4.6 2V oil pump wear

[lonestarjeff]

I'm doing a timing chain replacement on my 2000 XLT & changing the oil pump while I'm in there. I noticed the old pump has nothing between it & the timing chain drive sprocket. There's definitely wear on the pump case, but not bad for 170k miles......



BTW, my timing kit was a Cloyes kit from Summit which is supposed to be specific for the "6" code Windsor engine, but neither one of the straight chain guides was a fit. I ended up using everything in the kit except those....very disappointed. The Cloyes kit I installed in my F150 a couple of years ago everything was a perfect fit for the Romeo engine.

 

[lonestarjeff]

Another note on the oil pump. I noticed the old pump did not want to separate from the pickup tube after removing all the screws. I basically had to pry them apart at the flange. That should have been a red flag, but after spending too many hours trying to install the new pump it dawned on me the pickup tube must have been slightly out of position in the pan. Just a few millimeters off, but with no way to get any leverage on it might as well have been a mile. No idea how they got it into position at the factory, but I had to rig up a loop & lever to pull the tube over far enough to line up the two.

 

[Hamfisted]

That's normal wear on the oil pump face. How did your new guides compare to your old guides side by side ?




Here's what my stock oil pump looked like at 210k miles ....









.

 

[lonestarjeff]

The original guides are metal with a plastic insert. The new are all plastic with a couple of metal bushings each. The new right side straight guide requires a new long screw(not included)up at the top bushing, the left side straight guide requires a new long screw(not included)at the lower end bushing which replaces one of the oil pump mount screws. Both of the original straight guides accommodate a mounting pin at one end protruding from the block with two screws at the other end. The new all-plastic straight guides don't account for the mounting pins at all.

 

[Hamfisted]

Oh ok. I guess Cloyes doesn't include the bolt ( lame ...) . I used Melling and they included the longer bolts in the kit.




Do your original guides look like the ones in this kit ?








.

 

[lonestarjeff]

Those guides look like my originals. Wish I had ordered the Melling set.

 

[lonestarjeff]

I got the front cover back on without any trouble today, also the left valve cover. The right valve cover is still fighting me, or I should say the 47 or so pipes, cables, hoses, etc Ford decided to route on that side of the engine. Don't remember having so much trouble with the F150, but I guess the convenience of dual heat & a/c comes with some drawbacks

It took me an extra hour fiddling with the right side cover gasket at the back. My big hands & long arms are a tight fit back there, much less work a wrench. I did finally get the cover into position with all mounting bolts except the back one when I did a final reach back there & felt the gasket hanging out. So, I loosened all the cover bolts & called it quits for today(I don't seem to have the stamina for climbing into & under my trucks like I used to).

Hopefully, tomorrow that gasket will cooperate without having to completely pull the cover off again. If so, I may get back on the road tomorrow.

 

[Hamfisted]

Yeah, works best to pull those heater hoses off the firewall. There's a special Ford tool of course. For the valve cover gaskets I spray the gasket canal clean with some brake cleaner then apply some super glue in spots that like to fall out. Works wonders. If you don't remove the heater hoses it can take two people to get that valve cover back in place and still keep your sanity. Good Luck.
If you don't want to go with Ford OEM, I find Melling to be very good.



Ford and Chrysler use these heater hose quick connects. Basically squeeze the white clip, push in on the hose and pull off. Works a little easier with the tool....







.

 

[Ulver]

@lonestarjeff I just did the exact procedure this week on my 2001 4.6 XLT! Doing a timing chain job and went ahead and replaced the oil pump. I had a hard time separating the inlet tube from the pump as well. I had to tilt the pump all the way to the right as far as I could, then used a screwdriver to pop the tube off. I honestly had more of a challenge with that than the Impossible Bolt underneath that everyone speaks about. That was almost a piece of cake with my small 8mm ratcheting wrench.

I'm using the Ford Racing kit for the timing chain that comes with everything, including the long bolt. One thing that I regret that has really stretched this project out is cracking the timing cover. I decided to keep the old reluctor wheel for the crank, and so that with the combination with the new, thicker crank sprocket caused pressure on the timing cover while torque and put a crack right in the middle. So a piece of advice when doing the crank pulley is used all or none of the new components for the crankshaft. Lol.

 

[lonestarjeff]

Got everything back together yesterday. I filled her with 6 qrts & did the pump priming procedure, but no pressure indicated no matter how long I turned it over. I've had the oil pressure sensor/switch quit working on me before, so I took the chance of starting it. No revving of course, but I let it run for 10-15 seconds....long enough to tell there is little or no pressure. Pulled the filter, rigged a tube to squirt some oil into the filter mount supply hole & pre-filled the filter before installing it(that was a mess). All for naught. Still no pressure.

All I can think is the new pump is bad(not likely, but possible), or with all the trouble I had getting to tube to meet & bolt up to the new pump flange I never got it together like I thought I did & air is sucking around the oring.

 

[lonestarjeff]

My plan now(unless someone tells me it won't work)is to try to drop the pan to get at the pump flange screws & hopefully correct the seal problem. I have two concerns....a couple of the pan screws are directly above the front crossmember(2WD), not sure I can get to them much less break them lose; Also, once the pan is free I'm wondering if it has enough room between the pickup tube & front crossmember to slide out. I guess technically it doesn't need to come all the way out, just enough to reach those flange screws.

 

[Hamfisted]

You can drop the cross member to gain more space. All your old guides were intact right ? Nothing that would clog the oil tube intake right ? Might you have damaged the O-ring on the tube/pump mating area ? At least dropping the pan you'll be able to inspect all that. The oil pump mated to the block without too much trouble right ? Just the tube was really difficult to re-install right?


Dropping oil pan on Gen 1 Expedition

 

[lonestarjeff]

Yes, all the old guides were in tact. The new oil pump seemed to mount up to the block just fine. Alignment of the tube flange & pump flange was the issue. Oring damage or the flanges not fully meeting is my guess.

Unfortunately, this truck is 2WD, so removing the crossmember isn't an option. I'm just wondering if I can still move the pan enough to access the flange screws. If not, guess I'll be removing motor mount bolts & lifting the engine a bit. I bet that's fun. :-l

 

[lonestarjeff]

Haven't had time to get back to my oil pressure issue until today. I did pick up a long-reach 1/4" ratchet which allowed me to get the last oil pan screw out. BTW, I kind of expected the pan to be stuck to the block, but it just dropped free. It wouldn't clear the crossmember of course, but the front edge dropped enough to let me get a wrench on the tube flange screws. Both screws were lose.

When I installed them earlier this week(while the pan was installed)I swear they were tight. I was afraid any tighter they would strip out. All I can think is the tube must have been binding against the pan.

Ran out of daylight, but got the pan back on. I'll report back tomorrow if this solves the problem...or not.

 

[lonestarjeff]

Still no oil pressure. Guess I'm pulling the front cover after all. I would have bet tightening up those flange bolts would solve it.

 

[Ulver]

Sounds like you're going through quite a battle with that. Taking the cover off sucks because you have to take all of those bolts out, the pulleys and then clean all of the gasket globs from the head joints.

I'm going through one myself while putting this engine together. I found out yesterday that my cylinder for spark plug threads are damaged in some way and that I have to buy one of those thread insert kits and fix it. Luckily I still have the intake off so it'll be easier with the additional room I have.

 

[Brons2]

Wobble extensions made removing my transmission pan a lot easier, pretty cheap at Harbor Freight.

 

[lonestarjeff]

Wobble extensions made removing my transmission pan a lot easier, pretty cheap at Harbor Freight.......

Yes, I've made extensive use of those myself.

 

[lonestarjeff]

I pulled off the front cover again this week. :-(

All 4 oil pump mounting screws were indeed lose, but especially the 2 that pull it up to the block flange. So the pump was pumping all right, but mostly right back into the pan. Apparently, when I slipped the new pump onto the crankshaft it was hanging up on something. Mind you, I did this at least 3 times before closing up, but when I tried to tighten down the screws it never felt quite right(looking with hindsight). This would also explain why I couldn't quite get the tube flange lined up.

Got things back together & closed up last night. Oil pressure came up soon as I started her up. After doing a little dance I looked under the truck to find a growing puddle of oil on the left side, so I'll be looking this afternoon for what I missed putting things together last night.

You'd think I'd never done this before with all the issues I'm having wrapping this up.

 

[Hamfisted]

Glad you got it straightened out ! Thanks for the update !