Does the 1998 ford f-150 5.4 liter have a cam phaser?

Set timing marks up manually and check they are correct , you are in danger of catastrophic damage to engine

run the fault codes and check for transmission control, servo, solenoid problems

There can be other reasons for this problem. You did not identify the Year or engine package your truck has.

If this happens to be a 2004-2008 V8 with the DOHC double overhead cam engine, there is a part called a "Cam Phaser" which is problematic. This can affect timing.

Hi Joann:
About what engine sizes...

Ford Truck F 150 4.9 liter L6 VIN "Z"
Ford Truck F 150 5.0 liter V-8 VIN "N"
Ford Truck F 150 5.8 liter V-8 VIN "H"
Ford Truck F 150 5.8 liter V-8 VIN "H" Lightning

Confirm us.

if these are like the sable systems were there are 2 components to the phaser then you may have to replace the other part,and these need to be timed to each other with a tool to time correctly.just by changing the phaser will not throw out the time chain and gears as long as these are in good shape.

Check this diagrams...

1998 Ford F 150 4.6 liter V-8 VIN "6"
or
1998 Ford F 150 4.6 liter SOHC V-8 VIN "W"




Remember to rate this; good luck.

1998 Ford F 150 Pickup 4.6 liter SOHC V-8




Hope this help (remember rated this post. Good luck.

The cam phaser I would say wounds most like lifter noise from a 70s car, that ticking noise. At least the really loud cam phasers do sound like that. Some are not quite so noisy. My '06 has a bit of that ticking lifter type noise to it.,

HI, I KNOW THESE ENGINES GOOD! I HOPE YOU HAVE BEEN USING A FL820 MOTORCRAFT OIL FILTER AND 5/20 OIL. IF NOT YOU MAY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CAM PHASER'S AND OR TENSIONER'S. THR ENGINE IS A SINGLE OVERHEAD CAM ENGINE WITH VARIABLE CAM TIMING. I HAVE SEEN SEVERAL ENGINES WITH BAD CAM PHASER'S SIMPLY BY ADDING AFTERMARKET FILTER WHICH FALL APART INTERNALLY AND PLUG OIL GALLEYS TO HEAD AND CAUSE CAM PHASER'S TO ACT LIKE YOU'RE ENGINE IS RUNNING RETARTED UNTIL 2K RPM. IF NO NOISE IS HEARD TRY A FUEL PUMP ITS DRAINING DOWN AND COLD STARTS IT'S LIKE LACK OF ADEQUATE FUEL PRESSURE TO INJECTORS. IT'S REALLY SIMPLE. THESE TRUCKS WILL BE YOU'RE BEST FRIEND IF YOU USE AND FORD FILTER AND THE RIGHT OIL AND CHEVRON 87 OCTANE DUE TO THE INJECTOR'S CAN LEAK WITH CHEAP FUEL AND RUN LIKE ****. CHEVRON FOUND TO HAVE ADDITIVE TO KEEP INJECTORS CLEAN AND FUEL SENDER FROM BUILDING SULFUR AND READING FUEL LEVEL IMPROPERLY. HOPE THIS HELPS

Having just making a repair at Ford for the same sound. I have a 04 Lariat with a 5.4 3 valve, and the repair started at a cam phaser on the passenger side, at a cost of $1200.00 t0 $1500.00. Still having some lifter noise we then aggreed for a change out ot the driver side cam phaser, and found in addition to both cam phaser change out the cam and lifters on the driver bank had to be changed as the cam lobes had worn down. After the repair of approx $3k we ended up with another $600.00 for a bad injector in the 8 cylinder and a wire harness defect for the 6 cylinder, interestingly these were on the driver side. lots of luck to you it can be somwhat expensive once you sign on for the repair