5.4 engine ticking
#31
04-14-2010, 11:08 PM
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4everford, They arent that bad to do, The cliff note version : remove both valve covers, remove timing cover, make sure crankshaft keyway is at 12:00, lock both cams in place so they cant move, make plenty of reference marks, remove one tensioner at a time and replace, no need to remove chain. The right and left tensioners look the same but they are not, they are marked with a r or l its just hard to see. Other than that pretty cut and dry. Ford has you lock the crankshaft in place and a bunch of other pointless steps, just make sure the keyway is at 12 oclock and you will be fine, no need to lock it. I would suggest doing the manifold first and driving it, the leak maybe your whole problem and you might not have to do the tensioners. Have fun and good luck !
#32
04-14-2010, 11:13 PM
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#34
04-16-2010, 08:04 PM
Sorry in advance if this is the wrong place to ask this. I am planning on buying an 04-05, 4x4, f150 supercab with the 5.4 L engine. I currently have an '98 chevy 4x4 with 190k+ miles and with 5.7L engine, which has had 2 intake manifold leaks, the last one leaked Dexcool into the oil. GM seems to have a lot of problems with this. I like Ford's new design and the options available. From what I have found online, there are issues with the spark plugs. I can deal with this (replace them, then every couple years pull the plugs and re-coat the shaft/threads). The questions I have is, are the cam phasers a common enough problem where I should expect the phasers and associated sensors/tensioners to fail? There seems to be a lot unfavorable discussions about these motors and their cam phasers. Is the underlying cause the use of non-Motorcraft filters? I use Wik filters in all my vehicles. (dislike Fram!)
Thanks.
Thanks.
#35
04-16-2010, 09:20 PM
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Hey everyone - just following up again on my issue. My last post was on 4/9 and I replied to a question about cost to repair. It's now one week later and I still do not have my truck back. The dealer decided last week after talking to Ford and getting approval that they would replace one of the heads on the engine since it showed some signs of wear in the cam. Apparently an authorization was needed and given for $3500 for the repair. To my surprise, the dealer indicated that in order to replace the heads on the 5.4 in this truck the engine must come out.
I talked to the dealer again today since I was informed that it could possibly be done today. Apparently the mechanics ran into some additional complications once it was all put back together with the timing. They need to diagnose a bit more so hopefully Monday night I will have it back.
By the way I asked about a new engine and was told it would be between $6 -7k for replacement.
I talked to the dealer again today since I was informed that it could possibly be done today. Apparently the mechanics ran into some additional complications once it was all put back together with the timing. They need to diagnose a bit more so hopefully Monday night I will have it back.
By the way I asked about a new engine and was told it would be between $6 -7k for replacement.
#36
04-16-2010, 09:23 PM
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#37
04-16-2010, 10:14 PM
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#38
04-16-2010, 10:28 PM
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SGLANE, What Dealership is your truck at ??? You should tell them to replace the VCT solenoid valve bodys, That WILL take care of the ticking you are talking about..... I dont mean this bad, however I dont believe the dealership knows what they are doing ?? What warranty do you have ? Is it esp ?? I literally do atleast one of these a week, Just did one today in fact, for the dealership to say that they have to pull the engine tells me that they do not know what they are talking about....... It honestly takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to pull the cab off that truck and then the engine is cake !! I have had a complete cab off in 45 minutes before.....Anyway i would tell them to VCT solenoid valve bodys in it, they are clogged... guarantee it... just trying to help you out. read my previous post about the phasers, tensioners, chains etc. etc. GOOD LUCK ! Bob
#39
04-16-2010, 10:45 PM
#40
04-16-2010, 11:20 PM
So a flashing check engine light is that bad. I just picked up a 2006 5.4 3v from my friend. He was told by a ford dealer in florida it needed a motor due to shavings in the oil. It feels like it is running on 3 cylinders. It stalls at idle sometimes. I do not have an odb2 code reader yet but he said he just had both cam sensors replaced. 81k on the motor I think they where milking him. Great post so far!
#41
04-17-2010, 06:23 PM
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$$$$COST$$$$$$
I have an extended warranty. I have a $100 deductible, but the total billed was $1600 for parts and labor for replacing both cam phasers. I bought my truck in August of 2009 and the warranty transferred to me. I did not have all of the documentation to prove that the oil was changed per the maintenance schedule. So, the company sent a rep out to inspect inside of the engine. Ford took the valve covers off and I would have had to pay for all of it if the engine was sludged up. Fortunately, the motor was clean so they covered it.
