Hello all,
I am just now working on reading all the stickies and FAQ, but I have kind of an emergency... as my newest truck, this 2007 F150, is my work truck/daily driver, and I NEED it on the road ASAP.. My '04 F350 is down with dead batteries, as well as being too big for my work/school

Anyway, here is my problem;
2007 F150 XL, 5.4l, auto, 4x4, 151,000 miles
Throws only one code, P0016

Ive only owned the truck for a few weeks, and here is what I have done with it thus far:
Oil change with Mobile 1 full synthetic oil (10w-30)
Wix oil filter
Motorcraft OEM air filter
Motorcraft fuel filter
New coolant
Replaced oil filter/block adapter gasket
New cam sensors
New crank sensor

It was sold to me under the impression that the spark plugs (I know all about the trouble with those, and have the Leslie broken plug removal tool on order, as well as the Champion one piece plugs, and soon, Accel coils on order).

The truck has always had the 60-70mph, light throttle hesitation/stumble. I thought the plugs were the culprit.

Until it began throwing the P0016 code yesterday. Since then, Ive cleared the code several times with my very basic code scanner, as well as replaced both cam sensors and the crank sensor this afternoon. The code is still there. The truck does NOT have the "diesel" sound like so many do when the cam phasers have failed. In fact, the truck seems to run VERY well, especially since I just did all those maintenance items a week or so ago. It has good power, it starts and runs, and idles smoothly. I have not had it on the freeway yet to see if the 60+/- light throttle stumble is still there. The CEL came back on before I got to the freeway, so I punched the steering wheel, and headed home and parked it for the night.

I spoke with a tech at my local dealer (Im In Pasadnea, CA), and he said the most common issue is sludge/cheap oil filter debris in various screens inside the engine, and that there is no real good way to fix this. He said his dealer usually just R&Rs the entire long block. He told me to look in the oil fill cap, and see if i can see any sludge. It does look a little "brown" in there, but I don't see any sludge. I simply can't afford to replace the engine in this truck. I can't even afford to rebuild it at this point either. I just bought it as a work truck, and NEED it to make me money. I also live in an apartment, so what I can do myself is very limited.

I need all the help I can get right now. And any recommendations would be appreciated. Even if someone has access to a better scan tool, or works for a dealer local to me, can help me out. I can buy some beer for you. But thats about it right now. Im getting married in 4 weeks, We are generally broke, I just started back to school this week, and Ive only had this job for about 3 weeks (and I get paid on 30-day invoice cycles, so it'll be another couple weeks before I even get paid my first check). Basically, I REALLY NEED some help.

 

P0016 = ?
'Browning' on interior engine surfaces is normal and expected, but you should still see the metal through it. If you suspect an oil pressure problem you should put a mechanical gauge on it to see what its doing.

 

P0016 is a crankshaft/camshaft correlation DTC code. It's possible you may have skipped a tooth on one of the timing chains.

 

Well, I have decided to replace the timing solenoids on both sides to start with. From all the research I've done, these can cause the problem also. Of course, my truck is an 07, and I have to pull the valve covers off to do it, but oh well.

If this doesnt fix the problem, then I will just tear it down and replace the chains and tensioners and phasers such. Im of the mentality that if I have to tear it down that far, even if it were, as you said, a tooth off and could be fixed and put back together, I might as well just replace the parts. They do have 150k and 7 years on them.

The truck still runs very smoothly, and starts and idles fine. Talked with a service writer at the dealer when I was picking up batteries for my F350, and they agreed, it doesnt sound like a "worst case scenario" deal, since the truck doesnt sound like a diesel, doesnt die or stall, or run terribly. The oil I drained out of it when I changed it (2 weeks or so ago), had no metal or sludge, and when looking in the oil fill cap, i can't see any sign of sludge or anything, its clean. The previous owner changed the oil every 3k miles. and before him, it was a county owned truck, and had a religious maintenance schedule.

Ive gotten pretty proficient at issues with the 6.0l diesel (and in spite of all of the issues with that truck, and $12,000 in building the engine up), I still very much love it, and still think of it as the best diesel engine. Seems like Ill be getting the same proficiency with 5.4l issues also. I don't necessarily mind this, the timing is just terrible with the wedding, and being stuck in an apartment, with my full garage/shop/tools, 5 hours away in storage.

 

These trucks should run 5-W 20 oil not 10W30 due to the small oil gallery in them.

 

What happens if you run 1030? oil stavation?

 

Hello all, if there is one thing I hate, is people making posts like mine here, and then never updating it with how they eventually fixed their trucks. (makes it hard for those searching for help later). So, since I just got my truck fixed, I thought I would update everyone.

