Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

Looking to buy an E150 or E250 raised top conversion. I have had 351W motors in vans and pick up trucks before, they seem to be very pigish and the 460 makes great power but won't pass a gas station. The 5.4L is interesting but I have read many horror stories about spark plug threads blowouts and cam phaser issues that become very noisey. Some claim they sound like a knock..............all this equals waaaaay scarey!!! Who has experience with these issues?? I am thinking a 350 in an Express or Savana van is a better choice.

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

Charlie,

I bought a 97 F150 (new)with the 5.4. When I sold It it had 175,000 on it and it needed nothing. I just needed more towing capacity (10,000lb). I was amazed at the torque "feel" that it had and through the years found that, that came from the transmission. My F 350 has a 5 speed auto, similar feel. I personally think that it is the best engine that Ford has made in years and wish I could race it more economically. The spark plug deal was only a smaller number of problems at the factory but the biggest portion was from the back yard mechanic stripping the threads as they are VERY hard to change. I only did it once to mine and it was 4 1/2 hours. The same problem also occurred on the V 10s.

If you look at the used F 150s the prices stay up for the 5.4 but drop off signicantly for the 4.6 motors, and most of them have new engines.

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

I have been towing with a Lincoln Mark LT with a 5.4L (no jokes, Billy). It's got almost 80k miles on it. I have not heard of the spark plug problem but I have heard of exhaust manifolds coming away from the head. (I'm told the studs in the head are of inadequate diameter and they work themselves loose. I had this happen on the passenger side and it was successfully repaired (so far). Other than that, it pulls just fine. My race car/trailer weighs about 5500 lbs.

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

Charlie,

Just buy a F250 with a diesel motor and be done with it......

Yes I own a F350 diesel and it gets 15-16 MPG towing a 18 ft open
car trailer with a car on it. It will probably drop down to 10-11 MPG
with my new to me (2001) cab over camper added to the load.

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

I own an e250 service van with a 5.4, 1998, 70,000 miles no issues runs great, good motor in my opinion, and not real thirsty for what it is. My brother has a F250, I think it is a 2007, with a 5.4 and his is good also.

Also have a 1998 F150 with a 4.6 , 135000 miles still runs good.

My GMC with a 5.3 get about 2 or 3 better mpg that the fords, but all run good.

The Ford diesels scare me, to many problems unless its a 7.3 which I think is before 01 ?

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

Dave Casey owning and driving a ford, is anything sacred?

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

Get a diesel. I own a 01 Ford SD with a 7.3. Pulls my 32' fifth wheel and my 24' box trailer just fine gets between 10-12 mpg in front of either trailer. The only thing that would make any better is if it had the 5 speed auto tranny that is behind the 6 liter.

Does anybody know if there is such an adapter to put that trans behind the 7.3?

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

Pat,

That is why I bought my F-350 with the 6.0 and the 5 speed auto. It is a 2005 and most of the "problems" with the 6.0 had been upgraded. I still have yet to tow, to capacity, but I like what it is so far. I found it on E-bay but it went off and I contacted the seller who had it for sale locally and we made a deal. I payed almost half the sticker(he had it and all documentation) price. The mileage is great "empty", he said it would get 18 and I did on the way home. It is a 4X4 and I added a topper, which is heavy and I get 14.5 to 16 town and highway now. I haven't been able to find out about the 5 speed behind the 7.3 but will keep trying.

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

i work for ford all econolines and f150 with a 5.4 liter use a 4r70w/4r75e trans the same as a crown vic if towning with a open trailer you should have no problems but i would install a transgo shift kit

and as for torque shift 5 speed to a 7.3l will not work but the new 6 speed torque shift will it has a sae bell and its own trans control module the adaptor on the back of the 7.3 will need to be replaced with a 7.3l from a f650/750 they had a allison trans i am collecting parts will try for future project

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

Avoid 04 to 07 three valve 4.6 & 5.4's for spark plug issues, 08 & newer are supposed to have the "issue" corrected.

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

Charlie my dad has an 03 F150 extended cab 4x4 with the 5.4 that he tows with....the car & trailer combs is a little over 5000lbs & in his words "you don't even know it's back their" that being said it get just over 15mpg driving & 11 towing. The only issue he has with his truck is with the cheaper oil filters (read orange Fram) it rattles a little bit when first starts. (@ the local track dad charges the car between round with the truck that's when I have noticed it)

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

I have both a '03 E150 w/ 5.4L 2V 260 HP & 3.73 gears and an '05 Expedition w/ 5.4L 3V 300 HP & 3.55 gears. Both are 2WD.
Both tow my open trailer and race car and junk for the day at the races (around 5000 #'s I'd guess).
The E150 has about 90,000 miles and I have never had 1 issue other than a factory installed defective rear a/c o-ring that took forever to find.
The Expedition now has 112K on it and it has air ride which I love for towing. I replaced the air ride compressor last year and am replacing all 4 air bags this week. That will be $1200 in parts (not from Ford, that would be almost double!). There are conversion kits to go all wound spring instead of air spring but I just like the air ride. It keeps it level when loaded and towing.
The Expedition 3V 5.4L has had a tappet noise for a long time. I'm told that every TSM says it "just the way it is" and the worst case would be a cam phaser which is expensive. It's noticeable at idle and really noticeable at a drive-thru. It runs great, gets 16.5 MPG at least (if I work it I can get 18-20 MPG). The truck is paid for, still looks great and it's not an issue to me. I fully expect to see over 200K miles on it before I even think about a new vehicle.
I just had the Expeditions spark plugs replaced (and no, that's not a job I want to tackle) with about 100K miles on the original plugs. I was somewhat PO'd as I took it in for the first and last time while it was just about to hit 50K miles and warranty expiration. I was told the plugs had a recall and were replaced. Some line mechanic flagged the hours and did not replace the plugs. Imagine that!
I'd buy another Expedition when this one expires. By then they should have Coyote 5.0L 400 HP versions in them! They'll probably have a 6.2L in them next year.

Back to the E150. That engine with 3.73's has a lot of bottom end. It's smooth and quite. A very reliable vehicle. And more storage in the back (ours is a 7 passenger) than any SUV.

Re: Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...
 

So that's how the dealers made a profit?, billing but not doing? Wouldn't the parts department have an over flow of the plugs needed?
I hope the warranty guys aren't doing Ford's books!