There's something in my oil pan !!!
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From: DFW
If you want the Ford instructions on how to time the engine, shoot me an email and ill return one back to you with the PDF attached.
Any chance you could get the piece back by the oil drain hole and break it in half to get it through the hole?
And you said you had a camera in the sensor hole, why not look up through the drain hole and look at the oil pickup screen? Its right there in the deep end of the oil pan.
Any chance you could get the piece back by the oil drain hole and break it in half to get it through the hole?
And you said you had a camera in the sensor hole, why not look up through the drain hole and look at the oil pickup screen? Its right there in the deep end of the oil pan.
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Instructions for timing would be a life saver,i already have the timing chain kit ready.I've been trying to look at the oil pickup with the camara but i cant seem to get it at the right angle,but i already got the piece out.just a piece about one inch square broke no more plastic in the pan and no plastic missing from the guide,should i still be concernd bout the pickup being clogged?The engine is completely sludge free top and bottom...Thanks Patman for your help and concerns...
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Joined: Jun 2011
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From: Dallas
I suspect based on the shape off the pickup tube and the fact that it goes through a opening in the windage tray you may have to remove the bolts holding the pickup tube to the oil pump once you have the pan dropped a couple inches otherwise you will need to lift the motor even higher to get the pan off on the 4x4. Mine is also 4x4 but I had my motor out so I can't say for sure how hard it will be to get the pan off without picking the motor up out of the mounts or how far you will have to pick it up. Based on not seeing any other plastic in the pan once you get the old guides off if you can clearly account for the missing piece vs what you found and removed from the pan I think you would be safe to not remove the pan in my opinion.
As far as timing these motors go the process in the FORD shop manuals works obviously but it is way more difficult than it needs to be and requires special tools. I have the 3V spring tool but still wouldn't do it the way the shop manual says especially on a motor still in a truck. Below is what I did to time a couple of these motors recently.
1)Get the crank at TDC before you remove the old chains and phasers. Take a few pics documenting the timing mark locations on both cams and the crank. The marks should basically look like a Y when the motor is TDC. Passenger side will be about -45 degrees, about +45 degrees for the drivers side and +180 degrees for the crank. Rotate the crank until you see this orientation. You may have to rotate up to 4 times to get there.
2)Remove the phaser bolts, when you pull the phaser the cams will rotate at most 5-10 degrees due to the pressure of the valve springs. I put a good set of vice grips on the cam behind the phaser while removing them and hold it to prevent the cam from rotating quickly when I pull the phaser off. On the 5.4 3V motor there is no interference between the valves and piston so this is a safe process for these motors.
3)Remove the remaining timing components, re-install all including the phaser but don't torque the phaser bolts yet. You will see when you bring the chains up and over the front of the phaser you will be a few chain links off on the timing marks when both on the crank are lined up. All you need to do is use the vice grips again and while working the chain onto the phaser rotate the cam until you have the timing mark on the phaser aligned with the marked chain link. Re-verify all the marks top and bottom and then torque the phaser bolts per spec.
This 3V is really an easy motor to time. If you follow the manual you will also need the 3V spring tool since they will require you to remove a couple rockers to relieve the spring pressure on the cams. You can do it this way but it's pain in the as$ trying not to loose a valve spring keeper. Drop one of those puppies in the wrong place and your pulling alot more stuff. Just my two cents from what I learned personally doing mine and also a friends truck. Both are running great.
I know I will probably get a bunch of comments about not using shop manual procedure but I'm just telling you what I know personally worked for me. Good luck.
As far as timing these motors go the process in the FORD shop manuals works obviously but it is way more difficult than it needs to be and requires special tools. I have the 3V spring tool but still wouldn't do it the way the shop manual says especially on a motor still in a truck. Below is what I did to time a couple of these motors recently.
1)Get the crank at TDC before you remove the old chains and phasers. Take a few pics documenting the timing mark locations on both cams and the crank. The marks should basically look like a Y when the motor is TDC. Passenger side will be about -45 degrees, about +45 degrees for the drivers side and +180 degrees for the crank. Rotate the crank until you see this orientation. You may have to rotate up to 4 times to get there.
2)Remove the phaser bolts, when you pull the phaser the cams will rotate at most 5-10 degrees due to the pressure of the valve springs. I put a good set of vice grips on the cam behind the phaser while removing them and hold it to prevent the cam from rotating quickly when I pull the phaser off. On the 5.4 3V motor there is no interference between the valves and piston so this is a safe process for these motors.
3)Remove the remaining timing components, re-install all including the phaser but don't torque the phaser bolts yet. You will see when you bring the chains up and over the front of the phaser you will be a few chain links off on the timing marks when both on the crank are lined up. All you need to do is use the vice grips again and while working the chain onto the phaser rotate the cam until you have the timing mark on the phaser aligned with the marked chain link. Re-verify all the marks top and bottom and then torque the phaser bolts per spec.
This 3V is really an easy motor to time. If you follow the manual you will also need the 3V spring tool since they will require you to remove a couple rockers to relieve the spring pressure on the cams. You can do it this way but it's pain in the as$ trying not to loose a valve spring keeper. Drop one of those puppies in the wrong place and your pulling alot more stuff. Just my two cents from what I learned personally doing mine and also a friends truck. Both are running great.
I know I will probably get a bunch of comments about not using shop manual procedure but I'm just telling you what I know personally worked for me. Good luck.
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Joined: Aug 2010
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From: Grand Rapids, MI
Oil pan
The oil pan on a 4x4 is not that hard to remove once you have the front cover off. You will need a new gasket, don't try to save the old one. Should be less then a 30 minute job.
Instead of fighting the valve tool to remove the few rocker arms that are "loaded" with pressure when setting the timing, I like to just loosen the bolts (very evenly) that are holding the cam in place. This will allow the cam to push up slightly reliving the pressure and allow you to set the timing without the vise-grips. Before you loosen the cam bolts, make sure you put the new cam phasers on.
Instead of fighting the valve tool to remove the few rocker arms that are "loaded" with pressure when setting the timing, I like to just loosen the bolts (very evenly) that are holding the cam in place. This will allow the cam to push up slightly reliving the pressure and allow you to set the timing without the vise-grips. Before you loosen the cam bolts, make sure you put the new cam phasers on.
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update: Well i got all the timing components on and my timing didnt move at all thank God... I got a pair of visegrips behind the phasers and lockd them against the frame of the truck and tied them down real tight with some copper wire,everything stayd put untill i finished.The o ring on the tensioner was messd up,thats probably what caused the chain to break the guide.(i already spinned the crank a couple of times and everthing seems ok)I wanna thank everyone for all the help,even tho i'm handy with a wrench i would of never pulled it off with you guys,really...(this is the first time i tear into a triton lol) Electron-Jack thanks for the visegrip tip and Dynotech the vacum trick suckd the plastic piece right out of there. I'm so glad i joined this awesome site,Thanks again everyone
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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 140
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From: Dallas
Glad you got it all worked out. Let us know how it runs when you get it fired up. This is a perfect example of why it's good to change your oil yourself. If you had been at one of the quick lube places they would have likely never noticed the plastic that was stuck in the pan and you would have ended up on the side of the road somewhere with a much more costly repair.
