Hello everyone! I have a 2006 Ford F-150 lariat with the 5.4 non-flex fuel. I signed up for this forum because I’m having an issue with my motor. Just finished doing the timing set myself on this truck... (has broken guides) and decided to replace the bank 1 cam phaser while I was at it. Afterwards I towed the truck to a trans shop and had it rebuilt. On the way home the truck got a low oil pressure notification and started making all kinds of noise and sounded like a diesel truck. I immediately shut the truck off and towed it home. I did a startup once the truck got home and it appears to idle just fine and has oil pressure... I have the following codes: p0345, p0340, and p0349... any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

It may not be as bad as it seems at the moment. There's a number of other things that need to be known to refine any judgment.

How many Miles? Why did you replace ONLY Bank1 Phaser? Did you use GOOD OEM phaser? Did you replace Oil Pump? Did you remove oil pan and clean debris out of it and Oil Pump Pickup Screen?

What I can surmise from your description and symptoms. P0340, P0345 and P0349 (intermittent) are indicative of low oil pressure "AT ENGINE SHUTDOWN". The phasers should (MUST) be pushed to full advance during idle down and shutdown and their internal locking pin MUST lock them at base (full advance). If NOT, upon next startup, when there is naturally NO OIL PRESSURE, cam / valve spring drag will drag the cams into retard position and the Phaser fingers are NOT in the proper position for Cam Sensors/PCM to see them when expected - during startup.

Those codes are 'sticky'. When it it happens once they are set - and they stay until cleared or several drive cycles are run without them occurring again. So ... that could explain WHY you got those codes - and if the problem goes away, they will go away.

If you DID NOT clean debris out of oil pan when you did the timing job, when the engine oil temperature comes up and gets thin, plastic guide junk/plastic debris, which sinks just below the oil pump pickup screen, can get picked up -plugging pickup screen and cause oil pump to 'cavitate' (whip up air bubbles in the oil). That SERIOUSLY degrades oil pressure. When it is shut off, the crap can sink again, so on startup you have oil pressure again until it warms up - repeating the cycle again.

Just one possibility depending on those other unknown factors.

 

F150 giving good advice- clean that oil pan . Its best to do the whole timing job as difficult as it is to get in there. you can bet the oil pu strainer is full of ground up plastic from guides.Those fibers are hard to pull out of strainer they cause cavitation and low oil flow. Best to replace oil pump with the newest melling 360 hv pump. This engine needs all the help it can get, We do an engine oil motor flush to help clean it out just before tear down , in fact I do one every other oil change .
Replace those plastic chain tensioners that blow their gaskets out with the old style ratcheting metal types from melling they have no gaskets to fail . And use oem phasers for sure.
This engine uses dirty oil to hydraulically control cams with pressure keep oil system very clean and dump every 5 k-- even the best oils get dirty ..Vcts are best to be changed after 100k or so . They have screens and such that get clogged- new design better .

 

the motor has got 232,000 on the clock. Replaced only the one phaser because bank 1 had excessive wear. Replaced both vvt solenoids as well as the crank sprocket while I was in there... I’d debated doing the oil pump while I had the front cover off, but a friend of mine said that those almost never fail... I’m thinking my best bet is going to be to drop and clean the oil pan.

 

Check this diagnosis out first. On the oil pickup, I don't know if you could dump the oil and use a borescope to check the pickup screen for debris. just a suggestion.

 

borescope can't get to see if screen clear . but after pan down its easy to drop oil pu tube with screen . the melling hv oil pump so much better. you will find plastic and muck in oil pan .The flow of clean oil is imperative for this hydraulic cam system .blown out seals on plastic tensioners is a real problem .

 

Both tensioners were replaced when I did the timing set. The broken guide is most likely in the oil pan as I only retrieved a small piece of it what was caught in the chain itself. I’d assume the other 70% or so of the guide plastic is in the pan. I plan on dropping the pan in the next day or so... I will let everyone know my findings! Thanks everyone!