2010 f150 5.4 vct solenoid

[Evergreen]

Best way to remove the valve cover, well not so much the valve cover but the massive cluster of wires and junk on top of/beside the valve cover, to make room to work. I need to change the solenoid and the good folks at Ford between o8 and o9 decided to make the grommet hole smaller thus requiring you to pull the whole cover off to change a stupid solenoid

 

[Cmp1]

Just asking, how do you know that it's bad,,,,code?

 

[Evergreen]

Just asking, how do you know that it's bad,,,,code?

That is a very long story, ive been to 2 ford dealerships, several mechanics, who listen to to it, ran codes, and said cam phasers. But I did not and do not believe it is the phasers, phasers were a problem prior to o9, and if it was phasers it should be doing funky stuff at high rpms not just at an idle like its been doing. You can crank the truck drive it stop at a red-light and the rpms drop so low it sounds like you just need to haul it off to a junk yard. Get out unplug the solenoid (granted unplugging this solenoid causes other issues at different rpms, and throws more codes) and poof instantly back to normal rpms at an idle. This problem causes it to throw all kinds of codes, bad bank 5, cam phaser, o2 sensor, a hole knot of codes pop up. What got me was unplugging the solenoid and instant return to normal rpms, and fords cam phaser kit comes with shiny new vct solenoids.

I will start with the solenoid, clear all codes then proceed from there. Ive driven with the solenoid unplugged for 1 year and it makes it feel like there's transmission issues, like its not getting enough fuel at lower rpms and try to go but not, like say your at a constant speed give it gas it jumps and doesn't want to accelerate, plug it in that disappears but at an idle drops below 450rpms and acts stupid at a red-light.

As a side note I have also learned when the alternator is going bad but before it will throw a code/ battery light on display, it would do that jumping at any constant speed when trying to accelerate. (Genuinely think it wasn't sending proper fire to the coils) Changed the alternator and now it only jumps delays starting off from a stop at about 10mph, plug solenoid in and the jump disappears but will idle rough very rough at a stop

 

[Cmp1]

That is a very long story, ive been to 2 ford dealerships, several mechanics, who listen to to it, ran codes, and said cam phasers. But I did not and do not believe it is the phasers, phasers were a problem prior to o9, and if it was phasers it should be doing funky stuff at high rpms not just at an idle like its been doing. You can crank the truck drive it stop at a red-light and the rpms drop so low it sounds like you just need to haul it off to a junk yard. Get out unplug the solenoid (granted unplugging this solenoid causes other issues at different rpms, and throws more codes) and poof instantly back to normal rpms at an idle. This problem causes it to throw all kinds of codes, bad bank 5, cam phaser, o2 sensor, a hole knot of codes pop up. What got me was unplugging the solenoid and instant return to normal rpms, and fords cam phaser kit comes with shiny new vct solenoids.

I will start with the solenoid, clear all codes then proceed from there. Ive driven with the solenoid unplugged for 1 year and it makes it feel like there's transmission issues, like its not getting enough fuel at lower rpms and try to go but not, like say your at a constant speed give it gas it jumps and doesn't want to accelerate, plug it in that disappears but at an idle drops below 450rpms and acts stupid at a red-light.

As a side note I have also learned when the alternator is going bad but before it will throw a code/ battery light on display, it would do that jumping at any constant speed when trying to accelerate. (Genuinely think it wasn't sending proper fire to the coils) Changed the alternator and now it only jumps delays starting off from a stop at about 10mph, plug solenoid in and the jump disappears but will idle rough very rough at a stop

I'm no expert, but before you change ohm out the wires and the solenoid, if possible before tearing into it,,,,take a pic also,,,,

 

[Evergreen]

I'm no expert, but before you change ohm out the wires and the solenoid, if possible before tearing into it,,,,take a pic also,,,,

I'm already into it, and I dont have a meter here to check it, but I will admit I have not thought about that

 

[Cmp1]

I'm already into it, and I dont have a meter here to check it, but I will admit I have not thought about that

Get yourself a nice meter,,,,Fluke or similar,,,,

 

[dwhee87]

I may be too late, but....Not sure if it's the same as my '06, but I changed mine out without talking the valve covers off. A 6-in torx bit...I think it's a #27, will get to the screw if you pull off the rubber seal around the solenoid, and put the torx bit down the opening. The screw is attached to the solenoid with a collar, so it won't fall down into the engine. Replace the same way. Took me longer to get the seal off than to swap out the solenoid.

 

[Evergreen]

I may be too late, but....Not sure if it's the same as my '06, but I changed mine out without talking the valve covers off. A 6-in torx bit...I think it's a #27, will get to the screw if you pull off the rubber seal around the solenoid, and put the torx bit down the opening. The screw is attached to the solenoid with a collar, so it won't fall down into the engine. Replace the same way. Took me longer to get the seal off than to swap out the solenoid.

The geniuses over at Ford changed the valve cover between 08 and 09 and the grommet hole isn't big enough to pull the solenoid out without removing the valve cover sadly

 

[OleCountryBoy]

I'd bet it's the cams, I hope it's not. I had fits with an 07 Screw 5.4L and got rid of it specifically because of this issue, I thought it was gonna blow up and traded it in on a new 2012 with a 5.0.

 

[Deerhead]

My ’08 5.4 F150 developed a short in the solenoid. I would drive 5 miles and the engine would stall. Leaving me stranded in the road. It would restart after a few seconds. But it felt like an eternity. After “several” trips to the dealer and attempted fixes they brought in a Ford Engineer. He finally discovered a short in the solenoid. The solenoid would short when it reached 175 deg. When the engine temp was above or below 175deg it would run fine.
Good Luck!

 

[dwhee87]

I'd bet it's the cams, I hope it's not. I had fits with an 07 Screw 5.4L and got rid of it specifically because of this issue, I thought it was gonna blow up and traded it in on a new 2012 with a 5.0.

I was having similar issues with my '06 5.4L Triton. Had a cam lockout and re-tune (referred to as 'bullet-proofing') back in May '20. Have 8k miles on the engine since then, and it's running like a champ.