Overview This document contains useful information that you can use while performing a camshaft swap on a Ford 4.0L V-6 engine. This procedure will cover the simplest way to do this that I know of, namely, without pulling the engine, removing the cylinder heads, or discharging the air conditioner.
Disclaimer
I am not a professional mechanic, and I make no guarantees about whether any of this information is correct. This is based only on my experience of having done this task myself. Do not take my word without considering it carefully first.
Copyright
This document is copyrighted by Barry Crowder. I grant permission to distribute this document in it’s complete, unmodified form, so long as the copyright symbol, the year 2000, my name, and the internet address ‘www.barrycrowder.net’ are intact.
Things You Need
Tools
Parts
Other Consumables
Things You Might Want to Do While You’re At It
These things are purely optional, but will be easier to do while you already have everything apart.
Disassembly
General
You’re going to end up with a lot of parts, and a lot of fasteners by the time you get to the camshaft. You’ll need a plan for keeping everything straightso you can put it all back together correctly. Use the sandwich bags to hold small parts, bolts, and nuts. Group them by component and lable each bag with the masking tape and permanent marker. I also found a box to put them in so that everything from this project stays together. Since re-assembly is basically the reverse of disassembly, you can just go to the box and get the parts in reverse order. Neat, huh?
Label all the vacuum hoses and connectors as you remove them. Write the name of the component on a piece of tape and wrap it around the end. You don’t even have to get the names perfect, as long as they are descriptive and will guide you to putting them back in the right place. I promise that this will save you time.
Reassembly
If you’ve made it this far, take a breath and look at the mess you’re in. My goodness, what have you done!?!
Seriously, the rest will be much easier. You did a good job of labeling and keeping everything organized, so re-assembly will be a piece of cake. The main things you have to be concerned with now are 1) inserting the camshaft without scoring it or the camshaft bearings, and 2) making sure you don’t have any leaks tomorrow as you’re driving down the road.Camshaft
This is pretty easy, actually. First, look inside the engine with a flashlight and make sure the camshaft bearings aren’t excessively scored and that they don’t have dust or sand on them. If they do, and you can reach them, then try to pull them out with a dust-free implement (not a paper towel, for example).
If you can’t reach them, try to wash them to the bottom with motor oil applied to the top of the engine. In my opinion, it is better to wash the particles down and let them drain out or get caught in the filter than to leave them there and let them ruin either the cam or, more likely, the camshaft bearings.
Now make sure the camshaft is clean. Apply the camshaft lube to the lobes and the round part that mates with the bearings. USING BOTH HANDS, slowly insert the camshaft into the front of the engine. Make very sure not to damage the lobes or the bearings as you slide it in. It is all the way in when the groove for the camshaft retainer is flush with the front of the engine. Go ahead and install the camshaft retainer. The new cam is in. Yippee!
Timing Gears and Cover
Assemble the chain around the two timing gears. Make sure that the little dot is aligned between the centers of the gears. If you check it with a ruler, the center of the gears and the dots will form a straight line. Slide the gears, with the chain still around them, over the camshaft and crankshaft. Rotate the gears so that the tab in the back of the crankshaft gear aligns with the notch in the crankshaft. Rotate the camshaft to make sure it aligns with it’s gear.
For a standard set, there is only one way setting the camshaft timing, so as long as you aligned the dots OK, and the gears are aligned with the cam/crank you did it right.
Install the chain tensioner and remove the tension tab.
Checklist
Check these things before you start in order to avoid disaster.