2010 Eddie Bauer 257,000 miles
Hope you guys are good. This post will be a long one but I will try to keep it as organized as possible.
So I heard a ticking noise from my Expedition and went down the google/ youtube rabbithole of research to try and figure it out. As much as I wanted it to be anything but the timing, all googles lead to something being wrong with either the timing system, lash adjusters, or rocker followers. I will try to detail my experience, parts, and resources used to complete the job.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Parts
2. Resources
3. Tools
4. My Experience
5. Conclusion
PARTS
3R2Z6A257DA (X2)- cam phasers
3L3Z6279DA (X2) phaser bolt (my phaser bolts came in the phaser box and I didn't order separate)
XL1Z6L266AA (X1) l tensioner
1L3Z6L266AA (X1) r tensioner
F85Z6K255AA (X1) r tensioner arm
4L3Z6M256AA (X1) r guide
F85Z6M274AA (X1) l tensioner arm
2L1Z6L297AA (X1) l guide
XL3Z6306AA (X1) timing drive gear sprocket
XW4Z6700AA (X1) crankshaft front seal
3L3Z6020EA (X1) center timing cover gasket
3L3Z6020FA (X1) r timing cover gasket
3L3Z6020DA (X1) l timing cover gasket
5L3Z6268A (X2) timing chain
All the above parts came in one set for me including [F5RZ-6A340-B (X1) Crankshaft Pulley Harmonic Balancer Bolt] which was not listed with the kit
XW1Z-12A227-AC (X1) crankshaft position trigger wheel
FORD M65293V complete rocker arm and lash adjuster set
Melling M340HV Oil Pump
FORD VCT Control Solenoid 8L3Z-6M280-B 9 (X2)
FEL-PRO VS 50687 R Valve Cover Gasket Set
Fel-Pro ES71426 VCT Grommet Set or do OEM 7L1Z-6C535-AA
MOTORCRAFT FL-820-S Oil Filter
Extra parts I got because I might as well change them out because I'm already in there and they're coming out anyways (besides injectors)
MOTORCRAFT SP-509-X (X8) spark plugs
Bosch 62406 (X8) Fuel Injectors - I think these are the same as oem because they looked identical to the oem ones besides part numbers
MOTORCRAFT BT165 (X1) Belt Tensioner
MOTORCRAFT YS385 (X2) smooth idler pulleys
Gates 36157 (X1) ribbed (for mrs fords pleasure) idler pulley - rockauto didn't have oem
Dayco PB1116N (X1) harmonic balancer/crank pulley - rockauto didn't have oem
MOTORCRAFT JK61033 (X1) serpentine belt
Also got stabilus hood supports from rockauto for $15 on wholesaler closeout - my supports were already kinda weak and why not have that extra assurance for $15 that the hood will stay up when I'm under it
RESOURCES
these are not the exact titles but you can search the author name with expedition or 5.4l and my description to find each video
I also downloaded these from youtube to my laptop that I kept on the passenger seat so I could refer back easily anytime
FORDTECHMAKULOCO:
TIMING JOB PARTS 1-4
OIL PUMP REPLACE
ROCKER ROLLER FOLLOWERS REPLACE
DID I MISTIME AND DESTROY
HOW TO DESTROY PERFECTLY FINE WITH TIMING JOB
DIYORDIE:
TIMING JOB ON EXPEDITION PARTS 1-3
This guys videos helped me a lot. They help you see what you're dealing with when it comes to the 3rd gen vs the 2nd gen FTM works on.
Also he has an amazing trick for removing the crank pulley! The way he says FTM's name is now how I say it.
TRQ:
HOW TO REMOVE PASSENGER VALVE COVER
HOW TO REMOVE DRIVER VALVE COVER
HOW TO CHANGE FUEL INJECTORS
the first 2 vids can help you visualize the job
MELLING:
TUTORIAL FOR PRIMING YOUR FORD MODULAR OIL PUMP
Melling tech director Cale shows how to prime the oil pump on your Ford Modular engines!If you have technical questions, please call 800-777-8172 or fill out...
www.youtube.com
-edited my original post to add this and found this from a post by
@eddytheexpy
TOOLS
These are what I used. You may already have better ones at home. Most were from amazon.
