These are the Tools I Recommend: OTC Compression Tester- amzn.to/2DZPJ53 2004-2008 5.4L 3v Triton 14mm Compression Test Adapter- amzn.to/2GT3pQg 2008-2014 5.4L 3v Triton 12mm Compression Test Adapter- amzn.to/3hp9YGU Forscan is free Ford Specific Diagnostic Software: Download Here- forscan.org/home.html ELM 327 Adapter I Recommend- amzn.to/2GC6dBj As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
We need him in California. I don’t trust any mechanics at all here unless they are friends or friends of friends, other than that they will replace everything but the issue 😂
I'm not a mechanic but I love this guy's channel and I can participate in conversations about 5.4 3-valve motors. I drove a 99 F150 5.4L Triton V8 for 19 years, then a 2018 F150 2.7EB and now a 2020 F150 2.7EB. Fantastic channel and work! ps. In high school a drove a 78 or 79 E250 with a 460 in it. Replaced the water pump myself on that. Talk about no room to work.
Ever since I got my '06 Expedition I've been doing all the services by myself, the previous owner doesn't knows anything about cars or mechanic issues so he sent it to the dealer for every service for 12 years! Until he decided to sell it to me, I'm the second owner and man, I've been following all your video tutorials related to the engine on my SUV and I've saved a lot of money! Nothing serious or anything to be worried about, the engine has less than 100K miles on it and it runs beautiful, not a single issue even to this day and for me is just taking care of the regular maintenance but with your help and knowledge this is even easier! Thanks a lot for all your help and precise instructions!
I worked for ford for a couple of decades and am the only guy in my area that fixes the 3v pigs! Everyone else throw parts at them. Relative compression and power balance should always get you off to a good start. I have an ids also and it helps a ton especially if you need to do the updates which we always check on every vehicle. Most of us car guys can hear that uneven cranking every time. And know it's a compression loss. Keep up the good videos!
Another fine video sir. I am the Ford Whisperer I am today because of your channel. I have learned volumes from you over the last several years. So for that, thank you Brian!! 👍👍
My favorite test, no if buts or maybe. Used it a lot in my Mechanical workshops. Good to see you using basic old school stuff. All said and done, it's suck, squeeze, bang and blow. Regards Steve.
Good time to demo a boroscope camera’s cabilities. You might even be lucky enough to see a piece of ceramic or burnt valve. Then there’s always the cylinder wall and piston top. 5 minutes to help ‘visualize’ the big picture - pun intended. Great diagnostic process👍
Wish I could drop my truck off at your shop for a full refresh and once over. So tempted to get a new one but reluctant to let my old one go. Keep up the good work
I recently did a timing job on a 2007 f150 with the 5.4. After the repair it had a fluctuating idle, checked and found that it had broken a spring on the #5 exhaust valve.
Another great video! I did the entire timing chains, Phasers, VCT, Oil pump etc from your videos and my 5.4 3V purrs like a kitten now. I bought one of your shirts cuz I feel like I'm on the team now! God Bless you!
Great camera work also, you show great detail on what you are doing. Thank you for taking time to make these videos, because I know that puts extra work on you.
Awesome video, thanks for putting out such high quality vids, cuz of you I was able to change my plugs, even when 4&8 broke. Next upgrading oil pump timing chains and all that good stuff
As always, you my man are awesome! Thanks for taking the time to post these videos. You've helped so SO many people out with these vids. Always learning something new from you!
I have the 4.6 doch Intech; I just did a timing job sprockets and all and it runs great on startup. 3 to 5 minutes later it starts ticking and after a little while sounds like a dry bearing. Thanks to your videos I will be checking all my lash adjusters and rollers., But I think I have an oil circulation issue.
After going through a nightmare with a 4.6L, I discovered that the intake valve was "cupped" which made the valve stem too long. This would not allow the valve to close completely. A quick fix is to grind off about .50" of the valve stem. Either that, or remove the head and replace the valve. This valve became deformed due to a misfire that created a lot of heat. An intake valve should not be getting that hot since there is air flowing over it all the time. After the compression was restored, the cylinder is firing normally and the valve should not deform any longer. It should last. The only way to get this cylinder to seal, with air pressure in it, was to remove the rocker arm. After measuring other heads, to see how tall the valve stem was, I determined that there was around 50 to 60 thousands of an inch more valve stem on that intake valve. I ground it down, with magnets and rags surrounding it. Put the rocker arm back on, and had compression. Happy Dance!!!
