BadFish523

Its a common design used on many vehicles. Ford did go a little undersize on the oil ports from what I've been told but if they are maintained well there are many members on here with 200k plus and not timing issues. Cheap oil filters, poor maintenance schedule, and cheap parts/oil bring the problem to life.

Ace9313

Jesus this 5.4l sound like **** boxes.

i just bought an 08 fx4 5.4l 2 days ago and i think im gonna trade it in. I can't make payments on a truck that's so unreliable. I never had a chevy go less then 180k. 3k on a truck under 150k is absurd.

I think i made a huge mistake switching to Ford.

F150Torqued

^^^^^^^http://www.silveradosierra.com/resul...=1809j506785j8

Ace9313

Are you comparing issues with a defroster to 4k in engine repairs.

ive scoured these forums for hours. And i dont see many success stories on the 5.4l

No one can even recommend a way to prevent the timing failures. Most people on the forums suggest staying away from the 04-08's some guys reccomend it but they have stated dumping thousands into an engine with 100k is "nomal maintenance"

I love this f150 but it seems the engine is a ticking timebomb and with 99k on the truck i should be expecting 4k in repair any day now

Idiggplants

im not one for brand loyalty. ive always been a ford guy, but these 3valves are notoriously junk. i made a post to facebook about getting it repaired and asking for recommendations, and it was shocking how many folks were like... omg, did you get the 3valve?! like... people who arent really car people. these engines might be fine for some of you... and i dont want to get into a back and forth. you bought what you bought and you are good with it... there is nothing to prove...

EVERY truck has its issues. obviously if you search a forum for the word "problem", youll get a lot of hits. but the difference is, there are a lot of little issues with the chevy's... these 5.4s have BIG issues... and im sure the little issues pop up occasionally too. find me a common issue with the chevy's that make people drop 3-4k on them. it is absurd. and you can blame this timing/phaser issue on poor maintenance... but thats crap. an engine shouldnt have to be babied to avoid a 3k repair at 110k... its a bad engine design. it sucks, but its true.

as for my truck, its back together and the engine sounds good... great actually... but... i think i still have a hard shift issue. in fact, i think it got worse. im rather terrified... its hard to tell, but it seems like the truck runs poorly right before downshifting. not sure if it is just holding onto a high gear for too long or what. but its not right.

BadFish523

http://chevroletforum.com/forum/2007...4%24%24-54043/


Just Google Chevy AFM lifter problems. As I said they all have their problems. Its not hard to find a problem with ANY of them. Yes to this extent.

650NutKase

This came to mind instantly. Funny thing is, the sample size ace and idigg are referring to is tiny. The majority of f150 owners don't have issues. Are the phasers a known issue? Yes. Is oil consumption and AFM a known issue, yes. If I were to go buy a Chevy and have issues with the AFM, I'm not going to expect to get 300,000 miles out of it, unless I dump a little money into it. All manufactures have issues...Even Volvo dropped considerably in reliability these last couple of years. Point is, you got one of the bad ones. According to carcomplaints.com, 13 out of 448 complaints were phasers. Compare that to Chevy where 73 of 635 complaints were oil consumption. I'd rather have a truck that I can FIX the problem with some new timing components, than have a truck that will burn oil for life unless I re ring or replace the engine....

Ford4x4LIFE

Just recently sold my 2004 F-150 XLT 4x4 5.4L 3V with 205K miles on it...
It ran like a champ, not once did it leave me stranded anywhere. She was ol' reliable...
But i love the 04-08 body style so much i bout a 2008 Limited 5.4L 3V.
Just bought the VCT solenoids today and plan to replace them this weekend.
It's all about preventative maintenance with ALL vehicles. People are quick to jump on things when it happened, but what was done to prevent it?
You cannot assume what was done before you bought a USED car/truck, but what you can do is start doing that PM.
I'm glad you got your issue resolved digg and it sucks that you had to spend a boat load of $ to do so, but at least you're driving a ford and not a GM that would have been gone if not for government assistance. :'D