2004 Ford F150 FX4 with 5.4 V3 Vin 5. The truck has 298,000 KM The truck when cold runs great till it warms up. Once it has been running for about 20 minutes it starts running rough and gets worse. It shakes so bad and sounds like it is only running on a couple of cylinders. If I give it a little gas and take it up to about 1000 RPMS it smooths right out. A couple of years ago (app 10,000Km) I had the cam phasers chains tensioners VVT solenoids and spark plug replaced. After that I had intermittent codes like crazy all from the left side of the engine. They replaced the main engine wiring harness and all was good except for a code for the intake manifold runner. About 3 weeks ago this problem started happening. I had a code for the bank 2 cam position sensor so we replaced that. cleared the codes no change in the way it was running. check engine light came back on and had the P2004 code for the runner valve code. Scanned again a couple of days later had a code for the bank 1 cam position sensor replaced. cleared codes no difference. Got the P2004 code again. Tried unplugging both VVT solenoids. It ran good for about 20 mins then started shacking and banging again. The oil pressure seems good. With the scan tool hooked up to it the pressure remains constant. This usually happens about 10 to 20 minutes after start up. A couple of nights ago it took about 90 minutes for it to happen. I scanned the codes again and I have a code P2004 Intake manifold runner stuck open bank 1 and P0345 Camshaft position sensor Bank 2. we are at a total loss. We ran the truck with the scan tool attached and had no misfires and the oil pressure remained consistent. The Problem seems to be coming from the left side of the engine. I don't think that the runner valve would have anything to do with it as I have had that code for a couple of years.

 

When you say the oil pressure is "good", exactly what kind of readings do you get? What weight oil are you using?

 

5w20 Amsoil that is all that has been in the truck since about 40,000 km. According to the oil pressure gauge it is over half and the gauge doesn't move when it starts acting up. I just got back from a buddies house to borrow a manual gauge and it started acting up and he heard it. He is convinced that the timing is retarded. It starts out shaking slowly and progressively gets worse. He used the analogy of slowly turning the distributer on a old chevy. If you take the RPMS up to around a 1000 it smooths out you decrease the rpms and it starts to shake again most of the time occasionally it will idle nice for a while.

 

You need a OBD2 scanner that can monitor the oil pressure PID to get a correct reading. The gauge doesn't move because it's an idiot gauge. I'm betting the pressure is high enough to keep the gauge from dropping, but too low to operate the phasers. This can be due to a failing oil pump, excess clearances in the engine, sludge, or plugged screens in the VCT solenoids. Using heavier oil MIGHT help.

 

What kind of parts did you use? OEM or other? Only use OEM parts and in particular OEM phasers. All other phasers are prone to premature failure. Have you checked COPS? Was the intake manifold removed? If the KS wiring was routed behind the actuators that could restrict the movement and potentially keep IMRC open.

 

UPDATE

I hooked the truck up to the scanner at work on Saturday unfortunately my mechanic wasn't there something about his wife being in labour. I wasn't able to find where the live oil pressure but i was able to find the timing. When the truck started to act up the timing was changing on bank 2 only with in a few seconds it said -20 and was running rough when I took the RPMS up to about 1200 it smoothed out and the timing moved back up to the same as bank 1. when I lowered the RPMS it ran rough again and the timing went to -20 again only on bank 2. My theory is that the oil pressure should be ok as it only happened on bank 2. Previously we had unplugged the VVT solenoids and had no difference. I am guessing that it was aftermarket parts that were used.

 

I did some research - there is no PID for oil pressure, you will need a mechanical gauge. You need 20 psi to operate the phasers. As I said, heavier oil may help. Check the screens on the solenoids for sludge. You may need an aftermarket high capacity oil pump.

 

@glc is correct, there is no OBDII PID for oil pressure. And in fact that relates to why your dash gauge is GARBAGE. The oil pressure sensor is a on/off switch at about 5 - 7 lbs, wired directly to instrument cluster - who fixes the Oil Pressure gauge slightly above half way. Engineers figure that satisfies the majority of owners. Probably true as _most_ owners do not fully understand the wide swings in oil pressure or all the factors that can cause it.

I believe your OBDII diagnostic indication ( -20 on Bank 2 ONLY) in conjunction with your reporting P0345 indicates your bank 2 phaser is the problem, or possibly bank 2 tensioner seal.

