Ok be patient with me cause I'm new here & I'm sure this had been discussed before. Income tax time is here and I'm tired of listening to the knocking sound coming from under my hood. Ok I've heard of the cam phaser lockout but I'm wanting to know with a truck that has 145,000 miles on it is this recommended because I hear to lock the phasers out requires a custom tune. Now I'm not looking for hp gains since I'm gonna have to drive this truck long distances to & from work, the only thing I have is a Volant cold air kit & a cat back exhaust so that's enough for me since I'm looking for reliability from this truck. Ok now should I do the lockout route or just replace the phasers? Also while it's down and I have the money should I replaced the timing chains and the plastic slides the chains rub against and I have a set of VCT solenoids already so I'm guessing I should replace those too. On the timing chains and guides I'm under the impression that the Cloves brand is the way to go when performing this job and what is the price range for doing this job? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

If you are going to replace the phasers or do any of the timing components, replace them all. Phasers, new phaser bolts, timing chains, guides, tensioners, vct solenoids, and I would replace the lash adjusters and followers as well at the same time. Makes sense to change it all since the tensioners are usually leaking and cause the guides to break into pieces. If the guides are broken, you need to drop your oil pan and clean the pickup screen because there are probably pieces of the broken guides blocking the oil flow in the screen. As far as the lockouts, yes, you need a custom tune for them. I personally did not put the lockouts in but others have done it. Also, with parts, stay with OEM parts, the Dorman and other aftermarket have been known to fail prematurely, sometimes in just a few weeks. Look for the thread "Final Guide to phaser noise" on the first page of this year group for info on phaser noise. I followed the first few pages and had no problem doing this project a couple years ago.
Welcome to the site.
Tom

 

Ok helpful information, thank you.

 

Personally, I would avoid the lockouts and just replace everything stock. Ford has updated their parts over the years and everybody is having no issues after the repair. I did my truck with Ford phasers and used a Cloyes timing kit over 2 years ago. I'm 30K miles in with no issues. Some will say OEM parts only... I don't disagree with them but I was confident with the way Cloyes designed their tensioners (the most critical part in the setup). Just make sure you avoid the Dorman phaser... Seems to be lots of failures after 5-10K.

 

My buddy who is an ASE mechanic, did his timing (everything possible) with Motorcraft parts 15K ago. He starting having the same noises again and was pissed. So he ordered the Livernois kit and locked it out. He said that even with 185K on it now, it has never idled so smooth and quiet and he noticed no loss of power. Good thing about Livernois tune, you can stack on top of it. He said if I ever need it done, get the lock-outs and a case of beer and we are set.

 

Im in the same boat and asked pretty much the same question. You can find the kit for 599.00 on Ebay. It appears only the phasers and tensioners are OEM on this kit, but for 599.00 you cant beat it. Ive been told the same thing... that if your going to do the phasers to do the guides and chain and tensioners and if you are that far in the engine that you should do the oil pump as well. Im no mechanic but I helped do my buddies 09 and it took us 4 days but im confident doing my 05 will take us half that time.

 

When I did mine, I actually took a week because I had the time off from work. I took an hour here and a couple hour nap, then another hour work and another nap, didn't want to stress over it or really work hard at it either. If I had to do it again, I am confident that I could do it in a day or two tops. Not a real hard job, just time consuming and attention to details when taking apart and putting back together.
Good luck
Tom

 

Ok I got one more question,I know mechanic prices vary. Replacing everything what price range I'm at looking at?

 

A buddy of mine for his '05 5.4 lariat had his phasers, tensioners, guides, vct's etc replaced by a retired ford tech. Tech charged him $60/hr. Was a 12hr job for an experienced tech. Dealership rate is around $120-$130/hr.

 

I did mine myself so I have no real idea of how much a mechanic would charge, but I spent around $800 for the phasers, timing components and the lash adjusters and followers. Then probably about $100 for new oil, oil filter, antifreeze coolant and a couple tools that I really didn't need but just wanted. Also, I refilled my AC freon for free at a friends shop.