I'm putting a rebuilt motor into my '04 F150 SuperCrew Lariat, I bought this truck brand new in August 2004 and it now has 268K on it

If you want to read the long drawn out and painful story behind this....thread is here https://www.f150online.com/forums/20...art-ideas.html

Trying to decide whether to put oem phasers and vct solenoids in it or to go the lockout route. Cost wise they both end up pretty close to the same at this point.

I've read the updated phasers cure the problem and I have learned from personal experience to stay completely away from aftermarket ones. If I go the lockout route, since the phaser basically becomes just a cam gear is there any issue with going with aftermarket for them? Has anyone successfully done the lockout without the tune? I deleted the front cats several years ago which I believe cost me some torque. I also have about 4" of lift (great story behind this one too) so taller tires which effected gear ratio. I pull a pontoon boat regularly so the notion of additional torque from the lockout / tune is appealing.....but how much is gained?

What about the vct solenoids? In a weak moment I bought Dorman ones, will they matter if I go the lockout route? At that point, what becomes their function? I did notice these have a different design, no screens at the bottom which somewhat confused me.

Any other tweaks or tips that have been learned to help these motors produce more power or just generally run better?

Couple things I HAVE learned through this ordeal....
- The 5.4 3V is NOT a contact motor, we verified that last night with the old motor on the stand, timing chains off and rotated the motor with valves fully open and no collision
- The FPDM can cause all kinds of problems, in my case it went bad (I replaced it 7-8 yrs ago with an oem one) and prior to taking it's last breath it spent a month or so overfueling the motor and ended up washing out all the cylinders on bank two....which is why I'm replacing the motor

 

Get a mellings oil pump in it and you wont have to worry about locking them. It should supply better oil pressure/volume at idle which keeps your phasers nice and lubed.

 

 

BEFORE PUBLISHING THAT AS FACT - - - -
I have a couple of observations and questions. "with valves fully open.. ???" How was THAT determined? Where in the firing order were chains removed? When chains are removed, valve spring tension on Roller/Follower - Cam lobes pushes camshaft to a most relaxed position between intake/exhaust/power stroke of all cylinders on that bank? Admittedly, I do not know if pistons would clear valves in THAT STATE. But I do know valves are not fully open and it would NOT be the same as mistiming one with chains in place.


"+" it is published in many reliable places that the 5.4L 3v engine is an "interference engine" !!!


JUST SAYIN'

 

You can watch the cam and see it open the valves, when the lobes are pointed down the valves are fully open. Hold cam in that position and have friend turn crank over (chains off of motor), if it were a collision motor then the piston would contact the valve at that time

We did this on more than one cylinder looking at both intake and exhaust valves

 

WOW! That _IS_ a conclusive method. I would NOT have thought so. Brings into issue many posts I've seen about 'trashing' valves or the motor by screwing up timing. Even recall one guy saying he could turn engine only so far before hitting a HARD LOCK. ???? WTF?


Also, refreshes an old question I've never had answered, (and even been told it would cause valve contact). How many degrees are the cams on a 5.4L 'advanced' when the phasers are in 'full advance' (NO retard) - 'BASE' position??? What you're saying debunks what I've been told - 'advance would cause valve contact'.


NOW - JUST ASKIN'