Just in case anyone was wondering what an oil pan full of chain guide looks like on these 5.4 engines? And why you should remove the pan if yours are also busted? Thank you for reminding me to remove the pan! There's no way you can get all that crap out otherwise.

By the way, taking the pan off was a piece of cake. Not nearly the tragedy as I thought it would be. Just follow FordMakuloco's video on YouTube on how to replace an oil pan gasket and the pan comes right off. You don't have to remove that axle. After you get the skid plate, cross member and sway bar removed, get the 2 axle bolts out and it lowers down on the passenger side about an inch or so. Plenty of room to clear the oil tube actually.
I didn't take the tires off either for safety reasons and used jack stands. Get the wheels just of the ground. I lifted the passenger side up a bit higher for some working room.

The only thing I did extra was to pressure-wash most of the oil and crap before I got started. I already had a nasty leak from the oil filter housing and (now) the 2 holes in the timing cover. I had to blast it off as much as possible. I hate working on greasy, oily parts! YECH!

And YES - there are pieces of chain guide stuck up inside the oil screen. I'm not even going to bother cleaning it. Just bought a new OEM one for $28 to the door. I might have been able to get the old one clean, but who knows how much of the chewed up guides and timing cover is stuck up in the screen that you can't reach. Not worth the trouble.

I already have the rest of the parts that would otherwise sit and collect more dust, so this is going to be one big experiment to see if it holds up until I can get a new engine. I think it will. If everything works out - I'll have a shiny new engine sometime later this year <cross all fingers and toes>. No, I don't want to do this twice, but I don't have anything better to do. I'll most likely yank the cab when I replace the engine. From what I've read - that's the way to go instead of the old-school 'out the top' method. Anyone have a good video on yanking a supercab?

I just need to figure out a way to flush the oil galleys as much as possible. I built my own pressurized vessel for cleaning fuel injectors, but I never got around to using it. I also have an old 5-gallon portable air tank I can convert. I'm thinking about putting some sort of detergent oil or cleaning fluid under slight pressure and see if I can force it through. It's worth a try. Anyone ever done something like that?

PS: The oil is all muddy looking because I took the water pump off before doing the oil pan, so it got some of the coolant in there. And a tiny bit of water from the pressure washer. I actually just changed the oil before tearing it apart, so it was fairly clean.

 

Wow! That's a pile of $h|t. Looks kinda like mine did. And the Oil Pump Pickup Screen dips right down into that belly of the pan. Amazing anyone would try to do a timing job without removing the pan.

 

What's even more amazing is the phasers were changed somewhere (I'm guessing) around 130k before I bought the truck and they didn't do anything with the chain guides or oil pump. By then they should have known to change that stuff, or at least look into it. Based on what I've read about other people's 5.4's... many of those guides have let lose by that time. Some far sooner. Wish there was a way I could nail whoever did it.

Live and learn I guess . Will I buy another Ford in the future? Not like this one. No sirree.. Maybe not at all. Been considering other brands. I've been a Ford guy since the day I started driving. Never owned a different brand. Ultimately I'd like to stuff my '76 390 big-block in this truck, but I don't want to waste that beast on a 1/2 ton frame and all that electronic garbage would probably be a nightmare to work around or modify. Maybe if I found a 3/4 or 1-ton body dirt cheap I would consider the challenge. There was a time I enjoyed doing that kind of mod.

My Pop's was right about one thing... the older you get.. the LESS you enjoy working on cars! You couldn't convince me of that when he told me at my ripe 'ol age of 16... but now? You're correct Pops... as usual... (R.I.P. Dad... 6/2020 ) !

 

Other brands are no different. My Chevy Malibu ate the chain guides and jumped time on me, cost $1600 to have it repaired. Never gave me any warning either, it just quit running. By that time I couldnt stand the car anymore so I had it towed to a shop, the entire engine was filled with plastic shavings from the guides. I sold it as soon as I got it back from the shop. Like I said before this is partly your fault for waiting so long, I understand we get in a bind sometimes but you cant completely blame the truck for this one when its been warning you for years.

BTW, Im sorry about your dad.

 

Pre-oiler?

I just ran across this video trying to figure out a way to flush my engine out before it's put back together.
The video is about making your own Pre-oiler. Basically a pump that pulls oil from your pan before you start your engine. I've heard of this before on big-rigs and race cars if I recall correctly, so the idea is far from new.

