I need some advice. I have a 2005 5.4l f150. 105,000 miles. Recently While on a trip I experienced rough idle and stalling at idle. I drove it home 2hrs. The ride home was challenging. Poor acceleration, rough idle. Took it to the dealer and was told I needed plugs and I was 5qts low on oil! Not sure where the oil went. It hasn't been leaking and never seemed to burn oil in the past. They did the tune up. Picked up the truck. It ran fine while cold. Upon warming up it ran rough at idle and stalled just like it did before. Took it back, they said “you need a new engine. Upon warming the oil pressure drops indicating internal engine damage”. I took it to a local guy he says replacing the cam phasers might fix it. What's the consensus, should I try the cam phasers? Look for some other potential problem or trust the dealer? (They did refund me for the tune up)

 

would be nice to know what the oil pressure is when hot and cold... some have raised the pressure slightly with a thicker oil. Do you have any engine codes showing ? Any noise in the cam / chain area ?

 

I wish I could answer all those questions...Engine light is on but I don't know the codes. I can say this, it runs fine and sounds fine when it's cold. Plenty of power. As soon as it warms up it won't idle and has poor acceleration.

I just picked it up at the private shop I took it to for a second opinion. He thought I could do the timing chain, tensioner, phaser etc and make it run good but if it was truly burning oil I would be wasting my money. I can't decide if I should put money in it or or get rid of it. I'm considering doing just the phasers to see how it runs then trading it in. Any experienced advice would be helpful.

 

I would have someone pull the codes and then post here for better answers.. Also, some of the guys can look at freeze frame data or live data and give a much better answer.

 

Ok I went and pulled the codes.

P0022 cam over retarded bank 2
P0430 bank 2 cat inefficiency
P1000?
B1676 battery voltage out of range.

I was unable to get real time oil pressures. Maybe this can help someone advise me??

 

I kinda doubt your engine is toast. Some shops employ morons that mis-diagnose issues frequently, then they tell you your motor is FUBAR.

I just repaired 3 trucks with the same symptoms you described. In all three cases the VCT solenoids were the fault and 2 new solenoids in all trucks fixed the drivability issues, and phaser knock.

Try 2 new VCT's. They're about $100 each, give or take.

That strategy worked for me...

 

Ok an update on my truck. I read on here for hours. I did order some oem vct solenoids online but have not received them. I wanted to try something so I changed the oil to 15w40 rotella diesel. An experiment of sorts to see what I could learn. Of course……

The truck runs great!!! No more rough idle, no stalling, no tapping, no noises, plenty of power, no more cel codes….

So what did I learn?? Please follow my logic then tell me where I'm going wrong..

The truck ran good cold but not hot. Now it runs good with heavier oil. I was told I had a decrease in oil pressure when warm. I can conclude the the poor performance was caused by the low oil pressure? I also can conclude that the phasers are good, the vct solenoids work, the cam sensor works, the plugs are all good, the coils are all good, the cats are not clogged. The question remains why the low oil pressure?

I can assume 2 things will cause the low oil pressure. Either a clog somewhere or a leak somewhere. If it were a clog the heavier oil wouldn't help? Must be a leak?

Where would this leak be causing the oil pressure drop? Chain tensioner, bearings etc.
Then finally the question. If this is just a bandaid how will it end. Do I trade while it runs good or did I never really need an engine?

 

you are correct, you have low oil pressure. What is worn is hard to tell. Thicker oil increased the pressure just enough to get the phasers to operate.

 

I would run it for a couple weeks and convince yourself that the couple extra psi of pressure has " fixed" your problem... This could be long term or short term. You really cant tell what is worn or how much... Could be a minor problem.

 

The 5.4 3V is notorious for blowing out chain tensioner seals, decreasing oil pressure to the top end. Also the screens in the VCT solenoids can be clogged. The oil pickup screen can also be clogged. On top of all that, the stock oil pump has a tendency to blow out around the back plate at rpm's...To start, I would still swap out the VCT solenoids to the latest revision. They have been redesigned to maintain oil pressure to the phasers. I would also not trust a shop stating that it was 5 qts. low on oil. With only 2 qts. remaining in the pan, I would think the engine would have seized from lack of oil. Keep a watchful eye on the level to see if it is drastically decreasing.

 

Drop oil pan ,look for broken guide pieces . Oil pan gasket reusable . Pickup tube screen could be full of pieces .
If so timing job needs done . I would then put melling oil pump in, with metal tensioners too .

 

So here's the latest. I drove the truck all week it ran fine. No noticeable loss of oil during the week. The new vct solenoids were delivered. I put them in this morning. The truck ran fine. I did get a cel. The code was 0430 cat bank 2. I assume it was coincidental. The new vct solenoids wouldn't lead to that would it?

When I changed the solenoids I did a small visual inspection. Hard to tell but there does seem to be some sludge on the inside of the valve covers. I took a couple of pics. Let me know what you guys think. I'm still trying to decide if I should get rid of the truck.

 

Pic of the old vct solenoids.

 

cat issue usually is a separate thing. but misfires and using oil can ruin a cat............................................ depending on your finances, if you can afford another truck.... get rid of yours while it runs good and keep your mouth shut and shove it off...

 

Hello; You mentioned that the engine was 5 quarts low, not good considering it only takes seven. You may very well be losing some oil pressure threw the rod and main bearings being worn due to the lack of oil. It may be needing an overhaul soon.