*updated with more info.

This is a 2005 Escape 3.0l with 150k miles.

I am at my wits end with this car! I recently did a head gasket job on this vehicle. I know the timing chain procedure is important and I stressed it very much. I referenced both a website walk-through and the Haynes Repair Manual. All the links on the timing chains lined up perfectly with their respective marks and I checked them at least 5 times before replacing the front engine cover.

The job was much harder than I had anticipated, but it went well...or so I though. Automotive work is a hobby, but this is not the most difficult procedure I've undertaken.

I tried to start it up and from everything I can hear, the timing is off. I'm hoping it a ignition timing issue and not mechanical. You can really hear the engine struggle when certain cylinders reach TDC. I did replace one of the coils (there are 6 independent) as the mount was broken on the old unit. The cam position and crank position sensors are both hooked up. Is there a way to test them? I do have limited automotive electrical testing equipment.

Here is the video of my engine turning over. Any ideas are greatly appreciated! Really don't want to tear it down again. Thanks for the help!

 

If I were asked, I'd say it is not even firing. Except, perhaps, when a couple cylinders seem to want to run the engine backwards, and slow the cranking significantly.
On the early models, it is easy to flip-flop coil wires for #4 & #6, which causes a misfire. The loom seems to lay the wires out backwards when you go to attach them to the COPs.
Check that the loom goes to the right, towards the throttle body, before looping back to the #4 COP.
Pull a plug on #1, or find the 180 out cylinder that you can easily reach, and crank the engine to TDC of the piston. That should be TDC on the crank pulley. For one cylinder, whichever you pick. Put the plug back in, and try using some ignition wire, attach the COP to the wire, the wire to the plug to gain access for a timing light. Hook up timing light to the wire, and battery as required, and crank the engine while observing the timing mark on the pulley(the chalk mark you made - white nail polish(is there such?) would work also. Check that the plug is fired somewhere near TDC.
Another option is to flow some fuel into the intake using a vacuum line. The power brake booster line should be pretty large, and allow dribbling some fuel into the intake.
Crank and observe. If there is a fuel problem, the engine will fire on the drizzled fuel.
Did you remove the toothed wheel on the front of the engine? It can be installed improperly, and be timed for a 'low mounted CKP' rather than what is expected, one mounted around 10:00 O'clock. The 4:00 O'clock is taurus/sable time.. A little after PST.
If the wheel is flipped, it will line up to the wrong pickup location, and timing will be way off.

tom

 

Thanks!

I ran the wire pack to the back side and then toward the front of the motor. There is a harness on the throttle body that required I run it back first. There is a chance I transposed two I am going to tear down the upper intake this afternoon and check for some Murphy's law. I am sure the coil packs are on the correct side, right or left, as one was broken, which was my left reference.

When I have the harness out, I will check TDC with the #1. If I recall, there is a reference on both the engine cover and pulley, right?

I did remove the toothed wheel on the engine, under the cover and crank pulley. The wheel had teeth on it, which installed pointing out. The wheel was marked FRONT, which I installed to the front. Could this have been a reference for a different vehicle? To be honest, I can't remember the orientation before removal. Also, It ran great before I did the gasket, just had a bleed-back from compression in coolant system.

I ordered the crank and cam position sensors today and will return them if that's not the problem. Figured it was worth a try.

 

The harness will connect to the #6 COP before it connects to the #4 COP, the last connection made. (at least the early years... When? Dunno, but it is a muy common problem.)
The toothed wheel can be put in two ways, one for the 10 o'clock and one for the 4 o'clock position of the sensor. To my knowledge, the Escape engine uses the 10 o'clock position. Making that assumption, I'd think the 'gap' in the teeth would be at the 10 position when the crank is at TDC for #1. I think the groove for the key, if there is one, would be at noon, i.e., top, when the crank is at TDC for #1.
tom

 

I think the harness connects to #4 from the front of the engine, to the rear #6. Standing at the front of the car, the harness comes from the left side and lays across the engine. The #6 coil was connected last and is the only coil I'm sure was right based on the broken coil mount. I will double checking all of this based on the wire colors I've learned this morning.

As far as the wheel, man I hope it's right. The wheel only has two orientations possible. teeth out and teeth in. The notches are not parallel, they are offset. so you could put it on one way, and flip it over for the other way.

 

Here is a picture of the wheel identical to mine. You can see the notched in the center are offset slightly. I believe I installed it correctly as diagrams show the teeth facing out.

 

Read this excerpt:
The most variation in these engines is found in the cylinder heads and front timing cover. The right and left heads are different on all the engines, and are identified by different part numbers. So if you need to replace a head, make sure you get correct side.

The heads on the early 1996-’98 engines have six round intake ports and have a casting number F5DE. The 1999 model year heads (F7DE) also have six round intake ports, but the right head has a protrusion to cover an oiling port in the block (which is used in later engines to pressurize the variable valve timing system).

In 2000, the design of the heads changed significantly, going to three oval intake ports. The 2000 castings are YF1E for the right head, and YL8E for the left head.

In 2001, the heads changed again when Ford moved the water pump from the right front side of the engine (as viewed from the front) to the left side. This also required a change in the location of the serpentine belt tensioner from the left side of the timing cover to the right side (as viewed from the front).

