What happens if you don't change the cam phaser?

[Ol_Blue]

I was going to make a new post, but I was not sure it was related to not changing the Cam phasers. So, responding here.

Anyway, I had the Cam Phasers rattle for a while, keep putting it off didn't have another vehicle at the time. Then my Truck started at high speeds 80+ or going up steep hills or towing something heavy doing what I would call a "turbo surge". It's like if you keep pressing and letting off the gas and you could see the Turbos gauge moving up and down. (Side to side I guess on the cluster). The truck was also acting like you were moving your foot up and down on the gas pedal.

My Mechanic buddy said something about the cam phasers and timing and that was messing up the controller for the turbos making them surge like that? I had him ride with me. Sorry I don't speak Mechanic.

Anyway, I took in to have the Cam Phasers done told them about the turbo problem and they said it could be related to the Cam Phasers but would look at it. They replaced the Cam phasers, and it looks like it fixed it. 4K miles in and my truck runs great. No Turbo surging.

2019 100K plus miles and Goose Tuned.

 

[tomcatdad]

Nice, great info thank you. Found out mine had the recall implemented so should be calibrated correctly now

 

[dsiggi]

That’s literally the entire point. Without the new calibration the phasers will wear abnormally and eventually fail, regardless of what part number is installed.

Whats the fix for the many trucks that have had to roll back the calibration for issues?

 

[pastorwug]

What kind of expense do you think will there be for the new calibration?

 

[FordTechOne]

Whats the fix for the many trucks that have had to roll back the calibration for issues?

Long block, customer pay. Those vehicles had cam journal damage from poor maintenance/running it low on oil.

 

[FordTechOne]

What kind of expense do you think will there be for the new calibration?

One hour of labor.

 

[dsiggi]

So, what this guy is talking about is exactly when mine failed and I got caught up in. This states that its transmission shutter, @FordTechOne , i assume that was proven to not be the case.

All my friends at Ford during this time said don't do the PCM calibration, it was a bandaid and the issue was hardware durability, but I never got better information after this about changes that were made or why the calibration was pulled in the first place. It was a bit of a crazy time and Ford didn't have much credibility publishing a cal then almost immediately pulling it back out, so needless to say I wasn't in a rush to put something else on the truck to cause more issues. BUt then Ford only made it available for Free for a limited time, regardless of their first blunder and I had 5 friends that had issues with the Cal.

I'm glad @FordTechOne clarified the difference between the HL3Z and ML3Z part numbers as that information lines up with the exact info I was given by friends at Ford. Just a supplier change and there is so much misinformation going on around the Youtubes by well known Ford Techs. I can see why its confusing to the laymen however, as the phasers do look different.

Id be interested in more info if its available. Did Ford ever publish customer facing documentation to refute this SSM or even clarifiy the new findings on the calibration, or was the calibration updated again after the pulled it?

 

[FordTechOne]

So, what this guy is talking about is exactly when mine failed and I got caught up in. This states that its transmission shutter, @FordTechOne , i assume that was proven to not be the case.

All my friends at Ford during this time said don't do the PCM calibration, it was a bandaid and the issue was hardware durability, but I never got better information after this about changes that were made or why the calibration was pulled in the first place. It was a bit of a crazy time and Ford didn't have much credibility publishing a cal then almost immediately pulling it back out, so needless to say I wasn't in a rush to put something else on the truck to cause more issues. BUt then Ford only made it available for Free for a limited time, regardless of their first blunder and I had 5 friends that had issues with the Cal.

I'm glad @FordTechOne clarified the difference between the HL3Z and ML3Z part numbers as that information lines up with the exact info I was given by friends at Ford. Just a supplier change and there is so much misinformation going on around the Youtubes by well known Ford Techs. I can see why its confusing to the laymen however, as the phasers do look different.

Id be interested in more info if it’s available. Did Ford ever publish customer facing documentation to refute this SSM or even clarifiy the new findings on the calibration, or was the calibration updated again after the pulled it?

The first version of 21B10 came out in early Spring 2021. They paused the program to investigate the reports of shudder, which turned out to be scored cam journals due to poor maintenance/low oil level.

21B10 Version 2 was released in July of 2021; at that point they incorporated the ability to revert to the prior calibration for vehicles that had the shutter issue. That’s the only change I’m aware of.

As far as a “band aid”, it’s always disappointing when people speculate and then pass their misinformation on to others as in the case of the folks you asked. In this case the calibration was the root cause of phaser wear. The calibration in 21B20 went into production 11/30/2019, coinciding with the updated (HL3Z-CD) VCT units.

 

[dsiggi]

The first version of 21B10 came out in early Spring 2021. They paused the program to investigate the reports of shudder, which turned out to be scored cam journals due to poor maintenance/low oil level.

21B10 Version 2 was released in July of 2021; at that point they incorporated the ability to revert to the prior calibration for vehicles that had the shutter issue. That’s the only change I’m aware of.

As far as a “band aid”, it’s always disappointing when people speculate and then pass their misinformation on to others as in the case of the folks you asked. In this case the calibration was the root cause of phaser wear. The calibration in 21B20 went into production 11/30/2019, coinciding with the updated (HL3Z-CD) VCT units.

I guess what I don't understand then, is why did ford want the calibration done if you already had the rattle to see if that fixed it before moving on to hardware replacement.

The sad thing is if we are debating all of this, can you imagine how the layman feels? What a mess up on Fords part.

 

[FordTechOne]

I guess what I don't understand then, is why did ford want the calibration done if you already had the rattle to see if that fixed it before moving on to hardware replacement.

Some trucks didn’t have a cold start rattle but could exhibit a knock noise at hot idle; the calibration corrects that issue. Which is the reason the reprogramming should have been done first.

The sad thing is if we are debating all of this, can you imagine how the layman feels? What a mess up on Fords part.

Not really. The general public spends far too much time and effort speculating about things via the internet instead of just following the manufacturer’s direction.

The recall was straightforward. Receive letter, schedule appointment, have the update done, and you get the extended coverage.