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My04 Has The Tick. It Is Not Lower End. Have Someone With Engine Knowledge Listen To Yours There May Be Different Sounds But Mine Is Probably The Cam Deal. It Is Still Under Warranty And If It Cant Or Wont Be Fixed Ill Sell Before Warranty Expires. It Really Isnt That Bad If Your Buddy Doesnt Understand Engine Sound He Wont Even Hear It.

 

I got a call from the dealer that informed me that the problem was the cam phaser. They also said that there was a bulliton regarding this problem. In the bullitin it states that the noise is similar to a bottom end knock and only happens when engine oil reaches operating temperature. They said my truck would be ready today.
I believe the cam phaser is responsible for the advance and retarding of the valves for optimum power. If it is not working and gets replaced the truck should actually make more power. I had a complaint about the lack of power in the upper RPM's above 3500. Maybe this will fix that aswell.

 

Cam phaser works in conjunction with the variable valve timing.

 

I was wondering if the trucks with the engine knock were getting poor gas mileage. I have an 04 Screw 5.4, I have the same noise and very poor gas mileage. It sounds like some trucks have the noise and some do not. Some get poor mileage and some get great mileage. I thought it might be connected.

 

I went to the dealer yesterday. My truck was not ready. I told the sales manager that I wanted a Knew truck and his response was no problem. They showed me some new trucks. I picked 1 from another dealer approx 100 miles away. They completed the trade and the new truck is on its way. I am very happy with the way they treaded me. No one even tried to talk me into keeping my exising truck

 

The valvetrain noise described as a dieseling has been found to be caused by the (NOLA) Normally Open Lash Adjusters in the 5.4L-3V. In the previous 5.4L-2V Engines had (NCLA) Normally Closed Lash Adjusters. The noise is only found at the lower RPM Range. Noise heard at the upper RPM ranges is from Crank Noise.

 

Screwfx4
Did you get a new truck under a "Lemon Law" or did you trade your truck. I am in the process of using the "Lemon Law" in my state to get a replacement truck. Interested in the process.
Thanks
Tpr

 

I just asked once and they agreed to unwined the deal and rewrite a new deal. It is not in the lemon law. I took the car in with complaint with only 160 miles on the odometer. They agreed to my problems immediatley. Good Luck

 

TPR - My truck has the knock and I don't have any power problems and get 16 MPG. I can hear the noise on both sides of the truck. I still think its exaust related. I don't have any noise coming from the front even with a mechanics probe, its all under the truck. It does sound like my GMC 8.1 which had the piston slap problem.

 

Fellow 5.4 Owners: Guys we have been feed a bag of "oats" that if we eat we will blow up from the absurdity of it. Cam Phasers are the problem, but ultimitly bad enginnering is to blame. Had mine changed both sides @ 500 miles. Did not and will not fix the problem. I have been fortunate that the Service Manager @ Ford Store I bought @ has told the truth. From what I read alot of you are getting, "the live with it and go away, you are the only one yada yada yada". The SM has been telling what he is learning from the Ford engineers he / we have been in contact with. My thoughts are that the majority of these 5.4's built are in the same boat. The action of the Phaser is goverened by a BI-Metal" spring. Now those of you as old as me will remember the Detroit gangs fascination with these puppies in the 70's. They were used to operate Automatic Chokes, Open & Close ERG Valves (in their infancy) Vacum Devices, and the list goes on. As is the case with so much of the technology in last 20yrs the foriengers figured out how to make this stuff work without using what is essentially a self distructing piece of metal. After repeated heating which = expansion and repeated cooling which of course = contraction these Bi-Metal springs do not expand and contract at the same rate as when new. Also the spring distorts after this has happened repeatdly and I believe that is the Noise we all hear. It cannot be running true (Phaser) they wobble and the keeper cracks and more noise etc etc. Having seen the parts for the Cam Phaser that Ford enginnered this can never operate quietly. It is always going to move thus = noise. The Phasers are operated off the crank connecterd by a triple row chain over 4 feet long!! on both sides of the engine!!!! After reading some technical stuff on the net. In a nut shell the new 3V 5.4 is a CHEAPER WAY TO BUILD THE NEEDED HP FORD HAD TO HAVE FOR THE NEW TRUCK. IN ESSENCE GUYS A POORMAN'S DOUBLE OVERHEAD CAMMED ENGINE. A PROPERLY DESIGNED 5.4 RUNNING 32 VALVES OPERATED EFFICENTLY BY PROVEN METHODS WOULD HAVE BEEN COST PROHIBITIVE TO AN ALREADY STRAPPED COMPANY / PROJECT. So if you want do a little research on your own check out the Net or go to your dealer's SM and tell him you think it is your Cam Phasers. Tell him when he replaces them to make sure the part # has the double AA's at the end this is a change up but unfortunatly doesn't fix the problem but at least he/she will know that now you know. If you listen to the truck warm up you will hear an audible snap as the pin that holds the Phaser in place releases and the gear engages the cam to manipulate it up to 30 degrees to adjust valve opening etc.Their is a tremndous amount of Torque on the end of that Phaser as it does it thing working against the natural flow of the engine's crankshaft. This design cannot be a long term good thing. I have had 5.4's with thousands of idling hrs (from construction sites) and 135,000 miles on them noisy @ start up which is top end, but once warmed up ran fine and pulled a lot harder than these new ones also.

