Oil Pressure Help Please!!
 

Hey everyone, I'm new to this site, I need some help and I'm hoping I can find it here. I have a 06 F150 with the 5.4 and I'm having issues with oil pressure. I'll start off with I haven't put a mechanical gauge on it or anything like that just going by what seems to be very obvious. about 2 yrs ago I was trying to take care of the "tick" and went on someone's word that it was the timing chains, so I replaced them, didn't fix anything. About 6 months ago the truck started running poorly, lack of power and some missing so I decided to change the cam phasers. When I pulled the timing cover off much to my surprise, my timing chain guides were all shattered. So I put a new timing kit on and phasers and cleaned out the oil pan and pick up tube. I started the truck and it idled fine for about 10 mins and then I drove it up the road about a mile and the truck started knocking really bad so I parked it. Cranked it the next day and it knocked horribly like it didn't have a drop of oil in the top of the motor but it had oil in it. Shut it off and started it again and it knocked a second then quietened down and sounded good until it warmed up then went back to knocking. So I decided to replace the oil pump and when I pulled the timing cover off one of the phasers was broken. Replaced it and the oil pump same thing, idles fine until it warms up and then starts knocking. Now I made sure all the timing marks were lined up and everything so I'm not sure that's the issue since everything seems to be ran by oil pressure. Someone told me that it's possible that some of the debris from the guides could have gotten into the oil journals and gallerys, is this possible? I also read something about the main bearing, Im not familiar with all the technical stuff like that but I'm sure I can learn it. I'm just pretty disgusted with the truck and would like some help. I apologize for the long post and thanks.

I'm no expert. However, since there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of traffic on here anymore, I'll just stab at a few things. Maybe you should drop the oil pan and make sure there isn't anything in there that would cause a problem. What about the vct solenoids? They have screens and to my understanding operate off of oil pressure to advance or retard the cam timing. Like I said, just taking a stab at a few things. Best of luck.
Mike

disconnect the VCT solenoids and see if it goes away. These motors are pretty sensitive to oil sludge buildup so if there was reduced oil pressure at some time, you may have some sludge built up in there. As for the timing pieces getting sucked up inside the motor....they would have to be small enough to get through the oil pickup screen.

Hmmm is it sounding like mine?


Because if so you need to do Lash adjusters and rocker arms. Quit chasing those cam phaser noises, some things you gotta live with.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-NEW-Ford-5-4L-4-6L-3V-Rocker-Arm-Lifter-Follower-Lash-Adjuster-SET-All-24-/261492067806?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3ce2244dde&vxp=mtr

My truck did sound somewhat like that before but I think that part was corrected with the new cam phasers. As far as the vct's I wasn't aware of any screen there but if I knew where to look I would definitely take a look. I didn't unplug them but I will this weekend when I get home. I will keep you guys posted thanks.

Hey guys I was reading something else today and actually watched some footage of a guys truck that sounds just like what mines doing. His problem was fixed with new variable cam timing solenoids. So you guys may definitely be on to something. Of all the reading I've done this is the first I have heard about it. My only question would be is that something that would operate fine until the motor warmed up?

From what I've read, the VCT solenoids have little screens to filter oil coming through them. They tend to get clogged with sludge. In general, oil pressure problems are "always' worse when the engine is warmed up. That's just the nature of oil - it thins out as it gets hot. Thinner oil = lower pressure. Think of trying to drink a cold milkshake through a straw vs water.

As for troubleshooting, it sounds like you already know the low oil pressure is messing up your timing, but there's lots of things that can cause low oil pressure. Clogged oil passages from sludge, bad oil filter, clogged solenoids, bad tensioners, etc.

FYI, I was starting to have similar issues with my truck. When at operating temp, a light throttle would make the truck shake really bad. It cleared up if I gave it some gas. I chose to switch to a thicker oil and it made the symptoms go away. I realize that something is still broken/worn out, but my truck is running great, so I'm happy. Do some research and you may find other people who did the same thing.

I'm currently running 10w-40 Mobil1 full synthetic, but I'm gonna switch to Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 for the winter. If you're not already aware, the first number in a multi-grade oil is the cold viscosity. This will really only affect cold starts and shouldn't mess with your timing. The second number is the relative viscosity at operating temp. Ford spec'd a 5w-20 oil in order to get better gas mileage. That works fine when your oil pressure can keep up. But you might want to try a 5w-30 or 5w-40 and see how your engine responds.

You might also want to check your VCT solenoids. Hopefully you've got the earlier valve covers where you can pull out the solenoids without taking the whole cover off. http://www.howstuffinmycarworks.com/VCT_Solenoid.html

Good luck!

Well, I decided to pull the VCT solenoids this weekend and replace them but that didn't help anything. The old ones looked very clean I just thought maybe an electrical issue but another swing and a miss. I really have no idea where to go from here other than trying the thicker oil. I was hoping to get a check engine light while riding around this weekend but it didn't throw any codes. Starting to wonder if an engine is in my future. Does anyone know any other good websites where I can post my issues for some other input? Would be much appreciated thanks.