Great instructional video, thank you! That broken ceramic insulator rates right up their at the top of the rare events on the weirdo meter, makes a guy wonder of a close visual inspection of the plugs prior to install would have caught the problem. Boy would the consumers out there benefit if auto repair shop owners and their technicians studied the full range of repair videos you have produced.
It would be nice to see if a piece of ceramic is holding the exhaust valve open and/or if the valve and seat is damaged. There are a ton of cheap boroscopes with all types of attachments now. =Should be able to get a picture of that valve. Crappy quality control = shit like this will happen. Your diagnostics for this were right on the money and you did an excellent job of displaying the true situation. This truck is probably a simple valve fix = not that bad considering your diagnostics pointed directly to issue and you didn't waste time getting to it. All the plugs are garbage and I would replace them for sure.
Thank you Sir for all your vids! Helped me out numerous times! I have an 01 F150 5.4 2v with 346K on the clock. Kept up on the maintenance always. Still runs strong!
Hello Brian, I’m hoping you can help me. I’ve been working so hard on my truck to get it all fixed up after I paid a shop to do the timing and they used nothing but cheap parts and all my timing components started to fail less than 3mo after the repair. I watched your video series on the timing job and I want to say thank you for all you do to help us 5.4 3v guys. The problem I’m having is a misfire on cylinder 7. I timed the truck perfectly following your video and using the OTC tool. After I finished the timing job, everything was good until after about a day when I went up north to go snowboarding and the next day after I got home, I could feel the truck having a slight miss. I’ve replaced the spark plug, I’ve replaced the coil, I’ve replaced the fuel injector, I’ve done a compression test and all of my cylinders are around 195psi. What else could be causing a misfire on just the 1 cylinder? I checked my roller followers since I replaced all the lifters and followers with new ford performance ones with the updated design. I replaced the oil pump with the Melling 340HV, I installed brand new ford phasers, I used the metal chain tensioners out of the Mustang GT which I did modify the ratchet by filing down 2 teeth to allow it to ease tension when the truck is off. The misfire seems to go away after the truck gets to operating temp which made me think it could be a piston ring but no oil present on plug and the compression is nearly the same as all my other cylinders. Please help!😭
Keep up these awesome videos! For the 5.4 3V they are bittersweet. I own a 2006 F250, haven't had any issues with it, but at least if I do I will be more educated after had watched all the 5.4 vids. ;)
I’m a ford guy, but ford had a lot of problems with these kind of engines from 2004 to 2010 with the 5.4 liter. I have a 2000 Ford F-150 with the 5.4 liter but nothing to compare with those years. Mine it’s been a very reliable engine, I think from 1997 to 2003 they were excellent engines till this day and mine is proof of that.
Same her bubba, 03 f150 4.6 2v iv drove basically every day since may of 2006 got over 400000 miles and still going as my primary work truck which really means daily driver in my world
2003 ford expedition 5.4 2v ive got 200,000 and still going strong,fordmakuloco has helped me with the maintenance on this vehicle this guy is a FORD GENIUS
back in 2002 Ford engineers came together to their meeting room and said: We have this good reliable V8. engine . 5.4L and 4.6L! What can we do to make them less reliable?)) and the 3rd valve was added to each cylinder for the production year of-2004 and up!
Just for kicks, I'd try to look inside with a bore scope to see if there's debris holding the valve open. Then, I'd strike the valve stem several times with a brass drift and hammer to see if the porcelain could be shattered into smaller pieces. If the valve isn't bent, this might work to blow the pieces out into the exhaust. Who knows? It may fix it. Looks like the truck is rusting away, so it's still worth trying and if this didn't work, no loss.
@@FordTechMakuloco I replaced plugs and coils about 6 weeks ago....with Motorcraft plugs...3 weeks later had a misfire on one cylinder...mechanic pulled plug and the metal tip completely broke off. He replaced the plug and it ran fine for about another 3 weeks and now i have another "random" misfire he says and he doesn't know the cause other than thinks it needs timing chain kit now. Do you think the broken off plug tip could have done something similar to one of my valves ? what's the chances it blew out without damaging anything ? TYVM !!
I have an 06 f150 5.4 with 94k miles. I’ve been religiously using full synthetic oil and babying it it’s whole life. It runs like a champ so far. Changed plugs at 60k. Should I have anything done to it before it decides to self destruct. Thanks for the awesome information you’re giving us.
Mind-blowing that such a small device could cause so much engine damage 😬. Was it a poor quality spark plug? If serviced by a dealer would that be covered under warranty?
