F150, 5.4 ltr....Cam Phasers are marked L and R on them indicating left and right. My question, if they are installed on the wrong side, what would the result be...? The reason I'm asking: Vehicle lost oil pressure determined that the oil screen was pluged with shavings from the rod bearings. Long story....but decided to replace everything in the front, phasers, vct, tensioners, guides, etc along with oil pump and water pumpand new bearings. put it back together, started right up....after about 5 minutes of running, cel came on, read codes, indicating cam position sensor problems......timing chain of by a tooth.?? Didn't want to tear it apart again, so I took it to a shop. they took it apart and informed me that we had put everything on the wrong sides.......supposedly they switched everything over. Truck starts and runs fine, no CEL.....but absolutely no power...is not driveable. idles fine, revs fine, but gutless when in gear....?? Comments, suggestions

 

There is no left and right phaser, they are identical. The L and R refer to where you line up the timing marks when you install the chains. You line up the marks with R on the passenger side and L on the driver's side.

 

If there are no codes, then I'd check the cats. Put a pressure guage in the o2 sensor hole in front of one of them and fire it up. Should not see anything over 2 psi at idle. Pass side might be difficult to check, fyi. Not sure how they could tell how off you were without doing some serious analysis and math. Nothing that a flat-rate paid mechanic would do. Sounds like a BS guess to me, since you would have likely trashed valves 180 degrees off if you had gotten L and R backwards. More likely you were simply off a tooth on one.

 

Replaced Cats.......no change in drivability....!! Going to change plugs and Cops next....other than that, I'm at a loss. Starts right up.....runs, a little stumble at idle, but revs. Only thing left would be to take the front apart again and realign everything.!! Unless someone can tell me how to check timing without tearing it apart again..??

 

I assume the cam sensors are plugged back up? Unplug them and see what happens.

 

First: get a new mechanic, preferably one that tells the truth.
Second: Give us actual code numbers. As routinely as code numbers are mis-diagnosed, you destroy 100% of anyone's ability to diagnose a problem already diagnosed with " cel came on, read codes, indicating cam position sensor problems" If timing is not correct - you'd definitely have came sensing problems.
Third: If timing is not correct - the ONLY way to verify is remove timing cover and tone ring - realign. Unless you have a dual trace o'scope.

 

Ok, unplugged the sensors and exactly what I would expect.....got the P0340, P0344, P0345 and P0349. cleared them, plugged the sensors back on, started the engine, NO Codes..!! What were you expecting..??

I have a reader that allows me to view live input from sensors etc.....the graph that shows timing indicates an advanced position at idle..approx.18 degrees..!!

 

You either have it out of time, or the tone ring on the phaser has moved out of place.