My buddy did the cam phaser phase out on his 5.4... It wasn't TOO expensive and his truck runs really good. I'd look into it, bud...

 

Sounds like the CMCV on the back of the intake to me, or possibly plugs. That's what the problem was with mine.

 

4/16 - You're running synthetic in a 14 year old truck? Unless your mileage is under 80k I wouldn't recommend synthetic. If your mileage is over 120k (or 140 or whatever they suggest these days) I'd go to high mileage oil.
5/16 - Did you reset the computer so it can relearn how to run the truck with the fixed VCT?
9/16 - Have you had a code reader put on it? If not, any of the parts houses will do it for free. I'd do several reads from a couple different parts houses just to keep everybody honest.

 

Well, on 5/29 it will be 11 years since I bought my truck new 2007 F150 Lariat 4x4 with tow package and she is still going strong with 205K miles! I have stuck with Motorcraft oil 5W-20 since new and changed oil roughly 5-7K miles, i have changed the spark plugs 3 times, original ones were a pita to remove I broke 3 of them during removal. Flushed trans once at 100K miles and replaced drivers side cat at 120K miles. Been running power hungry tune since 20K miles with air-aid cold air intake. It goes thru about 1 quart of oil every 5K miles and has been lifted on 35" for the past 50K miles. No phaser tick so far. Only issues I have is my sunroof does not close with button only opens. Other than that its been great for me.

 

 

Well after 14 years and 210,000 miles, my 04 FX-4 gave it's one final act and saved my life. During a trip to GA I hydroplaned and hit a guard rail which launched me in the air. Obviously F150's weren't meant to fly and I rolled 2 and a half times ending up on my top. My injuries were minor and I'm recovered now but my truck not so much. I'm dropping a couple picts here so you can see what happens in a roll over in one of these trucks. I replaced it with a new 2018 FX-4.
Before


After




Replacement

 

 

Thanks. I really had planned on keeping that thing for longer, but I guess it was time to go. It hit a deer about 10 years ago and tore the front up pretty good then in 2015 a BMW came flying through my yard and landed on the bed and rolled off. The truck kept the car out of my house. I was able to recover it each time, but not this one. I can't say enough about the structure of it how the roof held its shape over the seats.

 

 

It seems like the trucks that last the longest, with the highest number of miles & engine hours, are stock. No go fast mods under the hood. No lift kits. No aftermarket wheels & tires. No computer tuning.

Commercial trucks. Trucks that drive over 50,000 miles a year. Trucks that start in the morning & the engine stays on all day. Not that these commercial vehicles operate like that for 15 years. But a 5 year old commercial truck can have 250,000 miles. I drive my company truck over 200 miles a day. 50K- 60K miles annually. We trade them out every 5 years, with approximately 250,000 miles. Body will usually show signs of commercial wear & tear. Driver's seat is torn up & passenger seat is pristine. Stock AM radio. Fleet maintenance ensures that oil was changed every 5K, or about once a month. Paper air filter & fuel filter every 3 months. With those kinds of miles, the transmission fluid was flushed annually. Rear differential gear oil annually. Tune up parts like spark plugs, wires, coils, while the truck is in the sop for the transmission flush & gear oil change. OEM spec brakes as needed. OEM spec tires as needed. Suspension wear items like shocks as needed. Thermostats, belts, hoses, water pumps, starters, alternators, batteries, power steering pumps......all wear items as needed. Seldom, do we see major catastrophic repair.

I sometimes wonder what happens to those trucks, and what the next owner gets it into. My own truck is 12 years old. I can't afford a new truck every 5 years. At 86,XXX miles, I wonder if I can go up to 250,000 miles.

My Explorer, which I bought used with 100,000 miles, went all over the country on multiple road trips. The odometer froze at around 300,000 miles. I'm guessing that it went close to 500,000 miles by the time I got rid of it. And it wasn't for mechanical failure. Sure, belts hoses, a water pump, a fuel pump, a thermostat, a starter......all wear items. Engine & transmission were good. I just couldn't justify $10,000 into fixing the body. All of the leaks when it rained, rusted out the metal from the inside. Common with sunroofs. The entire body would have to be removed from the frame and replaced. The interior was completely worn, requiring new seats, carpets, headliner, trim panels. Even the steering wheel looked like a dog chewed on it. The odometer, speedometer, & several gauges didn't work anymore. Big fun guessing how fast you're going and how much fuel is in the tank. Deluxe top of the line tape deck chewed up my favorite disco mix tape. Chip Foose did not offer to OverHaul the car. And i just couldn't keep driving a car which continued to leak for days after it stopped raining. Same way I would still have soap foam dripping on my head the day after I washed the car.

 

I think it just depends on how the truck is taken care of and what your willing to fix. Nothing on the truck has been very hard to work on and I've been through almost all of the various 5.4's common issues, some twice. Fortunately I am able to do my own work, and have saved a ton of money in doing so (Or this would probably have been a different comment) I've even rebuilt the transmission at 173K due to torque converter failure.

As I was forced to do work to the truck over the years, I've bolted on lots of aftermarket parts. Banks high Ram intake, shorty headers, custom exhaust, wider aftermarket wheels and tires, E-Fans, Under drive pulleys, Bilstein shocks, SCT tunes from both 5 star and MPT. The truck has 227,000 miles on it and runs strong. I even still get lots of comments from people on how nice it looks. I would go so far as to say it runs and rides as good or even better than the wife's 2010 Expedition with the 5.4 in it. Only thing I wish it had was a 6 speed trans and manual shift mode. I tow a 33ft 8,700 lb travel trailer with it every summer with no issues.

I certainly cant say its been a maintenance free 227K, Its now in need of some power steering lines and here recently sounds like it might be time to do the timing set for the second time. However, its been a reasonably reliable truck despite its issues and always gotten me where I needed to go. With no room in the budget for a new truck I fully anticipate going well past 300k+ before "Ol Blue" finally gets retired. Even then in a few years my son will need a vehicle to drive. I would have no hesitation passing the 04 on to him.

 

2005 4.6L 95,000 miles replaced 3rd ignition coil, 2 in the last few months. front end feels shot, time for repair.

 

One of my neighbors has a lawn service. He bought a new 04 Supercab with the 5.4 and it now has over 140,000 miles on it and the engine still sounds good. He is always towing a trailer with his equipment and yard debris which he said could weigh up to a combined 15,000 lbs according to the scales at the landfill. He says he uses 5w40 synthetic oil in it.

 

Just over 150k on my truck now. Just had about 4k in repairs including phasers, chain, tensioners, transmission line replaced, power steering pump replaced, rear axle seals (i think) and brakes.
Thing feels like a brand new truck.
Oil pressure was spot on and compression was great.
Daily driven to shop 12 minutes away and occasionally 2 hour trips to farther jobs. Tow boat, camper, on vacations.
I am second owner.
Always motorcraft filter and up until this year mobil 1 oil. Now i started switching to blended stuff.
Been a long time since i was on here but this is a good check in!

 

Have had to replace my fuel level sensor, my cams on my Rize 8” lift, and my Toyo open country 37.13.5R20s due to dry rot. This all being done over the last few years. Have had the truck since 2010 and the tires have been on it since 2009.