problem with roller follower removal

[Andy Rubalcaba]

I need some help - i'm using the OTC tool and following FordTech's video to remove these roller followers, however middle exhaust roller on cylinder one does not make sense to me. he says to point the tool away from the spark plug wel basically, using the edge of cylinder head as a pry point.

that's all fine and dandy, BUT that middle roller on cyl 1. is facing towards the spark plug wel, which means when i orient the tool to stay with the roller follower pointed end, the tool just doesn't fit right. it only fits correctly when facing away from spark plug wel, not towards it. need help!

 

[Andy Rubalcaba]

another question is when I take the OTC tool off, do I just loosen it and take if off or do I need to put pressure on the valve stem as the keepers lift up from taking off the tool?

 

[Vdubnick]

skip using the tool, no need for it, just pull the whole cam

 

[Mikezr]

Ya you gotta pull the cams anyhow if your doing phasers so you can just take it right out now. But to answer the questions a couple of them are tricky so whatever way you can fit the tool in then go for it. When your releasing the tool you don't need to touch the valve only when your tightening it.

 

[Dustin Gebhardt]

Each of the intake valves will have the tool oriented one way, while the exhaust valves will require the tool to come from the other side. Note that you do not need to remove the cam to replace the phasers. I followed the steps by FordTechMakuloco and had no major issues. I will also recommend that you push down on the valves as you are turning the tool to compress the springs. The valves are tight in the guides and the valve stem keepers can fall off if you don't push the valves down while you are compressing the spring. It's a tight fit, so what I did was give the tool a couple of twists (maybe 180° - 360°) and then pushed the valve stem downward. Repeat the twist, then repeat the valve press. I also found that you need to hold the OTC tool tight against the spring/valve stem, as it tends to want to drift toward the edge of the spring. This causes too much pressure on the forks of the tool which can bend them. It took me a few tries to figure out why the forks kept bending.

 

[purevw]

Ya you gotta pull the cams anyhow if your doing phasers so you can just take it right out now. But to answer the questions a couple of them are tricky so whatever way you can fit the tool in then go for it. When your releasing the tool you don't need to touch the valve only when your tightening it.

He didn't state he was doing phasers. It appears he is changing a rocker or two, which I did 60,000 miles ago on my 5.4. If I have another eventually fail, then I will probably get deeper into it, but for now so far so good.

 

[purevw]

Each of the intake valves will have the tool oriented one way, while the exhaust valves will require the tool to come from the other side. Note that you do not need to remove the cam to replace the phasers. I followed the steps by FordTechMakuloco and had no major issues. I will also recommend that you push down on the valves as you are turning the tool to compress the springs. The valves are tight in the guides and the valve stem keepers can fall off if you don't push the valves down while you are compressing the spring. It's a tight fit, so what I did was give the tool a couple of twists (maybe 180° - 360°) and then pushed the valve stem downward. Repeat the twist, then repeat the valve press. I also found that you need to hold the OTC tool tight against the spring/valve stem, as it tends to want to drift toward the edge of the spring. This causes too much pressure on the forks of the tool which can bend them. It took me a few tries to figure out why the forks kept bending.

I did mine also that way. No issues. Also have 60,000 miles since the repair, so anyone stating others will fail in short order are mearly spending your money for you. Removing the cams would lead to a lot of unnecessary parts and labor for just a rocker or two.

 

[Mikezr]

For the small cost of doing all the followers at the same time would be small in comparison to what It cost in the future. Everyone has their own experiences so of course you hear alot of different advice. Take the one that most relates to the job your doing and move on. And no removing the cams doesn't cost anything more and labor wise is hardly even measurable.

 

[Andy Rubalcaba]

I'm replacing all rollers, entire timing kit, metal tensioners, phasers, spark plugs, coils, oil pump and so on.

gonna lift the cams straight out today and use the tool to install new rollers once the timing is done.

 

[Mikezr]

Yep that's how I would do it. Saves a bit of dicking around. What oil pump did you go with? That 8mm bolt in the oil tube can be a load of fun