Martian

TOPGLOCK

[QUOTE=Nate782005;4810710]
Gotta love the grammar police...

coolride

they put the plastic junk in the timing system and a crappy tensioner so it would fail at some point and generate labor hours at dealerships. Otherwise these things would run too long and nobody would replace them! Kind of a planned weak link design.
I think even the cloyes timing kits that are highly regarded here are parts imported from Taiwan. I was going to buy motorcraft parts when I needed a timing set but I couldn't prove that even the Ford stuff wouldn't come from overseas somewhere.
I bought a made in china set off ebay and it worked fine, fit fine. Granted I can't say that kit I used would last 200,000 miles, but I didn't expect it to, I was shooting for more like 50K tops as truck had high mileage by the time I had to dig in.

Warden888

Just a note regarding Dorman VCT. DON'T BUY THEM.

Plenty of warnings on this thread about sticking to OEM selenoids (and yet, I still went the cheap route and picked up the dorman's). 10 months I've been living with a rough idle. Finally, I took it to my Ford Dealer who said I needed new VCT selenoids.... "But wait, I had replaced those...."

I simply let them install the new ones ($700). Got it back and it runs great now. Go figure. I could have done them myself, but figured I deserved to pay a little penance due to me ignoring the good advice on this thread. So, don't use dormans VCT selenoids, spring for the OEM when doing this repair.

(10 months ago I did the complete fix this thread relates to. Fixed my tick and timing issues. My guides were completely destroyed).

gkornelson

Has anyone used the DNJ Engine Components phasers (pt# TCP4173)? They cost more than the Dorman ones, but still considerably cheaper than OEM.

I did the entire timing job last summer using the Cloyes/Dorman parts, and already need to replace at least one phaser, hoping that the guides are still in one piece after all the chain slapping from the failed Dorman part so I don't have to do a full teardown again.

vintageman

To find out if your guides are broke, you need to do the full removal of the timing cover anyway. It has been discussed so often here, OEM is the way to go, others like yourself have gone the aftermarket route and had terrible results. Do yourself a favor, when you open it back up, use OEM parts, it will save you time and money in the end. Try OEM Select on Ebay, they have pretty decent prices. Good luck.

mas

I've tried searching, but there's soo much info about this issue I can't find a good answer to my question.

What's the worst that could/would happen if I just disconnect the VTC solenoids and drive it?

In truth that's what I've already done for about 3 months now. With them connected it idles poor, almost stalling. Runs fine disconnected. I *think* I notice a little top end power loss when on the highway, but I'm not a speed demon so I don't really care.

After calling around to shops to gets estimates I've been told on average $2800-$3000+. One shop told me right off the bat "you need to just replace the engine" when I told him what I needed done. Another said "If an oil pressure test shows it below 22lbs the motor isn't worth fixing."

So in my mind at this point it almost isn't worth fixing and just driving until something else ends the truck's life and I buy another vehicle.

Opinions? Thanks.

crewcabf150

Continue saga of my f 150
Previous episodes
Rebuild heads, new cams, most all sensors, rebuild bottom block, all timing gear...etc.
Still rattled. Thought maybe the passage ways are occluded, since the cam journals in the head were scoured, (I should of had the block flushed but I didn't) so I installed locks...
Ran fine few miles then quit.
Fluel starvation.
Pump runs with key on
Just replaced fuel tank modulator and fuel rail sensor.
Used starting fluid to keep running but sounds like it's starving.
Any thoughts?
Will change filter ( done a year ago) and check for kinked lines underneath.

Bill

Techmantim

Even under the factory warranty they still said it's not a problem and not to worry about it. I guess they don't want work for their techs. I've had other similar issues where the dealer service said leave it be or it's not broken. I guess they just don't think their techs can fix it. Really I think it's just that they don't want the trouble dealing with warranty stuff or some of the warranty cost comes out of the dealers pocket so they rather tell a lie then fix it right.

coolride

mas - these engines are a fine line between fixable and junk.
Not sure the year of your truck, but some years have a cap on the valve cover so you can replace the VCT solenoids without removing the valve covers. These are easy to swap out the solenoids, just buy new caps when you buy the solenoids as you will likely bend the originals removing them from the valve cover.
If the valve covers have to come off, you may as well go for the timing kit. It isn't much more work to remove the timing cover once valve covers are off. Timing kits aren't very expensive, and odds are tensioners are leaking if your truck has any amount of miles. It would be worth doing it all.
I went through all of this with the 05 I had. HAD!
It will run without the VCTs, just limits the trucks ability to adjust timing, but won't hurt it any. Similar to locking the phasers it just runs in a default mode basically. It will probably limit power and hurt fuel economy some.
Sounds like it would be worth trying to replace the VCT solenoid that is bad. the check engine codes should lead you to the side thats having an issue. If it is the driver side, pull the cover off and pull a few cam journals to see if there is any scoring. If there is scoring on the cam or the journal, you need some serious engine work. If all the journals look excellent, and I mean perfect, it is probably safe to say that the head and cam are good to go. If you find a worn cam or journal , you will need a cam, and probably a head. Figure in the cost of one head and labor, and not knowing if low end is good, all needs to be considered. These engines are expensive to fix. Reman engines are $3300 to $5000 not including labor. Junk yard engines I found are close to $3000.
Thus the reason I traded mine, it wasn't worth it to me to spend $7000 on an engine replacement in a 200,000 mile truck. Sad part is I did the timing kit before I found the cam journal issue....
I am no expert on these engines, but have been a mechanic all of my life. My opinion is, fix it if you can, providing it doesn't out weigh the value of the truck.
Now that I have owned one of these 5.4s, I will not ever buy another one. Just my preference. Even the low mile ones fail. Oil related, at least in the early 5.4 3valve engines. They say proper service is key, but even those who are right on top of it have been hit with trouble. Not a very good engine in my opinion.