So I'm getting ready to replace my cam phaser and timing chain, can any one tell me what I'm missing as far as parts go?
Cloyes timing set 90391sb
Dorman Camshaft phaser X2 917250
Feb - pro valve cover gasketvs50664r, timing cover gasket set tcs46078

Also some tips & special tools would be nice ☺
Truck has plenty of power just sounds like a diesel when op temperature is reached...06 lincoln navigator

 

Did you already buy the parts? If not, I would highly recommend going with genuine Ford OEM parts, specially on the phasers themselves. I've heard very mixed reviews on the Dorman ones, they're cheap china-made parts so the quality can be a bit hit and miss.. I would also suggest that you replace your VCT solenoids with the latest version, as they are updated to reduce the chance of phaser knocking. Lastly, you can consider updating your tensioner and guides to metal ones. There's genuine Ford tensioners made from cast iron and includes a ratcheting feature which reduces the risk of failing, as well as preventing the chain to go slack if the oil pressure is lost.

You can find aluminum guides here, as well as all the other components:

Modular Motorsports Racing

You can also find the phasers and cast iron tensioners, as well as chains, guides (plastic) and such on ebay and amazon.

Apart from that, Fel-Pro has excellent gaskets so you're safe to use those.

 

I just did this job on an 05. Not too bad of a job, just tedious.

Plan on cleaning the screens for the vct solenoids, if you dont replace them

Not sure how many miles you have on it, but be prepared to replace injector and coil pigtails.

Replace any seals you can while it is apart.


As far as special tools, you will need a foot lb torque wrench and an in lb torque wrench, a harmonic balancer puller, a 1/2 impact for the crank bolt & a good assortment of standard tools. An air ratchet and 3/8 impact are handy as well.

keep things clean. If you can, was the motor before hand. Remove the coils, and blow the wells out, dust the engine off one last time, before you remove the valve covers.

 

Why? If the OEM ones were that good he wouldn't be changing them!

 

Good point But Ford updated the parts to hopefully prevent the issue in the future. (Or so they say anyway). I've heard people using the Dorman phasers and having them fail within months after they are installed, and Dorman quality is really a lottery it seems. Some parts are good, others are junk and I just wouldn't want to take the chance on such a critical piece of the engine. If money is the issue, I'd rather get a phaser lockout kit or something like that instead which is a fraction of the cost and will ultimately never fail.

On the chains and guides and all, people who builds these modular V8's for racing consistently say don't use anything else than OEM Ford, but upgrade to the cast iron tensioners which is available from Ford, and consider using the aluminum guides from MMR which I linked to above. If I'm gonna do a timing job on my truck, I want to make sure that I will only ever need to do it once so that's the route that I'm gonna take when/if the time comes..

 

Thanks guys and yes I had already bought the parts but I was with alloro on the whole Ford oem cam phaser that'd the reason I avoided ford parts in general and some kits didn't guarantee that it was the update phasers. I might go ahead and get the cast iron tensioners even though the kit came with them but idk, btw do the tensioner need a gasket? Because in the kit they didn't come with any?!

I also haven't changed the sparkplug! I'm scared they will break

 

As much as it may hurt, I will strongly suggest you return the Dorman phasers for a refund if you can, and get a better brand, preferably Ford OEM.


Read the reviews here, and ask yourself if you want to take this risk.

Rockauto has Standard ($117) and Enginetech ($198)

The OEM ones can be found on ebay for as little as $140 for one.


About gasket for the tensioners, I'm not sure actually. I think the original ones has an integrated gasket. These cast iron tensioners were originally used on the older 1st gen 2V engine, so might look at that engine and see if there's any gasket for them. Apparently those are interchangeable, which is why you can buy the "upgraded" cast iron tensioners as a genuine Ford part.

 

What failures have you heard of with the doormans? The more I think on it, I wonder if the issues people have had with them stem from not replacing leaky tensioners at the same time.

 

Well, reading the Amazon link, seems many had those Dorman ones fail within a very short time, and when they replace them with genuine OEM Ford ones they work fine. Meaning the problem was the cheap quality of the Dorman ones. This is a job you only want to do once, so taking a chance with these Dorman ones doesn't seem like a good idea in my opinion. But each to their own, if you don't mind to potentially having to redo the job, then it's no problem to try the Dorman ones..

 

Time will tell. I went ahead with the doormans. I have always had excellent luck with their products. They usually improve upon a manufacturers original design. I'd really be curious to know the rest of the story on all of the trucks that had issues with them.

 

Did you install them yet or just buy them? If installed, are they working?

 

Installed them almost 3 Weeks ago. Working beautiful. My money is on them having zero issues.

 

Your money is also on them if they have issues.

 

Update* cam phaser complete ! So far the truck gain noticeable amount of power and the demon noise is gone the cam phaser on the passenger side was so hard to turn almost locked and for some reason both phaser had an L

 

Both phasers are identical, there should be both an L and an R timing mark on them. Hope they will work out for you, and that you wobt have the same experience as those on Amazon had.