I had first replaced the cam sensors and crank sensor, with no change. I then replaced the VCT solenoids, again, with no change. So I bit the bullet, and spent $1300 on parts. I bought new phasers, new chains, all new chain guides, new tensioners, all related seals and gaskets, and a new water pump, just because it was easy to replace with the rest of the engine torn apart. I didn't know exactly what my problem was, as the P0016 was my only code, and the truck was otherwise running just fine. It was not making noise, or running rough or anything.

I then drove it 300 miles north to my parents house, where I have all of my tools and equipment since moving to LA. After tearing into this truck, the source of my check engine light became instantly obvious.



This is how the timing chain guide on the passenger side came out. I actually have NO idea how the truck has been running, let alone how its been running so well. The tensioner was out all the way, and the VCT solenoids must have been maxed out to compensate for this. I am impressed, as these are interference fit engines, and I have no internal damage to the valves or pistons.

After putting it back together, with all the new parts, it fired right up, but i was now getting a P0345 and P0349. I did a little research and found that these codes are common after doing repair work on the timing system and are caused by several things. I first checked my wiring and connectors to the cam sensors. Everything checked out fine. I also read that the alternator can cause issues with these codes. So I checked that, and it too was fine. This is when I tore my engine apart again, to discover that I had the timing on the passenger side cam phaser ONE tooth off.

Here is a picture of it before I put it back together the first time. Notice i used marks on the chains and phasers and crank that I put on there. I didnt use the factory marks or colored links in the chain. I believe that this could have worked fine, BUT, while the passenger side cam shifted quite a bit when I removed the old chain, I did not notice the drivers side cam move, which it must have. I would recommend the advice in several other posts, about using either the special tool, or vice grips to hold the cams in place to avoid tearing it apart twice like I did. (Also note, you will need the "needle nose" looking vice grips, to fit between the lobes on the cams, I did not have those and all my vice grips were too big to fit between the lobes, which is why I didn't do this step.)



Over all, this job really wasn't that difficult. It was time consuming, but not hard. You WILL need to have your air conditioning evacuated in order to pull the passenger side valve cover off. I also found that completely removing the inner fender liners made it easier to get to the 18mm bolt that holds the transmission dip stick tube out. The tube will rotate enough to allow the valve cover to be removed, it does NOT need to come out of the transmission. Same with the engine oil dip stick on the drivers side. The power steering pump bracket and fluid resivor bracket are awkward, but again, with the inner fender liner out, not difficult. Also, my truck has a leveling kit on it, so after draining my coolant, I pulled the front wheels off and lowered the truck onto jack stands on the front tow hooks (make sure to place some pieces of wood under the lower ball joints/tie rods, to not smash them into the driveway if you lower the truck that much, as I did). This made life a lot easier, instead of standing on stools, and bruising my gut/ribs on the fenders and core support. The other tool I had to rent from the parts store, was the tool to remove the fan from the water pump. It is threaded on, and is super easy with the tool, but difficult with anything less. My truck does not match up with the Chilton manual, and I can only assume that it is because the manual shows a truck with a mechanical fan clutch, whereas mine is electric (has a different hub on the clutch, as well as an electrical connector and assembly. My dads 2005 KR F150 has a fan that matches the manual, without said electrical components.)

So, for anyone facing this repair, or similar. Do not be scared. Just take your time and make sure you line the marks up on the phasers, crank, and chains. I basically tore my truck apart twice, in 1.5 days, but it is all fixed now. Also, I do not check these forums often, but anyone can send me a PM or email to ask me questions, and I will be more than happy to help you along. Also, if you live in the greater LA/SoCal area, I am also willing to come to you to help you. All the research I did was mixed reviews on the difficulty with this work, but it just really isn't too bad, as long as you are moderately capable with a wrench and have basic tools (tho an air ratchet and impact will speed things along, this could be done with hand tools on the side of the road in an emergency)

 

Thanks for thorough follow up. Looks a little much for me to do, but at least for right now I don't need to do it. I do appreciate the follow up.

Bocomo

 

My biggest problem, was that every shop and dealer I talked to around LA, wanted $5-6000 to do this job. I have a friend at a dealer and got the parts for cost, all together, I have about $1300 in parts (including the water pump and belt, AC o-rings, new sensors and solenoids, etc). It would be about $2000+/- retail for all these parts. I only paid $8500 for the truck, I wasn't going to nearly double its cost for this repair, when I have the tools and ability to do the work myself. I just had the extra pain of having to do it 300 miles away from where I now live.

For $5-6000, I could put a whole new engine in myself. And for a little less, I could have this one rebuilt. I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much. Plus, after the wedding, we are pretty well broke, so paying through the nose like that just wasn't an option.

I understand why it costs so much, labor costs aren't cheap, and this, while it isn't a difficult repair, it is very time consuming. I just couldn't afford or justify it.