Vgate vLinker FS OBD2 USB Adapter for FORScan HS/MS-CAN Auto Switch
- cheap and easy way to check your codes and do live diagnosis and checking of systems before and after fixing
All the sockets you'll need and maybe a few more:
8mm
10mm
12mm - normal and also deep to remove power steering reservoir
13mm
14mm
15mm
16mm - I can't remember if I ever needed or used this one
17mm
18mm - normal and deep - I think this one comes as deep usually but the smaller one helped me with the crank bolt because there's not all that extra socket hanging
19mm - normal and deep - usually deep again? the smaller one helps with turning the petcock which was stuck for me without this
20mm
21mm
22mm
32mm - 6 point for rotating crank
Flex Ratchet Wrench Set: 8mm,10mm,13mm,14mm,17mm
1/2in breaker bar
-can be used for tensioner pulley as is
-use with 32mm socket to rotate crank
Torque Wrench
- I got a 3/8in one (but you can get what suits you)
- mine was capable of going from 5-70 Nm of torque (just google conversion from pound feet or inch pounds to Nm) which covered all torque needs
Amazon socket/ screwdriver wrench set: there's a bunch on there
- this was a cheap piece of garbage - 13mm socket split when I was torquing down pulleys
- the extensions helped a lot getting into weird areas but even two of those broke on me
Cordless Impact wrench
- mine had a 1/2in attachment at the front
Socket Adapter Converter kit
- this thing helped make all of my different sized tools compatible from 1/2in to 3/8in to whatever size the handheld one was
- I also used this as a makeshift extension by converting up and then down in series just to get a better reach for my socket
Thin piece of rebar metal
- maybe 3ft long
- found it on the ground lol
- used to help hold brake booster line up and out of the way
- taped a strong magnet to it and used for fallen nuts and bolts retrieval
Bedalio Valve Spring Compressor Tool Kit Compatible with Ford 4.6L 5.4L 6.8L 3V Engine
- hot garbage
- the compressor tool to remove rocker arms was not the right size
- it had a height adjusting knob at the top of the part that you place on the valve spring
- even with the knob in the lowest position, I couldn't screw on the top
- if I removed the knob then I could screw on the top but not make enough leverage to pop out the rocker arm
- I made as much leverage as possible with the adjustable knob removed and then just popped off rocker arm with a screwdriver or catclaw
- the screwdriver method is very risky and not recommended because you can damage the cam lobe but I didn't have to use too much force because the tool had already put a good amount of tension in there
- the other parts like phaser locker and timing tool worked fine
- I would never recommend using a no name Chinese brands crank bolts and these guys gave 3
OEMTOOLS 25090 Harmonic Balancer Puller
Some sort of Hose Clamps Pliers
-normal pliers did not do a good job for me and the locking mechanism on the hose clamps did not stay in the open position for long
Permatex ULTRA BLACK gasket maker
Permatex Blue Threadlocker
Genuine GM Fluid 88862628 Rust Penetrant and Inhibitor
- I coldn't find the one FTM recommended but this one did the job
Liquid Wrench L803 Anti-Seize Dielectric Grease
- perfect for me and what I needed it for, maybe you'll wanna get a more heavy duty grease but I used motor oil to put in the seals and this for the screws, battery terminals, and spark plugs
CRC Gasket Remover
- got it just in case but didn't really need it except maybe on VCT gaskets
Brake Cleaner
- I got one can initially but definitely needed two
- the brand I used is WEICON and it worked better for me than all other cleaners I tried
- look up the safety data sheet to see what your brake cleaner is composed of
Engine Degreaser
- no name brand and nowhere near as effective as the brake cleaner for me
Compressed Air Cans x3
Rubber Mallet
- helped me in a lot of places I'd never use a metal hammer but still wanted to give some force
Step Stool or Step ladder that can get you to standing height around top of bumper height
- really helped me reaching in the back and side areas
Silicone tube/ hose to help with draining radiator
- 7mm or 9/32in internal diameter
- I had to stretch the hole just a bit to get a nice fit at the petcock valve
A 100 pack of cheap shop towels
Nitrile Gloves pack
Corrugated Tubing for Wire Loom
- after 257k miles my wire harnesses would crumble in some spots just by holding them
- I put this around the original harness to reinforce it in any areas that were either looking like they would crumble, had already crumbled, or were gonna be getting moved around a lot
Wiring Loom Harness Tape for automobile
- electrical tape will not hold up in your engine bay and will dry out and fall apart
- this is made for use in cars and I used it to wrap around the areas I reinforced with the tubing
Zipties
- hold wiring harnesses up and out of the way especially on passenger side
Sandwich bags
- easy way to label screws or bolts you can't put back on the car for storage along with putting their size if you want
- just tape the bag to the part it came off with
MY EXPERIENCE
Let's start with the timing kit I got
- ordered from oemselectautoparts (Ford Dealer in PA) off ebay
- I specifically mentioned in the purchase notes to pack everything with care because shippers are gonna toss the boxes around
- they did not listen to my request and everything was sent in one giant box with plenty of space for things to shake around, but at least they put that one piece of bubble wrap in there
- one of the cam phasers came damaged (These damage very easily in shipping because of how heavy they are compared to their small size. The "arms" at the front of the phaser will cut through the inner bubble wrap and then box and even the shipping box because they get shaken in shipping. Then they get bent from resting under the weight of the phaser and the part becomes useless)
- luckily ebay gave me a full refund and said I could keep the rest of the kit
- huge hassle to get the one phaser and it took 2 weeks because the first replacement one I got from amazon also was damaged
TASCA PARTS CAN ROT IN HELL
- their website said they had 50 phasers in stock so I placed an order
- 3 days later and still not shipped
- they never replied to any emails I sent customer service
- the chat now box on their website (3rd party outsourced customer service) told me that the stock they list is not reflective of actual stock
- essentially they can say they have 50 parts in stock when they have 0 and then there's 5 days of processing an order before they ship that they don't mention before checkout
- endless BS games and no customer service response until I sent a rude one saying respond today or I chargeback my card and they respond within an hour with more BS so I said to cancel and then informed my card carrier of what was happening with screenshots and told them to not let the charge go through. No reply from tasca until I said my card carrier has been notified and you'll be doing fraud if anyhting shady goes on. 15 min later they respond and say my order has been cancelled. Once they realize they're playing a legal game they respond extremely fast.