Dang. Looks like the guy kept up with his oil changes well by the way it is so clean. Sadly, that's not enough to make those junky 3V motors last. Or maybe happily, since I paid for my second house by working on them in the shop. Perspective I reckon.
Thanks for doing this, I've had a persistent Cyl 2 and 7 misfire on my 3v 6.8 -- it can be a real pain. I didn't know the diagnostic tool had those menus, need to find someone to look mine up for me.
This video hits very close to home Recently Iv had a tick that Iv been trying to figure out what it is . Long story short it was a loose plug Which were new plugs from about 6k mikes ago Which I paid my mechanic to do Since I was afraid of breaking them He got them all out without breaking With all the little ticks and noises Iv fixed it was hard to pin point the tick but looking back it got worse or started after the new plugs Well I guess one of the plugs was loose for awhile It seemed to run the same strength wise So I finally found the loose plug and tightens it Power went down Then I inspected the plug to find the metal u shaped ground piece missing So I vacumned out the cylinder and put in a new plug Power went back up to what feels like normal Never got a code or anything yet ! What are your thoughts on the metal piece ? My mechanic said it probably passed through the exhaust I guess I have no clue if I vaccumned it out but I guess it would have been passed through some time ago
I'm having the absolute worst time trying to diagnose a misfire and I'm also getting a code saying that my driver side catalytic converter is clogged. when I hit it with a mallet I can hear shit inside the cat. but the misfire is on cylinder 3! I've replaced plugs coils and every time under load going up a hill at around 60 or 70 miles an hour I get hesitation it feels like my transmission drops out and I get a flashing check engine light for the same cylinder and p0430. I cant keep wasting money on parts in these hard times and my edge scanner only says misfire detected on #3 no real data. My trucks also been getting real hot and im sure closed my new thermostat and had coolant leaking from the upper hose onto the housing yesterday at only 210°. Im so lost this truck sucks man. If u could maybe talk me thru some more options that would be awesome. Its a 05 f150 5.4 4x4. Cheaply rebuilt at 200k with 230k now stock cats
This happened to me on a 4.6 3v on my mustang. No compression on cyclinder #8, when I pulled the plug it was broken! Never dug in deeper just bought a used engine with 41k on it, but I was very frustrated. Didn’t know plugs broke like that
Hey buddy, I got called to look at an 08 f150 5.4 3v today the truck is ROUGH!!! In comparison to my 03 it has been to 2 mechanics supposedly in the last couple weeks I was told ahead of time it has fuel which I confirmed 40psi , injectors are receiving power(I didn't confirm that il get to why in a second ) it has no power going to coils , previous mechanic said it had 42 codes some tranny most engine but they was deleted so I don't have them,my initial thought was the pcm had to have an issue either receiving power/ground or sending it out fuses and relays confirmed good , once again I don't confirm power to the pcm from the fuses/relay BECAUSE when I arrived first thing I did was turn the key and it sounds like the starter only has resistance on 2 cylinders it was WAY out of Ballance so I'm assuming the timing chain is in the oil pan ,one mechanic already changed crank and cam sensors they say everything works but no power to coils I did confirm that I was only there for 20 minutes as a quick favor to the guy that's supposed to be fixing it he said he would pull the valve covers and timing cover in a couple days but based on the limited he said she said info I have provided here would you assume timing let go, no one can get ahold of the owner at the moment to ask if it was rattling and making noise before hand ,all they know is he was driving just before he was walking,lol
Cool video 😎 i just noticed today that my Snap On Solus Edge doesn't have the power balance option test🙄it was a 05' Expedition...Snap On gets on my nerves🙄
There should be class action lawsuit against Ford's faulty spark plugs. I have seen two bad right out of the box. These were not bootleg and not cheap. One destroyed a motor and the other was intermittent and took days to diagnose. This was the new updated plug too.
@@AmosMosesJr The way ford designed the spark plugs should of actually been a lawsuit indeed. Like no engine should be bad due to poor engineering. All of these generation of F150 run away.
I know you can't properly diagnose it but what is you best guess of the problem if I lost compression on #1 and #4 at the same time. Being told I need a new engine but it's got only 100,000 miles on it. Doesn't make sense to me that valves on 2 cylinders would stick at the same time and I would think it would be 2 cylinders next to each other if it was a head gasket.
Sure would have been nice if you had access to the exhaust valve, where you could have chucked the valve up in a drill motor, and spun it against the seat to see if the compression improved. I've got a 2003 5.4 in an E-350 van. It developed a misfire not long after purchase. Turned out to be the dreaded plastic intake manifold leak. Ford was smoking crack with the $480 replacement manifold, so it got an aftermarket replacement. No it wasn't a Dorman. It's been fine since, but in the back of my mind, just waiting for the Modular Team to strike disaster. What was wrong with the Windsor engine? They were reliable with the exception of the nylon timing gear.
