BSTARD

Reaching out to anyone willing to help me sort out this issue because my next step a bond fire in the driveway......

2004 Ford F150 Lariat 5.4 3v

What began as a simple misfire code P0307 turned into a stock major overhaul.....

Bought this truck, used, 209K miles. Ran great, test drove great. Was a gift for a high school graduate. He got to drive it a week and it spit a code P0307. Then it made this strange dieseling noise. I am not new to Fords, I currently own my own 2005 F150 but its the 4.6 2 valve. Did the usual, replaced, the COP. Code came back. Replaced the spark plug. Code came back. Did a ton of reading here. Decided to do the timing kit. Removed the driver side valve cover to find a roller follower had been spit out from an intake valve and the lash adjuster blew its top off. Found the keeper ring still in the head and that little bullet shaped piece was in the oil pan. With the cam lobe being ground off about an 1/8 of an inch of material, I opted to go with remanufactured heads. Got a fresh deck on the block by a local very reputable machine shop, cylinders ball honed, new Ford oil galley plugs, new Ford rings on the pistons, new Ford rod bearings, new Ford main bearings, new Ford thrust washers, re-manufactured heads from Cylinder Head International. Following the guidance of the Fordtechmakuloco channel, I went with all new Ford, updated version, roller followers, all new lash adjusters, new melling 360HV oil pump, new genuine Ford timing kit complete with chains, guides, crank sprocket, tensioners and phasers. I used all genuine ford head gaskets and bolts, intake gaskets, water pump, oil pan gasket, thermostat housing to head gaskets, VCT solenoids, valve cover gaskets, timing cover gaskets. Primed the oil pump and filter, built the oil pressure up to 60 psi for 10 seconds then connected the crank sensor and started the truck. Rough and shaky start up. First code was P0358, which was a loose connection on the cylinder 8 coil pack. Second codes was a loose connector on cylinder 7 fuel injector. Went through all the plugs and double checked the connections, ground straps, etc. Started and let it get to normal operating temperature to add trans fluid and bleed out coolant. Truck idled great for 20 or so minutes, checked all fluids, no codes, proceeded to go on the test drive. Got to the end of the drive way and it stalled. Got it restarted and circled the block and it stalled every time I slowed to stop. Checked the codes and got P0012, P0174 and P0172.
I tested the brand new ford VCT solenoid and it is working.

I began to think over the timing... but during the reassembly, I double verified all the timing chain blue marks and none of the roller followers or last adjusters were not installed yet, so the cams could rotate freely for the tensioners to take up the slack. All slack was taken up by the tensioner when I pulled the retaining clips. Everything was checked before the timing cover went on.

I got some advise that my cam phaser may be stuck. It was a brand new phaser but just to be sure, my local ford dealer warrantied my cam phaser and I installed the new one today, put everything back together.
I cranked the engine with the crank sensor unplugged to build oil pressure. Plugged in sensor. Started engine. let it run for 10 minutes. Idled great. Put it into reverse, began backing up. Every time I took my foot off the accelerator, the engine would run rough. I stopped and shifted to drive and I tried to pull back into the driveway, it stalled. I restarted and managed to let the idle pull it forward to its parking space. Rather than taking it for a test drive, I opted to let it idle in park. Made an attempt to rev the engine up to 2000 rpms. There seems to be a slight misfire but it didn't turn on the engine light. But while letting off the throttle and the rpms came down, the rpms went to zero, the engine stalled and during the moment I let off the throttle, the oil pressure gauge dropped to zero and the low oil pressure message appeared in the digital display below the gauge. I am at a loss. Don't know where to go from here. I can count the links and check the timing but if it was off, I don't see how that would cause a low oil pressure condition. It is a mechanical oil pump, how can there be a low oil pressure conditional? What do I do next?

The remanufactured cylinder heads were 2006 year model, could this be the problem? Looking at the cam lobes in correlation to the cam phaser pin notch, the lobes and cam phaser pin notch are in the same position as my 2004 model, only difference is the degree notches at the front of the cam. And since the cam position sensor locates the cam based on the tangs on the cam phaser, I don't see how there would be an issue. I feel like I am stuck tearing the engine back down to the mains and starting over but I don't know that I would find the problem.

ShirBlackspots

I'm assuming you must have done the timing job incorrectly somehow. You make no mention of what you consider low oil pressure (That M360HV should have ~40PSI when hot, 80+ when cold). Of course, when the engine stalls, its not turning, so there will be no oil pressure.

The other thing is: You have a 4.6L, but you used the 5.4L oil pump. Are the oil pumps interchangeable with the 4.6 and 5.4?

BSTARD

I didn't hook up a gauge to check the pressure, just went by the dash gauge. At cold idle start, eyeballing the stock dash gauge, it looked like it was around 70 psi. I didn't make a note of the pressure when it got to normal operating temperature.

BSTARD

And what I considered low oil pressure was the warning message that appeared on the digital display below the gauge when the needle dropped to zero as it stalled.

BSTARD

My personal truck is a 2005 F150 4.6 2v, which is not currently undergoing any repairs. But seeing all the mess with plastic guides and failed seals on tensioners, I am considering doing my 4.6 next, before it gets ugly.

The truck I am repairing is a 2004 F150 5.4 3v which is the vehicle that the oil pump went on.

And thank you for helping

ShirBlackspots

You can't guess the oil pressure when all Ford's that have oil pressure gauges are run off a switch that turns on with as little as 5psi, and the gauge never moves once that switch is closed. It'll be just above middle whether it's hot or cold. Oil pressure gauges in Fords the idiot light of the Ford world.

Also, when an engine stalls, it's not going to have oil pressure.

BSTARD

Okay. Thanks for the info.

Yes, i agree, the pressure drop was probably the engine stall.

Since my original post I have done:
1) Removed the valve covers, timing cover, roller followers, re-positioned the crankshaft alignment mark, collapsed the tensioners and reinserted the retaining clips, removed the chains, re-positioned the cams to L for drivers side and R for passenger side, re-strung the timing chains, re-installed the guides and verified all colored links matched corresponding marks and pulled the tensioner clips. Double verified all marks in correct position before the timing cover went back on.
2) PCM reset by running a jumper from the disconnected negative terminal to the connected positive terminal, let sit for ten minutes as per the Ford guy on youtube.
3) Compression test. CYL 1 = 180, CYL 2 = 190, CYL 3 = 180, CYL 4 = 185, CYL 5 = 180, CYL 6 = 180, CYL 7 = 175, CYL 8 = 180
4) Disconnected the VCT electrical connectors to lock the phasers and it actually ran worse, idled at 400-500 rpms

So to test the oil pressure, attach an oil pressure mechanical gauge where the oil sensor is on the filter housing, any other location on this motor I can check from?
I ask because I have ruled out so many other things, I can't help but wonder how I can check the oil pressure getting to the phaser, if there isn't enough pressure to that one phaser so it can adjust.
With codes P0012, P0174, P0172 and a new one P2196, all I can do is rule out possible causes.
I installed new intake manifold gaskets but I am thinking an intake leak can be causing this problem?

ShirBlackspots

The only place to properly check the oil pressure is where the stock oil pressure switch is, behind the oil filter. There is no way to check oil pressure getting to the phasers.