2003 Expy Timing Chain Done

Hamfisted, Ok cool, that makes sense. How did your cam, cylinders, and valve seats look when you pulled your heads off?
Have you had any other big issues? I have replaced the intake man, a couple blend door motors, AC condensor. Not too bad really for 145k miles. Burns about a quart ever 4-5,000 miles. I am hoping to get as many miles out this thing as you have.

I had the heads rebuilt at a local head shop, so I didn't see the valve seats myself. But they didn't say anything was out of whack or anything. They just stripped the heads and bead blasted all the carbon off everywhere, re-cut the seats with a three angle cut, resurfaced the valve faces. New springs, seals, and rocker arms. I pulled the crossover off the intake manifold while it was off to inspect it's gasket surface and make sure there was no delamination. I was lucky, there was none. If you don't blow a head gasket you should easily get 250-300k miles out of it before you see any major issues. The oil consumption sounds normal. Use at least a good 10w-30 or 40 oil in it and you should be good to go.

what was the total cost in parts? im at 211K and will have my mechanic do this job

GAIN-MOB said:

what was the total cost in parts? im at 211K and will have my mechanic do this job

Click to expand...

I was at about $800 for everything including the head machine work. The valve seals come with the head gasket kit. The Fel-Pro head gasket kit includes new MLS Permatorque head gaskets too. Pretty much everything you need. You'll need new head bolts since they are "Torque to Yield" bolts, can't re-use the old ones, same with crankshaft bolt. Labor is the big killer on this job. I think the book calls for 24 hours of labor, and most shops stick to that figure. I replaced the springs and rocker arms, which isn't normally part of the job, but I did it for peace of mind.

Okay this is all because of the lies I've been told and had read about concerning our Amazing Ford 5.4 Variable Timing engines. I've been "hot rodding" now for 65 years and at a young age 2 yrs HS auto shop and at 19 began disassembling, inspecting, and overhauling helicopter transmissions. this just means I've been around not smarter, better, or more experienced than any of y'all, just been around. Been through lotta schools too. Do all my own work, incl; body, paint, upholstery, all overhauls, unless i want it done better [which i've needed a few times]. SO NOW EXPEDITIONS, I've two an 06 w/156k n 13 w/132k. I've been using FRANTZ Toilet Paper Filters on eng n trans since 1976. BUT, now or the last two years when driving the 06 it has the timing chain rattle and I've just kept the RPM a little higher at low speeds, PITA, because I'm sorta lazy, and because I figured it was the Tensioner(s) blown gaskets. Finally with the Mrs's after me "hard" all the time for using her 13 i decided to tear it down. A very big PITA. Searching by telephone and online for fixes from independent shops and Ford I found prices ranging rom $2200.oo and $5500.oo and o course Ford recommending a new engine to many of our fellow 5.4 owners. So with the RANTZ filters my oil is "always" like new clean and the filters never showing any any metal or plastic particles. I was concerned about the plastic(?) rails breaking apart, like so many *mechanics* say happens, but yes i'm sure they might[but?] I inspected the rails and found the wear so slight and difficult to see and only one short space was able to "not catch a fingernail" but eel an edge. I've new rails so I'll replace them. BUT, just a visual inspection of the tensioner gasket shows it blew out the same amount in the exact same place on both right and left Tensioner gaskets. The torque was tight on the tensioners, and the tensioners also have a ridge around the edge of the tensioner to hold the gasket in place [so why did it blow out?] but it didn't it blew out at a corner. The engine warranty of 50k just doesn't cover a $2.79 gasket and 2-5,000 dollar repair that fails at over 5k miles. And, i think Ford engineers knew or suspected the plastic or gasket may fail early in the engines life. Now, my dilemma is there is no gasket with the Melling tensioner. I read somewhere, in my very long gasket search, that they are just steel on steel as both are machine surfaces and even after 3yrs of machine shop training in the 1950's ( I understand, but WHA? No gasket ... see old' ). So I must convince myself to reassemble that those machine surfaces without a gasket.

That is correct. No gasket needed on the iron tensioners. Enjoy.

@Hamfisted, The hard parts were the RH valve cover and the power steering pump (WTF man!). Replaced timing, oil pump, water pump, lower radiator hose, all gaskets, all under-hood heater hoses and hot water valve. Motorcraft discontinued one of the heater hoses, and lower radiator hose, so I took your advice and got those from Napa. Both look high quality and made in USA. The cams, roller followers, guides, and everything else all were in good shape. The LH chain had too much play, though. The LH tensioner had a very slight scratch (hardly noticeable) in its gasket, which must have been the problem because the chains were same exact length (no obvious stretching). I tried to replace the roller followers but the tool I had required about 4 hands to use, and there is only room for about half of one (OEM Tools 24434). I later found out the tool was intended for the older SOHC 5.4. The tool for our DOHC 5.4 2V is harder to find, but I found it after I was done with everything. The followers looked fine though, and I can get back in there easily if I need to, now that I know how to get the valve covers off. Runs tight now, good for another 100,000 mi. Thanks for the tips.

Yeah, you gotta get those heater hoses off and out of the way for that RH valve cover. You also have to pull the power steering pump pulley off to get to those mounting bolts. I've done it both ways, and it's just not worth trying to shortcut. It adds many hours of frustration and fatigue. Other than that the jobs pretty easy ! I also use a lot of cordless ratchet tools when doing it. That seems to cut hours off the job too. Hey I use the same work gloves !

@Hamfisted Yes, I used a Milwaukee e-ratchet and it helped alot, although some of the bolts were too tight for it. I was looking at the Dewalt 1/4 in impact because it is small and has more torque than the e-ratchet, but I am too poor.
It was a chunk of work but not too bad. Now that I know what to remove I could crush this job if I needed to do it again. At first, I was afraid to pull the heater hoses and F up the quick-connect O-rings, but as usual I changed my mind halfway through and replaced them anyway, after I lost alot of time working around them. Also I could not see how to pull the AT dipstick tube until I went ballistic, pulled the inner fender skirt and saw the bolt staring right at me (5 minutes for the skirt, 1 minute for the bolt after an hour of frustration), then the RH valve cover came right out.
Yes, would have been way easier if I pulled off the PS pulley. Dumb question, do I need a special puller to remove the pulley, or just remove the hexhead (with an impact, I guess)?
I like those orange gloves because they hold up. Other kinds shred too easily and then I get gear oil on my hands that makes me smell like Pigpen for a year.

Yes, it's a special puller. But it works on most all PS pulleys. You use it to remove, and re-install the pulley.
You'd be there a long time if you tried to remove that hex head, that's the PS pump shaft.
Those are the heaviest mil gloves I could find too. There's a bunch of YouTube videos out there on how to use the puller, and the kits are cheap.
Yeah, I used my Milwaukee cordless extended 1/4" ratchet and the 3/8" 18v ratchet almost exclusively on the job. Re-assembly was a mix of tools though.


PS Pulley Removal Kit on Amazon










.