Well I finally bought a truck today. I had looked at a few but didn't take the leap. I have owned a few older F150's but wanted a new body style. The problem is an 04 or newer with under 100k miles in a crew cab runs 16k to 19k in my area. I found an 04 with almost 80k in crew cab with almost all the options today and walked away with a little over 13k in it. It is red with black and gray interior but has a column shifter. It has the tach and speedo on the outside with 4 small gauges in the center. It has skid plates, a tranny cooler and oil cooler. The guy selling the truck said he was the only owner but it did not say FX4 on the side or 4x4.

I pulled a carfax and it was clean and no noticable damage or repairs under the truck. The guy said it came that way from the factory. I took it to my cousin who owns a body shop and he said it has not been wrecked but he was unsure if they came without decals or not.

Does anyone here know if they made an 04 FX4 without decals?

Also it has a cam phaser issue and the guy said that is why he wanted out of the truck. He did not get specific on the cost to fix the problem but when cold it is silent as can be and once warmed up it starts to sound like a diesel on the driver side. You can not hear it in the truck but on a tank of gas I did the math and got 17.67 mpg with about 70% highway miles after picking it up. So I am happy with the mpg but the tick is annoying.

Does anyone know if it will do damage or is this something that is a simple fix? The guy said it started about 15k miles ago or 61k miles. It has always had Valvoline 5-20 but I have always been a penzoil fan myself. I usually run 5-30 in cars or trucks but I have not owned a 3v 5.4 before either.

Any info on the cam phasers or stickers would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Rod

 

for the FX4 question:



Cam Phaser noise:

 

That is the look of my dash. My truck also has painted bumpers to match the truck. The front grill is an H pattern with a large ford emblem in the middle. The wheels are aluminum with a black spot on each of the spokes with a gray back drop on the wheel and they are 18's I believe.

Thanks for the info. on the cam phasers also. I think you are right when it isn't worth dealing with until it becomes something larger than just an idle noise.

I agree on the oil filter. I grew up on fords and the FL1A was always needed on a 300 straight six or you would get engine noise on start up.

Thanks again,

Rod

 

sweet...you've got yourself a FX4


now where are the pictures?

 

Pic's we need pic;s

<a href="http://s540.photobucket.com/albums/gg359/muddedprairie/?action=view&current=jan09004.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg359/muddedprairie/jan09004.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


<a href="http://s540.photobucket.com/albums/gg359/muddedprairie/?action=view&current=1232377848.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg359/muddedprairie/1232377848.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Here are mine