Ford F150 3.5 Ecoboost cam phasers to fix now or later

Yes, troubleshooting is a big expense. So, you change the oil/filter, pay a little too much for the Boss/XP/Platinum, and for the jugs/quarts of Mobil1 0w40, or the Castrol/Pennzoil/Valvoline if you can find them. Or, you buy them up in Canada before your Mission to Texas and change the oil out early and monitor the frequency of startup clatters.

DIY troubleshooting is cheaper than the repair and what a shop charges for hourly labor. Its just a simple add-on cost for your normal maintenance interval or possibly 'early' change out.

Fl500s is good enough for the manufacturer warranty. And, I'd rather have an FL2055 if it was available(long ago discontinued by the bean counters). The pictures are simply to fire up the brain cells. Quit trusting the OLM and the automaker. They aren't looking out for you or your engine!

Here is a great 0w-40 that you might be able to get at a fair price before your trip.

Not sure if there are any full synthetic oil filter manufacturers in Canada. So, you have limited choices for troubleshooting. Pay up!

Or, get the phasers replaced now, and every 60k miles, while you save so much money using Fl500s and Pennzoil with that yearly/OLM based intervals.
Thanks for your input Greasy , Im not trying to save money for the sake of saving money .... , Im reading here and 1 day PP is the way to go the other day not , the day before is do not touch fram, few months later fram is the new flavor of the day ... oil grade is so subjective one day 0w20 is ok another day way too thin while some likes 0w16 !!! its not easy to justify spending extra money on subjective impressions.

For now I am buying the 0W40 and Xp suggestion and I will go that way at my next oil change sometimes next week . Do i believe that the use of this regimen would have prevent the cam phasers issue .... hummm not too sure about that nor that I think that i will stop the progression of the phasers disease, but yes 0w40 makes sense just to stay in grade .... once again thanks for your input end suggestion its becoming very interesting :)
 
a failed phaser sounds like a diesel engine, when the engine is fully warmed up. The start up noise is just some chain slap as the oil pressure comes up.

When warm, drive at 1200 RPM next to a wall or guardrail. Roll down the window. If your engine sounds like a very loud, old school diesel, the phasers are probably bad. If not, you probably have a common oil filter drain back valve issue.

keep in mind, there is always some rattle with these things at 1200 RPM. Failed phasers are loud
 
a failed phaser sounds like a diesel engine, when the engine is fully warmed up. The start up noise is just some chain slap as the oil pressure comes up.

When warm, drive at 1200 RPM next to a wall or guardrail. Roll down the window. If your engine sounds like a very loud, old school diesel, the phasers are probably bad. If not, you probably have a common oil filter drain back valve issue.

keep in mind, there is always some rattle with these things at 1200 RPM. Failed phasers are loud

Hummm .... I am not disputing what you are saying however its very different to what I read or seen in video :)

My understanding is that when a phaser start to fail , it looks like let say one of the phaser locking pin doesn't not always lock itself at shut down, so at start up it takes time to fill the phasers chambers hence the back-and-forth movement inside their housing creating the noise. Something that is not happening when the pin lock and hold everything together until the oil pressure build up.

And its that back-and-forth movement that is detrimental to the timing chain being subject to repetitive load and unload during that time .... well thats my understanding :) ive been very wrong before :) so i wouldn't be surprise to be wrong again lol
 
I considered buying around a 2012 expedition.. but the older ones had the triton 5.4 three valve...and the 3.5 ecoboost has a lot of timing chain issues with almost every truck.. what a sad state of affairs at ford..
A friends wife bought a couple year old ford edge and the internal water pump failed and the engine was destroyed. Broken conn rods and all. Was 2 thousand miles out of warranty and the dealer just laughed.. great ford service...

Gm has the god awful cylinder deactivation problems.. so a suburban was out.

So I am staying with 7 to ten year old sequoias in my future.. dont ever want the new toyota twin turbo v6 trucks.
 
So I am staying with 7 to ten year old sequoias in my future
I used to have a Tundra, not sure what copies over, but… water pumps, cam tower leaks and air injection pumps come to mind. The WP shouldn’t be a bad job, I’m not sure if cam tower leads are that big of a deal—in terms of oil loss, in terms of actual work done it’s a big job—and maybe the AIP’s got cheap, used to be well over a grand when one of them went.
 
