I have been having some work done on my crankshaft ( having it turned and new bearings) and now I'm putting it back together. I had all of my chains and gears lined back up and realized that I hadn't put my oil pump back on. At that point, after cursing extensively, I began removing the timing chain tensioners and timing chains. At that time one of my cams rotated from the valve pressure without moving the chain. Question: I realigned my marks but my question is how can I be sure that my motor is aligned? I have rotated the motor several times and I have no piston valve bind but again how can I be sure that the motor is aligned properly? My idea is to rotate both cams on both sides to TDC position then rotate my crank to TDC position and reconnect my timing chains and tensioners but if there is a way to check and see if my motor is timed up first I would prefer to do that. Any help from someone with experience in this area would be extremely helpful.

 

You could rotate the engine ~60 times to see if all your marks lined back up. I cursed myself at the 30th rotation, but I wanted the peace of mind knowing that I didn't screw something up when I swapped heads. I felt really good when I got my marks lined up again.

Since you have everything apart, I would just start over and get the crankshaft in proper position, and then line up the cams with the marks on the chain.

There are a bunch of great posts and several write ups on ModularDepot. When I swapped heads, that is where I got my info.

 

Alright I've got the motor back together, timed up and everything. Any of you that have done this before check me on this. According to the Hanes Manual the timing marks on my cam should be as follows... Driver side 12 o'clock, Passenger side just before 12 o'clock. I was advised to check modulardepot.com for information on this issue, however, it only showed a 4.6 modular motor and actually refrenced the driver side cam as being just past 12 o'clock. I set the motor to the 5.4 specs in my Hanes Manual and checked with a friend that works for the local Ford Dealer and he says I'm right on. Everything rotates perfect ( God help I rotated it sixty times!) But it was worth the effort. So for anyone who has to reference this in the future just remember to keep your cams in the above mentioned position with your crank at TDC (timing mark on your crank gear will be directly at 6 o'clock at TDC). If anyone else has anything else to add please do. This was one of the tougher issues I have tried to find help on. As I have found out it really isn't that difficult if you just have the info.