so im new to this forum. well i have a 5.4 3v and it was making the normal diesel sound. from all the reading ive done it seemed to be the phasers. i opened up the top of the motor and found the cam carriers bolts were loose and one of the carriers was right off and one cracked. im not sure if the words cam carrier is correct but its the caps that hold the cam down to the head that are broken. has anyone seen this before and what the hell do i do?

 

havent seen that before. I am thinking your talking about the Cam shaft journal cap. I call it bearing as it is the only piece the camshaft rotates in the head. I would have to think someone did the cam phaser repair at one time in the past and did not do it correctly. Those camshafts have to be removed to do the repair/patch properly because the camshaft followers are replaced and can not be replaced without removing the cam. There is no other reason those would be loose unless someone put them on incorrectly.

 

hey shawn. i've read a lot of posts "yours as well as others" regarding this cam phaser issue . im new to this forum, so please bear with me. can you tell me how crutial is it to adress this? my 2004 f150 5.4 3v seems to be making this typpical "low end chugging" noise when brought up to opperating temp. the vehicle seems to operate normally otherwise, save for a noticeable slight shuddering at hiway speeds, which may or may not be due to older tires. moreover what exactly occours , mechanically to these cam phasers to create this condition?

 

Goose, the shuddering could be anything from engine harmonics to driveline to tires. Your best bet is to have someone that is experienced in noises and vibrations go for a test drive. I've spend countless hours diagnosing issues like these on various makes and models. I wish I could give you more input about that.

What happened to your original issue with the cam bearings/journals?

 

Never mind I thought you were the original poster.