Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire F150 Lariat issues

Had the plugs and coils replaced, so I don't/hope thats not the issue. Are the cam phasers on the engine?

Still kind of wondering if this is a electronic issue more than mechanical.

Does that model have a coolant temperature sensor? (not temp gauge sensor). The sensor tells the computer to lean out the fuel injectors after warm up. If it is dead the mixture will be too rich and cause the symptoms you describe and may not show a specific trouble code. Easy and cheap to replace. Check out the Ford Truck Enthusiast Forum or U-tube for details.

A few things to look at, please correct me if none apply as I have no experience with ford this new.
Egr sys leaking or plugged
fuel vapor recovery sys plugged or leaking vacuum
low oil pressure at lifters, and collapsing lifters
Ground at body, frame, motor, computer

If it's a 4wd Nada says trade in of 7,800. You want to plow 6+K into it? Are you nuts? Why does the wife think she needs a new car? You'd be so upside down in that thing you wouldn't have change left in your pockets.

Cam phasers control the cam timing from what I understand. They are a common failure point on 5.4 Ford engines. IIRC they start to get noisy and that's one of the giveaways.

Well stopped by the mechanic and went over several things, cam phasers, gas bad, wiring harness, ect. He was of the mind that it was not any of these things.

Mechanic said he would eat what he has done to fix it so far because he felt that he had led me down the wrong path with the cam sensor and coils, his offer not at my request. Said the rebuilt engine would solve this problem and probably others that would come up with the engine given it has 230,000 miles on it.

Given that I have already done the tires, fuel pump, brakes and suspension. My thought was that if I traded for a like year model I would just be trading my problems for someone else's problems.

I can't say I am doing the right thing, but leaning that this is the best option of bad/uncertain options. If I were using as my DD, probably would trade it for a brand new one but I don't need a new vehicle for what I use it for and any truck will perform for me as long as it works reliably. This appears to be the most certain solution in an uncertain situation. Hopefully, its the right decision.

230k miles? That engine doesn't owe you a thing. I'd stick another engine in it.

That's what I did.

I know almost nothing about elect. issues of this type. Just threw my $.02 in there for you to think over. Most, but not all, of the potential problems would come out with the old engine. Hopefully a new engine fixes things.

New engine. That's what I did for about 5000.00. 3 year unlimited mileage. Mine was an '04, cam problems. Hopefully that stops the bleeding for a couple years, then I will upgrade. I love the pickup, but the problems can really suck in these newer vehicles. My last full size pickup had 250,000 miles on the original engine with no issues. 70's Dodge with a 360". Almost no electronics on those work horses.

Sell it and buy a Toyota.

Went through the cam phaser thing on my 2006 F-150 with the 5.4. Good advice on the plug thing too. Wouldn't buy another 04-08 5.4 myself.