cccerbeus

perfectly reasonable theory in my book. excess valve deposits on one valve could make for very poor flow dynamics at idle and a significantly different flow from the rest of the cylinders. i no longer have my fusion , but my 2016 edge (2.7 eco) has an issue of what i would call a thrumming under throttle, a perception of significantly imbalanced power per cylinder. I may have done an induction service and had the problem go away for a short time..

Just thought i should acknowledge that this statement that i made, quoted above was obviously short sighted and ultimately not true. I did use a used engine, but replaced the water pump with an ACDelco pump with a steel impeller instead of using the ford pump with a plastic impeller. The first motocraft pump that showed up had apparently been used in a distance parts toss competition pre-sale, and was broken on arrival which was a large part of why i said screw that and used a steel impeller pump instead, along with a new chain, tensioner and guides.

You're telling me! LOL

I don't actually have a garage at all.. that is my bud's garage. The lower access requires a lift, so that's a major con, but it's the only way recommended to do the job. Really a lot easier than I expected and if I had to do it again I could probably do it in half the time it took the first time. I bought and Eagle Equipment mid rise scissor lift from Amazon for 1775$, sold it again for 1500 after using it, so minimal cost there. Still end up needing a hoist to move the old engine off the cradle and the new one in place.

To be fair, I am a mechanic by profession.. so I'm a bit more familiar with diving into unknown jobs than most

http://car-part.com/ is my go to site for used parts. it searches all connected salvage yards and rates parts by grading, distance, price whatever you want. I did a quick search, there are over a dozen engines in reasonable distance from me for under $600.. Keep an eye on the weep hole behind the alternator for signs of failure. Its a very solid engine, water pump accessibility notwithstanding.. almost want to give it a NOS shot for fun.. but i won't

well bite my tongue.. i did find a junkyard engine from a 2012 MKZ with low miles for $500 and bought a mid rise scissor lift to do the job. Put a new pump and chain in the new-to-me engine, threw it all back together, beed driving it for 4000 miles now and just sold the lift. So all told, it cost me about $1000 (engine, parts, and loss on lift resale) plus my time to put it back in working order. Half tempted to take it to the dealership and show them the difference a reasonable cost and the raping they wanted to give me. I had forgotten how much i like this car after it sat for 6 months+..

But on the edge, where there was a good bit more room, the pump was still internal. And I may be mistaken, but I was told that the f150s with a duratec 3.5 in the same production window as these (2010-2014 about) had the same internal water pump design. Either way, I'm not even saying that is bad or malicious intentions , just business. Timing belts are still fairly common with some manufacturers and they can be a half a nightmare depending on the driveline / body design considerations.

This.

Some pictures from the job

I'd say maybe just bad design, but maybe it was intentional to allow dealerships to make some real money again. Either way, its bad policy to put a wear item in such an unserviceable location, especially when it is an item whose failure destroys the engine.. my question now is, do i keep the old engine, do a forensic tear down looking for cam bearing cap wear or rod / main bearing or crank journal damage that would this an unusable engine to re-pump and shelve for a future usage. And of course then, I also need to figure out what to do with my scissor lift and hoist and engine stand..

And it runs, thankfully. Always a crapshoot on a used engine, even if you do leakdown test it, and replace the timing components & water pump.

I'm on the tail end of doing this job myself. Bought a 6000lb scissor lift to do the job. Bought a 2012 MKZ engine, put a new water pump and chain in it. I'm a couple hours from fire-up.

I forgot I had posted this here. A couple people have claimed that they've done the job through topside access in a FB group. That's how I plan to do it. I'd love to leave the transmission in place and just pull the engine & drop in the new one, but it doesn't look likely that the flywheel will clear the bellhousing without the trans being pushed an inch to the drivers side. It's an engineering nightmare.

Short version, water pump failed, milked oil, swapping in refreshed boneyard motor in the spring. Every resource i've seen says the drivetrain go in and out through the bottom. Has ANYONE done this job through topside access?