Hi,
In the Spring I will do the waterpump on our 2009 Ford Flex with the normally aspirated 3.5L V6. This will be a pro-active replacement, the waterpumps in this engine have shown enough evidence of failure that leads to coolant contamination of the oil, if it doesn't show leakage from weep holes located on intake manifold valley or behind alternator at bumper side of engine.
Presently the Flex is a 200,000 km (125,000 miles) and shows no leaks and runs fine. I've been running PP 5W20 or 5W30 for the last 100,000 km and this car has always been well maintained.
My question:
I plan to replace the following parts with this project, item and source:
- Waterpump - Motorcraft
- Main Timing Chain - Motorcraft
- Main Chain Guides 3pc - Motorcraft
- Crank Sprocket - Motorcraft
- Main Chain Tensioner - Motorcraft
- Crank Seal - Whatever brand RA is carrying??
- Full Valve Cover Gasket Set - Felpro?
- Intake manifold gasket set - Felpro?
- Stretch Belt for PS - Continental
- Main serpentine drive belt for accessories - Continental
- Harmonic Balancer Bolt (TTY type) - Motorcraft
- Oil & Filter, PP 5W30 and Motorcraft FL500S
- Ford sealant 357 ?? for the front cover to engine
- Ford Specialty Green Coolant
- distilled water for mixing with new coolant
- Partial flush of PS fluid - this has been partially flushed with turkey baster before.
I do not plan to replace:
- 2 smaller Camshaft Chains
- 2 Cam Tensioners
- Cam sprockets
Reason for not feeling need to replace above cam chain related item: The engine will have about 207,000 km when I do this work, the reason is to have some peace of mind about a ticking time bomb of a WP, there is no real issue with the timing chains stretching on this engine, and with use of good quality oils, I should be able to skip the replacement of the cam chains. Am I an idiot?
The plan is that we will have the car for maybe 5 more years, the body is good. The end of plan would have the car at 310,000km if the current use pattern is played forward, all future maintenance will be to the same high level as the first 10 years.
The scope of this work is going to be big for me, but I've done this kind of thing before with good results. I started getting the special tools for last Christmas
Do you agree with my concept of leaving the cam chains out of the project?
In the Spring I will do the waterpump on our 2009 Ford Flex with the normally aspirated 3.5L V6. This will be a pro-active replacement, the waterpumps in this engine have shown enough evidence of failure that leads to coolant contamination of the oil, if it doesn't show leakage from weep holes located on intake manifold valley or behind alternator at bumper side of engine.
Presently the Flex is a 200,000 km (125,000 miles) and shows no leaks and runs fine. I've been running PP 5W20 or 5W30 for the last 100,000 km and this car has always been well maintained.
My question:
I plan to replace the following parts with this project, item and source:
- Waterpump - Motorcraft
- Main Timing Chain - Motorcraft
- Main Chain Guides 3pc - Motorcraft
- Crank Sprocket - Motorcraft
- Main Chain Tensioner - Motorcraft
- Crank Seal - Whatever brand RA is carrying??
- Full Valve Cover Gasket Set - Felpro?
- Intake manifold gasket set - Felpro?
- Stretch Belt for PS - Continental
- Main serpentine drive belt for accessories - Continental
- Harmonic Balancer Bolt (TTY type) - Motorcraft
- Oil & Filter, PP 5W30 and Motorcraft FL500S
- Ford sealant 357 ?? for the front cover to engine
- Ford Specialty Green Coolant
- distilled water for mixing with new coolant
- Partial flush of PS fluid - this has been partially flushed with turkey baster before.
I do not plan to replace:
- 2 smaller Camshaft Chains
- 2 Cam Tensioners
- Cam sprockets
Reason for not feeling need to replace above cam chain related item: The engine will have about 207,000 km when I do this work, the reason is to have some peace of mind about a ticking time bomb of a WP, there is no real issue with the timing chains stretching on this engine, and with use of good quality oils, I should be able to skip the replacement of the cam chains. Am I an idiot?
The plan is that we will have the car for maybe 5 more years, the body is good. The end of plan would have the car at 310,000km if the current use pattern is played forward, all future maintenance will be to the same high level as the first 10 years.
The scope of this work is going to be big for me, but I've done this kind of thing before with good results. I started getting the special tools for last Christmas
Do you agree with my concept of leaving the cam chains out of the project?