying the special made tool from FreedomRacing.com it not only has a foot to compress just the valve spring but it has a special foot that was made to hold down the spring AND keeper in order to remove and replace rockers without having I worry about the keepers shooting out. I bought it for my '06 5.4L F150 and I found it to be one of the most useful tools in my arsenal. I had a little trouble with it up against the firewall when working on cylinder 3 and again against the AC dryer on cylinder 2, but other than that no complaints. I suggest putting a thin rag under the bottom in order to save your aluminum heads.
Also a great place to buy parts, if you don't mind the short wait, is RockAuto.com!

I went to O'Reilly and bought:
2 cam phasers
2 vcts
Timing chain kit
Water pump with seal
All with tax and a friendly discount came out to $836

After doing some more research I learned that my problem could also be caused by the lash adjusters, so I decided to replace all 24 of them as well, but it would be a fortune from O'Reilly. I returned everything I bought from O'Reilly other than the water pump.

I went onto RockAuto.com and bought:
2 cam phasers
2 vcts
Timing chain kit with guides and new tensioners ~with special tools for the pistons included already on the tensioners in the box
Valve cover seals
Timing cover seals kit with 2 vct gaskets, o-ring for oil tube, front main seal
24 lash adjusters
All with tax and shipping and a 5% discount $338 and a 3-4 day wait for them to come in

I kept the water pump from O'Reilly because it would have been the same price either way for that part, it was about $41

***Helpful hints***
-use an air hammer on the fan bolt to turn the fan loose

-the cam bolts are TTY <"Tighten To Yield" meaning to replace after removal> so new cam phasers should come with new cam bolts

-if you take out the spark plugs it makes it easier to turn the engine over when working on the rockers and timing parts

-if you rip a boot to a spark plug coil, O'Reilly carries single boots with a new spring for $5.00 each

-you don't need a cam locking tool like it is stated in a Chilton...tie the timing chain together below the phaser with a piece of wire (I used a piece of wire hanger) and use an air ratchet to extract the bolt without the phaser turning

-remember to get a small cup/bowl full of fresh unused oil to fill the hydraulic lash adjusters with..pump until you can't pump anymore and make sure they stand straight up in the bowl until you are about to place them back in the engine

-replace the harmonic balancer bolt <Its a TTY bolt "Tighten To Yield" meaning to replace after removal> after you remove it and use it to turn the engine for the removal/replacement of rockers (I found this out the hard way when it broke in the crankshaft :/ ) don't use air tools on it after it is 1/2 way in

-if you lay under the truck on a creeper and move the fender-well out a little you can clearly see and reach the valve cover bolts and the transmission bolt that holds the transmission dip stick in place on the passenger side

-a Chilton is a great resource to have on hand for torque specs and tightening patterns of bolts

-buy a (green/black) 1/4in head pivoting Pittsburgh ratchet from Harbor Freight it will be your best friend for a lot of the tight spaces you will come across...the head will move in almost every direction which makes it easier to use than a conventional ratchet (I'm going to go back and buy the 3/8 and 1/2 I loved it so much)

-you can never have enough tools..don't be afraid to try the new cool looking ones ^see above

-always trust a torque wrench to provide the correct amount of foot pounds to a bolt..don't skimp on a vehicle, use the right tool for the job

BEST HINT OF ALL
***If you are already in there, you might as well.***
Meaning~ if you have the rockers out, take out the cam and replace the lash adjusters; since you already broke the seal on the oil pan go ahead and drop it, clean it out, and reseal it; while you have the covers off degrease and pressure wash them, if needed

Ford_babe150

When working on a vehicle you look at right and left as if you are sitting in the vehicle driving. Driver's side is Left and Passenger's side is Right. The phasers and chain are damn near dummy proof each chain has three colored links 1 on one side for the crank sprocket and 2 on the other for the phaser..the phasers are labeled with and L and an R...match up the L with the driver and the R with the passenger. The crank sprocket has a mark for where the one link lines up also from both cam sprockets.

sglover

I am 43 and didn't just start wrenching. I guess this depends on how you learned , and I have books that say otherwise, either way good right up. I am done but didnt do near as much as you did, way to go on your end. Now, all I hear now are injectors,lol.
And if you mark your timing chain cam gears and crank and dont turn the motor over you can put the chain on any way you want to,just depends on how far down your taking the motor.

