Cam phaser noise... Gone?!!
 

Hi all,

My 2004 f150 with 5.4 has been mine since new. Oil change every 5k with 5w-20. Always well maintained. I have had the clicking noise attributed to cam phaser noise for a long time.

Just drove about 300 miles and thought the ticking may be getting louder... Got off the highway and it definitely seemed so. Rolling along trying to listen while looking for a place to stop it suddenly got dramatically louder. I actually thought it was some other vehicle nearby with loud enough noise to interfere with my listening. Louder and louder until boom, it went silent. Engine is still idling. I thought it blew up and quit. But no, it is idling and driving as good as ever.

Now what? I'm 300 miles from home, need to work in the morning then drive back. My oil has about 3k on it and was low a quart last week, so I topped it off and it is still reading full.

I think it is quieter now than when I left. Any advice?

Drove the truck home today with no issues. The ticking has kept quiet, at least to a level I cannot hear it while highway driving. Very strange how it came and went.

Is there some oil treatment I can use to possibly remove anything that could cause sticking or remove deposits? This is sure to happen again if I do nothing.

Thanks,

Not sure if it is related, but assume so,,,, now I have some codes. P0300, p0301, p0316

Plugs were changed at 100k

I'll be willing to bet that the ticking noise was a bad cam follower roller and it finally siezed up and got thrown off the valve. That's why it suddenly got louder and then stopped. Phasers make a rod knock type sound that goes away over 1200 RPM. Now that you have a misfire code for #1 I would look there first. Best case is the valve did not get bent when the follower came off and you will only need to replace the cam due to lobe scoring. Worst case is the valve got bent, the spring popped off, and the only thing keeping the valve from eating a piston is the broken valve guide. Just my humble $0.02, it could be something entirely different.

Definitely should get that checked out ASAP. Any noise like that is cause for a lot of concern

Well then.. Thank you for this suggestion. After a few days I stopped looking for replies and have actually put several hundred more miles on the truck. The only thing I notice now is noise upon cold start and it runs a little rough for about a half minute when cold. After I cleared the misfire code it has stayed clear.

I was wondering if it might have been timing chain guides. I read here they often are found broken when doing the cam phaser lock out. Not sure if any of the other symptoms I described would have made sense with that wild guess.

I've decided to wait before looking into the timing chain. I need to read up more on VCT and other subjects here.

I get rough idle when cold, and the CEL has thrown one code for misfire then came on again but went out before I could check the code. It's been a few thousand highway miles since the noise came and went. Mileage is still good. Just changed the oil and it looks as good as any other time, just a few very small sparkly bits which I have seen every oil change I can remember.

Well, the fit hit the Shan as Toby Keith says. Almost 3k of reasonably smooth driving since the above incident and at highway speed this morning I heard some serious noise. I was not sure if it was a truck nearby using his jake brake. Luckily was at a rest stop turn off. Had it towed to the dealer. I'm far from home so will need to get them to diagnose. Loud clanking from the timing cover area.

Could be the cam phasers but betting on tensioner, my truck sounded like a diesel. Removed and found the tensioner collapsed, right chain loose. This made the right cam phaser right out to lunch.

The dealer I had it towed to is only interested in replacing the engine completely. I understand it. They have no way of knowing the estimate to replace timing chains will result in a sound engine and don't want to be blamed for missing anything hidden. So I am planning to take it home for dis-assembly.

My biggest question, what could have broken that would lead to valve-piston collisions? That's really the biggest concern, right?

Whatever broke was at high speed, but I was very quick to get off the road and shut it down.

The codes it is reporting are:
P0300
P0301
P0303
P0305
P0316

I think the first 4 are all misfire codes.

Could be chain jumped from tensioner, sized cam, number of things. I have mine on the floor of my shop. Cam scored and cam journal, lobes of cam pitted, tensioner collapsed chain making noise, phasers done. Mine is a 2007 5.4, going with 4.6 with 78,000 km.
Wreckers want 3,000.00 grand or more for low km 5.4. The 4.6 cost me 900.00.
To save time take the rocker cover off, remove cam cap if scored engine is done.
The cams have no bearings so if it's scored don't go any further.

Pull the valve covers and take some pics. I would like to see what broke.

I will be dragging it home over the weekend and hope to get the covers off then. Will post some pics and what I find.

By the way, with codes P0301, 0303, 0305, this is one side of the engine. Which side? Drivers or Passenger? I gather that would be the one to start with inspecting the cams. Then is all looks good move to the other side then the front cover?