Just wanting to give back to the community. This is how I did my timing chain job. It took me about 32 hours over 4 days, so plan accordingly. It came out perfect and runs much better. This job is not for beginners. I have years of DIY mechanical experience but have never done a timing chain job till now. To prepare, I watched every Youtube video on Ford 4.6 and 5.4 timing chains. It can be done at the DIY level but you have to pay close attention to get everything back together as it came off. Engine has 290K miles with no repairs. Chains had been noisy for the last 80,000 miles, so I was expecting the worst. Surprisingly, all plastic chain guides were intact, just some minor cracks starting. Here are the steps I followed, along with video links and photos. 1) This was for a 99 F150 with 4.6 W engine, 2 valve, no cam phasers or coil over plugs. Parts I used: Cloyes timing chain kit and Melling oil pump from Rock Auto, Ford front crank seal, Ford oil pick up tube oring. Felpro valve cover gaskets with grommets. Felpro timing cover gaskets, Blue RTV.

2) Tools I used: Two (must have these) cam locks from Amazon 30-150 Inch lb torque wrench, 5-150 lb torque wrench, 8mm ratcheting wrench, Gearwrench brand from Amazon. Deep metric sockets 7-13 mm, seal puller, bearing race installer set for oil seal, Harmonic balancer puller and installer


3) This is not a 100% complete list, use videos for greater detail. Engine rotation is clockwise when facing front of engine, don’t turn backwards. Don’ t use impact wrench, loosen crank pulley bolt using engine starter briefly and breaker bar placed as shown on driver’s side, 18mm socket. (See photo) Now disconnect battery



4) Support front of truck on jack stands (use two per side for safety).



5) Remove front wheels and front wheel wells.


6) Blow off engine with air.

7) Take photos of every single hose, wire connector, and part before removing, you will need them for later.

8) Drain and catch about a gallon of radiator coolant. Unhook heater hoses from engine tubes (not from firewall), rotate upwards. Drain oil. Remove top EGR hoses and harness connectors from above the valve cover areas. Unhook harnesses all the way from valve covers to front of engine so they can be lifted and zip tied well clear of valve covers. Pull plug boots from passenger side but not driver side. Loosen bottom EGR exhaust pipe, undo top of EGR pipe and swing pipe out

9) Rmv fan and shroud. Place wrench on large fan nut and tap handle with hammer, CCW to remove fan.

10) Chock wheels and set brake, shift to neutral, Set to TDC

11) Loosen 4 fan pulley bolts some while belt is still on.

12) Take photo then remove serpentine belt with rented tool or long ½ inch breaker bar.

13) Spray crank pulley holes out, remove crank pulley with rented puller from parts store.

14) Remove fan pulley, remove idler pulley.

15) Remove timing cover bolts, arrange on cardboard pattern. Photo is of valve cover bolt pattern, PF stands for passenger front. I used a box for timing cover bolts.



16) R front 4 oil pan bolts, loosen all other pan bolts so pan drops about 1 inch at timing cover. This is so you can unhook the oil pump tube.

17) Gently separate oil pan gasket from bottom of timing cover using putty knife.

18) Remove valve covers, remove grommets, clean grooves well. Press new grommets and gaskets in all the way. Do not use any RTV on gaskets, they will slide back out of groove.

19) Remove 15 timing cover bolts and place in cardboard pattern. Tap top of cover with rubber mallet at ears. Wiggle and tilt top forward to release.

20) Make sure truck is in neutral, then turn engine CW to time all 3 engine marks. Turn only CW facing engine, then install cam locks both sides

21) Install cam lock tool bolts evenly, then tighten 1/4 then 1/8 at a time, torque 20 ft lbs

22) Hold cam gears with wrench and remove tensioners

23) Pull Passenger chain guides and chain, place on table at right side of vehicle. Same with driver side, place parts on driver side.

24) Find any broken parts, verify left and right order of new parts carefully. Chain guides look almost identical but one is thicker at dowel so compare to old ones. When matching up new parts compare very carefully, especially the bow shaped chain guides, one is thicker at engine dowel hole.

25) Remove pump with 8mm Gearwrench ratcheting wrench. Place paper towel barrier behind pump bolts in case bolt falls in. Install new oil pump, rotating inside gear till pump slides all the way on touching engine.

26) Verify new chains are about same length as old, maybe slightly shorter. Slide inner crank gear, verify boss faces out as in photo.



Slide on outer crank gear, verify boss faces engine as in photo.


Both bosses touch each other. Slide chain guide and tensioner (L is driver side) and crank gear on at same time to clear, then install passenger side.

27) Trq tensioners to 18ft lbs. Trq chain guides to 89 in lbs

28) Triple check timing chains on all marks, verify locked cams, then pull both pins tensioner pins.



29) Oil the chains

30) Install reluctor wheel with teeth facing forward

31) Install new seal on timing cover

32) Install timing cover gaskets

33) Clean mating surfaces of all gasket areas with Brakeclean. Make sure every bolt is torqued and all chain links line up with timing marks, both tensioner pins pulled, correct tensioners on each side, all is clean, paper towel removed from inside oil pan, etc. This is your last chance to verify all is perfect before installing cover.

34) Place dabs of blue RTV at recommended areas of timing cover, including bottom. (see videos)

35) Install timing cover, follow tightening sequence, trq to 19 ft lbs



36) Put dab of silicone on timing cover gasket. top nubs at valve cover area

37) Carefully support valve cover with one hand under cover and slide all the way to back of engine without bumping gasket. Lower the cover on, then check rear of cover through fender well that gasket has not slipped out of groove. Torque bolts from center of cover outwards in stages, ending at 70 inch lbs torque. Notice in photo how entire passenger cam area is clear of wires and hoses. I unplugged every connector on the harness and lifted it on top of the heater tubes, then zip tied it out of the way.



38) Clean crank pulley keyway, RTV keyway, install with harmonic balancer installer tool, the long one for Fords from Autozone. Install crank bolt and briefly bump tighten with impact wrench. It m ay be possible to torque crank bolt if vehicle is in park, I don't know.

39) Refill oil and radiator.

40) Prime oil system: Unhook crank sensor plug and crank 15 seconds on, 15 seconds off for three times. Now hook up crank sensor and start engine.
Please add your positive comments and tips so we can all help each other.

 

I somehow posted this twice while editing, already requested to delete the older one

 

Nice job!