I need to replace my cam phasers in my 2004 F150 5.4L. Any advice on whether I should go with the Ford replacment part or with some other brand? How hard are they to change out?

 

Did you check out the How To in the Articles and How To section?

 

Here's a good write up on replacing them.
https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...placement.html

If it were me I'd go with the updated phasers from Ford.

 

Here you go, from the index:

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...placement.html

 

Does anybody else make the cam phaser beside Ford? I use this site to get 25% off OEM Ford parts: www.Zeiglerfordparts.com

The last time I did the cam phasers on a 5.4L, the bigger problem was the rollers on the rocker arms had gone bad on 4 of the valves on the passenger side. One roller was so bad it was ticking like a bad phaser. Rember, You don't have to drain the AC unit to get the passenger side valve cover off.

 

Whats the Ford updated cam phaser kit part#? Do you know a place to purchase them or do I have to go through ford?

 

3R2Z6A257DA Camshaft gear, f150, mark lt, 5.4l - f150 new style 2004-08, mark lt 4.6l, 5.4l 2004 - 2008 (2@) $180.40 = $360.80

Purchased from a discount on-line Ford dealer: parts@jimvreelandford.com

The new design should last! I've seen over 200K miles on this part #.

 

I need to replace my phasers on my 2005...5.4. In Canada, ford dealerships want over $600 per cam phaser!!!! I need to find a place where I can buy and have shipped to me. I have looked over the how to info and will do the job myself....just not willing to pay $1200 for parts alone here! I actually asked at the parts desk 2 different times when buying ford oil filters just to see if the first price was actually correct. Same quote.

 

Just order the parts online from one of the discount Ford dealers listed above. If you call, i'm sure for an small extra fee they'll ship to Canada!

 

Can someone tell me what actually fails on the phaser. I'm in the middle of a rebuild and after inspecting mine the spring is still strong adn not broken. The phaser is not bound up inside the cam gear and will still rotate with enough force applied to overcome the spring tension. So I don't see what else could be wrong. So anybody whose actually seen a bad phaser I would like to know where the mechanical failure occured. I read so many articles on here syaing they replaced phasers and still had the same noise afterwards. I think in alot of cases its the cam followers and lifters that fail like the one I bought with 173k on it. It was knocking a little and when I got into it, it had a bad lifter and cam follower roller.

 

Mine were the old version with roll pins that held the phaser together. On my driver's side, two of the pins were missing and it just fell apart in my hands once it was unbolted. The passenger side looked fine but it was the more noisy side. That was due to some extent to a bad solenoid but not entirely. There's not much inside of the phasers to fail - just a series of chambers which are filled with oil depending on the solenoid.

I'd agree that a lot of the complaints about noise and problems attributed to the phasers themselves actually are lifters/rollers, bad solenoids, oil flow or pressure-related, chain/tensioners, etc. Most people are pretty bad as far as being able to distinguish various engine noises but if you know what to listen for in most of them you can clearly hear the lifters clacking and the chain singing independent of anything going on with the phasers. Probably 1/4 of my lifters were pretty much beat. Solenoid on the passenger side was done. As above, driver's side phaser was mechanically busted. Overall, I'm not real impressed with the whole variable cam system used in these motors.