Every time I drive my 2004 Ford F-150 5.4L 3-valve, once it gets heat-soaked, the passenger-side VVT starts sticking. It only happens at idle. The truck sounds like it’s “farting” and it has a slight shake — not terrible, but noticeable — almost like it’s misfiring. As soon as I rev it up, the problem goes away and doesn’t come back unless I do another long, heat-soaked drive. It probably happens about once a month depending on how far I drive.

I already did the full timing job and replaced the phasers, but I cheaped out on the VVT solenoids since I wasn’t having issues with them at the time. Now I am. I recently switched from conventional oil to Mobil 1 High Mileage full synthetic, and it does sound better and doesn’t happen as often.

At this point I’m wondering — should I just replace the VVT solenoid with a Motorcraft OEM part? I’m getting tired of dealing with this issue.

 

see what others say, but i would start with doing an engine flush or two, and dropping pan and cleaning it and oil pickup screen