'02 5.4l has a loud tick at all rpms that came and went a few times but now is a permanent feature. It seems louder in the pass wheel well. Engine will stall when coming to a stop and is hard to turn engine over. Letting it sit for a few min will ease the starting problem... Engine has 300+km on it. I'm not sure if this falls under the cam phaser problem so this is why I'm posting. I'm going to check the coolant cap once I seach out the procedure. I've seached and watched a few vids and they point to the phaser issue but its the LOUD ticking at all rpm,stalling, and hard to crank part thats throwing me off. Thanks for your help.

 

Horrors confirmed... closer visual inspection and listening, ( looking down the hole for the oil filler cap) reveils a dry and scored camshaft lobe. I just cant wait to pull it in the shop, strip it down and see what the rest look like!! And to find the reason for no oil. Still going to check the coolant cap and levels. No sign of gunk thru the filler hole tho. OP gauge says just over half, DS shows just below full mark. Time to do more seaching for oiling issues and possible over heating.