Originally Posted by primalurges

Hey were you able to see the manifold crack before you took everything apart and if so where was it in your manifold? Also why are these manifolds so difficult to remove? Are the bolts tight, tool clearance, too many hints in the wAy? Every post I read seems to indicate this job is a bit of a bear and I'm just wondering what the cause is?

Originally Posted by Battlecatt

Hello all,

I just read through this amazing thread and have some questions of my own as far as the VCT goes.

Short story long: I have a 2005 F150 extended Cab FX4. I have had the truck for 1 year and two months. This rig has ALWAYS sounded like a diesel at idle with the constant "tick tick tick." It had 74 thousand miles on it when I bought it (at a used car dealership) and it now has 124,789 miles.

The day I bought it and drove it home, I had to return to the dealship as it began miss-firing badly. They had it for 3 days before they announced that they had to send it to a FORD garage because they broke 3 spark plugs while trying to replace them. I ended up without this truck for a week and a half before I got it back. It ran great until November of last year when the #8 cylinder began miss-firing while driving from Virginia to NY. A quick stop at an Autozone...$46.00 and a new coil pack fixed that.

On Monday (2 May 2011), while returning home in the evening after a trip down from NY, as I approached a stop sign, the truck went crazy! RPM's dipped to almost zero and the truck began to shake like mad. It sounded like a Kentworth and stalled out. I threw it into neutral and started it. It fired right up and drove fine until I slowed to pull into my drive way. It dieseled again and I had to restart it 5 times to get it all the way into my driveway.

The next day it died twice on my way to work. twice on the way home that night. I stopped at Jiffy Lube for an oil change. (I normally do this myself but I had to take this truck to Dayton Ohio the next day to attend a wedding, so i was pressed for time) While I was there, i had the Tranny flushed, filter/screen changed and a full Fuel System cleaning.

The truck died twice in the parking lot of jiffy lube when I went to leave there. Once I got out on open road, it ran just fine. That is until I came to slow down for a turn into my local Wal*Mart. Stall Stall Stall.

No Check Engine Light or the little wrench symbol light at any time.

After a quick run in Wal*Mart, I decided to stop at the Autozone next door and have them do a code read. I dont remember the code number but it equated to "Cam Position Sensor."

The next morning, on my way to work, in the pouring rain on I-95 near the DC Beltway, it died 9 times. I went to a Midas, they had it for 3 hours. They confirmed that BOTH "Cam Position Sensors" were faulting out. That afternoon i took it to my local mechanic and left it with them to replace both sensors, while I rented a car and drove to Dayton.

I picked the truck up this past Monday, 9 May 2011. It ran great for about 20 minutes then .... you guessed it...STALL STALL STALL (diesels like mad when it happens and only after the truck has warmed up and always when slowing to come to a stop.)

I was close to the Autozone so I whipped in there and had another code reading. This time it came up with:

P0012: VCT Timing, Bank 1, Timing Retard (its retarded alright )

So, after having read all this and a few calls by the Autozone manager to a mechanic at a local Ford Garage, the first thing he said was "Cam Phasers".

Since I sank a TON of money into this already, my trunk is now a glorified lawn ornament until i can get the cash together to have Ford fix it but in the mean time.....

Has anybody had this code come up on their trucks and if so, have you replaced the VCT and did it solve the problem?

I ask because after reading all the posts about the VCT's on these engines I am soooooooo hoping that I can get enough money together soon to order them from Ford and replace them myself. However, it woould help to know if anybody else did this and the timing issue was fixed as a result.

I really dont have the $1,600 to $2,300 that Ford is quoting to do the Phasers.

Thanks!

Battlecatt

Originally Posted by Shadetreeboy

I just bought my 2005 King Ranch with 95k on the clock. Didn't notice the crappy noises till after I forked over the cash. Mine makes a ticking noise, a rattle at startup, and also a rattle on acceleration from a stop. Its really obvious at a drive thru. Someone on another website said that you can test your solenoids by disconnecting the wiring harness. If the noise goes away then the problem lies within the VCT solenoid. Has anyone proved or disproved this?? I disconnected the wiring harness from mine and the rattle noise on acceleration went away completely. The ticking at idle still occurred but was much less pronounced. I'm getting some solenoids this weekend and will report back with the results. I would like to know if this is a legitimate way to test the solenoids if anyone knows.