Hey guys, bought me a 2004 F-150, very nice looking and driving truck, 155,320 miles. Well it has a phaser tick, just got rid of a 7.3 so the tick don't bother me, what could happen if I just keep driving it, as of now runs smooth and gets 18,4 MPG, I'm too old to fix it myself, cost too much to have done. Thanks, John.

 

I would drive it. As long as you don't hear timing chain rattle, the phaser tick will not hurt anything. Mine has had a very light tick on the passenger side ever since I've owned it and it has not gotten worse. You have to be listening carefully for mine though as the tick is almost non-existent. All that is is the locking pin in the phaser which locks it at timing full advance at idle sort of knocks around from just normal wear over time. Enjoy your new ride!

 

Thanks 07F150, in the truck, by a wall or fence, with window down, you can hear it, any other time not,, have a nice weekend. John.

 

Pretty much the worst that can happen is the noise gets worse over time, you notice a decrease in fuel mileage and a loss of power.
Mine degraded over the course of a couple years, but I was towing in mountains at close to capacity, which I feel exacerbated the problem. Even then it started every time and ran smoothly with no fuss. Just got very loud, dropped to about 7 MPG, and would barely make it up the mountain with camper in tow.
A lesser engine would have simply keeled over and left me stranded somewhere.

 

Thanks, Wrvond, that's what I'm going to do, if it gets too bad my son will fix it, or I'll put in a long block.

 

I bought my 2005 f150 fx4 with 5.4l. had 80,000 on the clock. I had the tick noise when warmed up. 7 years later 210,000 + miles still has same tick noise.

 

im a noobie here and im also having a tick. I own a 2004 F150 XL with 210,000 miles.
Runs good but im concerned bout the ticking. I guess its normal after reading this post

 

My '04 5.4L "Ticked" its entire 212,000 life before I recently did my Phaser job (because of recurring P0022 code). I replaced ALL lash adjusters & roller/followers at the same time. Quiet as a Swiss Watch now. IMO, there are about three or four signature noises the 5.4L 3v makes (Mine made ALL of them). IMO, the one most commonly referred to as the "Tick" originates from slack between the lash adjuster and follower or wear in the roller bearings of the roller/follower. I could temporarily quiet mine by doing a heavy duty engine flush.... For this reason I surmised it was a 'sticky' lash adjuster (on the rear passenger side). Found about three there that had to use vice grips to pull out of their wells. They were sorta gummed up.

 

Hi and welcome.

There are different things that can cause ticking in any engine, and a couple more in the 5.4L 3V engine.
You might be hearing a sticky lifter (now called a hydraulic lash adjuster), or a COP boot gone bad.
The ticking caused by bad cam phasers is really much more than a ticking, it sounds very similar to the sound of a running diesel engine.
Normally it starts out rather quietly. At first I couldn't hear mine unless I was next to a wall, and even then it wasn't very noticeable. When it got louder, I could only hear it at start up, then when the idle dropped, the sound went away. Then it got progressively louder and lasted much longer, until finally it was all the time and embarrassingly loud. I think mine degraded more quickly than usual because I did a lot of towing through mountains, putting more strain on the engine.
I came to the conclusion that the noise known as "diesel tick" is caused by the intake and exhaust valves being open when they should be closed, and closed when they should be open. When it gets bad enough the engine suffers loss of power and mileage.
At the end, mine was getting 6 mpg and any incline at all required 1st or 2nd gear to get up.

If your ticking isn't bad, then it's way too early to worry about it.

 

I may try an old mechanics trick and put in a qt. of ATF next oil change, to see if it will flush anything out, then a little heavier oil.

 

You might look into / consider Kreen marketed direct by KANO laboratories (directly marketed only). Engine Cleaners


It's expensive as hell, but it does have RAVE reviews.


Their labeling is like all that damn engine additive stuff - sounds like it cures all, cleans all, fixes all. Just pour it in your engine or gas (or just about any orifice) and it makes all brand new and last forever - or you get your money back!


BUT, I have to say, I used it several flushes in my 200k mile 5.4, and I felt the inside was pretty decently clean for 200K. Just yellowish colored.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post16202872


EDIT. I believe it did helped the "tick" on mine also.