Problem: Overheating due to coolant consumption, coolant loss.
Previous owner stated this problem existed for a long time (2 years). He had it worked on by a local work from home mechanic. The mechanic report indicated P304 and P305 codes, misfire for cylinders 4 and 5. Mechanic replaced intake manifold gaskets, and then the car started to leak coolant out the exhaust pipe. Problem became worse. The mechanic report indicates blown head gasket or cracked head. Also indicated were compression results for cylinder 4 and 5, 152psi and 122psi respectively. Why other cylinder compression results were not posted on the report is beyond me. Maybe he was lazy and didn't actually complete the other cylinder compression tests. His report indicated new coolant was added to the system.
Test Drive: Engine startup revealed a definite misfire condition on multiple cylinders. On the test drive, the engine made a very severe whining noise at the front near the timing chains. Other noises made it sound as if a cylinder main bearing had given out. Steam exiting from the tailpipe, and a quick squeeze to the upper radiator hose indicated lots of air in the system.Diagnosis: Blown intake manifold gasket, right bank. Upon removal of the intake manifold, I noticed that the intake manifold was tightened down way beyond the 22 ft. lb spec, like monster tightened. With the intake manifold removed, I inspected the mating surfaces of the lower intake manifold, and the head. Nothing unusual found. Inspected the gaskets for damage. Located torn rubber seal at the intake port of cylinder 4. This is right next to the water cooling passage. A chunk of the seal is missing. This appears to be a fel-pro gasket with the blue seal around the ports.
Compression tests yielded:
- 120 psi
- 110 psi
- 120 psi
- 115 psi
- 100 psi
- 90 psi
- 30 psi Oil test brought pressure up to 110 psi. Leak down test indicates leak at intake valve. hmmm. Scratching my head on this one.
- 90 psi
- My compression tester kit comes with a 14mm connector, but it's too shallow to grab any threads down in the cylinder head of this Ford 5.4L engine
- To remedy this I bought 14mm spark plug non-foulers ($5.00), and cut off the head down to the threaded inserts at the top of the spark plug fouler with a hack saw (any special Ford adaptor will run upwards of $13)
- I also placed an o-ring at the bottom of the spark plug fouler to get a good seal during testing
With lower pressure at cylinder 7 and shared low pressure at cylinders 6 and 8, I suspect the head gasket is blown at cylinder 7. While I did this compression test with the intake manifold off of the vehicle, I was not looking or expecting spec numbers for the compression test. My main goal was to see if there were any significant drops in compression between cylinders. I'm not too concerned with compression being at spec by the book right now. The main point is to look for low compression at any given cylinder, which I found at cylinder #7. A few drops of oil added to cyl 7 and compression rose to 110 psi. A leak down test found air leaking at the intake valve.
Fix:
I decided to remove the engine, which required removing the heads first, and then the block due to clearance issues. I left the radiator in place, but had to remove the front bumper to gain enough clearance for my hoist. What a pain!
The LH head where cylinder 7 resides, had leaks in the intake valve due to deposits on the valve seating area. In fact, all the valves had carbon buildup enough to cause a small amount of leakage. With both heads off the vehicle, I removed all the valves and cleaned them. I scrapped off carbon buildup,and then lapped the intake valved. The exhaust valves didn't require lapping.
With the block on the engine stand I removed piston #7 to inspect for bad rings due to the compression test results rising when I added oil for the wet test. All 3 rings appeared normal, no significant wear.
Both head surfaces were cleaned, and scraped free of old gasket materials. I have to say, that after working on Hondas, these Ford heads are cast dirty when compared to the Japanese counterparts. The coolant and oil passages on the head still have sharp edges from aluminum slag buildup during the manufacturing process, which poke out above the flat surface. While the excessive slag around the ports are inconvenient for quick and easy cleaning of old gasket material, this is sloppy quality control on Ford's part.
With new head gaskets in place, I installed new head TTY bolts and torqued to spec. Installed head
1. 30 ft/lbs Tightened to 30ft/lbs, and then painted each bolt with a vertical line, and a cross bar at the bottom of the bolt, so it looks like an upside down T. (Once it is torqued to yield, it will be an upright T.)
2. Turn 90 deg.
3. Turn 90 deg.
Let me scream about something here. After that second 90 degree turn, several of the bolts went limp, feeling like it stripped inside the block. If you've tightened down a bolt into any aluminum part of an engine, and tightened it too much, you know the feeling of dread of a stripped bolt. It kind of slips past that point of "it can't turn any more." Well, at least 4 or 5 of the bolts did this, and let me tell you how I almost lost sleep over it after cussing under my breath for about an hour.
