It had a AC Delco filter on it when I bought it and who knows what kind of oil it had in it! If the phasers are bad will it knock all the time or just after you have drove it for 10 or so miles in warm weather?

 

Drove it around the Ford dealership today until it started knocking! Limped it in to the service area and the service guy could hear the knocking from inside from behind his desk. Service tech came out and listened and said he had never heard one making that loud of a knock they let it sit and idle for probably 5 to 10 minutes and said if it was a phaser that they had never heard one that loud before. I talked to the tech and asked him what he thought it was and he did't have a clue he said he would start by pulling the driver side valve cover and go from there as to that is where he determined it was coming from. I stepped into the truck and revved the engine above 1ooo rpm and it stopped and was very normal sounding. I guess I will find out tomorow if my 15000 miles left on the drivetrain warranty is any good I guess it depends on what they find. I may be making a trip back to the Chevy dealership to collect if this ends up costing me a mint.

 

Might want to check with another dealer...the dealer I use has told me that if it is still making noise when I get close to running out of the p/train warranty, he will get it replaced. I fully trust in my dealer and their service dept. A defect is a defect regardless of the vehicle history pertaining to the Fram (or any other) filter issue. Besides, Ford would have to prove that an off-brand part caused the problem...something that is not stated in the manual is that using non ford parts will void any warranty. We all know that Fram is the orange can of death for the 3V motor..it doesn't state that in the owners manual. A defective part is a detective part !! To be denied warranty service, it would have to me proven that the owner knowingly violated printed materials and warnings.

 

Officially and legally, Fram filters meet Ford specs and the warranty cannot be voided for using them unless the particular filter is defective and caused a failure. If that happens, your only recourse is with Fram.

 

Talked to dealer yesterday after they had pulled the valve covers.Evidently something was not right in the ttop end new long block on the way whew.

 

What was it?

 

The only thing the service rep told me was that there was some scoring and when the engine got hot it would cause the oil pressure to drop to the point that the cam phaser was knocking. I will try and get more details when I get my truck back the first of next week.

 

I have an 04 Fx4 and it has knocked since the day I bought it off the showroom floor. It damn near sounds like a diesel when it's idleing. Now that it has over a 100k on it, I have yet to have a problem. The dealer has always told me at every service it's the 3 valve per cylinder making the noise and not to worry about it.

 

I believe that the 5.4 in the newer body style 04 f150 only has 3 valves per cylinder.

 

Doesn't sound like your dealer knows his stuff very well does it? Ask him to show you where they hide that 4th valve!

 

Lol...my bad, went out drinking last nite. I meant to hit the 3. They are side by side ya know...

 

From what I can find out from my dealer here, there have been quite a few of these 5.4's come in with this problem. Conclusion has been is that these engines DO NOT have cam bearings, as we used to know them. Bad oil, filters, or whatever are scoring the aluminum to the point of losing oil pressure to the VCT system. Bottom line is..replacement engine. My dealer has had to replace quite a few. Don't know if it's gospel or not, just info from the Parts person who is a good friend of mine.

 

I am taking my digital camera with me to pick up my truck when it's done and see if they will let me take pictures of the problem to take to the dealership where I bought the truck to show them what they sold me. The Car-Fax report showed nothing about this truck having any kind of problem like this. My guess is the previous owner took it to a non-reporting garage to have it checked so nothing would show up on the report. Just guessing. Also I am thankful that the powertrain warranty should be covering this.

 

Hey, they messed up when they made my keyboard. They weren't side by side but I fixed that, took a Sharpie and NOW they're side by side!

 

Thanks for updates! Glad they fixed it for you.