Being cheap, I made/modified 3 special tools for working on the 3V 5.4L. The first two are necessary to, say, change camshafts on the 3V 5.4L without removing the heads. The latter two are useful if the head is coming off.

Timing wedge (keeps chain in place when the cam gear/phaser comes off). I took a scrap of soft wood, some threaded rod, a few nuts, a drill, and a miter box to come up with this. The angle is 15 degrees, because that was easy on the miter box. It works great; I jammed it in good, and it held the timing chain in place for a couple days while I was messing with the head.





The second is a valve spring compressor intended for the 2V engines. ($30 at Summit) http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFS-90518/. It can be easily modified by very slightly grinding/filing out the slot for the cam lobe to fit the 3V lobes and taking a little more meat out of the area that goes around the rocker arm. WARNING: You may also have to cut down one of the bosses on the left hand head for the tool to fit. I opted to do that instead of weakening the tool since I was tearing the heads off anyway. You could probably remove more of the tool in that area instead.






The third is a plate (I had some 1/2" aluminum laying about) for pressure-testing the head or block while the two are apart. This is how I found that my block was sealing fine but my heads wouldn't unless I tapped on the valves. I used the original head gasket to make the seal. It has a QD connection for air, so you can leave the spark plugs in the head.

 

so that's what the 3 valve heads look like on the inside....?

 

I'm impressed, nice work. I can't believe that OTC timing wedge tool costs $150...

 

wow you cheep bastard lol

jk looks like you should Patten then

 

2005 5.4 f-150----truck has 142,000 bought it used.i drive cross country. so i would like to do preventive maint. i want to change phazers,timing chains,tensioners,guides.i am retired and have many years building drag engines .but no experance on this one. what special tools do i need? (i have factory manual)

 

If you're taking the chains off (and thus re-timing), you don't need the wedge tool at all. A valve spring compressor (either the specialized 3V version or the cheap modified one above) is a must. This head doesn't have the clearance for a universal valve spring compressor. A fan clutch wrench is helpful, as is a good strap wrench. And a crank pully puller. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

 

dam thats pretty impressive the modified valve spring compressor you should get a patten and show the ford ceo`s maybe you can mak some money with it FINNALY SOMEONE SPEAKS UP WITHOUT BEING A SMARTAZZ AND IMPRESSES EVERYONE WITH HIS INVENTIONS

 

great post, thanks for the info

 

To the OP - that's some pretty creative thinking
Just FYI - You can also rent the actual specialty tools from www.shopfreedomracing.com if you're not comfortable or able to build your own "home grown" tools.

 

Does anyone knows the length, width, and height of the wedge tool?

 

What's up guys. Long story short, I purchased an 07 Lariat last Sat w/ the 5.4 and 85k miles. Took it back next day for misfiring and the dealer took care of it. It was misfiring on cylinders 1, 4 and 5, so they replaced all 8 plugs and it's all good. This morning while sitting in the drive way I noticed a rather loud tapping at 1000 rpm's and I'm concerned about the timing. It gets pretty loud if you hold it at 1000 rpms but quites down if you go above or below that. I read about the cam phaser but I'm getting mixed responses about the legitimacy of that being the absolute fix. Anyone shed some light on this or experiencing the same issue? Really concerned because I had a Nissan Maxima back in the day that had timing issues that produced the same sounds and then one day BOOM! It blew a hole in the block and bent all of the valves and that was the end of that. I know were dealing with 2 very different animals between the 2 vehicles but the therory is the same.

 

So dealer says that is a normal noise for this engine and they printed me out a bulletin from Ford from Nov 2010. It states that the "ticking or tapping" sound is most prevalent between 800 and 1200rpm and comes from the VCT? Variable Cam Timer....i think? The bulletin goes on to say that there should be no attempts to repair the noise/sounds as they are normal to the operation of the 3V 5.4 liter Triton engine. Whatever, at this point I'm sick of going back to the dealer as it's an hour drive one way and I already spent enough trips getting the misfire problem sorted out. I bought an extended warranty so.... They assure me that I have nothing to worry about, we'll see I guess. Can anyone explain to me how the VCT works and why the noise is part of "normal operation" Thanks

 

I just experiences the same thing with my 07 mountaineer 97K had ticking noise from left bank. First i took a 24" piece of 1/2" cpvc plumbing pipe ( acts like a stethoscope )and placed it on the engine on different places to listen where the noise was strongest I found at # 7 it had the most noise on the bottom of the valve cover.
I Bought 3 valve rockers and 3 tappets remove cover found two tappets were stuck replaced both tappets and rockers job done ( used video on you-tub for 4.6 three valve remover ) where this guy shows how to remove rockers without specials tools than you can also remove tappets
Ps if VCT is making a lot noise at front of valve cover and engine is missing than you have different problems. Also look for loose pieces of filter in oil passages when pulling tappets (some videos show how to test or clean these out with engine turning over )
Good luck Merry Christmas

 

Sounds like some of you guys have a lot of knowledge about these 5.4 engines , I am working on a 05 5.4 3valve and the marks on the left cam are wrong , checked 3 times to make sure I was not crazy but the left bank is dead when I put the arrow between the links , seems ok when I put the slash mark between the dark links , has anyone heard of this. I don't want to put it all back and find out something else caused this ?

 

What does the wedge go in between? Can some one show one installed that has a front cover off? I am going to replace all adjusters and fillers on the passenger side of a 2005 5.4 3V Expedition. If I buy the special spring compressre $180 not sure if it will fit in on the last #4 cylinder. I can make a wedge, buy a new phaser bolt and remove the cam and will have access to change all the adjusters and followers at one time. Not sure where to put wedge????