tomb1269

There are several very good videos on the net for how to replace the VCTs. My purpose here is to advise to do them sooner. My truck has had a slight dieseling sound nothing major. I had been reading on and off for sometime about the phasers causing this etc. The phasers do cause this but if the phasers have not worn to much then the VCT solenoid change out will quiet what dieseling sound you do have. There also seems to be some other things that happen once changed.
1st fuel mileage increase, & better hill climb (less gear hunting)
2nd you may notice a small drop if off-the-line WOT torque. This is normal.

If you decide to change them, please order the seals, as they can be difficult to remove if you are trying to reuse them. With new seal the old seals can be worked out by tapping (and I mean just tapping) a screwdriver between the seal and valve cover. Do not try to pry them out w/ the screw driver just get the embed metal ring in the seal to bend in a couple of spots then grab with pliers and pull firmly. If it will not come out then try tapping the screwdriver in around more of the seal to valve cover matting surface. It will come out with little force once you have got the embed metal ring to release pressure.
The BIG THING is not to get aggressive just a medium amount of pressure and working around the seal will get it to come out.


As for the fuel mileage increase. Prior to the VCT solenoid replacement I had replaced the muffler with a deep chamber muffler (basically about 1/2 the size of stock and just a single baffle plate inside) and the same size exhaust pipe. Even thought this allowed for better flow I did not see any real increase. However, once I changed out the VCT solenoids it looks as if I have gone from 13.5 - 14.5 MPGs highway to 15.5 - 16.5 MPGs on a 2005 FX4 with 120k miles.
Some photos of seals after removal and new ones, as well as the old and new solenoids.

Matt's07F150

Also be aware that they changed the valve covers in 2007 so if you have a 07-08 f150 the valve cover has to be removed in order to replace the VCT Solenoid.