2012 Mustang gt VCT not engaging

[Fartboxer]

Hello,

I have found surprisingly little info on issues with the vCT for 2011+ 5.0L mustangs so I thought I may ask here. I have a 2012 mustang gt with about 115K since new. There is a BAMA street tune and intake for the past 100K miles. Just recently when accelerating hard at 4K when the VCT is normally engaging it feels like its half engaging and I have less power then before. I did a few pulls to confirm it was pretty consistent in every gear and parked the car. My concern is eating the timing chain and everything going boom.

Based on the info I was able to find first step seems to be to change the oil as older oil may gunk it up and cause this so thats on for Saturday. I checked the oil recently and it was fine and I always do it myself. It was done about 6K miles ago which is longer then I typically wait. The only other thing I can think of is the actuator solenoids for the VVT system. I have ordered 4 from CJ pony parts (nobody stocks them) that fingers crossed I will get on Saturday. If the oil change doesn't work then I will change those.

So few questions.
Is my logic here sound? am I missing anything? My understanding is there is no fuel filter and the car is fine unless the vvt tries to engage.
How obnoxious will changing the sensors be? I understand I need to remove the valve covers? anything unusual to watch for or any youtube videos to help? I have always worked on cars and am an engineer for a Ford supplier so I know I can handle it, but you never know what kinda crazy it may turn into.

Thanks for any help.
Vtec yo

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

Its possible that the VCT filters are clogged. There is 4 of them.

 

[dark steed]

Its possible that the VCT filters are clogged. There is 4 of them.

I think this was a troll or a scammer post. There were about 10 or 12 links on the end of his posts that I wouldn’t click on. I reported it and they were removed. The dude has only made one post ever, this one.


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[Fartboxer]

I am not a troll and I did not include any links in the bottom. Just don't wanna blow my car up.

 

[dark steed]

I am not a troll and I did not include any links in the bottom. Just don't wanna blow my car up.

@stkjock
Was I just seeing things? Someone removed all that garbage at the end of the post after I reported it.

Btw, vtec yo isn’t gonna endear you to many here lol


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[Sky Render]

Are there any codes?

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

I am not a troll and I did not include any links in the bottom. Just don't wanna blow my car up.

You must have a weird sense of humor to choose a username like Fartboxer. Anyway, welcome to the forum.
Every car has a fuel filter so I suggest you replace yours. Other simple things you can do is to replace the spark plugs, engine oil/filter, clean the throttle body, and clean the MAF sensor.
Malfunctioning VCT solenoids will throw fault codes so I suggest you scan the ECU, report the results, and we can go from there.