All,
First post so I appreciate the help. I have a 2005 F150 with the 3V 5.4L v8 engine. A friend just had his jump time and his motor now needs a rebuild. According to the mechanic, this is a common problem above 100K miles of this engine. Mine has 84K miles and I’m wondering if I need to trade it in to avoid a large motor bill later? Your thoughts?
It was an issue with early 3 valve 5.4Ls. But from what I’ve seen it tended to happen earlier , like around 30k-50k. Usually, you’ll be forewarned of a impending cam phaser failure with a noticeable knocking sound, they generally don’t fail suddenly.
Or install a cam phaser lockout kit and get rid of the problem altogether.
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1154145-cam-phaser-lockout-installed-and-running-very-quite.html
Tester
@Tester With the lockout kits, you lose the benefits of variable valve timing correct? I’m not sure I’d be willing to give that up on a truck that wasn’t exactly a rocket to begin with.
Hmmmm?
You must not have read the first link I provided?
They state that they can’t tell any difference in performance from the engine once the cam phaser kit was installed. And the only concern was if it effected fuel mileage.
Also, we’re talking about a truck. I don’t drive my truck because I’m looking for performance.
Tester
I mean, fundamentally speaking if you’re disabling the VCT, you’re going to giving up some power. Ford wouldn’t gone through the expense of designing it and putting it into production it didn’t have a noticeable impact on power. In the links you provided most of these guys just seem to putt around in their trucks and don’t really get on it very much, so they might not even notice the lack of top end power.
For a truck, I really don’t care about fuel mileage, IMHO if you’re driving a full sized truck, and you’re concerned about fuel mileage then you’re probably driving the wrong vehicle. With that said, I get that there are some occupations where a truck is basically a requirement, however if I’m going to be getting 10-14 MPG, I’m going to want a decent amount of power in exchange for that kind of fuel mileage. And most full sized trucks with the largest engine option will provide good performance. When I worked for Ford, my demo was a 2005 F-350 4WD with the 3 valve V10, 5 speed automatic, and 4.30 gears. it only got 10-11 MPG overall, but it was quite quick for a 7000 pound vehicle. On the flip side I sold a couple 2004-2007 F-150’s with the 2valve 4.6L and 4 speed automatics. They were absolute dogs, their fuel mileage wasn’t any better in the real world vs. the 5.4L 3 valve, but they gave up around 70 HP and 60 lb-ft of torque. The 2 valve 4.6L was tolerable in the 97-03 F-150’s ( I have the 4.6L in my 97 F-150 and it’s definitely a bit underpowered but I only drive the truck less than 1000 miles a year), but the 2004-2008 F-150’s gained anywhere from 700-900 pounds (depending on cab/bed length/drivetrain) and while the 5.4L gained 3 valve heads and VCT for healthy power boost to offset the added girth, the 4.6L did not (until 2009) and had to haul around a substantially heavier truck.
This sounds like the kind of fix/modification that certain individuals would perform right before they sell their truck, or trade it in
And I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of these guys do NOT tell the buyer about that kit they installed.