Ford guys - Cam phaser project

[Mort]

Thought I'd share my experience, to those that care or are having the same issues. I've had this truck since '12. This has been my major issue since I've had it.

Me and a friend that used to work at the dealership back in the late 90's did all the work. Out of curiousity, I sought out estimates and was giving at least a $2,500 price tag to have it done. I roughly saved over a $1,000 doing it myself with help. Of course, I had to do this thing in July with the humidty we had and it was bugger, not gonna lie. So if you're not the type of guy that likes to do mechanical shit this in depth, I advice to bite the bullet and take it to a shop, otherwise, have at it and take your time. We did this job over a course of 3 days, just working a few hours each day as it would allow us.

I know alot of you are not fortunate to have a shop and tools at your disposal or not being around doing mechanical stuff as you grew up, I was fortunate, plus being the racer I am, had to tackle the job.

I first was going to just replace the cam phasers, once we got the valve covers off, one trick is to see how the timing chains are is to trying and pick them off the gear, if you can move them at least 1/4" off or so, you better replace them .My right side was pretty bad. Once I got the front cover off, we discovered the chain rail was all busted to pieces inside , when you take the cover off you will expose part of the oil pan, buddy reach down in oil pan and removed a couple of more broken plastic rail.

Attached are videos for audio purposes to hear the difference it makes





More pics of the tear down

 

[WormWiggler]

Ugg, I cringe at the complicatedness of today's vehicles. Just found out last weekend my daughter's Jeep has cam phasers. When I found out I was relieved as my vehicle has the GM VVT with the potential lifter problems, my solution being an aftermarket Range device to trick the thing into staying in V8 all the time. Not looking forward to where vehicle are going, the days of buying an old better and massaging it into a workable driver for a few bucks seem long gone.

 

[Mort]

The problem is these engineers over engineer everything now days, they don't give a flip. Most vehicles today have the computer to control the timing, no more distributors, the VCT or VVT controlled timing and they don't work right half the time. Like ford vvt system, the cam phaser gears go to shit, they are driven by the volume of oil and oil pressure but the passage to them are so small they plug up. I locked my phaser in and reprogrammed my timing by buying the kit from a company out of canada. So far I like it, the down fall they say is when you go over 5,000+ RPM you lose top end horsepower...I"m using as a daily driver for driving down the highway, don't need to drive 100 mph nor am I competing in a tractor pull... smh

 

[Davey Crockett]

My 08 was did that spooky shake rattle thing a few times on hot days
at an idle. What weight oil are you guys using ? I only put about 2500 miles a year on my 08 ford pickup and was changing oil in the fall with winter blend oil and was running it during the summer. I looked into it and it said low oil pressure can and will cause it. I changed to summer blend oil and the problem went away. Mine only "did it" on a hot day at an idle. Not sure how others act.

 

[Mort]

My 08 was did that spooky shake rattle thing a few times on hot days
at an idle. What weight oil are you guys using ? I only put about 2500 miles a year on my 08 ford pickup and was changing oil in the fall with winter blend oil and was running it during the summer. I looked into it and it said low oil pressure can and will cause it. I changed to summer blend oil and the problem went away. Mine only "did it" on a hot day at an idle. Not sure how others act.

I was running strictly 5-20 synthetic motorcraft just like the book says, since I got the truck in '12. Its an '04, In reality, thin oil will get THINNER when its hotter out along with engine heat. I'm going to run 5-30 here on out, since I've locked the phaser's in, The phasers will not be dependent on oil pressure/volume anymore. The noise you hear only does it at idle, its worse when the engine is hot, just keep an eye on it.

 

[Duckslayer100]

I'm going through this right now with my 2010 F150. It got really bad this weekend in DL after driving for a while. If I slowed down or tried to idle, it would knock really loud and sound like it was about to die. Sometimes it randomly fixed itself, other times I could stomp on the accelerator and it would go back to normal.

I'm thinking there's still plenty of miles on this truck, but I'm not sure I want to sink another $2,500 into it at the moment...hmmm

 

[lunkerslayer]

number one issue for engines is shitty gas or diesel has been the number one issue for all engines since the liberal agenda went and allowed ethanol and bio diesel.

 

[Allen]

Interesting project. Only Ford engines I've ever torn apart are yesteryear models. 300 inline 6, 302, 351M, 400, 360 and 390. Simple things back then, nowadays I am stumped when it comes to diagnosing problems on modern engines, much less fixing them. Probably because I never had an issue when I ran a 5.4, or on my current 6.4 powerstroke.

I did however help a guy with a lug replacement project yesterday on a Focus. Seems like I'm relegated to brakes and wheels nowadays.

 

[lunkerslayer]

Talking about Fords what the consensus on newer ford's design of having to pull the cab off to do any work on the motor. It seems like a way to get people into newer trucks if one can't fix the truck a lot of mechanics are not equipped to handle a job like pulling the cab.

 

[riverview]

ford triton engines suck to work on, I actually stopped working on them in my shop one too many sparkplug fiascoes. all the new engines have VVT engines the best thing you can do is change oil and use the mfg recomended oil. Most of the VVY issues i see the engine oil is past due.

 

[Slappy]

Talking about Fords what the consensus on newer ford's design of having to pull the cab off to do any work on the motor. It seems like a way to get people into newer trucks if one can't fix the truck a lot of mechanics are not equipped to handle a job like pulling the cab.

Most F150 owners have no idea that cab removal is standard procedure for many common Ecoboost issues including turbo/manifold replacement, front main seal, and timing chain/tensioner. Go to any large ford dealership and look in the shop where you will almost certainly see one or more with the cab off. It's close to $2000 in labor just to get the cab off and back on so if you have a repair requiring it you should strongly consider some proactive replacement (i.e. don't just replace one turbo).

 

[eyexer]

ford triton engines suck to work on, I actually stopped working on them in my shop one too many sparkplug fiascoes. all the new engines have VVT engines the best thing you can do is change oil and use the mfg recomended oil. Most of the VVY issues i see the engine oil is past due.

I’ve blown five of my eight plugs out on my 02’ I’ve had since new. 210,000 on it now. Haven’t blown on in 50k or so. So due lol. I carry the timesert kit with me all the time and an air ratchet lol.