Tundra and sequoia share exact same engines.. 4.7 5.7. And now the v6 twin turbo. Some sequoias had the 4.6 v8 and such same as the lexus gx 460. Think that was a varient same as the tundra as well..
Same trans used in both also. The tundra tended to get the updated engines a year earlier than the sequoia and the land cruiser. That also used identical stuff since about 2000
 
The 4.6 had a couple of variants, the 4.6/5.7 in Tundra were pretty similar, although the 4.6 had a shorter deck and as a result don’t take the same headers as the 5.7’s do (spent toooo much time on a Tundra board). IIRC on wikipedia there was a 4.6 version with DI and I have zero knowledge if it showed up in Sequoia, I’m thinking not, if true, then the same exact mills between the two.

I had a 4.6 Tundra and it met my needs. After test driving it I made sure to never test drive a 5.7, every review online said that it’d be a major mistake to do so… so I didn’t.

I wonder if Sequoia and Tundra have the same brakes? If so, that’d keep me away. I didn’t use my truck hard enough: the front brakes liked to seize up. The way the caliper is designed, it’s meant for easy pad swaps, but, the pad ears are really long. I found them to seize up from rust very easily. Worse, they are held in place by these long pins which in turn like to seize up. I’m not saying it’s a bad design, just that, for my usage, a more conventional single piston caliper would have been less work (probably less braking capability, everything’s a tradeoff).

Now the rear brakes… parking brake never worked worth a darn, being drum in rotor. OTOH one less issue with the caliper—although I still had a caliper seize up, and I think Autozone et al had like one in the state when it went. That would keep me away in the future, I might not like corner store parts but at least they have parts on the shelf for the “common” vehicles. Can buy one, get back on the road, replace when a quality part comes in from Rock or wherever. The more exotic the vehicle is, the more likely a backup is needed.

Anyhow. To some degree, all vehicles suck, I think that’s the universal truth to vehicle selection.
 
I considered buying around a 2012 expedition.. but the older ones had the triton 5.4 three valve...and the 3.5 ecoboost has a lot of timing chain issues with almost every truck.. what a sad state of affairs at ford..
A friends wife bought a couple year old ford edge and the internal water pump failed and the engine was destroyed. Broken conn rods and all. Was 2 thousand miles out of warranty and the dealer just laughed.. great ford service...

Gm has the god awful cylinder deactivation problems.. so a suburban was out.

So I am staying with 7 to ten year old sequoias in my future.. dont ever want the new toyota twin turbo v6 trucks.
I'm considering a Tundra to replace my 2005 Silverado one day if needed. But hopefully that day never has to come.
 
a failed phaser sounds like a diesel engine, when the engine is fully warmed up. The start up noise is just some chain slap as the oil pressure comes up.

When warm, drive at 1200 RPM next to a wall or guardrail. Roll down the window. If your engine sounds like a very loud, old school diesel, the phasers are probably bad. If not, you probably have a common oil filter drain back valve issue.

keep in mind, there is always some rattle with these things at 1200 RPM. Failed phasers are loud
This is true of the phasers in a 5.4 3V, but not necessarily in the first gen eco.
 
My truck started to make 2 days ago the awfull cold start up noise well documented on various board. Ok that happen only once but hey i dont believe in magic...(2014 60000 miles on the truck ) so im expecting to hear it again but how often ??

I live in Montreal Canada french speaking guy so bear with me , I am spending the winter in Mission Texas this year ....

My dilemma is that he will cost me an additional 35% due to the money exchange and knowing that the job is around 3000 USD you can make the calculation like me ,so I wonder if I can wait for my trip back home to get it fix or if I risk to ruin the engine ? its 3000.00 at home in Canadian or 1000 more here with the exchange

The truck isn't making the noise all the time not everyday

I heard it only once so far , I can use the pre-oil starting method for the next few months to limit the slapping at cold start up, and I for now have no code logged on the truck ...

So what would you do.....

and I know its a long shot but anyone know Spike ford in Mission tx ? They would probably have my business if I can make up my mind ,,,

Always use Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 and Motorcraft flter and or Fram ultra ... thats what I have now on the truck , oil changed at 1 year and or when required by the oil life monitor , a few oil analysis showed that the oil was serviceable when tested even up to 14000 km.

