In advance, thank you for your help with this! I have an 04 5.4 3v, that this morning almost wouldn’t get through the intersection. 180k miles, went to take off from the light and struggled to a parking lot. Anyway, checked codes... in order from scanner, p0302, 0012, 0300, 0304, 0174, 0301, 0303, 0316, 0351, and p2196. Previously I have replaced both vct solenoids, plugs twice, by now probably all the coils. Oh, ford replaced. Both phasers at 55k.

 

P0302, 0012, 0300, 0304, 0174, 0301, 0303, 0316, 0351, and p2196. That sure is one nice clean list of diagnostic codes. Properly assessing them in light of how they relate to each other (and not individually) gives a clear picture of what's going on.

"That phaser Ford put on your passenger side head at 55k miles simply "REFUSED to advance (ie: stayed in retard position -P0012") when PCM _removed_ the retard command (ie: removed all duty cycles to the Bank 1 VCT). So, either the VCT momentarily stuck partially actuated/open, or, Phaser is worn/weak after 125,000 miles, or, oil pressure in that head is sagging/low from worn cam bearings or shot tensioner seal on that side.

While Bank 1 phaser is in the above improper state, several things WILL NATURALLY follow: Valves are opening late (RETARDED). All cylinders on THAT bank (note: 1, 2, 3, 4) are not breathing adequate air to produce power equal to the other side --- SO you essentially have a 4 cylinder with unevenly spaced cylinders --- equal very rough running/idle. Poor breathing on Bank 1 causes random misfires (P0300) on ALL 4 cylinders on that side (301, 302, 303, 304) which aggrivates the rough running more. A side effect of all this shaking/jerking wiggles everything horribly - and you must have a slightly weak primary electrical connection on COP #1, because something caused an electrical circuit code for Cyl 1 (P0351).

Misfires dump _unconsumed_ OXYGEN into the exhaust that is sensed by the O2 sensor (Looks same as a vacuum leak to an dumb O2 sensor) and NATURALLY produces "Lean Code, P0171" (only on bank 1 because ALL those cylinders are misfiring). Bank 2 is still breathing plenty of air and is having to work MUCH harder trying to compensate for bank 1 drag - so PCM's compensation efforts causes "P2196" rich code.

Some more of the same stuff was VERY LIKELY still happening when you restarted it, and produced the P0316 (misfires within 1000 revs).

If you're still reading after all that, what shoul be done about it? Just realize it all started from the P0012 condition. Just realize, P0012 code is a sticky code that can be triggered by a momentary condition. (Over retarded more than 5 degrees, for more than 5 seconds will trigger the code). It does NOT guarantee a serious mechanical condition.

IF the code condition is SOLID ... phaser has 'failed'. IF not, I would recommend two or three closely spaced and "THOUROUGH", engine flush / oil changes. Actuate phasers during flush by brake torquing up to ~1500 rpm in second gear multiple times to force phasers to retard and advance. Possibly remove/clean/replace Bank 1 VCT again, and monitor the situation. My truck went 212k miles before phasers just gave out.

 

An update...F150torqued, just wanna say thanks very much, your insight was/is very welcomed!! I checked for voltage/ ground at each vct, had both. I replaced vct solenoid, pass side, added “about” 7oz sea foam to crankcase, and did as you recommended. The next day I let the engine warm up + power braked again. Changed oil, I have to think oil was thinner than water(heavy gas smell) obviously. Refilled with 10-30, everything seems to be better than “normal”. Item of note, a section of both screens were missing from vct, compared to new one. Again, thank you for your help, I hope this helps someone down the road.