Hey all...

So a little background... my truck just hit 175,000 miles, and as it's present to me, I got a code P0345...

That being said, this is the first time I've had the engine light come on, which is surprising, because my truck has sounded like hell since the day I bought it, and I've gotten over this fact, as I've just rolled 175,000 miles without ANY engine problems...

So back to the P0345 code story...

At 170,000 miles, I got my monthly oil / filter change, start the truck up, and it started running like a bag of hell at idle, and here is where the two step blues come in...

At idle, if I don't keep the idle above 500 rpm, it will rattle and shake, and then die... then I have to put into nuetral and restart, sometimes on the fly, always during this holiday traffic! It always starts after it dies, and if I keep the RPMs up, it runs fine, all the way up to redline... just at idle it wants to shake rattle and die!

So I was thinking that my local quick-lube may have put 10-30 or higher oil, and possibly a defective filter, so I took it to ford, got the oil / filter changed, and it went away for about an hour, then the "two step blues" came back...

I have been driving the truck like this for over 5000 miles, and half the time with a large trailer, and as long as I keep it above idle, everything seems OK...

I am hesitant to bring it to the dealer for fear of the "You need a complete engine" horror story...

Is the fix as simple as just replacing the cam phasers? I know that my 05 has had cam phaser noises since I've owned it, are they finally on their way out?

What is going to happen if I just keep on running the truck? Will the phasers just "phase out" and stop working, or will they cause major engine failure?

Any help would be appreciated... I don't want to bring this into the stealership, I don't trust them...

Cheers...

 

that is a cam position sensor fault, check over the wires on the sensor to make sure they arent damaged, and yes i would take care of it very soon. The 05s already have leaking injector issues, and the cam phasers being out of whack, or the failed sensor isnt helping the situation out.

 

If it's an injector you're SOL since you're past the mileage limit of the extended injector warranty coverage.

I'd start with inexpensive fixes like cleaning the MAF and throttle body, and doing what Patman says.

 

Checked the wires going into the valve cover for the sensors, doesnt look damaged...

If it was an MAF or throttle body issue, why would a P0345 sensor code hit, and wouldn't it run like hell all the way thru the powerband?

 

I was mentioning that because it sounds like you need to clean them looking at your explanation of how bad it is running.

 

Had a friend stop by one morning with his truck doing the exact same thing immediately after an oil change. I checked the oil level and found it to be 3 quarts low. The can phasers are controlled by oil pressue on the 3V engines.
Might be a good place to start checking.

 

Probably a good thing to do, I agree, but before the P0345 code, my truck was running top notch...(although prob could be better, afterall, I haven't done ANY maintenance to the motor in 100,000 miles!)

 

First thing I did after the first oil change, was check the oil level... and the oil pressure gauge isn't showing a drop in pressure...

It does seem like there isn't any oil pressure getting to the phasers at low RPM, so that is why I am leaning towards the phasers being screwed, but is it really as simple as replacing the phasers, and my problem is solved?

 

Mine was running great before Bluejay showed me how easy it was to clean my MAF. Now it runs even better.