jr87

Hello,this is my first post and I'd appreciate any help with this situation I've been unable to solve for such a long time. I've had a 2005 Reg Cab 5.4 3v XLT 2wd for a year now and have only had to fix the pass. manifold. However, after about 4 months I noticed the CEL would flash and the engine would lose power dramatically at about 55 (33 Toyo MT's so its 64 mph, confirmed) At the same time a slight ticking could be heard that sped up as i accelerated, as soon as I slowed down below 50 the problem was gone. and she drove smooth as ever. Since I rarely drive at that speed and the CEL went away, I soon had her inspected and opened up to replace the phasers as a safety measure and had the same trusted mechanic (known him for years, All he does is Ford engines, especially 5.4.) He told me nothing else in there was wrong. 10k miles later, now it idles rough as hell, and does the same 'misfire' symptom, now at 45 while with that ticking slightly louder. It starts between 40-65 when the OD drops the rpm below 2k
I've changed the spark plugs twice and coil packs, motorcraft then champion plugs. Changed the oil/oil filter, new gas filter.
cleaned the throttle body and MAF sensor, checked the fuses etc.
checked the cats and cleaned these out. checked the solenoids, injectors

no codes, other that 7 misfires and an open circuit, which the codes went away after taken the truck for a spin and never came back up. It's reading 38 lbs(?) of fuel pressure. The ticking leads me to believe it has to do with lubrication, could it be the oil pump, or screen, or a lifter.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Ticking could be anything...I would go back to motor Craft plugs...what brand COP's did you install and did you replace the springs and boots and use dielectric grease on the boot ends... a flashing CEL is a classic sign of a mis-fire condition.

Dirttracker18

Flashing light means a serious misfire that could damage the Cat. Essentially it is dumping raw fuel into the exhaust which causes melting of the internal honeycomb of the catalytic converter. In all likelihood it did do some damage and it is partially clogged now due to internal melting.

You need live date and/or specific codes for help with the misfire but I can tell you that those Champion plugs are trouble and most reputable mechanics are now moving back tot he two piece Motorcraft plugs.

I got less than 10 000 Km before my champion plugs caused a misfire and went back to the Motorcraft plugs.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

He will be fine with some SP515 updated plugs.

jr87

Thanks for the input, sorry about the delay. The COP are Accel, the first set were the Autozone house brand, I don't recall the name specifically. The only codes it ever read were specific cylinder numbers . It led me to believe it could've been electrical, even then, every fuse, relay, and harness I could get a hold of seems to be working properly. When each coil is disconnected you can definitely tell it was firing, its random and only happens at idle and after 40. The ticking can be heard on the drivers side (cyl 8) almost certainly from the engine itself.

vintageman

I agree with new sp515 plugs also making sure that they are torqued down properly. Do you have any fuel smell in the cabin area? Plugs that are not torqued down to specs will cause a tick, this engine likes the sp515 as well.

jr87

No gas smell in the cabin. She drives great, the rpm stay a bit high since this has been happening, 2-2,500. Which for my truck wasn't the norm around the city, for the first months I never saw the rpm go past something like 1,700. What sypmtoms would a bad valve lifter have?

jr87

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jr87

From a complete stop to about 45, rpm between 2-3 rpm, no CEL flashing this particular time.

edit: It wont allow the file format, it's an audio recording, suggestions?

vintageman

Still gotta say to go back to the motorcraft sp515 plugs for the misfire. Also, what brand of phasers were put in, OEM are the way to go, many on this site have used the Dorman brand of phasers and had premature failure. They have been known to last a couple weeks to just a few months and then had to be replaced. When I changed my timing components, I changed my lash adjusters and followers at the same time. I had 13 bad lash adjusters that would not pump up with oil and would give the standard bad lifter ticking sound. If you create a video on Youtube then post the link here, it may help.
Tom