2005 Ford F-150 Pros and Cons at TrueDelta: Cam Phaser issues with Ford 5.4L Triton Engine by eddenton

Interior styling

Leather seats are great and the seating is extremely comfortable for long trips with multiple adults.

Towing

Towed several campers, one upt to 5000lbs, and a couple of boats with this truck and never had a single problem. It handles well and pulls well.

Reliability & durability

This particular engine, the 5.4L Triton engine, has problems with the cam phasers. I understand this is very common with all 5.4L Ford engines. For mine they began to fail at about 90k. They began knocking and when this happens they are also restricting the oil flow in the engine. This causes a sludge buildup in places. I took the truck to a local shop and had them replaced, it was fairly expensive. This worked until about 120k. At that point my engine froze up. The damage had already been done elsewhere in the engine when I had the cam phasers replaced. I decided to sell the truck rather than fix it. The new owner had the engine replaced with a new block that is supposed to have "new and improved" cam phasers. I learned later that I should have changed the oil much more frequently than the recommended interval. This probably would have prevented the sludge buildup. The mechanic that did the engine replacement for the new owner said that he has replaced many many of these engine for this very problem.

Stick with the tried and true 5.0L engine!