I Googled this, to see if I had indeed messed up big time. I Youtubed it, watching many videos. And then I found this fel-pro information page, so I didn't have to worry any longer.
http://www.felpro-only.com/blog/proper-installation-use-t-t-y-bolts/
Felpro does a decent job explaining TTY bolts and includes this nifty pic:
What a life saver! I read all of the forum questions until I got to one that sounded like my problem.
I’m torqueing the TTY bolts per the manufacturer. Bolts 1-8 in sequence to 33 ft/lbs then 90 degrees then 90 degrees again. During the last 90 degree turn a couple of bolts felt like they yielded and turned a little easier than the previous 90 degree turn. I’m concerned that they are not clamping properly and may have over-stretched to the point of breaking. My gut feeling is to remove them in reverse sequence, remove the head, inspect and clean if necessary, install a new head gasket and install new bolts. I’m using Fel-Pro TTY bolts. I’m wondering if I torqued them a little beyond 33 ft/lbs. I used my beam initially on all the bolts but switched to a clicker type set at 396 in/lbs to set the 33 ft/lbs. It seemed that after using the beam and then using the clicker that the clicker turned the bolt about another 1/8 turn to reached the 396 in/lbs. Subsequent 90 degree turning seem tight and the 2nd pass at 90 degrees felt like the bolt had gotten slightly easier to turn as I had previously mentioned. Am I over-reacting? I don’t want to loosen and tighten any of the bolts again. I don’t recall exactly which one yielded under load since at the time it didn’t occur that I may have over-tightened them. I had initially torqued bolts 1-8 in several passes to the 33 ft/lb spec. I didn’t just torque them directly to 33 ft/lbs in sequence.Felpro's reply:
No need to panic. What you felt during the last 90 degrees is normal. That is the bolt stretching. Once the bolt starts to go into the “plastic” region that means no more torque is being applied to the head gasket. You may or may not feel all the bolts get easier on that second 90 degree pass. Depends on the angle you’re standing at, how far you may have to reach, etc.
Beam type torque wrenches tend to be more accurate than clicker style ones. The gasket will settle a little bit after the initial torque up you did with the beam wrench. Going back over them with the clicker did not hurt anything, it just made sure the bolts were at 33 ft. lbs. Don’t worry if you feel you were a few pounds over the 33 ft. lb. number.
Leave it alone, the installation you did will be just fine. Continue on assembling your project, good luck, and thank you for contacting us!
The Ford 5.4L V-8 engine. When facing the engine, the left side is considered the RIGHT bank, and the right side of the engine is considered the LEFT bank. Markings on the camshaft gears indicate LH or RH.
This is the RIGHT bank. This is the LEFT bank.
With the crank and cams lined up properly and the chains and guides installed, I installed the timing chain tensioners. The left tensioner fit snugly. The right went into place. I manually rotated the engine a dozen times and noticed chain slap on the right side, upper chain guide at every half revolution of the engine. I wedged a metal bar between the chain tensioner and backside of the guide, and rotated the engine a few more times. No chain slap. I'm worried about the RH timing chain tensioner. A new chain set with tensioners, aftermarket, runs above $100. I've read other DIYer's who have replaced the timing chain tensioner only to have the timing chain slap return in less than 10,000 miles. As a career technician, this is unacceptable. I have to find the root cause and analyze an effective solution.
Timing Chain Slap
After some lengthy research I discovered a root cause of the timing chain slap. The common fix by many is to replace the timing chain and tensioners. Owners report having to repeat this procedure after 10 to 30 thousand miles, where the problem reoccurs. What I discovered in researching this issue, is that the timing chain tensioners have very small orifices through which oil is pumped. These orifices can get clogged with sludge, preventing the hydraulic action of the tensioner. The oil pump, pumps oil through the engine, and into these tensioners, and through hydraulic action will maintain tension on the chain. Without the oil pumping through the tensioner, it collapses back and you get chain slap. A new set of tensioners run upwards of $80. Ford revised the tensioner design year after year, and they still failed more often than they should have. My solution is to save money by tearing down the tensioners and giving them a good cleaning. I also ordered a Melling oil pump. The Ford pump is all aluminum, and eventually fails at the back plate, allowing oil to seep past the backing plate instead of going where it needs to go in the engine. Watch this video from Jasper Engines & Transmissions, and you'll understand why you should replace your oil pump with this cast iron, steel backing plate from Melling. Jasper by the way, uses Melling pumps in their engine rebuilds.
