Howdy folks... I'm trying to replace a timing chain on a customer's truck, and I'm at a loss to what I'm seeing in here..

2001 F150 4x2.
VIN is W code (Romeo)
stamp on valve covers is: 1G 842AA REP (Romeo)
inside the valve covers, it's got the two "camshaft cap clusters" instead of lots of individual caps- so it's a Romeo on the inside...

Anyway, the chains have worn through the plastic on the guides & tensioners down to the aluminum and have even eaten into the ends of the hydraulic tensioners, so I'm replacing everything in there just to be safe. (and hoping there's not enough metal in the engine to kill it next week when I get it put back together.)

So I ordered a complete timing chain setup (new chains, gears, tensioners, guides, etc)..

The parts get here and I start trying to put this thing back together...
the ignition timing ring is different- the new one is thicker, and the crank gear is thinner than the old parts. the old one was stamped steel (chewed up from the chains, thus the replacement). no biggie.. overall thickness is the same, and I know these are updated parts...

here's where it gets fun..
http://blehmco.com/F150/100_0955.jpg
http://blehmco.com/F150/100_0956.jpg

okay.. updated parts again, right? Not necessarily so.... If you try to install the chain guides on the block, the left side guide is missing a bolt hole in the block! http://blehmco.com/F150/100_0959.jpg (see the circled part)
Also note the bolt hole on the end of the original guide is about 2" farther down, and under the chain instead of above it: http://blehmco.com/F150/100_0957.jpg
(circled part again showing where the bolt hole on the new guide should be.. again, note the place is there on the block, but it's not drilled & tapped)

If you go to the other side of the head, everything lines up and there are even the proper bolt holes to put the guide in..
http://blehmco.com/F150/100_0960.jpg
http://blehmco.com/F150/100_0962.jpg

So does anyone have an explanation of WTF ford was thinking here?

According to the dealer, the old guides are from a Windsor engine- but go back to the beginning where everything points to a Romeo.... So why the hell would I have Windsor guides in my Romeo and no bolt holes for the proper one?
The dealership is treating me like an idiot because I ordered the wrong stuff, yet everything I show is what it should be, and it's the engine that's having an identity crisis.

The timing chain tensioners are also different in appearance and makeup, but it looks like they're just a newer design and they'll be fine.

Sure, common sense says to just replace the guide with a Windsor guide, buy a couple more screws, and put it back together... but WHY is this messed up, and how much more crap am I going to run into when I get farther into this?

any thoughts from you fine folks?

 

...Welcome to Ford Truck Enthusiasts! Please read the Guidelines, it will help you to navigate through and understand this site.
Stick around someone will be by shortly to answer your question.
We are happy you have chosen the best source for Fords!

Enjoy FTE....and
JOIN CLUB FTE -SUPPORT THE FORUMS!
…..See you on the boards.

 

The trucks came with Windsor engines. W = Windsor. I believe that the cars mastly use the Romeo engines. Perhaps someone has changed the engine? I believe that the Romeo engines have less bolts in the valve covers than the Winsors do.

 

Err, no.. don't want to be rude but read everything I wrote above again.

Everything BUT that chain guide shows the engine to be a Romeo.. The Romeo was in fact used in the 96-01 F-Series, Expedition, and Econoline.

the W07 in the VIN actually indicates it to be a 4.6L V8 (R). (R)= Romeo.
https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/vin_tools/pdfs/VIN2001.pdf

Stamps on valve covers also show it to be a Romeo as well:
http://www.copcars.com/aerengines/promos/AERCatalog2003V2.0.PDF
look at page 17.
the code stamped on the valve covers of this engine is 1G-842 AA.

So all signs point to Romeo EXCEPT the one oddball chain guide.

very strange. I have a sneaky suspicion the truck started assembly on friday afternoon and was finished on monday morning.

 

W07 = F150 2wd Supercrew.

 

Finally heard back from the dealership... Engine is indeed a Romeo, but their parts database was wrong. The guides belong to an earlier version (~1993)..

They had to go back to the engineering numbers on the parts, and they found some inconsistencies between the computer listings and the print catalogs. surprise surprise...

They are shipping me the proper parts now... Let's just hope I can remember how to put this whole thing back together after sitting there for two weeks!

 

Glad to hear you got it figured out. I couldn't see how Windsor parts got installed in a Romeo engine from the factory. They aren't even close to each other

 

That's pretty much what I was thinking as well, but since this is my first time working this deep on a Ford, I don't have much experience to go on..

Now if you need a Maxima, Altima, Sentra, or 240SX worked on... I can do those in my sleep.