Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications 3.0L Duratec Timing problems?

Maybe you are not aware that each day I recieve many PM's,e mails,phone calls etc on this and many other subjects concerning Contour issues...those of us who are in 'the trade' have to keep up and do research in our specialised field...I'd suggest your 'no help' comment is a bit overkill when a lot of 'builders' dont even research the 'basic' specs of the engine they intend to build !.Do your homework first...there is no shortcut to knowledge in this arena...

Yeah - point taken. People willing to spend lots o cash on the parts but not on the know how. I know degreeing is standard - but it can only help you so much with non adjustable sprockets right?

And I still think rolling your eyes at a guy for using the Ford TSB the techs use is a bit much - but hey I'm probably just too sensitive :rolleyes:

Well - point is really moot for me anyway as I know I lack the skill to do the swap myself. H@ll it took me 3 tries to convert from side to top feed injectors and I'd hate to blow up a $1000 3L 3 times for practice.......

Sixpipes - Terry and others here are always happy to offer help / constructuve criticism - but read the posts and you'll see poor Terry has his PM box full from requests. Brad Noon, David Z, PA3L and Micah would all be great people to ask too.

Sorry you feel that way, talk to people who visit me and 'talk cars'...you may think I'm a 'bit much' (re rolleyes) but hey....I have the info right

I thought rebuilding this motor was easy if you knew what you were doing.

I wish I knew what I was doing.

SVTNupe

Well, at least we can impress each other with our lack of knowledge. So where are you on yours?

Sixpipes,

Mine is all in pieces right now. I sent my transmission up to Terry and he is doing his magic on it. I'm going to use the 3L heads and PCM. I'll probably order the heads new and find the PCM in a wreck or whatever. I'm hoping to have things running by the end of January. I'll be blowing Terry's phone up once I start the rebuilding process. I'm out of town for the holidays so things probably won't pick up again for me until after the 1st of the year.

When you put the chain back on the cams, did you just line up the timing marks???

Danger Will Robinson. On some Duratechs (both 2.5 and 3.0), the cam timing marks are mismarked and useless. Unless you like to smash valves into pistons. I am not sure if it affects all Duratechs from all vintages. Get your local Ford dealer to give you a copy of TSB 98-25-14. Or drop $20 at www.alldata.com . It'll have all the details.

You have 2 options:
1) Do it the hard and right way, using a degree wheel and a dial indicator. Although the actual specs needed for this on the cams are quite mysterious. Not found in the FSM, even our SVT contact here couldn't find the complete specs needed to do this right (for the SVT cams). If you search Performance for "SVT cam" you'll probably find the thread I started and Troy @ SVT has the best details anyone has come up with on those specs.

2) Use the less precise and easier way right off the above mentioned TSB. "Count the links from here to yon, and to and fro, etc., etc." Although if this isn't done right and you want to revert to option #1, doing it with the engine installed in the bay will NOT be easy.

Mine was done with #2. Seems OK, but if I had the choice (knowing what I know now), I'd have had #1 done. Maybe one day someone will measure the SVT cams on a 2.5 they pulled.

When rebuilding the Duratecs or any other engine, there's a "quick" way and a "right" way. Thrown together using paint marks on the cams, chains, and crank is the quick way. The right way, you NEED a degree wheel, even with no adjustable cam gears. Main reasons??? Chain slop, mismarked timing marks, misassembled engine parts.

Measure twice, rebuild once.

Just to keep everyone informed. Yesterday we assembled the engine and while putting the cams and timing chain in we used the ford tsb for counting the links and so on. After doing all of that we found out that the marks on my cams we correct. I have a very early 98. Build date is sometime in 97 if this helps n e 1.

Scott's rule why he doesn't work on really expensive stuff:

"There's never enough time to do it right, but there is always enough time to do it again......" :rolleyes:

Did you get a chance to degree your's Brad - or was she ripped apart prior to getting cam readings?