Little prologue,

Got this F150 - 2019 3.5 ECOBOOST, needed a new truck, has 77k miles on it. Love the truck which is awesome cuz i wasnt sure about the ecoboost. I come from the 5.4 (Ive done the timing job), so im aware these trucks have phaser issues. Its been inspected and determined it isnt an issue (yet) - dont know if i 100% agree based on what im going to show but i def can say if it is a phaser issue it does not present as one.

Anyway i quickly learned how powerful these things are- i like power and like tuning and have been looking for a reason to learn more then i ever have. I started with a SCT BDX, just for scanning and i recently had a custom tune made from 5* - Its very powerful as they say but....... ive got a rattle, sounds metallic to me, and it doesnt SEEM rythmic. Mind you its only under load so its hard to tell - it does not happen in neutral and it doesnt ALWAYS happen when ive been running some test pulls. I can say that it will consistently happen at some point or many times when flooring it.

4000RPMs,
38PSI boost, is when i hear it often


At this point i intend to remove the tune but i dont believe its the tune itself, i think its bringing something else to light and i want to figure out what it is. I tightened down a passenger heat shield (wheel) and found some loose clamps on the connecting exhaust pipe

I want to say it seems like its coming from forward of the driver side in the engine bay but i cant say for sure

I tried the spring trick on the turbos but it didnt help any.

Which brings me here, ive attached an old phone to watch the turbos to see if i can narrow down the location of the sound but it has basically shown me i dont think its coming from the turbo.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Me0...usp=drive_link

Can anyone recognize what this sound may be?

 

I think i may have narrowed it down, i removed the tune and since id been working on this i had the vanity cover off the engine, i heard the distinctive tick from a phaser, the tick is not present on the passenger side, at least its very quiet.

 

As for the original rattle; This only happens when driving (Like if i floor it or drive it hard.)- Like when the engine is actually working not just revving at neutral.

The tunes now removed and its stock and the sound is gone.

I think its making a prior issue apparent.

 

Cam phaser failure presents itself on start up when the engine is cold. There is a pin in the phaser that holds position until the the engine warms and oil pressure builds to drive the cam position via the solenoids. The locking pin wears the slot in the phaser and doesn't hold position thus the rattle. The rattle subsides after a few minutes. That being said these are noisy engines, the injectors and the high pressure fuel pump are pretty loud also there was an issue on earlier 3.5 Ecos with turbo waste gate rattles. A look for DTCs to see if there is anything apparent would be top on my list then a listen with a long screw driver as a stethoscope to pinpoint the source.

 

No codes are present at this time. I did find a pending code for a Bank B timing over advance a couple days ago but it has gone away.

 

Got this recording placing my phone at the VCT Solenoids, alternating between the 2 sides of the engine, the louder one is the side im concerned about.

Later in the recording i attempted to pick up the sound a bit more isolated with a "Level 1 mechanics stethoscope" (A long drill bit with electrical tape isolating all but the 2 ends)

to me this seems like a early phaser or maybe a roller/rocker near the front of the engine.

 

sounds like pinging or detonation. Are you running 93?

 

91, i can try and find 93 in the area but i dont think we have it to often in northern wisconsin.

 

38psi of boost? I think stock is 15psi and wastegates start to open around 11psi on mine. That is a huge jump. Detonation would be a major issue. How are you measuring the boost pressure? Normal scaling is from -15psi to 15psi+, but I've seen tuners that go from 0 on up to 30+ and don't show vacuum conditions.

 

I think you may be right. I thought that was high but I took it at face value. That reading is off my SCT BDX tuner. I talked to 5* and they say they don't do much of anything with boost. I think my tuner is giving me the val without considering vacuum