alsatropine

iTrader: (2)

I have an 04 F150 Lariat 4x4 with the 5.4 3v. She has 221,000 miles on her which are mostly interstate miles. Engine runs like a champ, but does have the cam phaser sprocket issue. I will have the funds to purchase the phaser kit (Motorcraft) and I feel comfortable doing the repair myself. I replaced the chains about 20,000 miles ago but will replace them if I do the repair. My question is, would you go ahead and ddo the repair with the mileage on the engine? Need opinions folks. Thanks!

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Given the fact that I even expected more time out of my engine that I did not get (195k), I would suggest you start dressing out a reman engine.. Mine ran mint and smooth right up until it didn't. I had Stock phasers and chains, some cold start chain rattle, but zero phaser noise. Even though I'm supercharged, I still never expected a valve spring to crack and break.. I guess 04 models are known exclusively for this issue to boot.

I thought I had plenty of time left to do further pro active service to my engine, until a valve spring broke in half.. Mine was an 04 as well..

In hind site, if I could do it again, I would have had a reman engine waiting to get swapped out. With all wear items replaced. Yo can get a reman engine for as cheap as $2900 to $3300 minus core, and it will ensure that every variable is accounted for, with a 100k warrantee. With all accessory extras that I would say are prudent to minimize future headaches and down time, I would suggest you also replace a few other components all at once..
Items like:
Water pump
Starter
Exhaust manifolds
Flywheel
Power steering pump (optional)
Oil Dipstick tube
Radiator hoses
Heater core crossover tube.

At your mileage, and your model year, I would just leave the phasers alone, and set up for replacement.. It's actually pretty cost effective vs buying another used truck, or used engine, with untold maintenance records. If you went in for phasers at this point, it would surely suck if you suddenly had a component give up that was not on your radar, like valve springs, followers, and lash adjusters..

All in with time to prepare, you will be allocating a bit more money to do it this way, but at least you won't be worrying about, worn rings, rod bearings, cam journals, and other higher mileage variables..
So I say leave it be, allocate your funds to a bigger bang for a bigger buck reman engine, and enjoy the remaining days of your current engine, while preparing to swap it out.. I was actually going to go this new motor route either way, and start preparing around 220k, but bad luck beat me to it.. My total price tag with a reman and all the components listed above is at $4100, with JBA short tube headers being the biggest bolt on expense.. I went OEM on all replacement parts except for headers.. I should be up and running by next weekend, so watch for my build thread if your interested..

alsatropine

iTrader: (2)

Yea, I've been looking at remans for about a year now. I would much rather build the funds up for a replacement as well. I've got too much invested in this truck to not replace the engine. I'm like you and very **** when it comes to preventative maintenance and general maintenance. Hell I've been running Mobile 1 Synthetic 5-30 and filter for 40,000 miles now and we all know how that stacks up.

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Your doing it right with the 5w-30 IMHO.. It's easy to get hung up on the phasers and forget about the rest of the motor..
I went with AER for a reman, ford's factory reman supplier. But even they are using dorman frickin phasers. That's right, my new ford spec engine has dorman phasers, and dorman vct's. (Going to be using my old vct's)..The guy I bought it from online swore up and down that it was all OEM, but the phasers and included solenoids are both dorman.. I don't blame him because how would he have truly known, he's just a drop-ship supplier.. With a good price..

But there is a difference with this engine. Apparently Ford changed the spec tolerance for the cam journals, that were previously bleeding off too much oil pressure. This is likely why 5w-30 was such a great fix.. The new "tighter" journals likely bleed less with 5w-20 than previous specs, and should consequently boost pressure to the phaser, and help the oil pressure that pushes back phaser locking pin, which is the part that fails the most on cam phasers. The lack of sufficient pressure on that locking pin causes a tapping/knocking sound as it bounces back and forth in its port against a spring..

So with this new tolerance spec, I'd expect the phaser problems, in conjunction with new vct solenoids, to have likely fixed the flawed phaser design to the best it will likely be. The pin should be more stable with greater oil psi holding the pin back against its spring, and the fresh solenoids will keep the phasers veins from chattering (dieseling) back and forth at idle while fighting the clock spring tension..

I believe the newest OEM phaser uses a solid locking pin to deal with the abuse from the low oil pressure chattering (bandaid). So I'm on the fence, slightly, as to wether swapping out the dorman phasers is worth while.. I've seen the veins break in half on dormans, but that could have been due to a failed or plugged solenoid causing a fight between idle advance, retard with the clock spring and low oil flow to the phasers...
I will hold off on recommending this motor till its in and running. This whole experience did lead me on pretty good fact finding mission, which did help me narrow down my motor supplier choice..
Jasper uses the Melling m360 high volume pump to mitigate this issue. But I couldn't get a confirmed answer from them as to wether the new cam tower and journal specs were utilized..

ford4wd08

Especial,

Did you look at all into power train products? I've heard good things about them, just curious if you researched them at all.

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Yeah they were actually my first choice.. Problem was, they were on a 6 week back order.. Real nice guys to talk to over there.. They are the ones who tipped me off to the cam journals which I confirmed with a call to AER..

I bought through champion engines through Fraser engines. They ship AER engines through a company called powertrain direct that supplies AER reman engines..

alsatropine

iTrader: (2)

That's actually who I've been looking at is Powertrain Products. Very good price and warranty. Just makes me wonder about the phaser manufacturer now

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

Yeah it's kind of a crapshoot as to what your gonna get.. These engine reseller websites and phone calls really only leave anecdotal evidence as to what you can expect to see.. In their eyes the dorman phasers may be considered "better than original" or part of the "fix".. But like I pondered earlier...If in fact they fixed the problems upstream, then that could arguably help remedy the known problems with the phasers downstream.. So without being stubborn with what I think I know, you almost got to just roll the dice at some point, and see what you get..

It's confusing.. I've got documents from AER, ATK, and powertrain direct all from this engine transaction.. It appears my core pickup is going to ATK engines, but my engine came from AER..

alsatropine

iTrader: (2)

How many miles do you have on your current engine? Any issues so far? Did you do the install yourself or was your cost including installation as well?

Especial86

iTrader: (1)

195k
No issues at all, even while blown.. Just crap luck from a broken valve string that was going to break inevitably..
Doing the install myself this weekend if I get the chance. My other truck (02 f250) that's been sitting for 3 years, that I'm driving for now just blew a power steering line last night.. So I'm fixing this today.. Between being busy at work and this kind of crap luck I keep getting set back after set back.
Otherwise, I got a buddy who will help me do it at his shop next week if I don't get it started today or tomorrow.. I might just hold out for my buddy since doing this outside with it getting dark at 4:30 now just makes it suck.
I've had the motor since last week...