Whatup

Guys I just took my engine apart this weekend (180k) and did new timing components, and wasnt super happy with the results. Seems to run better so to speak, but still ticks/knocks bad. I did not change the phasers, just because i really wanted to see how much the new tensioners would do. I am now going to order new phasers,solenoids/and even got new solenoid housing gaskets.
The good: I have done enough of these 5.4 3v's now, that i think i can be back in the engine in 2hrs or less, and i am looking into e-fans also to make more room under the hood ect...
I did have a couple questions, i was hoping someone with experience might know....
1: Are the chain tensioners SIDE Specific? They look identical to me, new ones and old ones. The old ones were marked L & R. Not 100% sure if i double checked that or not, but i wil when i go back in.
2: I thought that when you look at the solenoids and see no o-rings or seals anywhere, it seems wierd. I wonder if there are some in the housing itself?? I'm going to look into this further soon as well.
3: Are there any other gaskets that could be causing an issue? say pickup tube gasket, or pump gasket? Jw if anybody has ever needed to do those?
4: DO you absolutely need a valve spring compressor to do the cam followers?
thanks gentleman. I was also going to look into doing the cam bearings...

sglover

Answer to questions best I can.
1) Yes, the left hand tensioner has a hole for a small dial, only differnce I could find and may be wrong about which side. I couldnt see any other difference.
2) Pretty sure the slenoids had a 2 o-rings on them, I cleaned the screens on mine with a carb cleaner.
3) I am not aware of any and I have read a ton on this, clogged oil passages maybe!
4) I would say yes, I did not do mine however.
Get a stethescope and put to your injectors, mine are noisy as all get out, really surprised me and I will be replacing them. Truck runs a ton better and doesnt have the chain slap sound I was getting.

VTX1800N1

Um, you must have had one hell of a coupon code!!!

This is what I get at Rock Auto when I add up your parts:

Cloyes Engine timing set, including tensioners, chains, guides, part # 90391SB: $170.79

Fel-Pro timing cover gasket set, part # TCS46078 $38.79

Sealed Power Valve Lifter, part # HT2305, 24 x $9.58 = $229.92

Fel_pro Valve Cover Gasket Set, part # VS50664R, $49.79

Dorman Cam Phaser, part # 917250, 2 x $111.99 = $223.98

Dorman VCT Solenoid, part # 917200, 2 x $67.79 = $135.58

Grand total = $848.85 + $17.41 S&H = $866.26

VTX1800N1

Did you look at your original phasers when you did the repair the first time to see if they were damaged? The new phasers have a different pin to retain the spring. In the old phasers, that pin broke (as a result of the phaser slapping around under low oil pressure from the leaking tensioners) and that's what caused the noise.

Whatup

Guys. I used part# 8L3Z-6M280-B for the solenoid. Can be had online for $50 ish. Even through dealer.... Dont remember how i came accross that number, but i think it was a number for newer application turned out to be same part... they are cheaper for sure

Whatup

And yes on the outside visually they looked ok. But not sure about inside... I have seen the internal spring screwed up b4 causing lots of issues... I really thought the new tensioners i used would help a lot, but they did not. I am ordering new phasers and solenoids, going to pull vct housing and look for debris. Has anyone ever pulled them off and looked in there?
Also been thinking about this a lot lately. The way the vct solenoid slides into the housing seems cheesey to me. You'd think the solenoids would have machined grooves and o-rings to seal between their bodies and the housing... I mean what we talkin here just the tight tolerance is all that seals in the housing, or are their seals in the housing to keep oil where its supposed to be headed? Anyone followin me here???

kkap

@ s_vares did you use tool 303-1046 to lock cam gear or can you use something else. Tool is about $90+, a little steep for one time use.