- Don't ever shop there in my opinion.
RockAuto took my order and shipped the phaser within 6 hours
THE ACTUAL JOB:
This will just be my notes and possibly helpful tips. The real guides are the videos
GET YOUR CAR WASHED AND DETAILED
- I wish I did this before starting this job
- so much muck in the engine bay that would not have been there
- I am a bit of a worrier so I was cleaning a lot multiple times throughout this process to make sure no dirt or grime went somewhere it shouldn't have
- my lower timing cover area was filthy as well and my crank sensor and transmission cooler lines were almost completely hidden by grime
- this would've saved me hours I think and this timing job does not make a huge mess so you won't have wasted money on a wash
I put down all the rear seats and had a layer of cardboard covering them so I could store parts. Be mindful to not fully close the rear liftgate and block off the mecahnism with a small piece of cardboard. Once the battery is disconnected you will not be able to open the rear liftgate if it is closed.
If you are changing fuel injectors watch that vid to see how they empty the fuel rails and then unplug the battery after emptying. You can then put the relay back where it came from rather than storing elsewhere and risk losing or damaging it.
BATTERY
Does not need to be removed. I disconnected the negative terminal and the connections that attach to positive terminal.
SPARK PLUGS
FTM does say that the job would be a lot easier with them out but he does not remove because he has the 2 piece plugs. Well we have the 1 piece ones so let's take them out.
RADIATOR DRAINING
I started the timing job by draining the radiator via petcock so that it would be good and drained by the time I took the hoses off and no spills. I ended up draining about 5L of coolant. When it came time to fill the coolant back up I could only get about 2.5-3L in there. Anyone able to explain why this is happening? For now I'm just keeping the remaining coolant and a funnel in the car to fill up the reservoir if my car decides to remember that it took 5L.
OIL DIPSTICK
For the oil dipstick I just taped the screw to the top of the dipstick so I would have the visual reminder it needs to be screwed back in.
POWER STEERING
Power steering reservoir I wrapped in tape after unscrewing it so that the cap wouldn't come off accidentally while it's moving around. I also ended up loosely ziptying it to the harness from the powerbox so that it wasn't constantly knocking into the fins at the back of the radiator.
I did not need the flex head socket to take out the power steering pump like these guys mentioned in the videos. Just remove the oil filter to get better access to the bottom bolt. Make sure to take out the bottom bolt first! I made this mistake of doing it last and had to push the weight of the pump up while unscrewing
Putting this back on was one of the worst parts of the job for me. I ended up looping my old serpentine belt through the loops on the pulley and then tied the belt around the air box so that there was something supporting the weight enough for me to steady the pump and get one screw threaded. The Ford engineer that thought it was ok to be angling screws at a 130
° can go to hell.
OIL PUMP
FTM has this frustrating habit of cutting out all the work he does on installing something and shows only how he started and then the final result. You can even see where he cut the video on this install and says just finesse it in. (He is still a wealth of knowledge and I'm grateful to him for this guide) The pump did not finesse in for me. It took a long time and lots of googling to see if I was dumb or if others also had trouble with this. Others did have trouble but I could still be dumb lol. So what ended up working for me was to get the pump as close as possible to fitting and then rotating the crank (only clockwise) to get it to fit on. If you do need to rotate the crank then make sure you give it two 360
° turns to bring it back to where you left off. Idk what the purpose of this would be but I just wanted everything to be in the same position as in FTM videos (remember he gives the crank another 360
° to have the cam lobes at 11 o'clock position for rocker arm removal)
Towels at the back of the oil pan are a must to prevent screw loss. Also magnet on a stick helps with retrieval. The reinstall of the screws was not too bad for me. I took a long piece of thread (brightly colored different from any colors in that area so I could find it easily if needed) and wrapped it around the base of the screw a bunch of times and then pulled the thread through the hole in my gear wrench and pulled it tight so the screw couldn't wiggle at all. Then wrapped my gear wrench handle a bunch of times as well with the same thread for good measure. After that it was really easy to get the screw into the weird spot and started as well. Once I was sure it was sitting properly in the threads but not fully screwed in I just undid the thread and removed completely before tightening all the way.
