2008 F-150 starting issue

[jutes]

So gfs brother ran his truck into a slew/swamp two summers ago. The tow truck pulled it out and dipped the front end a bit into the water. The yard driver drove it around for two weeks, it sat for 60 days then wouldn’t start. The truck was then towed to my gfs parents farm and hasn’t moved since then - two years now. Besides a dirty engine bay there wasn’t any damage to it at all. The front end got wet and so did some of the carpeting on the inside, all has since dried out.

Forward to today, I brought a battery and swapped it in. The connections were extremely corroded and I cleaned everything best I could. Switched the ignition to ON, lights worked along with everything else. Flipped it to START and nothing, just the faint clicking of a relay in the fuse box. The battery light remained on, even when I tried to jump start it with another vehicle. Just a relay clicking. I looked at the fuse box and the bottom row fuses were corroded with a couple being blown out. I removed the box completely and I’ll replace the bad fuses, however the ones related to starting - ignition, crank, starter - look fine. Any suggestions what to try next?

I’d like to get the truck started before doing a good clean and complete fluid change. The truck will basically be mine if I can get it to run. It’s a 5.4L if that matters.

[revelations]

Yea thats too bad - a good wash with a garden hose would have prevented a lot of the issues. Its sad how little people care about a ~30,000$ item (at the time).

You have a serious course of multimeter continuity tracing ahead - but my immediate suggestion is to add a new ground to the chassis from the battery.

[jutes]

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Yea thats too bad - a good wash with a garden hose would have prevented a lot of the issues. Its sad how little people care about a ~30,000$ item (at the time).

You have a serious course of multimeter continuity tracing ahead - but my immediate suggestion is to add a new ground to the chassis from the battery.

Yeah that’s what I thought, there is some serious corrosion going on that I can’t see. Worst part is, the truck is 3 hours away from home and it’s sitting outside.

[mr2mike]

Get the wiring diagram and start going...

Test if the starter was getting 12V?
I've even had it where you pull the starter and clean the face where it mounts to the tranny and it fires up after.
Also I would personally pull plugs, look at those and also turn the motor over by hand first just to see. Limit yourself from ruining the motor.

[revelations]

Once you get everything running, you will also likely have to deal with the very common cam phaser issue that was present on those 5.4L 3v engines.

[ShermanEF9]

check the grounds. i bet you've got some corrosion there too.

[jutes]

Had another look this weekend, the starter had some corrosion which I cleaned up. Replaced a couple fuses and cleaned up the fuse panel. Had a look at all the relays and the panel looked clean. Still wouldn’t even try to crank. Did a little research and a common no crank/start issue is a bad Fuel Pump driver module. Crawled underneath and found it completely corroded, so I’ll order a new module and try again in a couple weeks.

[revelations]

Good lord you will know every wire and fusebox pretty good by the end of this!!

[2Legit2Quit]

If you take the battery cables off, once they are reconnected - try pulling the smaller starter fuse and place it back in, then try starting.

I had an 06 5.4 where it had a no start issue, replaced the starter, fuel pump driver module, battery, ignition cylinder and it ended up being what I listed. Might not be the case but could be the fuel pump module, mine was rotted as well.

[jutes]

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If you take the battery cables off, once they are reconnected - try pulling the smaller starter fuse and place it back in, then try starting.

I had an 06 5.4 where it had a no start issue, replaced the starter, fuel pump driver module, battery, ignition cylinder and it ended up being what I listed. Might not be the case but could be the fuel pump module, mine was rotted as well.

You mean the little 5A one in the fuse box? That one had the most corrosion around it.

[2Legit2Quit]

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You mean the little 5A one in the fuse box? That one had the most corrosion around it.

Yeah I believe that's it, the other starter component in the fuse box is the grey square looking relay, you could also swap it out with a relay that is used for the headlights and verify it's not that relay being dead.

[90_Shelby]

Have you checked to confirm that the engine turns over by hand?

[jutes]

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Have you checked to confirm that the engine turns over by hand?

I don’t see a reason why it wouldn’t, it ran fine until the one random day it wouldn’t turn over. Can the internals corrode enough where something could be seized up? I’ll try to turn it by hand either way next time.

[schurchill39]

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Once you get everything running, you will also likely have to deal with the very common cam phaser issue that was present on those 5.4L 3v engines.

Doesn't that just present itself as an annoying tick? Not a big deal, my 05 had it. I'd say the bigger issue is the potential to have the 2 piece spark plugs...

[J-hop]

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Doesn't that just present itself as an annoying tick? Not a big deal, my 05 had it. I'd say the bigger issue is the potential to have the 2 piece spark plugs...

Unfortunately no. The underlying cause is the problem the phaser ticking is just a symptom. The primary cause is poorly designed hydraulic timing chain tensioners. Specifically the seal that seals against the block. The seals on the tensioner blow out. This drastically drops oil pressure to the top end. The phasers are then starved of oil and develop play in the lock out pin (diesel sound at idle) and then eventually if left for long enough the veins break.

It’s a major deal. I just did a full timing kit on my 5.4 and as expected found the passenger side tensioner blown out and was only pushing 15lbs of oil pressure at hot idle. You’re lucky you got rid of yours, it’s literally a ticking time bomb.


Edit: clogged vct solenoid screens are also a common source but the timing chain tensioner seal failure is almost ubiquitous on 5.4s

[ShermanEF9]

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I don’t see a reason why it wouldn’t, it ran fine until the one random day it wouldn’t turn over. Can the internals corrode enough where something could be seized up? I’ll try to turn it by hand either way next time.

battery and some jumper cables to the starter motor might be easier.

[jutes]

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battery and some jumper cables to the starter motor might be easier.

I think I'll try to go through the starter solenoid/relay on the fuse box first. If that fails I'll go through to the starter itself, just unsure where to put my external battery lines.

[J-hop]

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I think I'll try to go through the starter solenoid/relay on the fuse box first. If that fails I'll go through to the starter itself, just unsure where to put my external battery lines.

If it’s just to see if it is seized up an 18 mm (I think) socket on a 1/2” ratchet from the top will work just fine. Doesn’t take much to turn these engines. Turn clockwise