Seized rocker roller and cam replacement
09-11-2015, 01:33 PM
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Seized rocker roller and cam replacement
2 weeks ago I spent $650 to have 4 coils replaced for a misfire on 04 F150 FX4 with 157K miles.
Ran great for 10 days and then engine started knocking.
Took it to the same shop, pulled off valve covers and showed me a rocker roller that seized (threw the roller off center in the rocker) and shaved some of the metal off the cam. Mech says he's never heard of this before not sure what caused it, and the repair is $1750 or $6K for a rebuilt engine.
I've found a hand full of posts about this happening but no feedback on what causes it or if its worth fixing (vs. likely to happen again).
Does anyone have advice? Not sure if the coils were a symptom all along, or if it was just a fluke and the rest of the engine is fine.
I'm leaning toward doing the repair, and having the same shop do it. Should I get a second opinion or another quote first? This is my work truck so I need to make a decision to either fix it or replace it pretty quickly.
I put 350K miles on my 97 F150 so this one seems like a baby to me, but I don't want to start throwing money into an engine that may have serious problems.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
Ran great for 10 days and then engine started knocking.
Took it to the same shop, pulled off valve covers and showed me a rocker roller that seized (threw the roller off center in the rocker) and shaved some of the metal off the cam. Mech says he's never heard of this before not sure what caused it, and the repair is $1750 or $6K for a rebuilt engine.
I've found a hand full of posts about this happening but no feedback on what causes it or if its worth fixing (vs. likely to happen again).
Does anyone have advice? Not sure if the coils were a symptom all along, or if it was just a fluke and the rest of the engine is fine.
I'm leaning toward doing the repair, and having the same shop do it. Should I get a second opinion or another quote first? This is my work truck so I need to make a decision to either fix it or replace it pretty quickly.
I put 350K miles on my 97 F150 so this one seems like a baby to me, but I don't want to start throwing money into an engine that may have serious problems.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!
09-11-2015, 03:21 PM
#2
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Had the same happen to me... Got misfire code and changed the COP. No improvement. Never had a knock but the truck would terribly miss between 3-4000 rpm. Roller on an intake valve on cylinder 2 seized and scored the lobe.
My motor had 116k on it at the time. I stuck a new cam in with 24 lifters and rollers (had the phasers done at this time too). A lot of dealers like to say that "sludge" in the motor causes this problem. Local shop did mine and said the motor was sludge free. I was also in your shoes considering to just buy a reman motor instead of fooling with mine.
Anyways... Truck is at 140k now 2 years later and I have no issues. It's all about what gives you peace of mind. If you know the history of the truck and it's been taken care of with a clean engine, I'd say just change what's needed and rock on.
My motor had 116k on it at the time. I stuck a new cam in with 24 lifters and rollers (had the phasers done at this time too). A lot of dealers like to say that "sludge" in the motor causes this problem. Local shop did mine and said the motor was sludge free. I was also in your shoes considering to just buy a reman motor instead of fooling with mine.
Anyways... Truck is at 140k now 2 years later and I have no issues. It's all about what gives you peace of mind. If you know the history of the truck and it's been taken care of with a clean engine, I'd say just change what's needed and rock on.
09-11-2015, 04:48 PM
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Glad to hear a success story with the repair route!
I'm really leaning toward going that way. It has been a great truck in every other way, and the shop says the engine is super clean for 160K miles.
You bring up a good point though about replacing all of the rockers and the phaser at the same time.
Shop quoted $1750 for just the three rockers, lash adjusters and new cam - no mention of possible issue with the phaser, but considering all of the phaser issues I've read about on this model, have to wonder if that might have been part of the reason the rocker seized, and if I should replace it now while it's torn apart, and maybe all of the rockers instead of just the three.
Mind if I ask what it ran you (or if you know, what it should run) for this type of repair with all of the rockers and the phaser?
I'm really leaning toward going that way. It has been a great truck in every other way, and the shop says the engine is super clean for 160K miles.
You bring up a good point though about replacing all of the rockers and the phaser at the same time.
Shop quoted $1750 for just the three rockers, lash adjusters and new cam - no mention of possible issue with the phaser, but considering all of the phaser issues I've read about on this model, have to wonder if that might have been part of the reason the rocker seized, and if I should replace it now while it's torn apart, and maybe all of the rockers instead of just the three.
Mind if I ask what it ran you (or if you know, what it should run) for this type of repair with all of the rockers and the phaser?
09-11-2015, 05:48 PM
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I really wish I could remember... Spent about $500 on OEM Phasers, lifters and rockers were about $6/ea if I remember right, so there's another $300. $300 on a timing kit and gaskets. The shop I used let me supply my own parts and only charged me right around $1100 in labor. Definitely spent 2K after it was all over with.
It's also believed the engine's oiling system is attributed to the passenger side rocker seizures. Something about narrow ports blah blah blah. I'm fairly certain I roasted mine hauling *** on a 3.5 hour road trip at high rpms which supports the theory.
It's also believed the engine's oiling system is attributed to the passenger side rocker seizures. Something about narrow ports blah blah blah. I'm fairly certain I roasted mine hauling *** on a 3.5 hour road trip at high rpms which supports the theory.
Last edited by nrivera04; 09-11-2015 at 05:52 PM.
09-14-2015, 01:12 AM
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Interesting... this is also cylinder 2 and the knocking started right after a road trip... only about 100 miles, but it was a pretty big elevation climb at high rpms.
Anyway... decided to go ahead and repair it, so wish me luck. Thanks again for your help!
Anyway... decided to go ahead and repair it, so wish me luck. Thanks again for your help!
09-14-2015, 02:57 PM
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So I told the shop to go ahead, and now I'm being told they forgot to add the cost of the valve cover [something] and that they'll also need to pull the A/C in order to do the work, so its going to be another $200 to have the A/C system evacuated and recharged. So on the day I approved the work, the quote went from $1750 to $2000 to replace the cam and 3 rocker arms.
Can anyone confirm if this is reasonable, and if the A/C does in fact need to be removed in order to perform this work?
Can anyone confirm if this is reasonable, and if the A/C does in fact need to be removed in order to perform this work?
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09-14-2015, 08:04 PM
#8
So I told the shop to go ahead, and now I'm being told they forgot to add the cost of the valve cover [something] and that they'll also need to pull the A/C in order to do the work, so its going to be another $200 to have the A/C system evacuated and recharged. So on the day I approved the work, the quote went from $1750 to $2000 to replace the cam and 3 rocker arms.
Can anyone confirm if this is reasonable, and if the A/C does in fact need to be removed in order to perform this work?
Can anyone confirm if this is reasonable, and if the A/C does in fact need to be removed in order to perform this work?
Passenger side valve cover removal requires AC to be discharged.
09-16-2015, 01:47 PM
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09-16-2015, 03:07 PM
#10