I have done some research on the 5.4 and have heard some horror stories. However, I have not found any issues quite like mine. The engine runs perfectly fine, no ticks, knocks or issues until it warms up. Then after putting it into gear or under a light load it will begin to knock, sounds like predetonation, or a rod knock. The oil was freshly changed with 5w20 and a new filter. When the engine is below operating temperature you can accelerate or pull, but when it gets to operating temperature it begins to knock. If the truck is put into neutral, the knock will go away soon after. Until you put it into gear again, then the knock returns after a minute or so. My best guess is either the cam phasers, VCT solenoids, or the oil pump... or maybe a combination of them. Has anyone ever encountered something quite like this? Someone told me that a plugged catalytic converter can cause similar symptoms. The truck does have some plugged Cats that are scheduled to be replaced by the end of the week. Highly tempted to try and pound them out for the time being. Unfortunately they have been welded in from the factory I assume. Can you break that honeycomb junk up from the outside with a hammer like you can with a chevy?

 

My bad knock came from the drivers valve cover, it threw no 8 roller to the side . Try to see if noise is top end or bottom . Lashs /rollers can act up ,they can be changed from the top . Changing vcts is always a good maint item for new design . Pulling valve cover and seeing oil flow and condition is a good thing . The 07's require pulling covers to change vcts . Replacing all rollers and lashs would be on my list My whole set cost $265 oem on ebay .
Rollers and lashs have been improved . Cleaning will be required on the rest of valve train . Me I would do an engine flush just before I opened it . Lashs are hard to test . Pulling cams is not hard if you do it correctly . Use wedge tool and mark everything all cam parts must go back exactly the same .
We have drawings and plenty of help on here .
Of course the most expensive fix is new oem phasors ,never use aftermarket .
But mostly a phasor replacement without a full timing job past 100k is not wise . You need to consider new chains for stretch ,new ratcheting tensioners and hv melling oil pump .

 

The Cam Phasers and VCT Solenoids were changed out within 10k miles at the ford dealership. I have a work order and reciept to go along with it. It says nothing about the Oil Pump, so that may be an issue. The truck is behaving itself for the most part, but it is misbehaving when it gets warm. The knock is intermittent, it doesnt stay. Only there when the engine is warm, at low rpms, and only happens sometimes. If you give it some gas it goes away for a minute or two. The truck is sluggish past 2500 rpm, and has a smell of raw gas out of the tail pipe. It has been hooked up to an Innova Diagnostic Code Reader and shows no codes before, after, or during. I found another post on here that has very similar issues.
https://www.fordf150.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=123779
So far I have changed the fuel filter and changed oil. Ran a full scan for current and previous codes, nothing comes up in either scan. I have had a few people locally tell me it is probably the Catalytic Converters getting plugged. Which is causing back pressure and causing the engine to knock. From what I can see everything exhaust related looks stock, there are 4 Catalytic converters. Two by the manifold and another two further down the exhaust. There are no exhaust shops locally, the closest one being 200 miles away. Hate to drive the truck 200 miles for them to tell me that's not the issue.

 

can't tell if your are canada or California. Why because upper canada is bad about high sludge engines due to the extreme cold and short drives. I won't go into that now .
You can try taking o2 's out for test to see if the noisy thing runs better .You can do a pressure test also as well as a temperature test on cats .
I would be looking at fuel trims short and long term . Fuel out the tail pipe is certainly going to ruin cats . On torque pro you can look at mode six which tells you by the cyl how many raw computer counts are building towards a cel .No exp with Innova we speak mainly torque pro since its cheap and good . Android phone/ 5$ app /cheap amazon bluetooth reader .

 

Fix this first, then see if the knock is still there.

This isn't a question that can be answered by manufacturer. For the most part, a catalytic converter is a catalytic converter. If the core starts crumbling then you might be able to break it up by pounding on the housing. Most of the time this probably wouldn't work. If you did get it to break up by pounding on it, you might get (un)lucky and plug the muffler with the pieces. Chevy/Ford/Honda/Daewoo/etc. doesn't matter.

 

07 had a problem with the crank thrust bearings wearing out allowing the crank to walk back and forth. Check for excessive crank endplay before you do anything else.

 

Catalytic Converters were the problem. The back one was removed by the previous owner, and the front ones were still there. When the muffler shop pulled them off, the first 2 sections of honeycomb matrix were broken and clogging up the third. Replaced the front two with Flowmaster High Flow Catalytic Converters, and got a straight pipe put through where the back one was. Truck runs and drives perfectly now. So far with purchasing and repairs the cost is up to $1900 CAD and counting. Still needs a few cosmetic fixes, but they can wait until the right parts truck comes around. Thank you for the help everyone and hopefully this can help anyone else with similar issues.

 

Thanks for letting us know how it turned out!