After owing this truck for 3 weeks I feel like most of you I am sure I did not pay all this money for this B.S. Dealer said they would move me out to a new 05 for a mere $10,000.00 dollars. I stand in amazment at how this is forced back on the buyer. From what I hear and understand from those that know Ford is not going to make this a public issue. There are too many out there. There is a member on this forum that says he got an invoice from his SM that says Ford is unable to fix this problem at this time but will have TSB in March that will fix this problem and to come back then for the update. I don't know if I am willing to buy this or not. The SM @ my dealership has spoken to the Ford enginnering hotline for the last 2 weeks and the local Ford enginnering rep and this has not been passed onto him. So I am uncertain whether this is true or not or smoke and mirrors to have him go away.

Unfortunatley I don't know nor does the SM know if this problem is damaging the engine or not, or what effect it will have on longevity. These are pretty trucks with all the amenities,(mine is a SuperCrew Lariet) that cover all the luxuries we could want. But do I want to own a gas engine that sounds like a diesel.


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my 04 and 05 fx4 5.4 has the diesel sound which i hate but i know its suppose to be normal,but my other 5.4's dint sound like a diesel.so i got to thinking about what ford could do to make it sound like that.i spent alot of time thinking about the 3v head which is wierd from a mechinal stand point then it hit me.this trucks are set up for flex fuel and regular unleaded fuel...what you guys think?hmmmmmm

 

Does anyone know if the 3v V10 has the same type problem, or is this the 5.4 only?

 

I don't have this noise and my truck was manufactured prior to dec 2004, I now have 9,000 miles and still is quiet. So don't know if the explaination of the engineering problem across the board exists, based on Neveragainfords post we all should have it, yet we don't. Who's bsing who? It sounds to me that there is a lot of guess work and all it does is make for a good story. In fact I don't have the steering wheel nibble or any vibrations, or clucth pac or rear end whine. Go figure!
One other point, Honda has been using SOHC cams for their 4 valve V6 and I4 engines for years both with variable valve timing! I guess that's an engineering mess up also. Why eveyone thinks because you have more than two valves per cylinder that you need DOHC is beyond me! I don't buy it!

 

KevinM:
Just this morning I sat again with the Ford Service Manager and he and I went on his Intranet connection to Ford Enginnering to look at the latest devlopments with this problem. The incidence of this "noise" is being reported more and more as the engines mileage racks up the noise seems to get louder. The Ford store here is starting to see early production 04 with 20 to 30 thousand miles coming in. We went on the lot this morning and started a new vehichle up 60 miles on it and it was louder than mine. I have never stated that all trucks are affected, and if you read through this forum you will see many others with the same questiuons that originally brought me to this site. I was browsing through the Internet looking for answers to this problem and came across a Forum dealing with 04 5.4 3V noises / concerns so I joined up. There is no alterior motive here I just bought this truck and do not like the way things are going. If you are not suffering the Cam Phaser condition, Good On You. Yes I am upset. It is a dishearting thing to watch your 10 day old truck that you just put $45,000.00 into with the hood up and engine parts being taken apart. If you want read through the forums and you will see the post that has the TSB from Ford posted there with the complete discription of the problem and the fix. So if you read on you will see that there is not a lot of BSing going on and very little guess work. Last point I hope Ford comes up with a fix as one Forum member was told by his SM in March they will have the solution.

Regards