Ok, it seems my engine swap idea wasnt a good one... The reasons I was interested in doing a swap, My 5.4 has 304,000 k on it, runs drives ok, although at roughly 2500-3000 rpm it bogs, you can drive through it by back pedalling after turning the overdrive off... (guess it forces the rpms higher getting past the stumble/bog) Am I right to assume that the Phasers/Chains and or the VCT solenoids are to blame ? Like I said other than that it runs drives fine....... Any insight would be appreciated. This is the first Engine of its kind I have ever worked on or owned ..

Umm out of curiosity, What about just locking or restricting cam movement There are kits out there for as low as 10.00 that fully lock the phasers out to Comp Cams having a "lockout" kit that limits Cam movement to 20 degrees Please any insight is appreciated

 

Do a search for the garbage that are "lock outs" and make a decision, you'll find that very few people here have any use for them other than paperweights. Short version is that locking out the phasers does nothing to affect the reason why they're not working, which is lack of oil (for a multitude of reasons). Yeah, totally trust a $10 solution... not. Don't automatically assume variable cam timing is to blame. It's a remarkably simple system that can last many hundreds of thousands of miles, as your mileage shows... you've already outlasted probably most vehicles out there, even going back to uber-simple L-head engines. Plugs/coils and a transmission fluid service come to mind as possible causes. You'd want to check out your fuel trims, misfire counts, engine vacuum, etc. (not to mention the full list of operating parameters using Torque Pro or some other scanner) to see what's going on.

Do some investigation as to your issues, but if you need a timing job, I wouldn't bother. At your mileage, I personally wouldn't bother with throwing any parts at it, but just buy a reman 5.4 3v, stuff it in and call it a day. Probably less labor, too. Even that might be throwing good money after bad, as the rest of the truck still has 300k on it. It's your call.

 

dukedkt442:
mm 10.00 not sure I'd be comfortable with that, unless of course it was a gasket ! If I were to look at limiting cam movement more seriously, Id be more inclined to look at the Comp Cams solution, as its not a cheap off shore band-aid. It also does allow movement just allows/limits it to 20 degrees. Id trust the Comp Cams part as I have used their cams and components exclusively since the 90's. The only reason I was looking at timing is 1) mileage 2) last owner had no idea when/if they had ever been done... Old school engines, my dad bought a 1968 Ford F-100 new (late 68) when he traded that truck off 10 years later, The 240ci 3 on the tree power train had over 350,000 miles on it.. The body mounts rusted off of it a few times, but the rest of the truck was sound.. Oh yes that was 350,000 MILES not 350,000 kilometers. For what I paid for my truck I can afford to toss a few bux at it to keep it running, as its a rarety here, No Rust !

I do however Thank you Kindly for your insight.

 

The Comp Cams kit isn't going to get you anywhere if oil pressure is low for a variety of reasons and/or tensioner seals are shot, etc. And to do that you'll be half way there and past most of the pain in the butt work as far as tearing things down to do the full timing job. Which near certainly needs to be done anyway with +300K on it. All that said I'd agree with the post above. Check things out as far as easier fixes first. If that doesn't do it, then I'd probably be looking at a new/used motor to drop in vs spending the time/money on a timing job. Or just drive it until it dies and move on...

 

This ^^^ Oil pressure is key, doesnt matter if the phasers are locked or not, you still need good oil pressure to lubricate the valve train.

 

My mistake, of course if I were to do the phasers I would do the "whole" job.. up to and including water pump and a melling high volume high pressure oil pump... After working on Audi and Porsche for the last decade, one learns to just do everything at once, as its a pain in the azz to go back in again and do something that should have been done to begin with.. That being said The Comp Cams kit would be done while I was in there.....

Again Gentlemen Thank You

 

If you’ve been been elbow deep in [assuming modern] VAG engine products, then you can do the Ford’s simple VCT system with your eyes closed. Locking the phasers lowers the power output. If your factory phasers lasted this long, why find solutions to problems that don’t exist? These trucks need every bit of power they can get! 😎

 

I read that as elbow deep in vag. Still wouldn't use lockouts

 

Ummm....why?

If you’re doing the whole timing job and good tensioners that aren’t bleeding off needed oil pressure are going in, you don’t need phasers!

 

VAG= Volkswagen Audi Group....