I have an 04 f150 with the 5.4 3v with 150k miles on it. I bought it 6 months ago and it ran fine until I changed the oil about 2 months ago. It would idle rough and it was giving the p0012 code so I narrowed it down to the driver side vct senser. I changed it and it ran fine but had a loud idle wich I assumed was the cam phasers. I put 3k miles on it since (traveling everyday) so I decided to change the oil and once again it started idling rough and the CEL came on so I brought it to autozone and it gave the following codes: p0012, p0010, p0340,and p0345 which all have to do with the vct system. Can someone please help??

 

Oh btw i'm using mc 5w-20 and mc filter

 

you replaced the cam sensor or the vct solenoid? If it's not the solenoid or wiring issue could be phasers or oiling problem in the head. The p0010 code means there is open or short cicuit in the vct solenoid wiring or bad solenoid itself. I would make sure the connectors are seated properly or check to make sure the pins inside the connectors didn't get fubar'ed when you were working on it. The p0340 & p0345 are pointing to wiring issues also I believe - shorts, grounds or something. many times it may only be one malfunction that is causing all of those codes.

 

Cheap fix?

I am gonna toss this out there as I had the same problems with my recently acquired 04 FX4.

Change your oil. Change it from the 5W-20 to a beefier oil. Personally I went with a synthetic 5W-40.

I bought my truck with 210K on it about 2 months ago knowing that it would need the cam phasers as it was sounding like a diesel. I would also get an occasional rough idle that would go away when you hit the throttle past 1500.

First I changed the VCT solenoids....no change.

I then changed both phasers. Didn't sound like a diesel anymore but still would get an occasional rough idle when it was at operating temperature. I would also get random engine codes thrown.

I changed out the 5W-20 oil in it to a synthetic 5W-40. I have over 1000 miles on the truck since then and have no thrown codes or no rough idle. It could be quite possibly the smoothest running 5.4 with 213000 miles on it out there....just the injector tick now. Very liveable.

Didn't think that changing the type of oil would make that much of a difference, but for me at least it did. I figure as long as the first number is the same (for cold start ups) the 40 weight gives my engine the oil pressure that it was lacking at hot idle, resulting in the occasional rough idle.

Get some 5W-40 and see if that works. It's relatively cheap, especially considering the alternatives.

 

Thanks for the responses guys!

I changed just the vct silenoid and I just relized why i'm getting all those wiring codes... My buddy has a similar truck with the similar problem and he told me to unplug the sensors to see if the problem still existed and i never cleared the computer (Unplugged the battery) to clear those codes so i'm assuming thats it. I'll clear and it and get a fresh code tmrw and then I'll change to a 5w-40 synthetic. Even if it doesn't solve the problem, I'd still rather run a heavier oil on an engine with 150k miles. I'll let y'all kno what happens

 

I tried the heavy oil and nearly destroyed my engine. I had to add Marvel's to loosen it up to drain.


My tranny was jerking like crazy then I got a misfire on #4.

It is your igniters and boots. I had a misfire on the #4 and moved the igniter to #1 but not the boot and plug spring (master technician so I know how to troubleshoot these types of problems). It misfired again on #4 so the boot? I bought a set (8) for about $60.00 on-line because local Ford shop way too high on price.

When replacing boots and springs I noticed the tab the spring connects to heavily corroded. I cleaned with (R) Tri-Flow and after it started running much better I thought that the misfiring, not detected by computer, clogged up my combustion chambers and cat. I put 3 cans of BG 44K down my tank for next 2 tanks (2 cans for first tankful due to 28.6 gal tank then 1 can for half a tank and drove it on the highway to blow out) and my truck runs like brand new.

Long story short. Transmission is fine except for a little wear and tear from being so confused which gear it needed to be in based on the commands from the computer relying on the ignition spark to guide it.

I hope this helps a lot of people. Free of charge.

 

I now use 5w-30 full synthetic and it protects me all year for 3 years due to 15,000 mile interval on oil & filter. I use FRAM.

I live at 6,000 feet. Too cold during winter and really hot in summer.

I hope this helps.

 

He didnt ask about misfires or transmission issues, hes asking about the timing system, which your reply did not address.

 

 

2004 f-150 5.4 . I wanted to let everyone know about an issue we had where the truck was idling too low,dying and running rough ,and hard shifting and jerking. Issue started when i changed my battery. Apparently when you disconnect battery ,the computer resets butterfly in throttle body to 0 no matter where is actually at. Inside the throttle body where the butterfly is, a ring of carbon builds up and will not allow butterfly to seat where it should be giving computer bad information about butterfly position. Just clean the carbon ring off the throttle body and let butterfly seat before reconnecting battery.