Coyote vct system vs oil grades

Why not just use the factory recommended oil viscosity? I personally know over a dozen folks with 5.0 coyote powered trucks and none of them have any VCT issues. I’m also friends with an ac repair guy who owns his own company. His fleet of F150’s all have the coyote and none have any VCT issues or noises. Most of them are serviced thru Ford dealerships and quick lube shops which I assume use the factory recommended oil viscosity. I highly doubt any of them have been filled with anything thicker than a 30 grade viscosity.
I’ve tried 0w20 and 5w20 in this as well. It made the issue much much worse and the engine noises were enough for me to change back to thicker oil. On 40 grades the engine sounds much better especially at idle and when in a drive through. I also tow heavy and race the truck. So minimum spec isn’t really for me. Many engine builders and tuners are recommending 50 grades for these. I had the best success using rotella 5w40 in mine. But it’s getting hard to find and they keep raising the price. I’ve since moved to petro Canada uhp 0w40 and I’ve been quite happy with it so far. I can get it from their distributor and they always have lots of stock of it. Plus then I’m supporting local. So I’m in between using that or moving to the sheering motorcraft 5w50 for short intervals or something like amsoil which again is pricey and hard to get unless I sign up and get it delivered to my door.
 
Don't quite understand how it's not a warranty issue if the truck is actually stalling at idle - codes or no codes. My coyote idles perfectly fine on 0w-20.
 
M
Don't quite understand how it's not a warranty issue if the truck is actually stalling at idle - codes or no codes. My coyote idles perfectly fine on 0w-20.
Mine did as well. Till it didn’t. Parts fail over time. And looking this problem up online has really made me think. I could easily find a boat load of people within a quick search that have/had the same issue and many with the same results. Replace these solenoids and it fixes the issue. And like me some people paid out of pocket to fix the issue as ford wouldn’t cover it without codes. My dealerships shop foreman didn’t think that was the issue at all and was baffled that I would pay to replace these not knowing if it would fix it. The specs he found is that when they are off by 4 degrees it will throw a code. What you do is you monitor desired cam angle for all 4 cams. And what they are actually at. Sitting at idle they would park at 30 degrees. But my intake cams would vary dipping down as low as 0 and as high as 45 degrees. Last summer and this spring. Only when hot and when the ambient temp was warm. It stalled on me 9 times before I took it in and had a rough idle countless times yet it never set a code. Even though ford says it will after 4 degrees…
 
M

Mine did as well. Till it didn’t. Parts fail over time. And looking this problem up online has really made me think. I could easily find a boat load of people within a quick search that have/had the same issue and many with the same results. Replace these solenoids and it fixes the issue. And like me some people paid out of pocket to fix the issue as ford wouldn’t cover it without codes. My dealerships shop foreman didn’t think that was the issue at all and was baffled that I would pay to replace these not knowing if it would fix it. The specs he found is that when they are off by 4 degrees it will throw a code. What you do is you monitor desired cam angle for all 4 cams. And what they are actually at. Sitting at idle they would park at 30 degrees. But my intake cams would vary dipping down as low as 0 and as high as 45 degrees. Last summer and this spring. Only when hot and when the ambient temp was warm. It stalled on me 9 times before I took it in and had a rough idle countless times yet it never set a code. Even though ford says it will after 4 degrees…
Definitely sounds like an ECM-related issue if that isn't tripping a code.

There have been numerous FCA ECM updates for my previous '16 SRT and my wife's RAM, a couple of them have just been "Improves diagnostics capability". Sounds like Ford needs to get on that bandwagon.
 
The good news is that they are pretty easy to change out. If you can take a valve cover off and put it back on, then you can change a VCT Solenoid.
 
My truck (2018 5.0) has the tip out rattle only when the vehicle is being run for the first time in the morning. Once warmed up there is no tip out rattle. I have not taken it in for the TSB since all the forums say it doesent fix the problem and I dont want to waste my time. Currently running 5w30, should I consider a 40w or change the solenoids? truck as 41k on the clock. IIRC, previously ran rotella 5w40 synthetic and it still made the tip out rattle.
 
My truck (2018 5.0) has the tip out rattle only when the vehicle is being run for the first time in the morning. Once warmed up there is no tip out rattle. I have not taken it in for the TSB since all the forums say it doesent fix the problem and I dont want to waste my time. Currently running 5w30, should I consider a 40w or change the solenoids? truck as 41k on the clock. IIRC, previously ran rotella 5w40 synthetic and it still made the tip out rattle.
Mine got progressively worse. It would do it only for a brief period in the morning then go away. When it got bad and it was stalling on me it started doing it all the time on tip out. Replacing the solenoids has so far fixed the issue as it has for many others. It’s a bonus if you can get them replaced under warranty. I would still suggest a good 40 or 50 grade oil in these. Keep it clean and topped up.
 
My truck (2018 5.0) has the tip out rattle only when the vehicle is being run for the first time in the morning. Once warmed up there is no tip out rattle. I have not taken it in for the TSB since all the forums say it doesent fix the problem and I dont want to waste my time. Currently running 5w30, should I consider a 40w or change the solenoids? truck as 41k on the clock. IIRC, previously ran rotella 5w40 synthetic and it still made the tip out rattle.
The engine oil drains out of the passages.
 
Mine got progressively worse. It would do it only for a brief period in the morning then go away. When it got bad and it was stalling on me it started doing it all the time on tip out. Replacing the solenoids has so far fixed the issue as it has for many others. It’s a bonus if you can get them replaced under warranty. I would still suggest a good 40 or 50 grade oil in these. Keep it clean and topped up.
Im out of the 3-36 warranty but still covered under the powertrain warranty. I wonder if I unplugged the VCT solenoids and drove it to set the money light then take it in for the "I dont know whats wrong" would it be covered by the powertrain warranty?
 

Mine got progressively worse. It would do it only for a brief period in the morning then go away. When it got bad and it was stalling on me it started doing it all the time on tip out. Replacing the solenoids has so far fixed the issue as it has for many others. It’s a bonus if you can get them replaced under warranty. I would still suggest a good 40 or 50 grade oil in these. Keep it clean and topped up.

Also, is there an updated VCT solenoid or same part #?
 
Can the solenoids themselves leak oil once they've developed some wear?
Are the screens in the solenoids dirty?

In BMW world these the screens would get dirty and the solenoids themselves worn at which point they would fail. You could clean them but they would eventually fail again.
 
My truck (2018 5.0) has the tip out rattle only when the vehicle is being run for the first time in the morning. Once warmed up there is no tip out rattle. I have not taken it in for the TSB since all the forums say it doesent fix the problem and I dont want to waste my time. Currently running 5w30, should I consider a 40w or change the solenoids? truck as 41k on the clock. IIRC, previously ran rotella 5w40 synthetic and it still made the tip out rattle.
Mine 2019 does the same thing, but that is really the only time I notice it. I had my engine replaced for excessive oil consumption at 15k and the new engine does the same thing. As soon as the engine temp hits about 140 it goes away immediately.
 
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