This convinced me to buy a Melling. You can locate one here:
Melling M176 Oil Pump for 4.6 L (281) V8 Engine
Once the Melling oil pump arrived it was primed by pouring oil into the oil pickup tube inlet, and the pump rotated by hand. Since this is a fuel injected engine, there is no distributor mechanism to turn to prime the oil pump. The only other option is to install a oil pressurization kit at the oil filter pressure pickup on the oil filter housing, and pressurize oil into the pump. If you don't have this fancy kit, you can pour oil into the pickup tube and rotate it by hand like I did. It works just fine.
I'm missing pictures, but I'll do my best to find some. Now some of you might be wondering, why not just buy a new set and be done with it? Well, this is a Ford after all. And during the course of rebuilding this particular vehicle, every little thing needed replacement, and every little thing costs money, and it adds up. If you want to tackle cleaning the timing chain tensioners yourself, then keep reading. For those of you who buy new parts, skip this next section.
To Clean the Timing Chain Tensioner:
Take note that the RH and LH timing chain tensioner are different from one another beneath the plunger.
1. Remove the timing chain tensioner from the engine.
2. Using a pick, push the toothed locking mechanism back and extract the holding plate. In the picture you see here, you would use a pick in the hole above where the locking pin is located. Use the pick to push aside the locking teeth.
3. Remove the plunger.
4. Remove the spring.
5. Spray out all timing chain tensioner cavity.
6. Use a pick to remove the plastic cap inside the cavity. It's in there, hard to see. Use the pick to turn it a bit, and eventually it will come out. You may have to tap the cavity.
7. Repeat the same for the plunger. Use the pick to poke down in from the top hole of the plunger if you have to.
8. The RH and LH tensioner are different in that one of them has 2 plastic caps inside the tensioner, and the other has only one.
9. Spray everything down with carb cleaner. Clean out the small oil orifices with carb cleaner. Spray until clean carb cleaner comes out of the orifices.
10. Reassemble the component caps, and then the spring. Put some oil in the plunger and cavity, and reinstall both components back together.
11. Install the locking mechanism. Use a pick to retract the toothed lock, and push the locking mechanism down. You can also put the tensioner into a clamping tool, and while retracting the locking mechanism with a pick, slowly push the tensioner plunger into the cavity body. When it's seated fully, release the locking mechanism teeth, THEN install a nail into the holding hole. This is the hole with the pull ring pictured above. I had to use a rivet to hold it in place. Small nails didn't really do the trick. This will hold it in position for reinstallation back onto the engine.
I reassembled the engine with the exhaust manifolds and engine mounts. My plan was to use the cherry picker to hoist the engine into place. Radiator and front bumpers had to come off to gain clearance for the cherry picker. I have a 1 ton cherry picker. Was I worried when I planned on using this to lift a 500+ lb engine at full height, at max extension? Yes, yes I was worried. I do not recommend doing this by any means, with a 1 ton cherry picker. At max extension, the cherry picker is load rated to 1/4 ton. This engine with the exhaust manifold and engine mounts installed, is pushing at or beyond 500 lbs. I did this at my own risk. I cannot and do not recommend you do what I am about to tell you regarding lifting this engine with a 1 ton hoist.
I lined up the torque converter as close to the same position as the bolt holes on the flywheel, as I could, making sure to line up the marks I made earlier on the flywheel and the torque converter for balance marks.
I lifted the engine on my cherry picker at full extension, 1/4 ton boom load position. I hoisted the engine as high as it would go, and it cleared the front lip of the engine bay. The boom was flexing-bending at full height from the weight of this engine. You could see the bend. I worked quickly, but safely to lower it into the engine bay, without getting underneath any part of the engine, or the boom arm. This is a very risky move, and again I do not recommend it to anyone. I cannot stress enough how dangerous this is. I would not do this again with this engine hoist. Use a 2 ton hoist to be safe. Once lowered into the engine bay, I move the boom arm to the 1/2 ton position and reattached it to the engine to finalize the engine position. Tweaking the engine into place wasn't easy. It took lots of time, and patience.
