2007 F-150 5.4L oil; question

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I have owned Ford trucks before, but not of this vintage. I understand its the first years model that has the 3 valve design, and VVT. Anything to know specifically about this, oil wise?

The truck is for my daughter, and will be driven roughly a 50/50 city/hwy mix in the hot TX climate. Planning on 5K change intervals. Also, any advice on what to look out for in general with this truck? Thanks.
 
I agree on xw30 weight, even 0w40.
I see you are in TX, I think a 10w30 would do well.
I tried M1 15w50 once in mine, not a failed experiment, but you could really feel that a 50 was too much.
 
I am a thin is in for the 5.4 3v.

My brother in law has an '04 (first year of the 3v) F150. When he was using oil change places, they were using 5w-30, and his engine was always loud and had the diesel noise.
Since I took over maintenance on it, i have been using xw-20 oils in it of several brands, conventional, blends and synthetic, and all of them have been quieter than the 5w-30 oil that was used before.

The 3v (before '08) had issues with the phasers and VCT solinoid screens. Also some timing chain tensioner issues.
Depending on who you talk to, 5w-20 is either the cause of or fix for these problems.
I have read of examples of those running Motorcraft 5w-20 blend never having any problems, and those running 5w-30 synthetic having issues.
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Originally Posted by beanoil
I agree on xw30 weight, even 0w40.
I see you are in TX, I think a 10w30 would do well.
I tried M1 15w50 once in mine, not a failed experiment, but you could really feel that a 50 was too much.


Not feeling that recommendation for the Triton 5.4. It's a good idea to stick with 5-20 or 0-20 on these. MC blend or any decent synthetic with a reasonable OCI and the upper half of you 5.4 will be happy. Keep your VCT's happy
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I ran castrol 0w40 year round in my 2009. I tried a 0w20 once and had the phasers rattle and engine try to stall while backing up after a long highway run where the oil was good and hot. 5w30 should be fine. One thing you don't want is to run any oil too long. The phaser control solenoid screens will get clogged and disrupt the flow through the engine. The tensioners have a tendency to leak at the seal to the block and it causes lower pressures. The 3 valve triton was spec'd for 5w30 or 5w40 oil when it first appeared in the Falcon (Australia market) in 2001. North America got a 5w20 recommendation when it came this way in 2004.

Startup rattles have a tendency to shatter the timing chain guides and chunks end up in the oil pan blocking the pickup. the cam toward the rear of the passenger side of the engine (cyl 4) is the last in line for the oil as it travels around the engine from the pump and can get worn or spit out a follower if there is a blockage or leaking.

If the bearings, phasers and solenoids are good, keep the oil clean and debris free and the engine will treat you as well as any other.
 
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All the 5.4's have a sheet metal backing plate on the oil pump. It bends and relieves some of the pressure/flow. Coupled with the plastic chain tensioner seal leaks, and the result can be oil starvation to the heads. Thin oils do not help here.

We've been dealing with this issue in hot-n-sticky South Florida for a very long time now. We empirically know what works and what does not. The suggestion above theorizing the use of thin oil being better for the cam phasers and control system is in our opinion, incorrect. Early phasers fail due to multiple reasons, including dirty oil and lack of sufficient viscosity.

This is worth reading:


http://abautomotive.ca/2017/03/09/ford-5-4-phasers-noise/


QUOTE: "In short, this problem is caused by the lack of oil pressure on top of the engine causing incorrect operation of cam phasers and lack of lubrication for the camshafts bearings. From my observations, I can conclude that the problem starts with a failure of the oil seal on one or both timing chain tensioners. Damage to the cam phasers and camshaft bearings is a consequence of this condition. To a certain extent use of 5W-20 viscosity oil also contributes to this problem. "


The local ford dealer here in S. FL uses 10W-40. I use M1, 10W-30HM in mine.

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Reality is the use of thicker oils in this engine just masks the sounds of all the other parts that are poorly designed, failing, or out of spec. I sat that as the former owner of an '04 F150 with the 3V in it.