Can't believe all these problems with the 5.4... I own 2 2008 E350 super duty vans purchased with 100k on them and they now have 604k and 569k and have never been opened up for repairs! Plugs,coils, filters, belts, and Mobil 1 synthetic oil.. that's it! Still running 2020! Original Fuel pumps!!! Original starters!!
More than likely the plug was damaged during or prior to being installed. At any rate either the cab will have to be removed or the engine to remove the cylinder head.
Great video on how to correctly diagnose a trouble code. Why wouldn't you use a rubber mallet to bounce the exhaust valve open a little and try to loosen and free the debris that's keeping it from closing, while blowing the air? Ty, subd.
Those damn plugs...the engineers that designed this engine should be fired..i believe that's a mazda design..not sure..i hope Brian shows the repair t know it won't be cheap..thanks for showing this..also i wonder if someone may have dropped the plug ? Cheers everyone 🍻🍻🍻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Since you're, apparently, an engineering expert - why don't YOU give us a complete engineering analysis of what is wrong with the engine ? This is not an engine problem, it's a spark plug problem. Without knowing if the plug was original Motorcraft or a Chinese knock-off, whether the plug was dropped prior to installation, or any other problem that could damage the insulator, damning the entire engine and the engineers is a knee-jerk reaction by someone who's not afraid to parade their ignorance in public. Congratulations...
Great video very informative. I have a question though. What if you didn't find the broken piece of the spark plug and everything looked normal including the valve terrain?
I saw a champion plug do that once from being loose and overheating. In that case it did ot wreck the valve but it wrecked the rings instead... even worse. They got off easy compared to that.
Such a great channel. I have a 2012 Navigator with about 230k miles. Has the 5.4l 3v and it's starting to sound like a diesel :) I know I need the timing kit / phasers job done. Job is about $2,500 locally from a reputable non-dealer shop. Trying to decide if it's worth it...I suspect it is, since the vehicle is great otherwise.
@@FordTechMakuloco Thank you for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it. They said all parts are motorcraft. This is a shop I have used for many many years and they have a local reputation as being very reputable. But I'm hard pressed to think there's anyone who's opinion I trust more than yours. I know the kit you link to doesn't actually say Motorcraft, it says Ford. But are they the same thing? Unfortunately the kit you link to is out of stock or unavailable.
There is no way they are replacing all the components with Ford parts including the roller followers which are very common failure your model year. Plus if they are not installing the Melling high volume oil pump then there is no reason to even do the job. Dealer price is generally over $4k for this job, over $3k for an independent shop and under $3k at a my shop. Let me know how it turns out.
@@FordTechMakuloco Unfortunately this reply was posted after the work was completed. They did tell me they inspected the roller followers but none looked worn or failed. They did confirm all the parts were genuine Ford, and it's a reputable shop I have used many times, I feel they're being truthful. At any rate the engine is now MUCH quieter and sounds very healthy. Now I'm starting to chase down some sort of trans problem (or maybe an ignition coil I hope). Thanks for taking the time to reply to my comment, I really appreciate it.
I just purchased a 2005 to tow around my jet ski and haul 17:26 materials from home depot etc. salesman said the old man mechanic that went through the truck said he couldn’t reach the spark plug but that’s all that’s wrong with it and maybe a new coil Pack. Currently the truck is at another dealership being diagnosing. So upset at myself for thinking this used sales guy was honest. I’m hoping it’s not a broken piece of spark plug that has caused similar damage. 🤦
Hey there @FordTechMakuloco love the content! Question: I have a ‘12 single cab f150 2wd 5.0 133K miles 3.55 rear end and last week it was loaded up to max trailer weight.. was squatting pretty good but still had a little bit of travel.. i was in tow haul mode.. when i would take off from a stop or when i would accelerate more when going up hill the truck would shudder/vibrate the more i stuck my foot down and would stop as soon as i leveled out or got to my desired speed and started cruising.. any ideas what it might be? This is the first time it’s ever done it and never does it when it’s unloaded or lightly loaded.. this was the first time i was ever at max or maybe even slightly above max depending how much the trailer weighed (it was a rental)
@FordTechMakuloco just FYI, that ignition coil brand design is Duralast from Autozone. They started adding that new design recently on some of their electrical components. Just for future reference.
