🔧 ARES 15001 - Valve Spring Compressor for Ford 3-Valve Engines - Service Camshafts, Valve Springs, Seals & More Review

I have used this on a 2009 Ford F250 5.4 and it has worked great had a learning time how to use it can be a little difficult to find this lovely spot but when you find the tool twists easily when struggling with it you need to readjust to save money but do this one and not the other

It took the tool a few minutes to figure out how to use it but was a big help installing the cam idler gears. Finding the right angle to set up the tool was the biggest learning curve. Insertion was easy, but getting it in the right place to pull it out took a bit of thought.

After reading reviews about cheaper models, I decided that it is better to spend a little more. Now I know it's not a professional shop tool, but this one was powerful enough to do all 24 valves with no problem, and actually did some of them more than twice. Now it lies in its box, waiting for the day when it will be needed again.

I bought this tool when the first cheap tool I bought broke. The first tool I bought was part of a Ford 5.4 liter timing chain tool kit and it was rubbish. I had to bend the tool to get it working but this one was much better and easier to use. I recommend this tool over all cheaper options.

This is a lot of work no matter what tool you use. If I could do it all over again I would pull out the cams and then slowly screw in the cam tower covers. However, this tool worked pretty well when a cheap Ebay fake OTC I bought didn't work. The exhaust valves on cylinders 4 and 8 were an absolute nightmare, but I managed.

Better than the one in the kit I bought for 5.4 timing. The kit compressor was bent and weak in the box. Don't use a 10mm, you're just bending the crank of the tool by hand. If you need more than necessary, move the tool. The spring on the back of cylinder 5 is hard to see and the tool head is big, you can be a rabbit and catch the head, just change the position and everything should work fine.

ARES 15001 was purchased to replace and complete my Ford 5.4 liter timing chain when my original (cheaper) compression failed after using only 7 valve springs. This tool is very well made with good two part machining and best of all it works as well as an OTC branded tool for a fraction of the cost. It only took me about 30 minutes to install the 6 valve pulley which had previously been removed during the timing chain assembly. I can highly recommend this remedy.

If like me and after seeing Fordtechmakuloco you are temporarily working on your 3V, you should buy the $105 version of this tool. DO NOT DO THAT! A more expensive one got bent at the factory so I ordered this one as a backup replacement Amazon sent me. This arrived 2 days before the exchange and I had already zipped the truck up. Just make sure it's seated snugly on the valve stems before turning it. All tools will bend if you touch any part of the block during compression.