Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications 3.0L Duratec 2003 Taurus timing chain

So I'm doing a 3L from a 2003 Taurus and I'm going to do the LIM port matching per Warmonger's intstructions. I re-marked the three alignment marks(6 total) with a white out pen on the timing chains and counted up the links between the two camshaft marks.

I'm counting 12 links between the camshaft marks. Can anyone verify if this is correct? I'm trying to be certain before I pull the chains and cams and start grinding.

I know that pitch size is different from my 2.5, but is there an increase in the number of links as well? Thanks.

I don't have the exact count, but yes there are more links in the newer chains as the links are smaller (therefore more of them between cams) on the updated chains.

Rick

I don't know why you would need to know this.

The 8mm pitch chain has 3 colored links. The distance between the colored links for the cams is 26 pitches. The distance from one of the cam's colored links to the crank's colored link is 56 pitches.
8mm*26 = 208mm
8mm*56 = 448mm

On my timing chain, there are no colored links. There were some faint(and I mean really faint) white marks on three of the links. Since there are no permanent marks on the chain(one of mine rubbed off when I wiped it with a towel), you can make your own marks. According to the 2002 Taurus workshop manual(freshly downloaded):

1. There should be 12 chain links between the camshaft timing marks.

2. There should be 27 chain links between the camshaft and crankshaft timing marks.

3. There should be 30 chain links between the crankshaft and camshaft timing marks.

This corresponds to the marks I thought I had correct. It seems that not too many people are using the 3L cams, but this info might help those who do the swap with the 3L cams and timing chains.

You're correct. Sometimes the links used for timing have simply been paint marked versus colored. One is probably cheaper than the other. I also double checked your link counts and they are correct. The key word that I missed at first was that they are the links between the colored/painted links.
So 12 + 27 + 30 + 3(colored) = 72 links total. Note: This only applies to the 8mm chain introduced on the 2.5/3.0L around the 2000 model year.