Truck is nice and quiet now. Good luck to you all who have to deal with this. I really researched this issue on the internet and went to the dealer with alot of knowledge. I pretty much told them I thought it was the cam phasers and the service advisor knew quite a bit about them and agreed with me.
I have an extended warranty. I have a $100 deductible, but the total billed was $1600 for parts and labor for replacing both cam phasers. I bought my truck in August of 2009 and the warranty transferred to me. I did not have all of the documentation to prove that the oil was changed per the maintenance schedule. So, the company sent a rep out to inspect inside of the engine. Ford took the valve covers off and I would have had to pay for all of it if the engine was sludged up. Fortunately, the motor was clean so they covered it.
Truck is nice and quiet now. Good luck to you all who have to deal with this. I really researched this issue on the internet and went to the dealer with alot of knowledge. I pretty much told them I thought it was the cam phasers and the service advisor knew quite a bit about them and agreed with me.
#42
04-18-2010, 09:17 PM
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Hey, Im new on this site, actually been on this site just looking around and decided to register so I could respond to this question, I've been with Ford for 6 years now and im fully Ford certified. I do alot of these 5.4l 3v engines at work, In fact pretty much the only one in dealership that will work on them. I have done ALOT of cam phasers and timing chain tensioners and vct solenoids and solenoid valve bodys on these engines. Alot of times just doing cam phasers will not fix the audible knocking noise.... I suggest if you are going to do the cam phasers.... do timing chain tensioners and vct solenoids as well. About 8 months ago I had one come to the dealership and I installed new phasers and chain tensioners and it was still noisy. Ford sent a ford engineer to look at the engine and we found the problem.... which was debris caught in a passage way in the phaser solenoid body. If you flip the solenoid over and remove allen head plug from valve body that is where debris gets trapped. 5.4l 3v are GREAT engines as long as the oil is changed every 3000 and motorcraft filters are used.
The 3 biggest problems of the 3 valve engine are #1 cam phasers can be noisy. #2 The rubber seal on the back of the tensioners push out and bleed off oil pressure causing slack in timing chain. #3 vct solenoids and valve bodys getting contaminated with debris and oil pressure is restricted causing audible noise and in some cases driveability issues.
Anyway dont mean to ramble on, Just trying to help, I have wasted alot of time just replacing phasers on these engines, I now try to discount labor and parts so customer can afford to fix it right. Good luck, Hope this helps, Bob
The 3 biggest problems of the 3 valve engine are #1 cam phasers can be noisy. #2 The rubber seal on the back of the tensioners push out and bleed off oil pressure causing slack in timing chain. #3 vct solenoids and valve bodys getting contaminated with debris and oil pressure is restricted causing audible noise and in some cases driveability issues.
Anyway dont mean to ramble on, Just trying to help, I have wasted alot of time just replacing phasers on these engines, I now try to discount labor and parts so customer can afford to fix it right. Good luck, Hope this helps, Bob
#43
04-18-2010, 10:10 PM
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Fishhawk, The 2010 has the redesigned cam phasers which are alot better than the old design and you are right Ford says 7500 mile intervals which I really dont agree with at all, however you will be fine at 5000 mile intervals, I just always say every 3000 miles..... cheap insurance in my book.....I have always been one of those religous oil change guys.
Anyway, good luck with the 2010... congrats...Bob
Anyway, good luck with the 2010... congrats...Bob
#44
04-19-2010, 05:26 PM
Fishhawk, The 2010 has the redesigned cam phasers which are alot better than the old design and you are right Ford says 7500 mile intervals which I really dont agree with at all, however you will be fine at 5000 mile intervals, I just always say every 3000 miles..... cheap insurance in my book.....I have always been one of those religous oil change guys. Anyway, good luck with the 2010... congrats...Bob
Anyway, good luck with the 2010... congrats...Bob
#45
04-20-2010, 07:38 PM
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BlackF150, No doubt on the bleeding down tensioner, for some reason the 04 were the worst with the tensioners......Atleast.... I would say 80 percent of the ones I have done have been on 04's. As far as the dealer saying that it is normal, it is not normal however it probably wont cause any issues for you, other than the noise. If you do decide to do them, do yourself a HUGE favor and remove the allen head plug from the bottom of the vct solenoid valve bodys and clean the passage ways out. It only adds about 15 minutes to the job and is cheap insurance. Good luck, Bob