I am assuming the -20 scanner reading was advance reading or CAM ERROR reading for bank 2. (But nevertheless should not differ from bank 1). An imbalance in cam timing between banks will definitely produce rough idle. Retard reduces intake air ingestion and thus compression / power on the over retarded bank.

OIL PRESSURE definitely plays into the equation. If a given threshold pressure is unable able to hold the 'weaker' phaser in position (at zero retard) at idle, it can idle OK cold and NOT when warm. Low oil pressure can be the result of worn parts, blown out tensioner seal ----- OR POSSIBLY from broken guide debris clogging the oil pump pickup screen. The latter happens after warmup because the crap can sink to bottom, only to get sucked up with thinner oil circulating. I would recommend dropping the Oil Pan and checking for chain guide junk in there.

P0345 is detected 'at startup'. If cam is NOT at base (zero retard) during cranking - (before oil pressure comes up) - THAT code is set. There is a locking pin in the PHASER that captures and "HOLDS" it at base (zero retard) when there is NO oil pressure during cranking. In your case, if Bank 2 phaser is at -20 (not at base) at shutdown, then the locking pin cannot capture it at base, so on startup P0345 is certain to occur.

Just some thoughts.

 

I had a truck a while ago that did that same thing, I ended up putting in a straight 30 oil in it and its been fine since

 

Sorry for the long delay. I was able to measure the oil pressure today At a idle when cold it was around 20 lbs the pressure increased as we increased the RPMs. When the truck warmed up and the timing on the left bank started to change the oil pressure dropped. It was fluctuating between 5 and 15 lbs. When we took the RPMs up to around a 1000 the pressure increased. to close to 30lbs and it smoothed right out. We then ran a bottle of engine flush and dumped the oil. When we took off the oil filler cap it was a little frothy. When we drained the oil it we dumped it through a cloth and it looked like there were some very small aluminium filings in the oil. We then used a camera through the drain plug couldn't really see much but thought that there was a chunk of something laying in the oil pan. I am hoping to have the pan dropped tomorrow to check it.

 

You probably need to put a in it. In the meantime, try heavier oil.

 

I had a problem with extremely rough idle and engine stalling after driving and coming to a stop and did did just about everything I could before breaking in and having to do a timing job. My last ditch effort to avoid tearing the engine down was changing the oil to 10w40 due to some things I found online. I still have a very slight rough idle (most people probably wouldn't notice it) but I haven't thrown a single code, had rough running or any signs of wanting to stall since the oil change. The thicker oil increased my oil pressure enough to "fix" my issue. Not sure how long it will work but it's working now and I'm extremely happy about that because I definitely don't have the money to do a timing job right now.

 

Update: We removed the oil pan and found some plastic pieces thoroughly cleaned the pan removed the pickup tube and cleaned it as well. There was also small aluminum particles in the pan as well. My mechanic thinks that they are from the pump probably with it being somewhat starved of oil with the plastic blocking the pick up tube. We reassembled everything filled with 5W20 synthetic. My pressure at cold idle went up to 35 compared to the 20 I had before. When it got to operating temperature my pressures did drop again fluctuating between 10 to 15 mostly around 12 and idled rough. We drained the oil and put in 5W40 synthetic and it runs much better but occasionally runs a little rough. If i take the RPMS up a couple of hundred and it smooths right up. It looks like I will need to change the oil pump. I will definitely be putting a high volume pump in. I highly recommend changing out the oil pump when doing the timing and drop the oil pan as well to make sure that there is no pieces of the old guides that will cause problems later

 

WHAT you found in the pan was the result of the 'real' problem..
The cam chain tensioners slides all wore out and broke off, ended up in the pan.
The bank 2 phaser, and possibly the cam journals are likely scored from lack of oil volume.
You very likely need a whole Phases, tensioners, oil pump and sensor replacement.
If that is done, take the cams off and inspect the bearing areas for scoring. It affects oil pressure to feed the Phasers.
Sorry it sounds so bad but doing less than a complete job invites problems again in a short time.
All these things are involved in the total correct operation of the VCT system and yes timing is involved so the cams timing is changed vs rpm.
Good luck.

 

I had the Cam Phasers tensioners chains and guides done a little over 10,000 km ago so I am hoping that they were pieces from the old guides. I am planing to order a high volume oil pump but will definitely check the cams. Has anyone done the the phaser delete