And as you will read, there are varying opinions on what works and what doesn't in this engine. Pick a quality oil in a weight you are comfortable with (anything in the xw20 or xw30 families would be my choice), religiously change it every 5000 miles, and just plan on needing to invest a bunch of money in redoing a bunch of stuff when it nears the upper 100,000 mile range. That's been the story for my previous personal truck and nearly every one of them we used in fleet service - except we just auctioned those off when the noises started becoming more pronounced.

Not one of Ford's finer engines sorry to say...
 
Originally Posted by MNgopher
Reality is the use of thicker oils in this engine just masks the sounds of all the other parts that are poorly designed, failing, or out of spec.


That's 100% true. However, the more viscous oil is known to prevent additional abject failures and expensive repairs. Due to oil actually reaching the heads.
 
I ran only xW-20 in my 2010 and began extending the OCI after 100K. It had 158K on it when I traded it and ran as well as it did when new with 45% of those miles towing in temperatures ranging from -22F to 117F through mountains as well. You will undoubtedly garner many opinions on what you should use and in the end, all of them will work pretty well. I would not use a conventional oil for extended runs though.

I had better luck with NAPA Gold air filters versus Motorcraft and stopped using Motorcraft oil filters (tearing). I ran Amsoil gear oil with great results too, though there are others that work well too.

Last but not least, change the sparkplugs before 100K as well as the coolant. I would also change the transmission filter and fluid at 75K. If well maintained, it will give you good service life.
 
I have nothing but my experience to go off. Here is an image of my 04 with a cover off. I bought it from original owner with IIRC 55k and this was around 120k. He was a nut like most of us here; 3k OCI with PYB 5-20 and a MC filter. I moved to mostly MC blend 5-20 and usually the MC filter. She was clean. Still going and at the 200k mark. I sold it to a friend at work in 2015 when I bought a new F150.
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My son owns a 2004 (new design) Lariat F150, 60K miles, with the same engine. He uses ST full synthetic 5W30 with an FL-820S oil filter every 5K miles. His next OCI he will be using the 6 qt. box (+1 qt.) of Havoline full synthetic 5W30 wth the same aforementioned oil filter, every 5K miles.
 
Oil choice is not really the issue, it's keeping clean oil flowing through the engine. 2007's are better than the 2004's in the phaser department, but are still picky to lack of maintenance. Stick to 5k intervals with a quality oil. Personally, I have used mostly 5w30 in mine. the 20's seem to burn off too easily in the west tx heat. I have 161k on my truck now, bought with 60k. No issues to speak of.
 
Also, subscribe to FordTechMakuloco on YouTube. He knows the 5.4 3v's inside and out.
 
Having replaced a seized up roller follower and the cam after the cam lobe was chewed up on my brother's '08 Navigator, I have stuck with 5w30 on it. Seeing that link about the seal at the back of the timing chain tensioner blowing out really makes me want to go back in there and replace those along with upgrading the oil pump.
 
I realize my knowledge base is 1 truck owned and NOT in the extreme heat conditions some have posted. You've seen the picture of my 04 with 5-20 PYB and MC semi 5-20 at 3-5k OCI.

I'm just mediocre backyard mechanic type guy. I did do a lot on my 04 F150 and researched a lot. I wanted to go heavier with oil but I was fearful of some very narrow (at least that was what I read) oil passages. Those were offered a part of the 20wt recommendation. I never had an issue with the chains but I did do the vct solenoid swap as precautionary measure.

This genre was so strong block wise but the upper half HAD to be taken care of religious like.
 
My son works at a Ford dealership.
When the little old lady (that is a true statement) brought the 04 Lariat in for a trade my son saw it and asked the used car mgr. how much they would sell it to him for. $5500 and it belonged to my son. It had 40,222 original miles on it. The shop foreman suggested he run 5W30 oil in it. And, he continues to run 5W30 in it today. It's quiet as a church mouse.
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BTW, it was garaged for 7 years prior to being traded in.

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