So what would you do ... fix or wait .... with a code I would not hesitate a second to have it fixed, that would show me a point where my timing chains are stretched ... but without a code ??

Im pulling a 7500 lbs travel trailer if that matter
IIRC, Ford’s notice says the phaser issue does make noise, but it does not affect power or reliability. However, mine were checked and weren’t noisy so I don’t know from personal experience. @bdcardinal has at least one thread on here where he goes into deep detail; he’s a current Ford tech and has done many of the repairs.

Maybe it’s something that an oil with ANs and esters can clean and free up? I’m not 100% certain, putting this out there so those that have been hands-on may answer. 👍🏻
 
This is true of the phasers in a 5.4 3V, but not necessarily in the first gen eco.
Almost every 5.4 3v I see running sounds like a diesel. I've yet to hear any EcoBoosts sound like that, although I witnessed one cold start that rattled hard for a second or two. Working in construction doing surveying/layout I'm always surrounded by trucks.
 
i suspected the eco boost engine would be trouble when first introduced and i was right.




Lol, The EB has outsold the V8 after the second year it was introduced. Ford sells a ****load of trucks, not only that, as I mentioned, Ford has had issues with cam phasers long before the EB came along.
 
I've mentioned how I would stay away from eco-boost engines. But others here say they are great. This mechanic in the video and other videos has shown me many problems with these engines. Imagine buying one used with no warranty.
I can see in a few years- if you can't handle the job yourself, off to the scrap yard it goes. Even just the parts cost may scrap the unit. I have talked to a mechanic in the past- I believe there is lock out and reprogramming available, sucks but if you keep the truck maybe worth it.
 
I considered buying around a 2012 expedition.. but the older ones had the triton 5.4 three valve...and the 3.5 ecoboost has a lot of timing chain issues with almost every truck.. what a sad state of affairs at ford..
A friends wife bought a couple year old ford edge and the internal water pump failed and the engine was destroyed. Broken conn rods and all. Was 2 thousand miles out of warranty and the dealer just laughed.. great ford service...

Gm has the god awful cylinder deactivation problems.. so a suburban was out.

So I am staying with 7 to ten year old sequoias in my future.. dont ever want the new toyota twin turbo v6 trucks.
There's ways around the DOD, and Toyota was a god in turbo's in the 90's.
 
i suspected the eco boost engine would be trouble when first introduced and i was right.
And yet here I am with a 150,000 mile 2011 3.5EB, no problems what so ever. (after I drilled a small drain hole in the intercooler to eliminate condensation). No start up rattle, no oil use, no issues.

But I don't use thin oil and always change at the 5000 mile mark. The truck had a lifetime of 10W-30 M1 EP.

Currently using 10W-40 HM M1, as the only other avial choice was 5W-20 due to local shortages. Works perfectly here in S. FL. I may stick with it.
 
Filters I listed have working ADBV's that worked on my engines along with local availability. I can't say the same for other models within the brand, or other brands, or other engines. Also, a synth media flows the best to help get oil where it needs to go, whether cold/hot, loaded with debris from excessive usage, or when there is moisture that soaked into and expands cellulose into a brick wall. And, local availability of Amsoil/RoyalPurple filters are an issue for some. Listed filters could usually be found or ordered thru the big name autopart stores in an major city.

Fram is in some state of flux... never know if you're gonna get wirebacked synth media or synth over cellulose on their higher end filters, or whether it'll have a silicone ADBV or not on their lesser filters, or metal or fiber endcaps.... or whatever their management are doing with their products. So, I can't blindly recommend Fram anymore.


Local autopart stores in Texas:

And, since some engines suffer from consumption, make sure you keep the oil level full. If I had a penny for every owner that came in with an engine problem... that was only an changing interval or oil level problem, I'd spend more time at the wishing fountain, wishing for owners to take care of their vehicles better.

I remember when the bean counters discontinued the 'real filter' and gave the egoboost the Fl500s.... good enough for yearly OLM changes is for you to decide. What it was engineered for vs what you get now .... trust the automakers too much.

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And, here is MH(parent company to various filter brands) take on synth vs cellulose media, since OP is running the OLM/yearly interval, in a cold climate with possibly more moisture build up, where media flow and filtration flow could be compromised, waiting for oil flow/psi to deal with the clatter:
FWIW, that Motorcraft filter shown is obsolete now. It updates to the FL-500S
 
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