Anyone ever put a pre-oiler on their 5.4 or similar? With all the issues these engines have regarding top-end oiling... just curious if it would be beneficial or do more harm than good? If anything - I think a pump like that connected to my engine to flush it out might work. I have a new 12v water pump I was going to use on my boat for freshwater cleaning. It's not made for a pre-oiler, but it may work long enough for flushing purposes - assuming it can build up 15-20 psi or so. It wouldn't take much. May not work at all since it's not a gear motor. Heck, even if it can pump thinner trans fluid, it's better than nothing. I'd like to use Kerosene or Diesel, but that can get very dangerous if you don't use the right pump.

Yes yes.. I need a NEW engine. Soon.. soon. Cross fingers... Problem is I trust the date of my money source about as far as I can pee... which the older you get... not that far.. lol.

The video is here if you want to watch it:

 

In my hotrod engine days we would use stripped distributor shaft on a drill to activate the pump after a fresh rebuild to prime the engine.

 

@Roadblock007 Of course, that's GM engines with the oil pump run off the distributor. These engines have the oil pump ran directly from the crank (they slip right on)

@stankyjeans What I did after I buttoned up the engine, but before I put the filter on, I took a transmission filler tube that you screw onto a quart of transmission fluid and put it on a quart of oil and squeezed oil into the inlet side of the oil filter (that passage goes directly to the oil pump), and added a bit to the oil filter before installing that. Then with the crank position sensor disconnected (bottom of engine, next to AC compressor), cranked the starter for 30 seconds at a time until the oil pressure gauge finally moved to the middle. (Took about a minute and a half of cranking)

 

Quick question:

Is there any way to remove that inner baffle on the driver's valve cover to get at that PCV valve? Probably not, but I thought I'd ask.
I want to soda-blast the valve cover, but I don't know if it will wash out completely if I do. I've used soda plenty of times on carburetors, so I'm thinking it should rinse out.

 

Oh and I think I figured out a way to flush the oil galleys and bearings. Or at least most of it.
I'm building a plate that will bolt to the oil pump outlet. It will have a hose barb connected to it. From there, I should be able to pump some cleaner-mix through either using a small 12v pump, or maybe a drill pump. It won't take too much. Just enough to get stuff flowing and with any luck - knock out any remaining gunk. There really isn't much left as far as I can tell. The cylinder walls look good too from what I can see.

It won't get a 100% clean and will make a mess of the driveway, but it's better than nothing while I have the oil pan off and everything apart. I'll get a picture soon as it's done. Maybe it will help someone in the future if they want to do something similar.

And yes.. priming the engine via the crank sensor disconnect is the way to go! . I'll definitely do that before going live.

 

Day.. whatever... messing with the truck as the smoke from the Calipornia fires rolls in making this job SOOOO much more fun... .

Here's some photos of my cams. They are definitely 2004 and are NOT the same as the 2005. That locating pin is in a different location.
I don't know what caused the wearing on the driver's cam where the phaser pin goes in. I'd like to simply replace it, but I haven't been able to find a good used one. I did find some Enginetech aftermarket cams, but the footnotes for the cam say, "Use with L5400 lifters" ? I'm not sure what they mean about that. Why would it matter which lifters I use? Anyone know?

And speaking of lifters - I don't think my engine has the originals. Look at the photo below. They do NOT have the deeper groove like a Ford OEM lifter. I can't quite make out the numbers that are stamped on them either. They look exactly like Enginetech's "L5400", so maybe I already have the lifters their cams require? Maybe they are OEM but Ford updated with that deeper groove?

Pretty sure the lifters were replaced, or at least some of them as I found the top of one in my oil pan. Just the plunger - nothing else. YES, I counted my lifters and they are all accounted for. Nothing missing. So whoever worked on it before me either dropped it down in the engine, or it was already there when they tore things apart. I'm thinking they changed them all when they changed the phasers. Probably rockers too as they all feel good and tight. My guess is about 40k-50k miles ago.

So... with any luck I can find a decent used driver's cam. The phaser doesn't appear to rock on that pin hole as far as I can tell, but who knows what it does under operation. I'd rather not use it.
There's some scoring on the face of the cam as you can see, but I don't know if that's from the old phaser, or the current one. That locating hole was damaged somehow. The passenger side is in much better shape, but it does have scoring on the bearing journals and caps.

Quick thought: Can a person drop some weld in there and fix that nasty spot on the hole?

Ughh... I really just want a new engine! Cross fingers the finances will come through SOON.
Speaking of engine.. can a person yank these engines out the top in the traditional way (engine hoist), or is it necessary to remove the cab? Doing the cab would be easier to get at the engine, but I've never done anything like that before.





Is this a Ford OEM lifter?



This plunger was found in the oil pan when I was cleaning it out: