Ticking can be either your lash adjusters, or your timing circuit. Mine ticking was 90% or more of my lash adjusters were either in the locked full up, or down position. I couldn't even compress some of them with channel lock pliers.

 

I purchased a 2005 F-150 5.4L Lariat pick-up about 3 years ago. About 6 months ago the check engine light came on and I started experiencing a very strong pause/shaking from the motor. The motor seems to hesitate and lacks power.

I took it to 2 mechanic shops and they both ran diagnostics and told me that the cam phasers were shot and the oil pressure in the motor was down to 15 PSI and should be up in the neighborhood of 25 PSI.

They told me that they had seen this before and that the usual outcome of this type of scenario was that the motor needed to be replaced. This is a $8500.00 motor swap-out.

Is there any way to avoid this large of a repair by just replacing the phasers?

I need to get this truck back to good health.

 

If the cams are scored from lack of top end lubrication then yes a new engine is the best route.

It it doesn't sound like they've done any disassembly to check for that. Just said "low oil pressure, throw an engine in it!"

It's very likely the oil pressure drop is due to a blown tensioner seal. If there's no damage to the cam. Installing new timing chains, guides, tensioners and phasers should have you up and running again.

 

Mine is 2008 f150 5.4 3v xlt screw and it started this after a trip to see thgat eclipse at about 132,000 miles and i have bought this truck from drive time and have already replaced steering shaft and now this and i just changed the oil in it about 5,000 miles ago so i figured its about that time so im doing a flush moa in it and royale purple 5w30 and see if this does the trick, if not ill add some moa 110 thinks its called in it....

Try and get this thing back to quiet....

 

try blend 10w40

Assuming it's not an exhuast leak

 

If you want an answer start your own thread and state your symptoms , engine maint and fixes . Mileage etc . It gets so confusing when you hijack on to someone else's symptoms .
Really-- someone will help you . It helps when we know if you are in alaska or arizona ,salt, temperature etc . Your age helps too , a guy 60 has usually worked on a few , an 18 year old has a lot to learn , Sometimes a guy not far from you may offer to stop by and help with another set of eyes on a long fix .
We don't need your exact birthday , I would at least change it some for trolls .
Don't show your plate number either or home address .

 

Overall from the beginning of the thread about the tick noise, it shows that a reduction of oil pressure along with wear and age is affected by running heavy oil that raises the pressure.
Its not a fix but prolongs the inevitable repair.
The passenger side is a far point point in the oil system that has to come up through the rear of the head, through a screen filter in the head, through the camshaft core to get to the phaser parts.
Lower oil pressure at the end often causes the Phaser issue on that side.
If Camshaft bearings are worn from oil starvation, excess leakage makes the Phase issue even worse.
Running heavy oil (delays) pressure build up on starts then increases the wear on the camshaft chain guides especially on cold starts.
Heavy oil viscosity is not the long term answer unless you intend to do full and proper repair and go back to proper 5W20.
The repairs are more than just replacing Phasers.
The cam tensioners need attention and hot oil pressure checked to be sure its at the proper pressure or failure will result again in a relative short time.
.
This is not a hijack of the thread but what considerations need to be on a Phaser equipped engine to do proper repairs.
Said another way to put the engine back to design and not try to do a one part fix on a multipart system failure.
The design gets more engine Torque but could have been engineered for longer life and if the owner would not try to cheat on oil changes and intervals. it's too costly for the end result.
Later on, the Phasers were improved and oil pump upgrade incorporated to help this out.
Bottom line is the oil and filter change intervals need to be done at the recommended intervals to keep abrasives from accumulating.
The VCT sensors get stuck from this and they pass the contaminated oil to the Phasers all causing the end issues.
Good luck.

 

I especially like your take on multipart.

"Said another way to put the engine back to design and not try to do a one part fix on a multipart system failure."

Agreed too many people just think its the phasors or thick oil fix . I did the $1400 timing job with new rollers ,lashs , oil pump, mostly oem parts . But to have it done that's another story, if your heads are damaged then a reman is the ticket. Any willing guy can do this timing job without buying special tools if he reads and gets help on here . Plus he must have the cash for the parts .

 

I have had my mechanic fix several 3 valves that tick. He charges $400 labor. He replaces the timing chain and cam phasers. If he's only charging $400 I'm guessing total job for him is under 6 hours.

Here are the parts I use to fix the tick:

1) Timing Chain Kit + Cam Phaser: $122

2) : $54

3) : $43

4) 6 quarts of oil and 3 gallons of antifreeze and an oil filter: Roughly $60.

5) Labor to mechanic: $400

Total cost for whisper quiet motor: $679

(side note: O'Reilleys/AutoZone carry the exact same timing/valve cover gaskets but charge at least $15 more per item). It's actually quite a cheap fix. He'll also change the plugs all 8 for $120 but every time one breaks off into the head it's an extra $25 (he has the special tool to extract broken spark plug).

 

Used the MOA engine cleaning treatment w/ 5W30 Royale Purple on the 2008 F150 @ 132,000 Miles with a regular Motor craft Oil Filter then changed out the transmission fluid and the filter and that was the first time the tranny has been changed because it still had the yellow bobber with the seal laying in the bottom of the pan from the manufacture.


after letting it run for about 15 Min. the ticking went away and it don't make the ticking sound no more from the engine but I can still here it slightly from the tale pipe so I'm thinking it might have a exhaust leak so when tax time comes around I'm going to invest in a nice exhaust system to fix this problem but I'm happy with it like this just as long as I use the Royale Purple 5W30 I should be fine.


Thanks for the help guys on the oil to fix the problem cause this def. worked in my case

 

I tried the 15/40 due to mi y 2008 Expy sounding like a POS and it did quiet down the lifters but, the phazers were adversely affected. The acceleration was horrible and you could tell the motor wanted to go but just couldnt get everything moving as quickly internally as it needed.
Great post and it was definitely worth a try, thanks guys!
I switched back to recommended oil and just live with a crappy sounding motor.
It is too bad they put such a terd ot a motor in these trucks.

 

my Ford 5.4 97 4-wheel drive got sunk in the water while you could see was the top of the cab anyways it ran great until then I got it home it's at in the your driveway for about three weeks until it dried out i started it up and it has a massive tick it sat in the water for about 5 hours I think it might be a stuck valve was collapsed lifter it's on the passenger side I can't tell which cylinder do you think the 15-40 oil will do the trick

 

 

I'm running a regular 1040 in it now

 

I have been experiencing the same tick for the last 4,000 miles. As I've seen many other people state, the cam phasers are probably whats wrong with it. I've also learned that sometimes, a good tune up will do the trick. I have 2010 F150, and it's got 217,000 miles on it. If it continues to tick, I would suggest considering getting the engine rebuilt or replaced