Have timing done by a mechanic? Or just replace the whole engine? 4.6l

[Harley McIntyre]

I don't really feel comfortable doing a whole timing set, oil pump, and roller followers on my v8 ex and fordtechmak is actually about an hour from me, he charges around 2500 from what he said in one of his videos for a full timing set on either a 4.6 or 5.4, so I'm just wondering if it would make more sense to just get a used engine with around 100k for about 1k (I've looked around a bit and have found them) or if I should just get the timing done? Would the extra cost of pulling the engine and reinstallation along with a new pcm endup being cheaper?

 

[boominXplorer]

No its definitely easier to fix what you have. Crank bearings and piston rings are good for 350k miles all day as long as its taken care of. The weak link in the 3v is the followers, some don't make it past 100k mi without making noise.

The 4.6 v8 is very easy to work on in the engine bay. The biggest pain is if its 4x4 is to get the oil pan in/out. It requires dropping down the front diff, swaybar and support bracket. You have to do this to clean the oil pickup of debris.

Cost to do just the chain guides as preventive maintenance is only about 5 hours of labor. This does not include the followers or oil pan removal. To do everything your trying to get done is around 10-11 hours of labor. As long as you dont have any exhaust manifold studs to fix its definitely easier keeping the engine in the truck. Removal / swapping engines is around 23 hours book time. Labor rates will be between $80-$130 per hour depending on shop.

 

[Harley McIntyre]

Well the bad news is I actually do have manifold studs to fix but that will be a repair for another time, it's more annoying than anything imo, so í think the way to go would be taking it in to bsg automotive, I already know with my limited experience it would take me 2 days to do it and I just don't have time unfortunately

 

[boominXplorer]

I'd fix manifold studs first. If you have an issue (say someone drills into a water jacket) then the timing chains must be removed to remove the cylinder head. If you do the timing stuff first there's a chance you'll have to pay to remove it again.

I definitely reccomend taking it to a professional for these repairs as neither are for a novice.

 

[massacre]

the Followers are super easy to replace, but the other stuff is not