4.0 SOHC timing woes

[Benshooter]

Hello everyone, I'm ben. I picked up a 98 XLT a week ago with the death rattle. I replaced the left side and jackshaft chain tensioner. I was VERY cautious and did a good amount of reading since I performed the repair without the special tools. I started it up and it ran rough, and had a serious lack in power. It was a struggle just to get it up to 25mph. Today I started it and it won't even stay running or just stalls after a few seconds and this is all accompanied by a knocking at low rpms (600 and under) I seafoamed it a couple days ago so I'm hoping the knock is just from the contaminated oil being a little thin.

So could I have the left side cam 180* out? I know you need the timing tools to be dead on but it should at least be close enough to run a lot better than this. I used a flat bar and a dial caliper to dial in the timing on the cam with the engine at tdc.

All help is very aprecciated, I'm about to pull my hair out on this one.

 

[2000StreetRod]

Engine will run but poorly

According to the timing instructions by Ford if the camshaft is 180 degrees out the engine will run but poorly. It is not possible to replace the left timing chain without removing the jackshaft front sprocket. It is very difficult to replace the left guide assembly without loosening the jackshaft front sprocket retaining bolt. If the bolt was loosened then the timing of the right camshaft as well as the left camshaft will be lost. The valve spring pressure will rotate the camshaft to relieve the pressure as soon as the jackshaft bolt is loosened.

If the jackshaft sprocket bolt was not loosened then the right camshaft timing has not been changed. To time the left camshaft the #1 piston must be at TDC on the compression stroke. The protrusion on the left camshaft for the camshaft position sensor must be above the centerline of the camshaft. The notch at the rear of the camshaft must be below the centerline of the camshaft and parallel to the surface of the head that mates with the valve cover.

The spring pressure of the tensioner is not adequate to keep the chain taught on the traction side when the camshaft sprocket bolt is tightened. The camshaft rotates at half the speed of the crankshaft so accuracy is very important.

 

[Benshooter]

Thank you sir. So I pulled the right side VC and made a very interesting discovery... The damn #2 intake rocker arm had popped out of place and was sitting in a spot between #2 and #3 valve pairs. WTF? I had the oil drained for a few days, could the lifter have relaxed and put the rocker arm in it's current spot?

Edit: I was indeed 180 out even though the timing was dead on otherwise. Hopefully fixing these things will solve my problem.

 

[2000StreetRod]

Not the first

You are not the first member to find a rocker loose in the head. I assume a compression test would have been low for the cylinder since the intake valve wouldn't have opened. I'm glad you found it and have corrected your timing. I hope that it runs well when back together.

 

[Benshooter]

I just wanted to give a big thanks for your input. I just got everything back together and it runs like it just came off the showroom floor.

The best part for me is I defied the haynes manual