[CycloneFE]

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.