Ditto on the pictures not working, a little visual reassurance would be a welcome injection of confidence.

 

So I did everything that you posted, except when I started I went brain dead and forgot to hold down the pass side shaft, so when I removed the chain the shaft moved a good amount, and when I tried to move it back to the correct lobe the shaft had tension and completely moved the other direction.

So my question is how do I get the shaft back in to time in order to get the point to putting the timing chains back on and tested?

Do I need to do like it states on the link below?

(How To Remove/Replace/Inspect/Install A Camshaft Phaser Sprocket)

timing « AutoRepairInstructions.com

Thanks in advance.

 

Chhanged image hosting again... if a moderator could throw this in the original post, that'd be greaat...


I did both my cam phasers today in my 2004 F-150. They've both been rattling since I bought it a year ago with 45k on it, and I've been researching the last few weeks before deciding to tackle this job (mostly) by myself. I had my neighbor's help turning some wrenches (we tackled both sides mostly at the same time), as well as a mutual friend who is a master tech at a local Ford dealership. Before starting, let me say that the replacement of the phasers themselves is very straight forward. It's getting to the phasers that's the time consuming part. The job took approximately 7 hours, which included an hour to pull the driver's side valve cover during reassembly after realizing the #8 injector plug had managed to get stuck under it. This writeup assumes that you have basic mechanical knowledge when it comes to your truck. If I mention something like unplugging the coil pack and fuel injector connections, I'm not going to go into detail on that, I'll assume you can figure that out on your own. I'll be focusing on the driver's side job in this writeup, as it's the simpler side, and the techniques can be applied to the passenger side. I'm going off memory here, so this should be used as a general outline, not an every last detail step by step procedure. I might miss minor things here and there, but nothing that common sense can't fill in the blanks for.

A few things to note:

- You do not have to put the motor to TDC or anything since you aren't removing the cams themselves in this procedure
- Try not to run the truck immediately before doing this, this should (probably) keep the lash adjusters somewhat bled down and relieve tension on the cam


Tools needed (recommended, going off memory):
Rotunda/OTC Ford Timing Wedge (new style) #303-1175 - Without this you need to pull the front cover, it's truly worth its weight in gold, although that probably explains why this simple piece of delrin on the end of a stick costs $150+
assorted sockets and wrenches in 7mm,8mm,10mm, 13mm,15mm,18mm
1/4" drive socket wrench and at least two extensions and a swivel
3/4" driver socket wrench, extensions galore, swivel
torque wrench that measures in foot-pounds
1/2" breaker bar with 3/8" adapter
large vice grips
gloves (your hands with thank you)
zip ties (longer the better)
Advil for your back
your beverage of choice
an extra set of hands (helpful for some of the steps)

Parts needed:
Cam phaser kit (3R2Z-6A257-DA) (per side)
Valve cover gasket (3L3Z-6584-EA) (per side)


1) Disconnect battery

2) Remove air intake tube

3) Unbolt power steering reservoir (3 10mm bolts) and move out of way

4) Unbolt power steering reservoir bracket (2 13mm bolts, and 1 18mm bolt at bottom, attached to head)

5) Remove PCV tube from valve cover

6) Unplug main harness on driver's side valve cover (includes cam position sensor, VCT solenoid, fuel injectors, coil packs (you might label the plugs, but the harness is only long enough for them to go to their respective injector/coil) TPS, throttle control, and maybe or two other things)

7) Zip-tie the power steering reservoir and the harness out of the way

8) With the valve cover exposed, used compressed air to blow any dirt away from it, this will keep you from getting dirt in the valvetrain when you pull the cover off

8) Loosen the valve cover bolts (8mm). You do not need to completely remove them, as they retain themselves in the covers just fine once they're unthreaded. The ones that are out in the open are easily accessible. The rearmost will be a challenge. I used a combination of 1/4" extensions, an 8mm deep well, and a swivel to get the back/center bolt loosened, and that was while sitting on the radiator core support with my feet in the engine compartment, and my head resting against the cowl weatherstripping. All I can say is good luck, it isn't fun.

At this point you should have something resembling this:


9) Remove the bolt from the dipstick tube (8mm, you don't need to remove the tube itself)

10) Remove the ignition coil packs (7mm, give them a good twist to free the boot)

11) Remove the Cam Position Sensor from the front of the head

12) At this point, use a pry-bar or screwdriver to break the valve cover loose from the head (be careful to not damage the mating surfaces) and lift the cover off. Make note of the VCT solenoid, you must be careful not to damage this as you remove the cover (see red arrow).



13) Take your timing wedge tool and note the shape of it


14) Insert the timing wedge into the engine in front of the phaser, in between the two paths of the timing chain. The flat portion should be facing the center of the truck, I've tried to illustrate this below. Make sure it is snug, it should not be easily removed. If you mess this up, when you pull the phaser/sprocket off, the timing chain will go slack and you'll end up pulling the front cover and re-timing the whole motor.







