ex0r

Hello everyone.

First off, I am new to the forum, and may not populate it much as I myself don't own an F150, but my dad does. I will properly introduce myself in the introductions forum in another post. The reason I am posting in here is to try and troubleshoot or get some help troubleshooting an issue my father has been having with his truck. He doesn't keep up with the maintenance on it, which I have been getting after him about it constantly. However, now he's in a pridiciment as it's his only driver and it's not operating.

Let's talk about the history. He has a 2005 ford f-150 with extended cab. It has the 5.4l triton v8 in it with close to 200k miles. (Its at about 185). In the 2 years he's owned it, he has done one oil change on it (I know, really bad). About 3 weeks ago, his check engine light came on, which he ignored. It didn't affect anything for three or four days, but then it started idling rough and stalling out once it got warm. I finally was able to 'borrow' his truck for a few and took it to AutoZone to have it scanned. They found out that the cam position sensor on bank 1 was not giving a correct reading. He drove it like this for about a week before I talked him into getting the sensors. We replaced both of them. The CEL was still on after this, but all seemed fine. He didnt have it checked right away for the CEL. He waited another day, then it started running rough again, and at times rougher than before, so he had it scanned and now they said error code P0022, which indicated the cam was over-retarted on the intake side of the engine (bank 1 sensor 2?). Again, he waited to do anything and drove it like this up until yesterday, and on his way home from work his oil pressure gauge dropped down to L. He pulled over in a parking lot and let it sit for a bit, then turned it back on and the oil pressure gauge went back up to normal for about 3 blocks before it came back on again. At this point, the truck was running extremely rough and would barely stay running. It was also clanking and 'knocking' really loud. He ended up parking it in my driveway (the 3 blocks he managed to drive it before the oil pressure dropped again), and as soon as he pulled in it stalled out. He was unable to start it, so I disconnected both sensors and both solenoids and it started up after a couple cranks, but he tried going forward with it (he was partially on the sidewalk), and he really had to gun it because it didn't have any power to move.

To me, it sounded like he may have blown the motor in it, but the fact that it eventually moved, and I couldn't see any visible signs of a blown motor (oil spewing out, blue smoke anywhere), I am wondering if it's just that that solenoid is no good, or stuck open. My first thing I was going to do is take both solenoids off and soak them in parts cleaner overnight, then scrub them with an old toothbrush or similar to make sure they are clean, then try again to see if it's fixed, but if it's apparent the motor is shot then I don't think it's worth putting any time into it.

If it's something as 'simple' (I know its not simple, but simpler than replacing the motor) and inexpensive, to pull the timing cover, tighten or replace the chains and guides, and potentially the phasers then I think that is the best route to take. (Provided that the motor isn't shot).

The CEL never indicated anything on the other side, so I don't think it's an actual low oil pressure issue, maybe more just that one side isn't getting enough oil (intake side, according to the CEL error code).

Any advise? And sorry for the long post, wanted to be as detailed as possible.

MetalCutter

I'll let other more knowledgeable members get more detailed, but I'd say you need a full timing job.
The VCT solenoids meter the oil flow to the cam phasers, which control the amount of timing you get. Poor or no oil flow is probably what caused the P0022 code.
Your chain tensioner(s) are probably shot and pieces ended up in the oil pan, getting sucked into and clogging the oil pump. That would cause the no oil pressure.

Due to poor oil maintainance and high miles I don't know if I would bother with this engine.

My .02

ex0r

The problem is, it's 2500 for a used motor with the same mileage, or 6 grand for a new one. He only paid 6 grand for the truck himself, and it's his only vehicle. You can see his pridiciment.

What would a 'full timing job' involve? Speaking to somebody who isn't a mechanic, but does mechanical work on vehicles themselves? Mostly time to do, and cost to do?

SCORGE

Yeah....definitely needs a timing job and who knows what else.
From what I'm reading...why sink the time/labor/money into something that won't be taken care of properly (maybe)

ex0r

SCORGE - I guess the idea is that if it's cheaper to get the truck operational than it is to buy a different vehicle and have the same thing happen again, it would be best to go the cheaper route.

I guess to start with, since I already have to do 'some' work on it, I could remove the cam covers and check the play on the chains. That wouldn't cost anything other than a few hours time removing the covers, and possibly new gaskets.

SCORGE

Assuming that's all is wrong is all timing components...it's already over a grand in parts.

BadFish523

This thread will detail the full timing job. It is a time consuming job and will run about $1300-$1800 dollars if done by you. Don't cheap out on parts, stay away from dorman, use only OEM parts. I would read the thread to see what all is involved in this job and if its done then the longevity of the job is fully dependent on regular oil changes with good parts. https://www.f150forum.com/f4/final-r...-sound-141266/

ex0r

Wow Badfish, that is a very in depth writeup. I am confused though, because the article says the parts are around 400-500, and the whole job done yourself can be under 600 total, but you said it costs 1300 to 1800 to do the job. Where's the difference in price? Is it just that the original author of the article is not using OEM parts?

BadFish523

That thread is 5 years old. There is some inflation along with supply/demand I would imagine. I'm just giving you the price estimates I found when pricing the parts fro my timing job a year ago. The high end was buying the parts from my local Ford dealer. The low end was getting them online. I ended up not doing it myself but having a family mechanic do it with the parts I choose. It ended up costing me just over 3K to have the job done for me but it runs great now!

ex0r

Thanks for the info. It helps with determining how he wants to proceed. Since it's already damaged now, I think first I am going to do just some simple invasive inspections like removing the valve covers to see if you can clearly see damage and check for play in the chains. If he wishes to proceed with doing the rest of the work from there, part of it's already done! If not, nothing but time has been lost removing the valve covers and he can find another vehicle.

Thank you for the info, everybody.