Summary:
Once the engine was lined up and bolted to the transmission, and all other lines, cables and pipes clamped into place, I installed the radiator outlet tube that goes behind the water pump. Ford wanted $18 per o-ring for this filler tube. I used generic rubber o-rings (x2) for less than a dollar. No leaks! The intake manifold with new gaskets were installed and torqued to spec. The radiator was installed, and new generic o-rings used on the lower radiator hose. (The o-rings from Ford were $14 a piece, whereas I used generic rubber o-ring coated with vaseline for the install.). Coolant was added. A new oil filter and fresh oil poured into the filler hole. Battery was recharged and installed. Checked fuel rail for leaks, found none. Checked all radiator connections for leaks...none. Dash gauge oil pressure indicator shows plenty of oil pressure. And guess what? No chain slap noise. None at all! Not at startup, or during the test drive. So how's that for being frugal and not buying new timing chain tensioners like most people would?
The cost between buying a new oil pump or buying a timing chain set with tensioners were relatively equal. At the risk of being wrong by purchasing a chain set rather than a new Melling oil pump, I had to choose the oil pump. Of all the stories I've read in all the forums I've visited for information, I saw time and time again where people had to repeatedly replace their timing chains and tensioners after so many thousands of miles. Only a handful of people replaced their oil pumps to resolve any kind of issue (with Ford OEM oil pumps at that). I decided to do something different. Order a Melling oil pump AND clean my timing chain tensioners. I could have ordered new tensioners, but that's just another expense added to the already climbing cost of this repair.
After a rough start, I remembered I didn't plug in the O2 sensors. Once plugged in, and engine restarted, it purred like a big cat. Test drive, and she's doing well. Seems like I got a leak up high at the coolant recovery/expansion tank form a bad cap.
With that said.... hope you enjoyed the read, and hope this makes a difference to someone out there who has the same issues.
Timing Chain Slap
After some lengthy research I discovered a root cause of the timing chain slap. The common fix by many is to replace the timing chain and tensioners. Owners report having to repeat this procedure after 10 to 30 thousand miles, where the problem reoccurs. What I discovered in researching this issue, is that the timing chain tensioners have very small orifices through which oil is pumped. These orifices can get clogged with sludge, preventing the hydraulic action of the tensioner. The oil pump, pumps oil through the engine, and into these tensioners, and through hydraulic action will maintain tension on the chain. Without the oil pumping through the tensioner, it collapses back and you get chain slap. A new set of tensioners run upwards of $80. Ford revised the tensioner design year after year, and they still failed more often than they should have. My solution is to save money by tearing down the tensioners and giving them a good cleaning. I also ordered a Melling oil pump. The Ford pump is all aluminum, and eventually fails at the back plate, allowing oil to seep past the backing plate instead of going where it needs to go in the engine. Watch this video from Jasper Engines & Transmissions, and you'll understand why you should replace your oil pump with this cast iron, steel backing plate from Melling. Jasper by the way, uses Melling pumps in their engine rebuilds.
Melling M176 Oil Pump for 4.6 L (281) V8 Engine
Once the Melling oil pump arrived it was primed by pouring oil into the oil pickup tube inlet, and the pump rotated by hand. Since this is a fuel injected engine, there is no distributor mechanism to turn to prime the oil pump. The only other option is to install a oil pressurization kit at the oil filter pressure pickup on the oil filter housing, and pressurize oil into the pump. If you don't have this fancy kit, you can pour oil into the pickup tube and rotate it by hand like I did. It works just fine.
I'm missing pictures, but I'll do my best to find some. Now some of you might be wondering, why not just buy a new set and be done with it? Well, this is a Ford after all. And during the course of rebuilding this particular vehicle, every little thing needed replacement, and every little thing costs money, and it adds up. If you want to tackle cleaning the timing chain tensioners yourself, then keep reading. For those of you who buy new parts, skip this next section.
To Clean the Timing Chain Tensioner:
Take note that the RH and LH timing chain tensioner are different from one another beneath the plunger.
1. Remove the timing chain tensioner from the engine.
2. Using a pick, push the toothed locking mechanism back and extract the holding plate. In the picture you see here, you would use a pick in the hole above where the locking pin is located. Use the pick to push aside the locking teeth.
4. Remove the spring.
5. Spray out all timing chain tensioner cavity.
6. Use a pick to remove the plastic cap inside the cavity. It's in there, hard to see. Use the pick to turn it a bit, and eventually it will come out. You may have to tap the cavity.