Your next step is to get a mechanical oil pressure gauge out on the engine. That'll tell you if the engine is headed south and a new one in yer future. It most likely is going to tell you it's fine. Then you need to inspect the lash adjusters/rocker arms. That's the most likely area where your issue is. If you've used a quality oil filter on it, the possibility of trash blocking the oil journals is slim, assuming that the oil has been changed on time. If you've had a Fram on it, all bets are off. They are noted for the paper element/end cap coming apart and blocking journals. IF the oil pressure is fine, you might consider running a round of Delo 400 15w-40 thru it. It has a lot of detergents in it and will clean things up slowly but surely. Ford is now recommending 15w-40 for the 5.4 engines that are noisy so there's no damage to be expected. It will probably effect fuel mileage by 1-1.5 mpgs.

My 2007 F150 5.4 V3 with 94,000 miles also had low oil pressure issues. The engine began to rumble a few weeks ago so I took it in. The dealer said it had low oil pressure and the engine had to be replaced. I got what information I could from them and decided to handle it myself. Seemed the oil pressure was running 14-15 lbs and needed to be slightly higher at 15-20 lbs.

It seemed to me like the engine was most likely just sludged up a bit. So, I drove the truck home and gave it a good flush with NAPA engine flush. That engine was really dirty all right. I then replaced with Motorcraft 5-20 syn blen oil and Motorcraft filter like I always had. It ran OK for three days, but then started to rumble like a poor running diesel again. So I flushed the engine another time, upgraded the oil to Castrol GTX 5-30 High Mileage and replaced the oil filter with the same type Motorcraft filter.

That cured it. The truck runs great now. No more rough idling. No more stalling. Just runs like its brand new. And the dealer said I needed a new engine. Seems they were more interested in charging me $7300 for a new engine than in fixing the truck.

I have also come to believe that the Motorcraft 5-20 Syn blend oil is not very good oil. No way that engine should have had sludge in it like that. And the 5-20 is probably to thin for the engine anyway.

Good luck.

Not to be argumentative, but I'm not sure the tens of thousands of Ford vehicles running Motocraft 5w-20 in them since they started using it would support your claim. I'm not disagreeing that there aren't likely better oils out there, but Motorcraft is far from an inferior oil. I'd also wager that the viscosity works just fine for most people and I'd bet the Ford engineers have a ton of data to back it up. Rarely does an engine not have carbon build-up and such when operated for 90K+ miles in a range of conditions and run-times.

That being said, I use Mobile 1 5w20 and a Wix filter. Never had so much as a hiccup out of mine with 115K on the clock (knock on wood).

The problem has nothing to do with carbon, but rather a lack of oil pressure that can be caused by any number of things including minor wear to the camshaft, minor sludge build-up and old and somewhat degraded seals. Ford says to replace engine, but that may not be necessary nearly as often as they claim. Engine replacement is for the extreme case only - not when the engine is running about a lb low on oil pressure

The 5-20 Motorcraft oil seems to work fine on my old 2001 F150 5.4 2v. I sold it to my in-laws and they now have over 140,000 miles on it and its running fine. After doing much research on the internet about the very common 5.4 3v low oil pressure engine problem, talking to several mechanics who work on these things, and experiencing it first-hand, I have come to the conclusion that Motorcraft 5-20 oil is not always sufficient for this engine. It seems that the oil pump is barely strong enough to hold proper oil pressure with the 5-20 oil at the optimal engine conditions. Then, once something comes a little out of optimal, the combination of the weak oil pump and 5-20 Motorcraft oil is just not quite enough to keep the oil pressure up. And boy are these engines senstive to low oil pressure. It seems they can pretty much self-destruct in a short time. It also seems that putting 5-30 oil in often fixes or prevents this problem.

As some have said on these boards, it may be necessary to go to 5-30 oil after about 60,000 miles. For anyone being told they need to replace the engine due to low oil pressure, it would be a good idea to flush the engine and replace with 5-30 or 5-40 oil first. It just might save a person a lot of money and a big headache.

I have almost 500 miles on my truck now with the Castrol 5-30 and it hasn't run rough or misfired once. It actually runs like new with better mpg too.

At least now you have something to try if your engine suddenly develops low engine pressure.

Now there's some definitive proof, lol. :rolleyes: Why in the hell would your truck misfire because you switch to a slightly different oil? Oil doesn't enter the combustion chamber in any appreciable amount, so your engine shouldn't run any different at all. Unless you have something in your engine that is bending the laws of physics, you aren't getting better gas mileage, either. Using an oil which should result in slightly more drag/resistance on engine components doesn't increase efficiency.

The answer is: TIMING. The variable timing is controlled by oil pressure. That's why you get the shakes when the phasers/tensioners/solenoids/etc go bad. Improper timing = bad fuel economy aka wasted gas.

I doubt that going from 20 to 30 on oil weight is going to affect the cam phasers so much that it adjust the timing any appreciable amount.