Hi I recently bought a 2004 f150 with the 5.4. It makes a ticking noise at lower RPM's. I read a Ford service bulletin somewhere that it is normal for these engines to make the noise at low RPM's as oil is being transfered. Is this true?

If my cam phasers are faulty, will the performance of the engine be affected? Or will it just make a ticking noise?

 

They tick... try running thicker oil...there’s threads about this ...search

 

The phaser on the driver side is basically the last part in the engine to get oil/pressure. I think this and fuel mileage are mainly the reasons Ford recommends 5w20 oil. So as techrep said using thicker oil may help reduce the sound, but this isn't a solution. I think the key to keeping the phasers from going out is to change the oil often and use the proper weight. Once they start ticking though it's too late and they need to be replaced. If the inside of your engine is dirty and oil ports are getting clogged, then eventually new phasers are going to go bad again. So, running some cleaner in the engine may help - but this won't fix the already bad phasers.

 

Ok so if they are ticking...Does that mean exactly that, they will just make the ticking noise and have no loss in engine performance?

I also read, I think in the repair guide to cam phasers that the cam phasers themselves can be broken or "un-sprung". If this is the case will engine performance be affected? Does any type of common cam phaser issue on these engines cause a decrease in performance?

I am aware of the timing system and clogged oil ports that can cause these noises too.

 

If the noise is cam phaser related, then no, it does not effect performance. Basically, the cam phasers in the early build engines (possibly others) have 3 hollow pegs that collaps and allow the phaser to move around too much causing the noise. But it still functions to vary the valve timing.

It could be an indication of more serious issues, like oil pressure not getting to the phasers, could be related to timing chains, guides and related parts, etc. While the ticking from phasers isn't a huge problem, again, it could be a sign that other things are having issues.

 

If you read the TSB it says if the tick goes away above @1200 rpm, that's "Normal". My truck has been doing it since @75,000 miles and I am at @215,000 with no ill effects other than the normal falloff with that kind of mileage. The basic issue is the oil pressure falls off as the engine wears in and cant keep the phasers from hitting the stops at idle. There are multiple other issues with the cam drive system (broken guides and leaking tensioners) as well as a redesigned phaser solenoid with larger oil channels.

I have run nothing but Full Synthetic sine buying the truck used at 37K miles and still developed the tick.

Good luck and enjoy the truck!

 

thanks fellas!