I had finally fixed all check engine lights/phaser issues. I got the truck dialed in on the Edge Evolution. It was running great! Was. I was checking my oil and I noticed I was a qt low so I drove it 5min to the auto parts store and out a qt of 5w20 in. I drove for another 5-6min and while sitting at a red light oil pressure dropped and the truck started clanking and stalled out. I fired it back up and oil pressure went up to around 40psi then idled down to around 21psi. Once I put it in gear it dropped to 15psi then stalled out again.

I was able to fire it up and nurse it home as long as I was on the gas and never let it idle down.
I returned the edge settings to stock but that wasn't it.
I fear that I had debris floating around in my pan and when I added the qt it must have shaken things up and clogged up the pick up.
If I let it sit for a few hours then start it, it rattles like a mother then quiets down once pressure reaches the heads. Why is the oil draining back? I'm running a motorcraft filter.

Who has dropped the pan on the 04-08 5.4L w/ 4x4?? How many hours am I looking at?

 

Shouldn't be too bad to just drop an oil pan. You sure that's the issue?

 

No. It's just a guess. I know the oil pressure is dropping and causing the vtc solenoids to shut down which throws off timing and the whole system shuts down.

Also, when I replaced the timing chain and guides I had two broken guides. The could be pieces in the pan.

Or I could have blown a tensioner seal.... Ughhhh

 

Hey if anyone is viewing right now tell me if I'm nuts or not.

I've been researching all night and I'm torn on what job to do today.

Job 1: I'm getting drain back when left sitting for more then 5hrs. I use all MC filters. I replaced my tensioners when I did my phasers however I used an ebay kit that had the backing plates for the teensioners and I did NOT use them, I used a thin layer of black RTV. So I could have a failed tensioner that's leaking and killing oil pressure when hot.

Job 2: Drop pan and clean screen. I had busted guides so there MAY be debris in there. Everything was fine until I added oil yesterday.

Which seems like a more likely suspect? I only have time for one of these jobs today.

 

Well I decided to go with the oil pan as it was easier and if I didn't i would have always wondered if my screen was plugged.

You be the judge...


Looks pretty darn clean to me too... UGH at least I know now..

Here is the rest of the pan.


The white slime is a bit concerning. its either a small coolant leak or it's residual from when I had the front cover off and did the water pump. (coolant may have dripped in)

So I guess I'll reassemble everything and complete my oil change. I think I'm going to add a quart of lucas to thicken things up for now as the issues are only happening after the oil temp hits 170. That should buy me some time.

PS Anyone else ever get the feeling were talking to ourselves on this forum?

 

Yes I catch myself talking to myself a lot. I haven't had any issues like this so I wouldn't know. Good luck man!

 

Dear F150online Diary, (obvious joke)

Well it's all wrapped up, I blew some air into the pick-up and about four pieces of plastic were hiding in there so it's good I caught that.

Fired it up and oil pressure shot to 70psi which is normal for a fresh start when cold or after an oil change. I'm going to drive it around and get it to temp to see what it does. I'll pop back in and tell myself about it later. lol

 

Damn. I hope you got it sorted out now! A lot of varnish in that engine. Tensioner backing plates? Do you mean the gaskets for the VCT solenoid valve bodies? Very likely you might have a leak there if you didn't replace them.

 

Good luck!

 

No there were some weird metal plates that were part of this universal timing kit I bought on eBay. (Bad move) it included all the parts for every 5.4 made up till 08.

I drove it around for 30min and the oil temp got to 175, but the pressure never dropped below 25psi. So all in all it seems better but obviously there is something strange going on. I plan on tearing it down in the spring and doing the rear main seal and putting in motorcraft tensioners in the front end.

 

i would avoid trying to thicken up the oil as the clearances are far too tight as it is

 

It still leaked down over night. BUT it's not dropping below 25psi even after long drives so I'm guessing that I blew a tensioner seal or a VTC seal.

 

I'm glad to hear you got the oil pressure to stay up. How tough are rear mains in the 5.4? I've got a leak back there, not sure if its rear main, oil pan gasket or etc. (Didn't look into it much, too cold out)

 

Also, how did you drop your pan? I've read 2 ways, pull the intake and crank the motor up as far as you can, or drop the front diff.

 

I just undid both motor mounts and lifted the engine up as high as it would go. Then I undid the pan and slid it out. It was a lot easier than I expected.