7. Repeat the same for the plunger. Use the pick to poke down in from the top hole of the plunger if you have to.
8. The RH and LH tensioner are different in that one of them has 2 plastic caps inside the tensioner, and the other has only one.
9. Spray everything down with carb cleaner. Clean out the small oil orifices with carb cleaner. Spray until clean carb cleaner comes out of the orifices.
10. Reassemble the component caps, and then the spring. Put some oil in the plunger and cavity, and reinstall both components back together.
11. Install the locking mechanism. Use a pick to retract the toothed lock, and push the locking mechanism down. You can also put the tensioner into a clamping tool, and while retracting the locking mechanism with a pick, slowly push the tensioner plunger into the cavity body. When it's seated fully, release the locking mechanism teeth, THEN install a nail into the holding hole. This is the hole with the pull ring pictured above. I had to use a rivet to hold it in place. Small nails didn't really do the trick. This will hold it in position for reinstallation back onto the engine.
I reassembled the engine with the exhaust manifolds and engine mounts. My plan was to use the cherry picker to hoist the engine into place. Radiator and front bumpers had to come off to gain clearance for the cherry picker. I have a 1 ton cherry picker. Was I worried when I planned on using this to lift a 500+ lb engine at full height, at max extension? Yes, yes I was worried. I do not recommend doing this by any means, with a 1 ton cherry picker. At max extension, the cherry picker is load rated to 1/4 ton. This engine with the exhaust manifold and engine mounts installed, is pushing at or beyond 500 lbs. I did this at my own risk. I cannot and do not recommend you do what I am about to tell you regarding lifting this engine with a 1 ton hoist.
I lined up the torque converter as close to the same position as the bolt holes on the flywheel, as I could, making sure to line up the marks I made earlier on the flywheel and the torque converter for balance marks.
I lifted the engine on my cherry picker at full extension, 1/4 ton boom load position. I hoisted the engine as high as it would go, and it cleared the front lip of the engine bay. The boom was flexing-bending at full height from the weight of this engine. You could see the bend. I worked quickly, but safely to lower it into the engine bay, without getting underneath any part of the engine, or the boom arm. This is a very risky move, and again I do not recommend it to anyone. I cannot stress enough how dangerous this is. I would not do this again with this engine hoist. Use a 2 ton hoist to be safe. Once lowered into the engine bay, I move the boom arm to the 1/2 ton position and reattached it to the engine to finalize the engine position. Tweaking the engine into place wasn't easy. It took lots of time, and patience.
Summary:
Once the engine was lined up and bolted to the transmission, and all other lines, cables and pipes clamped into place, I installed the radiator outlet tube that goes behind the water pump. Ford wanted $18 per o-ring for this filler tube. I used generic rubber o-rings (x2) for less than a dollar. No leaks! The intake manifold with new gaskets were installed and torqued to spec. The radiator was installed, and new generic o-rings used on the lower radiator hose. (The o-rings from Ford were $14 a piece, whereas I used generic rubber o-ring coated with vaseline for the install.). Coolant was added. A new oil filter and fresh oil poured into the filler hole. Battery was recharged and installed. Checked fuel rail for leaks, found none. Checked all radiator connections for leaks...none. Dash gauge oil pressure indicator shows plenty of oil pressure. And guess what? No chain slap noise. None at all! Not at startup, or during the test drive. So how's that for being frugal and not buying new timing chain tensioners like most people would?
The cost between buying a new oil pump or buying a timing chain set with tensioners were relatively equal. At the risk of being wrong by purchasing a chain set rather than a new Melling oil pump, I had to choose the oil pump. Of all the stories I've read in all the forums I've visited for information, I saw time and time again where people had to repeatedly replace their timing chains and tensioners after so many thousands of miles. Only a handful of people replaced their oil pumps to resolve any kind of issue (with Ford OEM oil pumps at that). I decided to do something different. Order a Melling oil pump AND clean my timing chain tensioners. I could have ordered new tensioners, but that's just another expense added to the already climbing cost of this repair.
After a rough start, I remembered I didn't plug in the O2 sensors. Once plugged in, and engine restarted, it purred like a big cat. Test drive, and she's doing well. Seems like I got a leak up high at the coolant recovery/expansion tank form a bad cap.
With that said.... hope you enjoyed the read, and hope this makes a difference to someone out there who has the same issues.
Post work assessment:
