5.4 3V Engine Timing Chain Replacement walkthrough video

[Al Steel]

I found a used Expedition that needs a timing chain replacement. Having replaced chains and belts on 4 cylinder engines before, I began to dig around to see what I could be getting myself into on this vehicle, should I buy it.

Ran across this entire video series on replacing a timing chain for the engine in the 2nd-3rd Gen Expys. If you are considering this task, this video series is worth a watch. VERY well done, detailed and literally Step-by-Step. It's long (4 Part series) but worth a watch. Not sure if anyone else has posted a link but I did some quick searching and didn't see it here. Enjoy!

Part 1 - Intro and Accessory removal
Part 2 - Front Cover and Valve Cover removal
Part 3 - Valvetrain Component Removal
Part 4 - Timing and Startup

Forgot to mention that this job, for engine parts alone, is about $600.00. Specialty tools, cleaners, fluids, and other goops will run you over another $100.00 (more if you want to kill-2-birds-with-one-stone and replace oil pump and other wear items while you have the whole front of the engine exposed), so count on $700+ in parts alone to do it correctly. There are non-Ford aftermarket kits that are about 1/2 the cost BUT will most likely cause problems so stick with Ford OEM for a job like this. Buy cheap, buy twice.

If you get a decent tech (one that warranties his/her work) to do the job it will likely run about $1.5-2K in labor. So count on $2K at minimum when pricing this job out. Just FYI and what I have found out through my personal research on the subject.

 

[aldub516]

Hey, from one Al to another. I had a question if you can help. I found this video to be incredibly helpful, as i decide if i want to attempt this repair. Simple (and silly) questions because I am not the smartest when it comes to engines.. That video is for a ford 5.4L 3v engine. My 2005 expedition has a 5.4L V8 engine. I cannot for the life of me find any information that would tell me if this video would work on the 5.4 v8. I understand there are different number of valves, and other differnences, but ive read that the architecture is usually the same. But i cannot confirm if the process would be the same for my engine, as the engine in the video. Any thoughts?

 

[Roast4570]

Your 2005 5.4 V8 is a 3v. I believe the 2v 5.4 was phased out around 2002 in favor of the 3v. So should be the same.

 

[Al Steel]

To my understanding, Expeditions had the 5.4L 2 valve V8 until late May of 2004. After that they used the 3V 5.4L V8, hence the confusion. Ford swapped engines in the middle of a production year. If you have an 05 then you have the 3 valve version.