Really surprised there aren't any more engine complaints with this truck. The same night I bought it, the aggressive rattling would happen in idle. Thought maybe it would need new sensors and a tune up. Then I thought it strange that nearly every mechanic I spoke to told me to junk the truck. Doing more research, I discovered this is the worst engine (opinionated) Ford ever made, then I tried to get the service manual and find out what the problem is myself.

It cost A LOT of money so I bought the service manual for the F-150 series of the same year for $20 bucks.

So where do I start? Well, it's hard to say really but based on the symptoms and being seen by 3 different mechanics, the problem is with the engine timing chain mechanism. The check engine code will say differently though, first pointing to a CPS sensor I bought the sensor and replaced it myself and the check engine light went off. Then it came back on again. This time pointing to the 02 sensor. Replace all the sensors I could and it all points back to the engine. This is common with the V3. Too common really. The issue really is hard to pin point, but I can ascertain that the oil pump is not strong enough for this bad boy, and thus, the common problem will be failure on the bank side first and then to the other side (or maybe I got that backwards). With mine, the 'ticking' noise comes from the phasers, which may or may not need to be replaced. Again, its hard to say as some have said this is normal but annoying. Regardless, when the engine shakes the way it does (usually at idle), it feels like it's going to explode.

A new engine is out of the question so I'm going to the junkyard, inspecting it, and replacing the old parts with the newly modified OEM parts from Ford along with an aftermarket oil pump. However, the best I can do at the moment is continue to drive it until it can't anymore and then replace. Might as well. With a little bit of power loss during acceleration, it's not too bad. It may sound strange, but I actually do like the truck, so I'm keeping it. I won't buy another car with this engine in it though, but after proper maintenance, it should do me well in the future.