The cylinder wall should be fine. I would replace all the timing parts and the oil pump too while its apart.

 

Thank you very much

 

Ok she's running again.

what a pain, I got it running and realized I forgot the vacuum line on the back of the intake ****. Took it off and connected it. In the process of that I think I locked up the the action of the actuators on the back of the intake with the wiring harness because it would turn over and fire but not run.

Took the dang intake off again and made sure the actuators were clear and it's running good again. Really sucked having to redo the most PITA thing 3 times.

Only issue now is I believe I got the timing

 

Ok she's running again.

what a pain, I got it running and realized I forgot the vacuum line on the back of the intake ****. Took it off and connected it. In the process of that I think I locked up the the action of the actuators on the back of the intake with the wiring harness because it would turn over and fire but not run.

Took the dang intake off again and made sure the actuators were clear and it's running good again. Really sucked having to redo the most PITA thing 3 times.

Only issue now is I believe I got the timing chain off by a tooth. It sounds a like I got some "lope" now at low RPM and the only code being thrown is the camshaft position sensor. I think it will be fine for a little while. I don't think I can mentally handle taking the valve cover and timing chain cover off again.

 

Ok so I'm thinking that I will try using an oscilloscope app on my phone to look at 2 camshaft position sensor outputs.

The annoying thing is that I'm an electrical engineer and have access to $100k instruments at work but I can't borrow any of them, heck I can't even bring my phone in the building ( defense contractor)

So we'll see how the app works

 

So, got nowhere with the phone o-scope app. Check engine light was still on throwing the camshaft position sensor errors.

I decided to suck it up and take the valve covers and timing chain back off. Sure enough I had it off by one tooth, not sure how it happened.

I'm getting way faster at this now LOL. Took me all of 4 hours to take it down, re-time and put it back together.

Anyways the check engine light is off now finally....and of course the dang thing had to give me one more scare before I finished up last night. Started it up and the "O/D off" light was flashing. I put it in drive and the odometer says "TRANS FAULT"....F----....anyways I finally got rid of it by unplugging the 3 PCM connectors....unplugging the battery didn't make it go away.

 

Glad you got it fixed. That intake is a PITA to pull in the truck. Make sure you routed the knock sensor wires between the intake and the IMRC linkages or they will rub on the linkage and eventually cause problems. Its easier to route them behind the linkage instead of in front of it.

 

Thanks for the help and input along the way.

Yes I got the knock sensors behind and under the actuator linkages, yah what a pain.

One thing that helped was I spliced in an extra 6 inches of wire to the cable that connects to the actuator motor, which allowed me to do some better cable management to smooth out the process the 3rd time around putting it back on.

The only thing I just could not get back on was the dang GND stud that attaches the water pump pipe to the back of the head. I ended up putting some sheet metal screws into the firewall and made a strap with some scrap metal and a hose clamp to hold the pipe.

 

Gave the truck it's first real test since tearing apart the engine. I put about 400 miles on it today towing the boat with no issues at all. I was a little nervous about it so I brought half my toolbox along. It's a relief to have the thing running reliably again.

 

I'd like to thank @miz for the great play-by-play thread. A ton of work and the description will undoubtedly be helpful to others.


I'm interested in what phone o-scope app did you get? Would you recommend it?


BTW. Very inviting road you're on there. Enjoy!

 

Thanks Torqued, I didn't have much luck with the phone oscilloscope. The apps that were free didn't have much flexibility and I gave it up after about 10 minutes because I was pretty sure that the timing chain was just off by a tooth or two, which it was.

I took both of the camshaft position sensors out and they both ohmed out to the same value ( id don't remember the value) and figured they likely didn't both suddenly fail.

 

Just posted on another thread, I have (2) 08 5.4 4x4 Lariats, (1) has 96K easy freeway and mild off road miles, the twin has 303K Hard work miles, both trucks are serviced very well, actually far in excess of factory recommendations, that includes ALL components as I have always been of the mindset that spending a little at a time was better than waiting for the big bust and spending big time just because it broke on Sunday night and I'm stranded. Fast Forward....96K looses #3 injector, stuck wide open, cylinder, valve, rod, cam and bearings Toast!!!! Injectors were just serviced , Good Black Stone Lab reports every 20 to 30k. Other than obvious damage engine looks brand new inside...so much for diligent maintenance!
Told Dealer to install new crate motor.. I told them I want to check cats and exhaust manifolds also...anything else I should address? Who builds the Factory replacement crate motors?