Hello there, I am asking for a buddy of mine, I'm normally over in the Excursion group as that is what I own, but my buddy has a 2011 Expedition with the 5.4. He has 124K miles on it, and was wondering if he should proactively change the timing chain to avoid issues while towing his 24ft travel trailer. He says there aren't any issues that he knows about, but had read he may need to change it, but since it is a rather expensive job he is trying to figure out if it is worth doing it at his current milage or should he wait? Any guidance would be appreciated. I did try the search option and did not find anything specific on when the timing chain should be changed. Thanks

 

If your friend has any excessive noise at start up he should get it diagnosed right away. If his engine has low oil pressure (below 10-15psi) at idle and hot he may be getting excessive wear on the cam bearings and the rollers. Including the cam bearings too.
Youtube FordTechMakuloco makes excellent videos about these problems and how to change out all the parts. Oh, and use Ford parts because you may have to redo this expensive repair a second time if you don't.

I have a 5.4 in my 2007 Navigator with 109,000 miles on it. I too worry too about those chains, tensioners, cam phasers, and low oil pressure.

So, to not get caught with a broken engine I installed a real engine oil pressure gauge, take a periodic oil sample, and studied all the YouTube Ford tech Makuloco videos regarding these valve train problems.
I listen for valve train noise when I start the engine and so far so good. I also use 5W-30 synthetic oil.
If your friend wanted to keep this truck for another 100,000 miles it would make sense to change out all of the cam chain and phaser parts. Probably the oil pump too. But if he has good oil pressure and no extra noises he could just pay attention to any changes in noises and keep driving it. Of course keep the oil very clean.
Happy motoring,
Richard

 

Thanks for the insight, I will pass this info on to him.