I have a 2005 F-150 with the 5.4L 3V engine, 55,000 miles and no ESP. I just took it in for the brake booster vacuum recall and had them do an oil change while it was there. Two days later I am driving home and the engine feels like it is loosing power and running very rough. As I pull off to the shoulder the engine dies. I get out, look it all over, and don’t see anything wrong. Start it back up, seems to idle ok. When I go to drive away it starts running rough again, but I am able to get it to accelerate and get home (only a couple of miles). I let it sit for an hour, start it up and it runs and drives fine. So, I take it back to the dealer the next morning and of course it runs fine, we go for a test drive and still no problem. Then I start it up to leave and now I hear a knocking type sound (kind of like a lifter knock). The mechanic suspects the cam phasers. The diagnostic check shows a code for the solenoid that supplies the oil to the phaser on the right side. So they replace it, I pay $350 and I take it home. It drives fine home and fine for most of the drive to work the next morning. When I slow down after a 20 min interstate drive I hear the knock again and it doesn’t go away. The dealer comes and gets it. The next day they tell me the cam/cam journals on the right head are damaged/scoured, etc and it needs a completely new cylinder head. I question why it can’t be rebuilt and they say the journals are too damaged. The cause they say is it was starved for oil at some point. As of right now they cannot tell me why or how it lost lubrication. The cost should be ~$3200 but because I am a loyal customer to Ford and the dealership they and Ford are somehow able to knock $1500 off (not sure how this works). So my questions are these:
1. Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, was the cause ever determined?
2. Does this cost seem reasonable?
This whole thing is not sitting very well with me because my truck was completely fine before I took it in and then 2 days after they work on it there is a major failure with the engine. Maybe this is pure coincidence but I am having a hard time believing that. Did they accidentally start it without adding oil, did some debris get in the new oil filter or in the oil fill hole (which is on the right side!) which caused a blockage, or…? I have questioned them regarding this and of course they are telling me there is no way they did anything wrong. But how do I know that, how would I ever prove that they did (if they did)? Anyone else with similar experiences?

 

I'm sorry, but $3,200 for a head job is utter bullsh*t

you can get a junkyard motor and do the swap for less than that

even with a discount of $1,500 off...you are still talking $1,700. more reasonable, but still alot of money.



unfortunately, you are in one of those "He Said/She Said" situations. They may have screwed something up...or it was purely a coincidence. Probably never know.


If they did run it without oil, you are likely to have lot more damage elsewhere in the motor.


BTW, are they factoring that $350 you've already spent?

 

myself i find if fishy that they just changed the oil and 2 days later it broke. but this coming from a person who takes his powerstroke in every 5k for oil change and the dealer always screws something up. last month they left all the lug nuts loose on the rear passenger wheel, and i have had them leave the oil filter cap loose, leave the dipstick out, leave the oil fill cap half off, leave the power steering cap off, not put on the winshield washer cap, loose my valve stem caps, only fill it half way with oil, leave the oil plug loose, cant diagnose problems the truck is having, and a few others i cant think of right now. if it were me i would really suspect the dealer techs did or didnt do something. but i cant afford to buy and change the oil in the diesel when its free for life from the dealer so i just have to put up with it. but they will never touch my f150!

 

$3500 is a bit high, IMO, but not unreasonable depending on how much they charge for labor per hour.

I've seen a few worn cam journals and/or busted cam caps, usually on the driver's side and one of the last two journals/caps. The cylinder head cannot be overhauled, because the cam doesn't use bearings, it rides directly on machined surfaces in the cylinder head so if those surfaces are scored, the head has to be replaced.

I'd try calling Ford Customer Service, plead your case with them, and go from there.

 

Quintin-
Did you ever determine a cause for the worn cam journals, did you find an obstruction in one of the oil passages?

 

Nope. I was told there was some type of problem causing oil starvation to the driver's side head, but no one really explained it to me in detail.

 

sounds like a design flaw in the engine.

 

Ok first off this particular Engine Ford messed up on the oil pump backing plate. The pump plate is so week the pump leaks oil that In turn cause’s low oil pressure in the engine. The oil pump isn’t getting steady oil flow or pressures to the top of the engine. So over time sludge builds up and blocks some of the passages and the top of the engine starves for oil resulting in premature Failure Due to the oil pump and or not changing the oil enough in these engines. Fords Design flaw mixed with human flaw is this engines main problem. The cam cap has a grove that has to be open it allows oil to the front of cam.

 

There is ... or was ... a lesson here.

 

You responded to a 10 year old post....................

 

Yeah, I used a 10 year old post as an example … but I didn't resurrect the thread, that was done before I posted.

 

I'm not positive, but I think he was responding to Ez Goin.

 

Nope, he quoted a 10 year old post.

 

But …. we all have "that buddy" ….

 

I'm working on a 08 expedition with the 5.4l and he was having the same thing that was happening to u but he had a loud squeal going on. I took the valve covers off and his driver side cam journals are all scored to crap causing the loud squeal. I'm about to take the oil pan off and the whole front timing case but I'm waiting for the valve compressor tool to take off the roller followers so I can put the motor in a neutral safety position so no piston to valve contact happens. Then I can take the timing chai off and then the head can come off. It's a process man for sure and I'm replacing the oil pump with a mellings hv340 with there pick-up tube. Gonna drop the oil pan and clean everything and make sure the crank bearings are fine and clean everything from possible metal shavings.