Hi. 1st time on any forum. I have an 08 f150 5.4 3v. I did a complete timing job on it last fall following ford tech makeuloco's 4-part video using genuine ford parts. I even replaced followers and oil pump as suggested. It ran great for 2000miles, then one day it started a bit rough and by the time I got home it threw a p00020 code and stalled at intersections. I researched a little and replaced bank 2 vct solenoid again with no better results. I took to a respected shop to check electrical connections and such. They came back with low oil pressure at warm idle. I changed oil once and even eventually did a motor medic treatment. Still no good and getting worse. It starts rough and I have to pedal it to keep it going at stops. An old-timer and the shop say I may need new engine. It has 216k miles. Right now I have it opened up and the timing is still lined up and phasers look ok. I was gonna replace bank2 phaser with old one that I had saved thinking I have nothing to lose. I would really appreciate any thoughts or ideas before I throw money towards a remanned engine. Forgive me if this is out of line for a new member to ask. I'm not even sure how I will see the results to this post yet.

 

Did you mean you replaced a new vct solenoid again, or you didn’t replace it when doing timing job?

When doing timing did you:
- drop pan and clean pickup?

 

I want to know what oil pan looked like .Cleaning out oil pan is a must do . Oil pu cleaned ,no thrust washers in pan, make sure oil pu oring in place . My oil pu was jammed full of fibers from ground up guides . Thrust washers usually can't be put back ,the crank has already eaten into block . Did you check end play of crank . How much sludge was in valve covers .
Did you replace lashs . Pull valve covers and check to see if followers okay -not one laying to the side Look at valve springs , make sure clips are in place . .I assume you put a melling hv oil pump in it .
So bank 2 is,drivers side , not advancing by command of pcm . Oil flow problem , vct failure - vcts are maint items , new bad phasor on bank 2 , is phasor distorted when you look down on it , is it returning to the L /lined up with middle finger . There is a filter in vct housing .
Did you have broken guides originally . Did you use plastic new tensioners , steel ratcheting old design is better no seal to blow out . You may have to dismount and check seals . Those plastic tensioners can let a lot of oil out.
Excessive end play of crank can cause a lot of oil pressure loss .

 

The code says the vct control is open or shorted , is the power getting to the vct , I believe the pcm puts a ground on it to activate it - check your wiring/fuses
.

 

I'm back. Thanks for response. I did replace both vct solenoids at during timing job. None of the guides were broke so no debris there. All the new followers appear to be in place and not failed. I didn't drop oil pan until I did motor medic treatment, at which time I did find some shavings in pan and ??pickup filter. No other debris. Note, when I bought truck in 2012, it immediately started a tick so dealer ended up rebuilding I believe the top end. Not exactly sure, but I got the old head bolts back with the truck. They had it for a while. I thought maybe that could be source of slivers??? The new phasers both look symmetrical and at home with the middle fingers. Parallel with the cam. The tensioners also are still tight with no signs of oil leakage. The timing kit included all ford oem parts even the followers. I used the recommended expensive tool for the follower installation and lost no springs or anything. It went smooth as pie and worked great for that short time. Really made a difference in noise and performance. Then it just went that one day when it started rough. The old phaser looks is a little different design than the new ones, but still Ford.Would it really be detrimental to just try old phaser and retourque same bolt? Again, I really do appreciate any advice. Last efforts b4 busting into swapping engine. New and used trucks are ridiculously priced these days. I can't get into etiher one. BTW, I did change to 5w30.

 

Also, the shop I took it to said all the connections checked ok.

 

Was it a high volume pump you put in or just a stock new pump.
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when you had the pan off did you inspect the thrust washers ?