Not ANOTHER Engine Noise Thread

[FordandPolaris]

Yeah then it is tough to say. I would maybe call a shop and see if they have dealt with the phaser issue before, and what they think as to whether it would make the noise on a cold engine or not.

Just the way it sounds to me though, I don't think it would be exhaust. Its too constant in the pattern to be coming from 4 cylinders that do not fire on every other stroke (4 stroke). I have had small exhaust leaks on my truck as well as half the manifold studs missing on my dad's 2000, and both of those exhaust leak situations did not sound like that. It was either a slower tick (small leak), or in the case of my dad's you can pretty much hear each cylinder firing at idle (large leak), which is a very uneven sound if that makes sense.

 

[Notrega]

I have 2 local shops that I trust to give me the straight poop on what's up with it. I will call them and see if they have any experience with the cam phaser issue.

Thanks!

 

[Notrega]

Well mechanic is pretty confident that it is a serious cam phaser issue. Told me $2500 - $4000 ball park to fix??? Seriously??? and this isn't even the dealership.

Basically told me that I should have never bought the truck...

 

[Notrega]

Got an OBD hooked to it - no codes at all...

 

[FordandPolaris]

Yeah I don't know if that is an issue that throws codes. Its kind of like losing a bearing, you have to go more with what you can discern rather than what the truck is telling you. If it fails completely, you will get some kind of code then, but not really helpful at that point. After reading about the phaser issue a little bit, I would be extremely hesitant to buy a 3v 5.4...

Sorry that this happened to you, maybe consider a crate motor 5.0 swap. At least you wouldn't have to worry about the issue reappearing.

I would guess that they pull the motor in order to reach the phasers. There is very little room to work on them when they are in the truck, so that is probably where most of the cost is going. Its too bad that it has become such an issue.

 

[Notrega]

It finally threw a code and the CEL came on - three to be precise. 2 related to a misfire on #6 and a genetic 'network'code.







I plan to move the coil around tomorrow if it doesn't rain to see if the problem follows the coil or its the plug or both... it it is just the coil I will likely just replace that one for now.

As for the rest of it - I plan to work minor things to get the rough idle and hesitation fixed but I plan to drive it until it breaks. The cost of tearing into it to fix it isn't worth fixing it when I can replace the engine and add things like the cam phaser limiters and different oil pump and have a better vehicle for not much more money.

 

[darmahsd]

If you haven't reached a certain mileage level yet, I think 125K, Ford's got a warranty on faulty phasers damaging engines.
Check into that.
I have that bulletin that came with my '05 when I bought it in '12, but have no noise@70K, knock on wood. If I didn't have the protection of that warranty, I would look into a setup that may be available locking the cams in place, before I spent $1400. Just a matter of removing your valve covers and making sure you don't get the timing out of wack. The phasers are just for variable valve timing through the rev range to improve fuel economy. From what I've heard, you won't loose much by locking them in one position. Might have to reboot ECU.
Really doubt that you have to remove engine to do that job. Everything's on top.

 

[bedrck46]

when you change the coil check the boot for any signs that the misfire is due to a pin-hole in the boot or change the boot as they are available from advance auto

 

[Notrega]

when you change the coil check the boot for any signs that the misfire is due to a pin-hole in the boot or change the boot as they are available from advance auto

I pulled the #6 coil and the #5 coil and swapped them. It still throws #6 misfire but it is not throwing the code as consistently as before.

I did not inspect the boot... how does the boot come out?

 

[bedrck46]

the boot just pulls off the coil