The 2000-’01 Lincoln and Jaguar 3.0L Duratec engines use a slightly different head casting (XW4E). In 2002, the head castings numbers changed (1X4E) on these engines, but the heads appear to be identical.

The front timing cover on the 3.0L Duratec has undergone various changes to accommodate changes in the valvetrain. From 1996 to 2000, the front covers on Taurus/Sable models have a fitting at the top right for the camshaft position sensor, and a fitting at the lower left next to the crank for the crank position sensor. The belt tensioner is located on the left side of the cover. In 2001, Ford changed the location of the belt tensioner from the left side of the cover to the right to facilitate the relocation of the water pump.

If you have a noisy serpentine belt on one of these engines, be sure to check the serpentine belt tensioner as a weak spring may be allowing the belt to slip. And, if you replace the belt on high-mileage engines, it’s a good idea to replace the tensioner, too.

On 2001-’04 Escape/Tribute engines, the crank sensor is relocated to the right side of the crank (as viewed from the front). On the 2000-’03 Lincoln/Jaguar engines, the crank sensor is to the left of the crank, and it is a different sensor with a different angled exciter ring on the crank.

On the 2003-’06 Lincoln and 2003-’04 Jaguar engines with VVT, the front timing cover mounts two camshaft position sensors (one for each intake cam).
Ford has used two basic camshaft variations in the 3.0L Duratec. The early style cams were all the same from 1996 through 2000. But mid-year 2000, Ford changed from a 36-tooth cam sprocket to a 42-tooth gear. The early and late cam gears with different numbers of teeth are not interchangeable.


Timing Chain Service
If you have to remove or replace a cylinder head for any reason, or replace the timing chain on a 3.0L Duratec, it can be a bit of a challenge because Ford doesn’t provide a Top Dead Center (TDC) timing reference mark on the crankshaft. You have to use a dial indicator to find the TDC position of the number one cylinder to make sure the crank and camshafts are all properly aligned.

Ford says that when the crankshaft keyway is positioned at roughly the 11 o’clock position, the number one cylinder should be at TDC.

Before you can remove the timing chain, the front cover has to come off the engine. Then you have to remove the crank sensor pulse wheel. Note the sensor wheel’s location before you remove it.

Rotating the crank until the keyway is at the 3 o’clock position will move the right cylinder head camshafts to the neutral position. The timing mark on the intake cam should be pointing to the right when viewed from the front, and the timing mark on the exhaust cam should be pointing straight up if both cams are in the correct position.

You can now remove the chain tensioner arm, chain guide and right timing chain.

To remove the left timing chain, rotate the crank clockwise 600° (1-2/3rds turn) until the keyway is again at the 11 o’clock position. This will position the left cylinder head cams in the neutral position. This time, the timing mark on the intake cam should be pointing to the left when viewed from the front, and the mark on the exhaust cam should be pointing straight up. As before, you can now remove the chain tensioner arm, chain guide and left timing chain.

Before you can reinstall the timing chains, you need to compress the left and right chain tensioners in a vice. Compress the piston until it is fully bottomed, then temporarily lock it in place with a pin or paper clip.

If the replacement timing chain does not have timing marks for aligning with the cam gears, you’ll have to mark the left and right side chains. Start with the left chain, and mark one link as the starting crankshaft timing mark. Then count 29 links and make a second mark (for the exhaust cam). Continue counting to link number 42 and make a third mark (for the intake cam). The second and third marks should align with the timing marks on the intake and exhaust cams when the chain is slipped into place. The chain tensioner and arm can now be installed.

Next, you do the same procedure for the right cam. But first, you need to rotate the crankshaft 120° clockwise so the crankshaft keyway is at the 3 o’clock position. Mark the right timing chain and install it the same as before.
Once both chains are in place, remove the locking pin or paper clip from the left and right chain tensioners.

Rotate the crankshaft 120° counterclockwise so the keyway is back at the 11 o’clock position and number one piston is at TDC. Check to make sure all the timing marks are aligned as shown in the illustration on page 26.

There should be 12 chain links between the right and left intake and exhaust cam sprocket marks, 27 chain links between the cam gears and crank on the non-tensioned side of each chain, and 30 links between the cam gears and crank on the tensioned side of each chain.

From: Engine Series: A Decade of the Duratec ? Servicing Ford's 3.0L Engine - Tomorrows Technician
This adds a bit more:
Tech Tip: Timing Chain Service on Ford 3.0L Duratec Engines
Seems my description is not so exact... But you can re-assure you have things nailed together properly. tom

 

Not gonna edit for 3rd time.

Read here:
Rebuilding the Ford 3.0L - Engine Builder Magazine

And the following words(sprized me):

The crankshaft position exciter ring has two different index key slots. One is for 3.0L Taurus/Sable with the position sensor on the right side of the engine, and one is used for the Escape/Tribute, which has the crankshaft position sensor on the left side of the engine. If installed incorrectly the engine will run, but very poorly.

I did not know it would run...

Try pushing on the gas pedal when cranking. A sticking IAC won't let air in.

The original Escape 3.0 had the #4 (farthest left looking at the engine) as LAST. Later models had #6 as last. If you swap the COP leads, it will run poorly, have a 'dead miss', and will eat the converter soon with unburned fuel that cooks the substrate to melting temps. It will run, so if the pickup or COP are wrong, it will still run.
tom