Ford f-150's engines any good?

bluebombersfan · Nov 5, 2015

I am looking to upgrade from my Ranger to an f-150. I have a 3.0 ranger right now and as far as rangers go I think the vulcun 3.0 was most dependable in my opinion. Problem now is I no nothing about f-150 motors. Any to avoid? Are they all pretty good?

Mickey Bitsko · Nov 6, 2015

What year ?

bobbywalter · Nov 6, 2015

years for sure

85_Ranger4x4 · Nov 6, 2015

The only one I will avoid is the 3V 5.4. The cam phasers are touchy to oil changes and the spark plugs break off in the head when you change them.

Older mods can blow plugs out of the head, correct installation has a lot to do with that IMO.

I have a 2002 F-150 with 140k, had 25k on it 10.5 years ago when I got it, I love the thing. :icon_thumby:

It got intake gaskets a year ago (normal around 100k) and a couple coils over the years (one was my fault) otherwise it has been as reliable as a hammer.

Rust is starting to gain a foothold though. :bawling:

My next one will have a 5.0 though, so far they haven't had much for problems and they sound like a V8 because it is one. :icon_thumby:

bluebombersfan · Nov 7, 2015

I am looking to get one between 2006-2012

85_Ranger4x4 · Nov 9, 2015

I am queasy about the 3v 5.4. While the 3v were still doing good at a few years old I would go with the 11-12 5.0 if you want to bigger engine. The phasers are a much better design. And the rest of the truck after '11 is as refined as that bodystyle got.

Phasers didn't seem to bother the 3v 4.6's so much. Non issue on the 2v's.

shane96ranger · Nov 9, 2015

Yeah... plug changes on the 3V's are fun. I successfully pulled off a ZERO broken plug tune up on my neighbors Expedition this summer. Also helped my Buddy put cam phaser eliminators in an 07 F150... but that kit ran about 800 dollars, IIRC.

I was pretty proud of this....

My arsenal used:

Results:

adsm08 · Nov 9, 2015

I agree with staying away from the 5.4 3V. None of the other engines seem to have as many issues.

matt2003333 · Nov 24, 2015

The 5.4 is a stroked 4.6.The 4.6 is a fleet motor meaning it was built to have the ever loving crap out of it.The sparkplug issue is that there are only 4 threads in the head holding the plug in.Add the expansion and contraction of and aluminum head and the plugs can loosen to the point where they pound out the threads.The plugs have to be retorqued after 1500 miles after replaced.
With that said the 4.6 can go and easy 300000 miles and many make 400000, 5 and 6 is not all that uncommon.Onr NY taxi actually hit 1 million miles.I shit you not.It replaced the 5.0 and was the choice of cops taxis lomos,truck and mustangs.....it was built with the intention of someone beating the crap out of it.Its a great motor.The 5.4 being stroked is good but weaker in design and spits far more plugs

adsm08 · Nov 24, 2015

Matt, that's all great and correct info, but you are talking about the 5.4L 2 valve. We are telling him to avoid the 5.4L 3 valve. Those are the plugs pictured above. They are a 3-piece design, the threads, bridge, and porcelain are all separate pieces, and the dove-tail around the bridge lets carbon build up. When that happens the plug gets stuck and breaks when you try to remove it. The threads and half the porcelain come out and the bridge stays. There is a tool to get them out, but it's still a huge pain.

Additionally the 5.4L 3V has a variable cam timing system that works well below 75K miles, but becomes unreliable and noisy above 100K and is expensive to repair. The VCT system will make the engine run poorly or not at all when not working correctly and a loss of oil pressure can make it not work correctly. Also, the 5.4 3V is prone to bottom end failure.

It has the same issues with exhaust manifolds that the other Triton engines have, but the width of the engine makes replacing the manifolds much more of a chore.

All around, it's kind of a dud of an engine.

85_Ranger4x4 · Nov 24, 2015

matt2003333 said:
The 5.4 is a stroked 4.6.The 4.6 is a fleet motor meaning it was built to have the ever loving crap out of it.The sparkplug issue is that there are only 4 threads in the head holding the plug in.Add the expansion and contraction of and aluminum head and the plugs can loosen to the point where they pound out the threads.The plugs have to be retorqued after 1500 miles after replaced.
With that said the 4.6 can go and easy 300000 miles and many make 400000, 5 and 6 is not all that uncommon.Onr NY taxi actually hit 1 million miles.I shit you not.It replaced the 5.0 and was the choice of cops taxis lomos,truck and mustangs.....it was built with the intention of someone beating the crap out of it.Its a great motor.The 5.4 being stroked is good but weaker in design and spits far more plugs

My little theory is that harder worked engines spit plugs more often than the easier worked engines. 4.6's in cars and light trucks probably don't get the beating that the 5.4's and 6.8's get in heavy trucks. Figure the more you are trying to move the more force that piston will take to go down... and put on everything in the cylinder.

I call dad's F-250 "a rolling 5.4 dyno". No matter where it goes it seems that 2v 5.4 is giving her all. Odd thing is you can throw a tractor on a trailer behind it without much change. And he has blown a plug, only one though isn't too bad in a truck that is obcenely heavy and 11 years old.

shane96ranger · Nov 24, 2015

adsm08 said:
There is a tool to get them out, but it's still a huge pain.

I bought the Lisle tool when I did those plugs in the pic, and luckily I didn't need to use it.

adsm08 said:
It has the same issues with exhaust manifolds that the other Triton engines have, but the width of the engine makes replacing the manifolds much more of a chore.

I never noticed.... is the 3V wider than the 2V?

adsm08 said:
All around, it's kind of a dud of an engine.

I can agree with that.

adsm08 · Nov 25, 2015

I don't know the actual dimensions, but the 2V manifold is above the frame, easy to get at, comes right out. Heck if all the bolts broke while you were driving you'd run over the manifold.

The 3V manifold is even with the frame, blocked by the strut tower (I know there is no strut tower on the 2V trucks). The Y-pipe has to be "relocated" using a 5 foot pry bar, engine/trans mounts have to be undone and the engine rolled practically on it's side to get the manifold past the frame.

bluebombersfan · Jan 29, 2016

I am now even further confused. So there is a 5.4 3v and a 5.4 2v? What does 2v or 3v mean?
at least with the rangers there were only a few engine options to choose. My gosh the f-150's have so many engines for each year it feels impossible to know which one I want. So far I am thinking I like the 3.7 Haven't heard anything bad about it, cheap base motor thats economical and powefull. The ecoboosts seem pretty cool but they are slighlty more expensive and I know nothing about turbo's and I am to assume they are higher maintenance and more complicated to work on, so I would be happy with the 3.7.

85_Ranger4x4 · Jan 30, 2016

2V 97-03 had two valves per cylinder, 3V (2004-2010) had 3 valves per cylinder.

3.7 is kinda meh (powerwise) in a F-150. EB is a good engine as is the 5.0.

Ford f-150's engines any good?

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