2004 f150
 

Hello all, I'm new here so I'm not for sure if I'm putting this in the right place. I just bought my truck a few weeks ago not knowing about the Cam Phaser issue. Today I took it to a shop and had the new phasers put in but got a call that it was running bad and throwing Lean errors. There wasn't anything wrong with it before I had the new phasers installed other than the knocking noise and would "slip" every now and then. I'm trying to find out if anyone else had similar issues after installing new phasers?

Sounds like they messed up the timing.

What shop would install something and make the engine run worse, and then complain to you about it?!

They called and asked if it was running like that before I brought it to them. I told them it ran fine other than the knocking noise.

Tell them they need to make it run right now... an Internet forum can't diagnose what they could've screwed up, broke, or even forgot to plug in.

If not, take em to small claims court.

Sounds like they screwed something up.

Feels like I'm getting heated up just reading this.... glad I'm not in your shoes. :(

Yeah Im not too happy and really worried, I've only got so much cash....

@Cheak sorry to hear about your initiation here. There is a wealth of really sharp guys about all aspects of these trucks on here. --- and they're all more than happy to help. So, I hope your cash (committed at the outset) gets the job done or you take ManualF150's advice.

If, as you say, it ran OK before - just had phaser knock, the most common mistakes are improperly connecting or verifying some sensor connection. More serious are using BUMB Chinese (NON-OEM) phasers. They are frequently bad out of the box. Or, in the interest of TIME, bypassed critical procedures. ie: super cleanliness such as cleaning phaser valve bodies, replacing VCT solenoids, or failing to remove oil pan and clean pickup screen - and/or replacing oil pump. etc etc etc. I would suggest you ask about those things, and post more information about your truck and exact model, mileage, and symptoms.

Hope your shop/mechanic isn't a 'know it all', and will listen to reason instead of 'poo poo' every suggestion you get from here.

Hey Torqued, I haven't paid anything just yet. I got an estimate and that's about what I got. Yes, it did run just fine before. I have to make regular trips to the VA that's about 2 hr drive with some interstate driving. And it didn't have an issue. The only reason I got the phasers replaced is that FORD told me id end up having the engine lock up on me if I didn't. So I was just trying to get ahead of the issue. It is an 04 Super Cab Lariat with 127k miles. An old man owned it and it was garage kept. It really is sharp, no other issues until today. The guy told me that once all the work got done it idled just fine, took it for a drive and gave it some gas and that's when it started running rough. The only codes he said he's getting is "Lean" errors on both.

Sounds like a 'find'. Should be good for lots more trouble free miles. That symptom (ran fine till warmed up - then idle rough) sounds frighteningly like it could be 1). Broken chain guide debris getting sucked up into oil pump pickup screen degrading oil pressure, or 2). A failing/failed cheap after market phaser (very common with those claiming to be OEM but with part numbers ground off), or 3). Vacuum hose knocked off back of manifold while removing valve covers (likely culprit with lean codes on both banks). If the first were the case, should have shown up before the phaser change.

Mileage is in the early range where broken plastic chain guides occur - especially if plugs have not been changed and the truck has experienced the 40 - 50 mph light load misfires (heavy bucking), which is also a common thing that leads to broken guides.

If the third isn't it, removing oil pan is not big job on 2wd and a good way to verify guides are not broken.

good luck.

EDIT:

BTW, Thanks for your service.

Thanks Torqued. Still no update today, it's still at the shop. I called yesterday and they were opening it all up again. So we'll see what he says today.

Were the phasers Motorcraft? Cheap aftermarket phasers are usually crap.

I honestly don't know.

^^^^^ If I had to bet. I'd bet they were the later.

Update: So the shop calls me yesterday. Says that he did use Motorcraft parts. For some reason, fuel pressure died off and the fuel pump and fuel filter was clogged, O2 sensor was bad, the catalytic converter was clogged. So would you all think I just have the worst luck in the world or what? But without the exhaust hooked up its running fine. Should be able to pick it up today.

Well, if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all! Seriously though, it could have been there the entire time. Having new cats/02 sensors and such is a hassle, but you shouldn't have to worry about it for 100K miles. As long as you didn't have a bunch of oil/fuel being dumped into the exhaust killing the cats, it shouldn't occur again. 200K miles on the factory cats is about all it's good for.

So, in the end, a lot of things had to be replaced.
4 Coils
1 O2 sensor
Fuel Pump Module
1 Plug (Still had original) Getting rest done at a later date
2 Phasers
2 VVT Solenoids
Valve Cover Gaskets
Oil/Oil Filter
Cat. Converter Had it taken out.
Total cost $1889