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Eh, sounds like a timing job to me. Could have broken chain guides plugging your oil pickup tube thus causing oil starvation, which would in turn cause these symptoms.
Oil starvation from blockage only at idle ???
If it was truly blocked then wouldn't it have issue throughout the entire range, not just at idle ???
I did look the best I could for any damage to the guides/tensioners but like I said everything looks good and the timing chain is tight with virtually no slop.
I did go with a thicker oil 10W-30 just to see if that made any difference. With all the repairs that I have done at least the truck no longer stalls at stop signs and currently has no Check Engine light on or any pending codes.
Will drive it around again tomorrow and put some more miles on it to see if anything pops up.
Changing VCTs for improved model and clean a good thing
Running heavy oil not the best thing ,5w-30 okay . Checked your profile but it is not forth coming . We try to see if you are in an extreme climate --canada edmonton or something . Reason being, oil turns to wax sometimes and you can get real engine damage . We can also factor in salt/dust/heat etc .I like you don't like to give out social media type stuff but age /location and some other stuff helps us . Mileage /engine size /history of changes /mods .
This circuit you are working on is a pcm controlled hydraulic system using dirty engine oil. The computer tells the vct to pulse the oil pressure to the phasors thru small passages and filter screens . The factory oil pump is poor ,the phasers need around 20 psi, the factory gauge is a dummy it reads mid scale for anything over 7 psi . So carbon contaminates oil and jams up passages , vcts stick and get gummed up ,phasers get starved for oil . A lot of these expensive parts have been improved but if you use after market on these heavy worked parts you will lose .
Thick oil may not save your cams or journals ,yes it will sound better but at a cost . You can run thicker in a very hot climate but not on very cold days . Just my opinion . Change oil often and use a slow cleaner like marvel m oil .We are not getting into some oil fight .Vehicles in australia are orig advised 5w-30
Melling just came out with a real good high volume oil pump in the fall of 2017 ,the 340hv . Use motorcraft 820 filter because it has a good anti drain back valve . Chain tensioners can be changed out to the steel type ratcheting with no seal to blow out , they are available ,same ones are used on the 5.4 -2v older engines .
Running heavy oil not the best thing ,5w-30 okay . Checked your profile but it is not forth coming . We try to see if you are in an extreme climate --canada edmonton or something . Reason being, oil turns to wax sometimes and you can get real engine damage . We can also factor in salt/dust/heat etc .I like you don't like to give out social media type stuff but age /location and some other stuff helps us . Mileage /engine size /history of changes /mods .
This circuit you are working on is a pcm controlled hydraulic system using dirty engine oil. The computer tells the vct to pulse the oil pressure to the phasors thru small passages and filter screens . The factory oil pump is poor ,the phasers need around 20 psi, the factory gauge is a dummy it reads mid scale for anything over 7 psi . So carbon contaminates oil and jams up passages , vcts stick and get gummed up ,phasers get starved for oil . A lot of these expensive parts have been improved but if you use after market on these heavy worked parts you will lose .
Thick oil may not save your cams or journals ,yes it will sound better but at a cost . You can run thicker in a very hot climate but not on very cold days . Just my opinion . Change oil often and use a slow cleaner like marvel m oil .We are not getting into some oil fight .Vehicles in australia are orig advised 5w-30
Melling just came out with a real good high volume oil pump in the fall of 2017 ,the 340hv . Use motorcraft 820 filter because it has a good anti drain back valve . Chain tensioners can be changed out to the steel type ratcheting with no seal to blow out , they are available ,same ones are used on the 5.4 -2v older engines .
Appreciate the response.
I am located in SoCal so not too worried about the cold climate oil issues. I really just wanted to try the thicker oil more as a test to see if I got any changes to take place. I will most likely switch to 5w-30 after doing the Marvel Oil type flush with this 10w-30.
I am going to try to put some miles on it this week and see if I get any codes or the rough idle/clanky sounds come back or are persistent. It seems as though changing the VCT has at least temporarily stopped the P0345 and P0349 codes from occurring.
Albeit, there may be a full timing job (chain, guides, tensioners, phasers) in the near future, especially if the diesely sounds continues.
All parts used are OEM Ford parts. Let me know what oil pump you guys recommend changing over to if the Ford one just doesn't cut it. I would hate to do all this timing work and still have the low oil pressure type concerns.
Got everything apart yesterday. It was a pain getting to that cross bolt on the starter side. Initially I thought the starter had to come out which is a PITA. But I was able to remove the Thrust Washers and get the new ones installed while the engine was in the truck.
Anyways here are a couple more pictures to share-
Both rear thrust washers were toast.
Crank had little to no wear which is good.
Now I know that the best course of action would be to take the engine out and do a rebuild but I don't have that time or budget right now. If this can get me another 50k or even 100k then it's worth it. The Thrust Washers can slide right in with the little bit of crank play you have. this was surprisingly easy after getting everything off.
Since I didn't find any plastic bits in my oil pan and it was only metal shavings from the Thrust Washers, I can safely assume that my chain guides are at least acceptable for now and that I won't be needing to do a timing job/phasers.
Got it back together yesterday and cranked it up. Everything sounded fine and quiet. I didn't have time to drive it around so it was just in the driveway but I will take it out today and see how she runs over distance. So far so good, making progress here.
Damaged thrust washers allow for increased oil flow out the bottom end. This is why your phaser pins didn't have enough pressure to lock and you got the diesel sound and stalling. You don't need to fear heavier oil in the 3V 5.4. It was spec'd for 5w40 in Australia (Ford Falcon) years before it arrived in North America, where EPA requirements led to it's 5w20 specification. A quality 0w40 or 5w40 synthetic can keep you going for a long time.
05-30-2018, 04:33 AM
