ATW

Good evening, all... Been lurking here for a few weeks in my quest to 'cross into the darkside' and buy a Ford. I've been a Dodge guy pretty much since I could drive. My father has been a big Ford fan, but it never rubbed off...until now.. and I am 25 years old.

I've been driving a lifted '01 Dakota Quad Cab for a few years, but it was approaching time to upgrade. I spotted a 2004 F150 FX4 locally at a Ford dealership that was a trade in. Low miles.. (88K), Supercrew, FX4-Lux (everything but leather), dark shadow gray in color. I started doing some research and found the usual spark plug/cam phaser threads that plague these 3V motors.

Now I work as a service manager for a busy auto repair shop about 8 miles from this dealership.. so I have access to every and any technicians reference guides, Identifix, AllData, TSB's... you name it. So I had done my research on what to expect. This forum also helped A TON, too.

I went to the dealership and took the vehicle on an overnight test drive. And, lucky me! It sounded like a mini Powerstroke at idle when hot--the classic symptom! The saleslady did the usual salesperson thing and ignore the concern when I had expressed that the motor wasn't healthy. I returned the vehicle dissatisfied with what was going on and walked away for I knew that it needed the $1200-1800 repair right off the bat.
The sales crew e-mailed me the following day--still believing that the truck was in perfect shape because it passed the 165 point inspection -- and told me that they were ready to deal. They offered me a full year powertrain warranty on the truck if I bought it.which includes "all internally lubricated parts....timing chain and parts.. etc". Perfect...

Well, I signed on the line, and with my trade of my Dakota, I walked out of the dealership with my new '04 FX4 that clanked like skeletons procreating on a tin roof for under $10,000. I drove it home and let it sit and did some hunting on this forum for ideas. Two days later, I drove it back to dealership and went to the service department to schedule the diagnosis of this "mystery knocking when warm".
Got the call yesterday from the dealership that the truck needs new phasers, timing tensioner, and chain guides....and all I owed was $100 for my deductible on the powertrain warranty. The saleslady I dealt with about crapped herself because 20% of the repair comes from her commission on the sale of the truck. Not my problem, I guess.
I got the call today that the truck was ready to go.. and I picked it up and it is church mouse quiet.

Now comes my question(s).. Are the phasers and timing chain guides updated parts from the original abominations that Ford had originally designed?
Also... would it be wise to replace the VCT solenoids with the updated versions with the smaller orifices even though the ones in the truck seem to be functioning okay?
And... what can I do to ensure the longevity of the phasers and components? I'm using a Motorcraft filter, but I am unsure on what weight oil to use. (nor am I going to start that firestorm of a discussion here..)

Has anyone who had the repairs done still have a quiet truck? I am curious to know if anyone has problems of the noise coming back or how long they've been noise-free since they fixed it. Any insight is appreciated and I'm glad to be a member of this great forum.