HELP - timing chain fell off

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SDR93

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Help - I have a 2009 expedition and there’s a small brass part that sits just infront of the timing chain, that part somehow fell into the timing chain, knocked the chain off and got mangled in the chain (now removed) and the chain then smashed through the valve cover. I know it’s not looking great, but how bad is it and what would the repair involve?

Thanks!
 

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Kevmobile

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That's part of your phasor. For your chain to have that much slack the tensioners are shot. Fordtechmakuloco is your man for these 5.4 3V engines. From the picture, the chain is still on, DO NOT ROTATE THE ENGINE CCW. If this were my rig, I would take all timing components off and replace them with OEM Motorcraft. I think the kit is 1200 on Amazon for all Motorcraft stuff. Again, this doesnt include the valve gaskets or front cover gaskets. For the chain to have jumped up like that it was lose, or that phasor is aftermarket. I am not familiar with any Motorcraft phasor falling apart in such a manner. Take a look at your cams while u have the valve cover off, from this pic, it looks pretty dirty under there.....

Someone else may chime in here, but listing your mileage, is this your daily driver, how much money you're willing to sink into it, any maint. history? etc. will help them out in giving you advice.
 
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SDR93

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Thanks for your reply!

It has 283km on the clock and the rest of the vehicle is in decent shape, it’s not a daily driver as I use a van daily but we use it on weekends and for road trips. The used car market is pretty crazy at the minute here in Canada so if it could be repaired for $4k max I’d probably consider it.

Also hard to tell from that picture but the chain is off, it’s just semi-placed back on. My concern is that it too a decent chunk out of the valve cover and there now seems to be a lot debris inside which can’t be good.

Any other information or advice anyone can chip in with would be greatly appreciated!
 

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JimR_TN

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That piece is part of your cam phasor and for the timing chain to hit the valve cover there is a good chance it jumped timing. Here is a video from Fordtechmakuloco who was mentioned above examining an engine where the timing chain hit the valve cover.

 

Hamfisted

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Your best bet is to replace the motor with a rebuilt motor with warranty. Once you pull the timing cover off, you're likely to find much more damage. As well as valve and piston damage if you ran the motor for any time like this.






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Herby

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Your best bet is to replace the motor with a rebuilt motor with warranty. Once you pull the timing cover off, you're likely to find much more damage. As well as valve and piston damage if you ran the motor for any time like this.






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I would have to agree about replacing the motor. More than likely, there are metal shavings throughout the engine. I would suspect the chain was making contact with the timing cover for some time and just wearing it away. Since this is an interference engine, valves are probably bent. A Powertrain replacement engine should be considered. This option is still cheaper than the purchase of a brand new Expy.
 

wk99

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I'm in the process of doing my timing for the first time after watching https://www.youtube.com/@FordTechMakuloco. The dealership quoted me $4400 and I opted to do it for myself. This is my second timing job since I've owned the rig. First time I had it done it only had a little over 50K miles on it. I have 171,000 miles now. Just cause the phaser came apart doesn't mean you need to replace the engine. You will most likely have to replace the valve cover and all of the timing components. Might want to inspect the valve train to ensure nothing ruined the camshaft, roller-followers, ect. The cheapest option is to order the timing components and do the work yourself. The easiest option is to buy a remanufactured motor online and pay someone to install it. Dealership quoted me just over $7K for a new motor including installation back in 2016. Probably a lot more now. I've paid $1200 on parts and tools so far. The job is tedious. Been working on mine for two weeks now and finally got the engine all broken down. I still think it's worth doing yourself if you have the time. The Ford Tech guy breaks it down step by step. Not to mention you get an instruction manual when you order the timing chain kit from his Amazon link. As someone said, the kit does not come with valve cover gaskets. I opted to go with the Melling metal ratcheting tensioners from the 2V 5.4 since they don't have a rubber gasket that goes bad. The tensioners are the weakest link in the timing components. I'll try and follow up once the job is done. Best of luck.
 

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