First of all i wanna thank everyone for all the information and help you guys give in these forums. I just bought a 06 f150 5.4 3v about two weeks ago. It has a tick from cold start at all times that gets faster with revs. I have read so much about this i'm still not sure if its exhaust manifold, VCT solenoid, or cam phasers. But yesterday i was listening and revving the engine and noticed a different sound between 800 and 1000 rpms. This is more of a knock sound and the engine shakes and shudders a little and has a little loss of power in this range. At idle runs fine and above 1000 rpms it runs fine. I am in the process of buying the lisle tool and plugs and i don't know if the plugs have been changed yet or not. Truck has 94,000 miles on it. And i also noticed the dealer put a cheap oil filter on it also, can't tell which brand but definitely not motorcraft. Will change oil this weekend. Can anyone please help to narrow down this issue? Thanks in advance.

 

This is a5.4l 3v flex fuel, if so it is the vct solenoid, cam phasers or may just need to run higher octane gas 93 with a tune up

 

Yes it is a 5.4 3v flex fuel. I was thinking the shudder was a spark or timing issue and being I don't know if the spark plugs were changed or if ever I was going to start there with a tune up. It just scares me because I just invested so much in buying this truck and is the nicest vehicle I have ever owned but I read all these horror stories about the 3 valves that I just want to know what's going on with my truck. Will the phasers or vct solenoid tick faster with rpms all the way through the rpm range and with the engine hot or cold?

 

My experience is when it starts knocking , the vct solenoid is clogged or not functioning at all . the upper tick can come from the cam phasers , there is a pin that fall out and causes this . I would start with checking oil pressure to rule out the oil pump screen being clogged, then move on to the vct solenoid . You can get them from ford for about
$65.00 to $75.00 each and install yourself. Are you using 5w20 oil ? .
Look I have a 2007 f-150 5.4l 3v flex fuel and it is knocking, but I have already replaced the cam sensors and need to r/r vct solenoids and then I will change the oil and make sure my oil pick -up screen is clean, then add 5w20 oil and motorcraft filter . I am trying to save this engine, if possible . If this does not work I will replace the motor , I am not doing the cam phaser job and 6 mos. later have the same issues. Will post results to you this evening, I am in Va. 30minutes south of D.C.
ok

 

Anyone else have any thoughts or ideas??

 

Sounds to me like it is your VCT solenoids doing this. My truck "rattles" some between 800-1,200 RPMs when hot and it's done it for years. Although mine doesn't shake or have any loss of power. I would check the oil pressure first. When hot, at idle; the oil pressure should be 25 PSI. If it's not an oil pressure issue, I would say possible VCT solenoid issue.

 

OK. Just changed oil filter and oil. They had an acdelco filter on it and boy was it tight. Took almost an hour to get it off. Had to run to parts store to get a different filter wrench so I could get enough bite on it to break it loose. The truck sounds happier now that she has the mc filter and Mobil 1 oil in her. Hopefully next weekend I can get to the plugs and coil packs and maybe get rid of this low rpm knock.

 

Knock at low RPM on these things is lack of oil pressure to the top end. It goes away at higher RPM because oil pressure increases proportionally to engine speed.

See my post here, a few down from the top: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-wont-run.html

 

look i would change the vct solenoids ,buy from dealer like $66.00 each, also get the seals ,they are like $9.00 each . make sure to dip it in oil first . reset ecm and let it run . I am installing a flex motor this sunday 5.4l 3v flex , hey got it for $2,200.00 core and shipping included . But try to do solenoids first before you get to happy .

 

^^ What he said. These issues can be a direct result from lack of oil pressure to the top-end. But, not always. Sometimes it can even be something as simple as plugged VCT solenoid screens, or just a malfunctioning solenoid valve causing a slight timing issue. Then when you replace it - if it still acts up, you may end up having to examine other options. But, start with the small things first before jumping the gun too fast.

 

Agree completely that the revised VCT solenoids can help the noise. The updated part has smaller 'exit' ports for the pressurized oil. Essentially they flow the same amount of oil through a smaller orifice to artificially increase pressure to the phasers.

Solenoids often help as a band-aid and they often make some noises go away. The danger is when oil pressure to the head is low for other reasons. When that happens you start getting the scoring under the camshaft caps and it's all downhill from there. Essentially the root cause is being ignored.

I can honestly say that I've only even had one solenoid actually be bad in the field. It was a 5.4 F250 which lacked power across all of bank 1 (even at idle), throwing timing codes and misfire codes for 1, 2, 3 and 4. It also had a rattle on initial startup after cold soak. I convinced myself that the tensioner blew out, allowed the chain to slacken and put bank 1 out of time. I pulled the front cover to find the tensioner blown on bank 2 instead. I fixed that, reassembled and got rid of my rattle on cold soak startup but the lack of bank 1 contribution remained. A quick solenoid took care of that.

Five years at Ford and I'm yet to see another truck with timing issues repaired by a solenoid.

 

OK well i will add the vct solenoids to my list and try that also. What about the ticking i get from cold or hot idle that speeds up with rpms? I've read alot of posts on here and most people say that phasers tick after the engine warms up. Most of what I read say that is usually related to exhaust manifold leak, this just really doesn't sound like an exhaust leak tick but im really not sure. To me it sounds more metallic ticking and loud enough to hear in the cab with the windows up (it's not super loud in the cab with the windows up but it's there) and in a drive-thru it's horrible.

 

My F-150 has had a "rattle" to it just at 800,1,200 RPMs to it for years. Definitely VCT related noise but it seems tons of them do it with no issues. My oil pressure readings are fine though.

Cold start - 70 PSI 1,400 RPMs.

Cold idle - 64 PSI 800 RPMs.

After a drive - 190* F oil temp 26 PSI 625 RPM and 66 PSI at 2,000

At hottest oil temp, 200-205* F, 25 PSI at 625 RPM, at 2,000 I get 62 PSI.


These are normal pressure readings. In some cases, these noises are normal, unless it's knocking. Mine is a sort of "flutter" type light rattle, I guess. Mine currently has 127,000 miles with no issues. No changes in oil pressure as well. Have owned the truck since 40,000 miles. I run nothing but 5W-20 Motorcraft and Motorcraft oil filters. It doesn't seem that these noises are always caused by lack of oil pressure, since mine has always seemed to do this.

 

What is the best way to check oil pressure buy and install a gauge? I need to do it cheap right now don't have a whole lot of spending money at the moment

 

I bought an oil filter adapter plate from GlowShift for mine. Basically all you you do is remove the oil filter, put the adapter plate where the oil filter goes. The adapter plate will come with a 2 sided nut that holds the adapter on.


One side of the nut has threads on the inside that screws onto the stud on the engine that the oil filter screwed onto, the other side of the nut has outer threads so that the oil filter screws on to that and seals up against the adapter so that the adapter is sandwiched between the filter and the block.

Also, need to use blue loc-tite on the side of the nut that has the threads on the inside because otherwise it will vibrate loose from the stud on the block and leak oil.

It has (3) 1/8" NPT ports to plug in an oil pressure sender for an electric oil pressure gauge, or you can tie in a steel braided line for a mechanical oil pressure gauge to it. The size you would need will be the the 22mm 1.5" thread. If you want to check it out, here is the link: Oil Filter Sender Adapter - 22mm 1.5 Thread