mike07150

Hey guys! Newbie here... so long story short, it looks like I have the dreaded 5.4 v8 cam phaser issue/noise in my 07 XLT with 150k. I have taken it to two shops. One guy said im screwed and wants to do an entire engine swap with a re manufactured ford engine. He said that by the time the noise starts up the engine is so far beyond repair that nothing will help other than a new engine. Another guy says that he can just do the phasers and timing and it will be good. I have a warranty on the engine that covers $3000 for repairs. Obviously, no one is going to swap an engine for me for under $3000 and I dont have the money to pay the difference for the engine swap the other shop was telling me to do. my quote was $6500. Any ideas on what route I should take here? Any help would be appreciated.

lewissa81

I would have the engine repaired under the warranty.

mike07150

So you would just get the timing and the cam phasers swapped out? I have heard mixed results with that fix and that it doesnt actually "fix" the issues. And how much should a job like this run me?

vintageman

I would have the phasers and the timing components changed out under the warranty. I did it myself and my truck is running great. The only thing extra that i did was I changed all 24 rockers and lash adjusters as well since I was in there. Good Luck and let us know how its going.
tom

lewissa81

The results really depend on your particular truck. Some people assume all the noises they hear are the timing system. They miss-diagnose their problems, then get angry when their truck isn't fixed.
While you still have the warranty, get as much as you can fixed. If the warranty won't cover any of it, then the timing(including phasers) should cost around $600-$700 if you do it yourself. It'll be around $1500 to have someone else do it. Vintageman should be able to chime in on the cost of the lash adjusters since he just replaced them in his truck.
Be prepared to go the whole 9 yards with this repair though. Trying to save money and only doing the phasers can cost you a lot more in the long run.

mike07150

understood. Thanks guys. I will have them do the fill timing and phasers then in that case. so you think though that the engine isnt shot like the other guy said?

Bossgame

If it just started you should be fine. I can't hear the noise though, but if it is truly the phaser noise then you should be ok just get it done sooner than later. And make sure whoever does the repair uses 100% motorcraft parts. They sell updated phasers, and tensioners and the whole 9 yards. And throw the new set of updated solenoids on there too.

lewissa81

^^^ I agree fully. More than likely, it's not shot. It just needs a little work. If you let go long enough, then it will be shot.

vintageman

Agreed, change the VCT solenoids while you are at it. I bought the followers and lash adjusters for about $279 on ebay. All of the parts I bought were ford oem so that I knew there would be some quality to them. The main reason I bought the lash adjusters was to make sure that if the noise was not the phasers that I covered all bases for the noise. I am glad that I did because I found 13 bad lash adjusters and that my right timing guide was broke in 4 pieces and my tensioner seals were blown. Take care of it while in there and this motor will take care of you. BTW, the timing components with 2 new phasers were about $510 or so, total was less than $800 and I did it myself over about 4 or 5 days taking my time off from work.
Good luck
tom
Tom

mike07150

awesome. thanks for all the replies. I will go ahead and probably do this myself with a buddies help. the noise just started this week and its very faint so hopefully this can go smoothly. thanks again!