I need help from someone who has done the timing chain on a 5.4 3V. It's my first time cracking open one of these. I have the chain on on the driver side(left) bank. The problem is there is slack on the bottom side with the guide installed. I turned the cam back to remove some slack but the cam will spring forward a tad. Can I spin the crank around a couple degrees to remove the slack or do I have to fight with the cam? All rockers are attached. Any help or advice is appreciated!

 

First, if you have it all the way opened up and haven't positioned #1 cylinder to TDC, stop!
Next review these vidoes:


They take you through phaser replacement and engine timing. There are 3 roller rocker on each side you have to remove to take the load off of the cams to keep them from spinning under spring tension.
If you don't have the engine timed right and just try to slap on chains, guides ect... then really bad things will happen when you start it after you are done. The least is you bend a valve. The worst is you ruin the engine.

 

They take you through phaser replacement and engine timing. There are 3 roller rocker on each side you have to remove to take the load off of the cams to keep them from spinning under spring tension.
If you don't have the engine timed right and just try to slap on chains, guides ect... then really bad things will happen when you start it after you are done. The least is you bend a valve. The worst is you ruin the engine.[/QUOTE]


Engine is at TDC. Just 3?? or the 3 on each cylinder?

 

i agree 100% with flyguy108.

i would also recommend that you pull the cams and replace all the lifters while you got it all opened up. those youtube videos are what we used as a reference to re-time the engine.
there will be some slack... when the tensioners pump up with oil pressure that slack will go away.
that's chain slap some owners hear on startup... the chain rattling against the front engine cover before the tensioners are working.

i completed this maintenance last summer and ended re-opening the engine to replace the lifters. over 1/2 of them were broken.
below is the thread from when we did the timing chain/phaser maintenance.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...placement.html

 

In the video, I believe he had everything on the cam disconnected, even the caps because he was doing other stuff on the engine as well. Another video I watched, 1A auto's video, they had the valve train all together. Is there a secret to this or did I miss something? Unfortunately, replacing the lifters is just not feasible at this time. What I'm wondering is, given that there is a small about of slack on the non tensioner side of the chain, will this throw the timing off even it the timing marks are all lined up on the chains? Or will it compensate after a few rotations running and a little slack isn't a big deal? In the fordtechmakuloco video, when he installs the chain, I noticed a little slack when he did the driver side chain there. Do I have to back the cam up further or will it compensate upon startup? I hope that makes sense

 

It makes sense but don't back up the cams. Once the tensioners pump up the slack will be taken out. The rockers are shown in the phaser video. If I remember correctly its the 2 outer ones on the front passenger side and the center one on the rear passenger side and the center one on the front driver side and the 2 outer ones on the rear driver side. This unloads the cam so it won't spin on you. You will have some chain slack when installing because the tensioners aren't pumped up yet. I posted both videos because in the phaser video he shows how and which rockers to remove and the second video shows the timing sequence. I know it's 2 different vehicles he's working on in each video but think about it as just one long process. You will have some slack in the chain on the guide side but just follow the timing video and you'll be o.k.. I actually put my laptop on top of the engine and kept referring to it and mine runs fine. When you start it for the first time put your gas pedal to the floor and just crank the engine for 15 to 30 seconds. this will put some oil to all the moving parts and will help pump up those tensioners.

 

i just used 2 vice grips to lock the cams in place and marked the phasers and chains before removal. then i transfered the marks to the new phasers and chains. cams never moved.

 

I didn't do phasers so there's no concern there. I just did timing chains and I'd back the cam up just to get the chain on and then it would spin back to position. I have rolled the engine over 2 full rotations and nothing has stopped the me from rotating so it seems to be fine there. I talked to my local dealer foreman today and he said slack is fine as long as the marks are aligned and the engine will sort itself out very quickly.

 

As long as you did everything in the timing video you'll be fine. let us know how everything works out.

 

I'm about an hour and a half away from starting it. Let's pray for success

 

I agree 100% with your dealer shop foreman. In the years I've been wrenching on vehicles wearing a blue oval, I've had more than my share of 4.6/5.4L 2v, 3v and 4v engines that I've been into the timing drive components, and never needed to use the workshop manual tools to secure the cams and crank when timing these engines. A little bit of slack is normal. When you first start the engine, it will be normal to hear a bit of tapping and "clacking" sounds for the first maybe 10 seconds as the engine builds up oil pressure to the tensioners, and then subside and disappear.

 

I am confident that the timing has been done right. I became the foremans new best friend when I asked them if they'd do an alignment on my 69 cougar and all of a sudden, I had 8 workers around me wanting to see pictures. So the foreman was super happy to answer my questions beyond that.

 

Update: Everything is back together except the lower rad hose as it is leaking at the rad. Going to try a new clamp tomorrow and if that doesn't work it'll probably have to be the hose.

 

So, we ended up ruining the rad as we pulled the fittings off instead of using the quick disconnect for the cooler lines for the transmission

 

Ahhh yes. Ford in their infinite wisdom of using so called "quick release" type fittings for transmission cooler lines on all their model lines have caused us guys wrenching them headaches throughout the years when dealing with them. Having the tool pictured in the link below, likely would have avoided you the headache you now have.