15) Use some sort of marking device (I prefer Sharpie silver/metallic markers when working on motors) to index the cam phaser relative to the timing chain, as well as the camshaft itself (this mark is optional since the camshaft is indexed already with the cam phaser, thanks to the dowel pin)



16) Install the vice grip on the front of the camshaft, just behind the cam phaser (not on a lobe!), you'll be needing this to help offset the load on the timing chain when you break the phaser bolt loose

17) Using a breaker bar (or 1/2" drive socket wrench), break the phaser bolt loose while having another set of hands hold the vice grips steady



18) Remove the cam phaser bolt

19) Now's where you find out if you installed the timing wedge correctly. Gently pull the phaser off the end of the camshaft, while working the timing chain off of the sprocket. Hopefully there isn't any tension on the camshaft, although that's why you should have another set of hands holding the camshaft steady, just in case. In my instance, the camshaft had practically zero load on it and stayed put.





20) Transfer the indexing mark on the old cam phaser to the new one



21) Install the new phaser, making sure to line up your reference marks on the new phaser to the timing chain link that you marked before removing the old one. Slide the phaser onto the camshaft (there's a dowel pin that will seat in the camshaft, there's only one way for this to go on). You may need to have your assistant move the camshaft a degree or two one way or the other while you're doing this to get it to seat. Once it is on, install the NEW phaser bolt that came in the kit, finger tight.



22) Have your assistant hold the vice grips while torquing the new TTY bolt to 30ftlbs. Then, using a breaker bar, tighten the bolt an additional quarter turn (90 degrees). I recommend marking the bolt at 12 o-clock after intially torquing it (see second pic below), as you maybe have to make 2 1/8 turns (there's limited room to move a breaker bar in this engine bay), and that'll help keep you situated correctly.




23) Remove the timing wedge

If all went well, and if I haven't left anything out (I'm running on 3 hours of sleep at the moment while writing this), then you should have been successful in changing out your driver's side cam phaser. Start it up and see how it runs. If you messed up your timing marks, you'll know pretty quick as the computer will start throwing codes.

As far as the passenger side goes, a few notes:

- Unplug the PCM and remove it as well as the bracket
- Have a shop discharge/recover the R134 in the A/C system so you can unbolt the hard line that's above the valve cover, you'll need to do this for clearance
- Space is a premium on this side, even more-so than the driver's side
- Don't forget that the timing wedge should be installed opposite of how it was on the driver's side


I'm totally brain-dead at the moment, so that's all I've got right now. If there's any questions, post up and I'll try to answer them, or update this writeup.

 

EDIT: Just realized what you requested.

Original post updated.

Stewart

 

That's as amazing as the job. Where do you find a 10 year old truck with 45k on it?

 

It was 4 years old when I bought it

Thanks!

 

I have read that plastic tensioners are prone to leak , secondary one especially. If I replace with 99' model tensioners, are those better. Also are the guides better on the cloyes timing kit. If not what guides are better. I seen MMR billet aluminum are available but concerned with aluminum shavings getting into engine. Any advice wd be much appreciated

 

I plan on using the metal tensioners. I'm buying melling bt402 and George from melling recommends them over plastic and George also said to not use a gasket.

 

On the 2004 5.4 3v do I have to discharge the A/C and move the line to get the right valve cover off? I did the phaser on the left side but the right looks much harder.

 

No you don't have to but getting the valve cover out and back in is a royal pain in the a@#$ and you might pinch the gasket getting it back in. Blowing the charge in the a/c is not that big of a deal. The only things that you will need is a vacuum pump and a set of gauges to recharge it. Put the system on the vacuum pump and let it evacuate for about a half an hour then recharge with the proper amount of R-134 and oil. I believe it is written on the fan shroud.

 

Wow got my cam phasers replaced and my f150 is quieter than it ever has been. I'm so happy!! Did it myself but it was a hard job.

Ford 5.4 3V Triton Cam Phaser Noise Before and After replacement 2004 F150 - YouTube

 

Thanks for posting this. I really need to do this repair. I did notice that you did not remove the rockers. In the other posts I have read this was done. Any reason? How did you avoid whatever problem they said would result in not doing this.
Tim

 

I did not remove the rockers either. Just like in the write-up you use the vise grips on the camshaft when removing the timing chain. There will be pressure on at least one lobe that may push on the camshaft which in turn may cause it turn one direction or the other. Use the vice grips as a leverage point to keep the camshaft from rotating too quickly. I then used it to pull the cam back into position after installing the new phaser then lining everything up to the timing chain.

 

I know this is an old post but this will help future owners...

The top video is very clearly a broken timing chain guide, probably caused by a failed tensioner. If your engine sounds like this, stop driving it, your timing chain is loose and can skip time resulting in busted valves and huge repair bills.

The noises in the video are caused by the guide pieces catching the chain, basically a bunch of plastic parts are rattling around in there as well as the metal chain bouncing around hitting the covers and stuff. That's why the noise is so random.

 

I see that these are old posts. Does anyone have any updates on their phaser replacements? I have heard after a few thousand miles the noise simply returns.

I have considered replacing the phasers and adding a high volume oil pump. Any thoughts, or has anyone tried this?

Also, I agree, the expedition video in the previous post sounds like the timing chain tensioners have failed and the chain is hitting the cover.