Hey everyone,



Looking for some advice. I have a 2013 Ford F-150 Platinum 3.5L EcoBoost. I’ve owned it for about two years — bought it from family for $10k. Since then I’ve put a good amount of money into it to get it back into really solid shape.



Recently I started having an issue where the truck shakes and idles rough. It vibrates pretty noticeably at idle, but smooths out once I’m driving. The check engine light also started flashing.



I brought it to a Ford dealership for a second opinion. They’re saying it needs:

• VVT actuator
• CMP (camshaft position) sensor
• Right valve cover gasket
• Oil change

They quoted me about $1,031 for that work.



They also said if that doesn’t fix it, the next step would be cam phasers and timing chain, which they estimated around $4,000.



I’m trying to figure out:

• Does this diagnosis make sense for these symptoms?
• Is this a common issue on the 2013 3.5 EcoBoost?
• Does the pricing sound reasonable?
• Would you guys start with the smaller repair first?
• Anything else I should check before committing to this?

I’m in my early 20s and don’t know if I’m being overcautious or if I’m getting taken advantage of. I really can’t afford to throw thousands at it unless it’s absolutely necessary.



Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Did you happen to read the trouble codes or at least ask the dealership what they were? No way really that we can even speculate on the problem without at least knowing the trouble codes. Cam phasers/timing chain are known problems with these engines, but I’m not sure what the repair price should be for that as I haven’t had to do that on mine.

 

My questions to add to the prior post are how many miles are on the truck. Does it make any noise when you first started up when it's cold. Does the noise change get better or worse or different after it warms up.

 

Thanks for the responses.



I did have the dealership scan it and these are the codes the tech gave me: P0300:00-64, P0301:00-EC, P0302:00-EC, and P0316:00-68.



The body has about 205,000 miles on it ( but the truck is well maintained and taken care of meticulously), but the previous owner had a remanufactured engine put in before I bought it, so the engine itself has around 140,000 miles.



Startup sounded normal from what I remember, but the symptoms started and I drove it to the dealership pretty much right away, so I didn’t really get the chance to compare how it behaves cold versus warmed up.



What I did notice was that as soon as I put it in gear the shaking started and it ran rough at idle. Once I started driving and gave it some throttle it seemed to smooth out quite a bit. When the truck was warm it was still behaving the same way.

 

how old are the plugs?

 

plugs are relatively new but I would have to check my papers to confirm. And I was originally thinking it had to do something with the spark plugs and ignition coils or maybe the coil pack.

 

On a DGI with 200,000+ miles I would look at the simple things first, such as plugs and injectors, before I started to throw internal parts at it. From doing a quick google search it looks like carbon on the intake valves of the early F150s is a problem too (as it was on other OEMs).

I ended up having to buy a dedicated scanner instead of using Android/Torq Pro because I needed to watch, change, and chart multiple things, but, I think Torq Pro would allow you to watch individual injectors at idle, then swap in a brand new Motorcraft ($80 at RockAuto - I just checked) injector and then see if anything changed and if the misfire went away. Does it go rich or lean at the idle misfire?

The problem is not knowing what was done with the rebuilt engine. If it had 150,000 miles, if the rebuilt consisted of just new heads and gaskets, now the majority of the engine and bits have well over 300,000 miles.

I have a 5.0L with over 250k miles, if I had a misfire on cyl 1-4 (yours is 1-3?) the first part I would throw at it it is NOTHING. I would check all the connections on that side by unplugging them and plugging them in again. I have fixed more then one vehicle this way including a customer's Chevy truck that was sabotaged by the airport towing company trying to get extra $. Mice happen!

The next thing I would throw at it would be the camshaft sensors followed by the crankshaft sensor$. I have avoided working on a 3.7L for a friend and told him if he bought the Expo/3.7L against my advice to expect taking it to the dealer$ for all his repairs. I imagine changing spark plugs and swapping out an injector is not trivial. I would strongly suggest only Motorcraft parts from the dealer, local brick stores, or RockAuto, I would avoid Amazon, Ebay, etc.

 

It was a whole engine, that included everything and had 77,000 miles on it when it got installed. I got a ford warranty on it but it expired last year ( how coincidental). The miss fire is coming from 1&2. I appreciate your information and advice. I’m hoping to get this issue resolved without blowing a ton of money into it because I frankly can’t.​​​​​​