VALVE AND TIMING COVERS
I preferred to clean these as soon as they came off so there'd be an extended drying time.
The real difficulties for me came in removing the VCT seals and installing the crank seal.
VALVE COVERS
For the passenger valve cover to come out I had to lift it up off the VCT but still leave it in that area. Then I removed the VCT and this made enough space for the cover to come out. When reinstalling the passenger I did the reverse and waited until the valve cover was in place near the valves but still not covering before installing the new VCT
My VCT seals were damn near baked in place and I even sliced my hand on the valve cover when my screwdriver slipped while trying to pry it out. I even took a wire wheel brush and connected it with my drill to clean out the VCT. And that's how I found out there is a metal ring in the center of the VCT seal and mine was still completely baked in. This is the only stage where the CRC may have helped. What I ended up doing was turning the cover upside down and sticking a long flathead screwdriver inbetween the valve cover lip and the VCT Gasket and hammering away with the rubber mallet. The hammering was making so much noise that I stuck a rubber flip flop underneath the valve cover at either end to quiet it. After adding the flip flop the gasket came out in 3 hits. I'll leave some scientist to explain the why but just try it out.
TIMING COVER
Same thing as the valve covers but this was me trying to get the crank seal in. Lots of hammering and lots of noise. As soon as I tried the flip flop method the seal was seated properly within 2 minutes.
You don't have to use flip flops lol but something about there being a shock abosrber underneath the covers lets the seals slide right in and out without any trouble.
One of my timing cover oem gaskets was too long and I didn't know what to do. I found a thread where a guy had a gasket too fat and he put it in the fridge and it fit and this worked for my too long gasket as well.
CRANK PULLEY
This one was really hard for me to get seated for some reason. I started out with my rubber mallet and some circular chunk of wood trying to get it in far enough to screw but no luck. I ended up putting my 32mm socket sideways (it's not big enought to contact the pulley on all sides head on) and tapping with a metal hammer and it was on within 5 decent but not crazy hard taps. So reverse of the flip flop method here lol.
ROCKER ARMS AND LASH ADJUSTERS
It's not really mentioned anywhere but these guys are just sitting there under the cams and can be picked up once the cams are out, hands for rockers and pliers to grip the top of the lash adjusters. There is nothing holding them down once the cams are out. This was I guess very obvious to a lot of people but I was very confused on how to handle this step because I have no car knowhow aside from the video guides.
This is one place I completely ignored FTM and I will not recommend you do the same. Just sharing what I did. He said that after getting your truck timed right with the free spinning cams to then individually put each rocker arm in with the valve compressor tool. Yeah well my tool was garbage and that seemed extremely tedious as well. I also thought that there is no way they take the time to do each one individually like that at Ford but idk. So I put each rocker arm in place and then carefully laid the cam down on top. If even one rocker arm is out of place this can really ruin your engine upon startup (I assume) so I checked each one multiple times after securing the cams in place. Now this means that the cams cannot rotate freely because of the rockers so what I did was to compare to the videos and see what angle the cam was at once it was timed and try to lay the cam in that position while keeping the rockers set and then tighten down the caps. I did have to move the driver's cam a bit to get perfect timing. I just put my breaker bar on the phaser bolt and used it to rotate the little bit needed to line up all the dots and timing marks. For driver's side cam this meant rotating in the same direction as loosening the bolt so then I reattached the phaser lock tool and rechecked my torque on the phaser. Passenger side was much easier for me. Also I do need to clarify the importance of laying down the phasers as close to their proper timing position as possible so you don't have to rotate much, I did max 10
° of rotation. Another issue with this was that it was much harder to get the tensioners in place but I got it done with a little bit of phaser rotation once again (but I rotated the crank this time because everything was attached via chain and once again very subtle movements before rechecking position with the timing tool). This worked for me. At least for now. Time will tell. But everything is fine right now.
CONCLUSION
I could not have done this without FORDTECHMAKULOCO and DIYORDIE
Happy this job is finished and that it went well
The truck sounds totally different now in a good way, but those fuel injectors are still very loud
I read lots of comments where people finished this in one or two days and that's how long I thought it'd take me
It took me more like 7 or 8 days and there were lots of setbacks but my only thought was well now this car is here and open, the only way it'll leave is if I pay a crazy amount of money for a tow and shop or I figure it out and fix it and drive it out. So I figured it out.
If I can do it then you definitely can. Just take your time and watch the videos and BE PATIENT! Almost every time I made a mistake was because I lost patience and tried to rush.
Good Luck
