In the market for a 04-08 .. Need advice
#1
In the market for a 04-08 .. Need advice
So i finally retired my 04 trailblazer and i'm looking for something more suitable to tow my boat (21 ft. crownline weighing about 5k with trailer). Just looking for some advice which years to stay away from or engine packages. I do notice a bunch of people complaining about the 04-06ish 5.4l 3 valve and i was curious if i shouldnt considering buying a 3 valve in that year range. It seems like most of the 5.4's out there are 3 valves and I just want to make sure i'm not buying someone else's problem. Thanks in advance
shane
shane
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The only thing that was a complaint is the spark plugs, cost me about $700 to get them changed out but it runs like a beast now................. Other than that no issues.
#7
I have the 4.2 V6 so I'm not biased at all.
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#11
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Kansas side of the greater KC area
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I have a 2005 XLT with the 5.4l that has 184600+ miles on it and still going. Had one bad injector with this truck one thing to consider if you get an 05 with the 5.4 as they had bad injectors. Other than that just your normal maintenance and wear and tear items over the years I had the truck. I would get another 5.4l in a heartbeat if I wanted to get another older than 2011 truck.
#12
Don't get me wrong, there are some things to look for with the 5.4L, but chances are if it's been well-maintained, they won't cause any issues.
#13
Your loss. My '98 2V 5.4L never had a hiccup. Torque the plugs correctly and blow-outs are a non-issue. My '08 3V 5.4L has been flawless with over 120K on it now. Changes the plugs at 60K and did the TSB when re-installing the new plugs, I won't have an issue. Cam phasers are quiet and show no signs of issues.
Don't get me wrong, there are some things to look for with the 5.4L, but chances are if it's been well-maintained, they won't cause any issues.
Don't get me wrong, there are some things to look for with the 5.4L, but chances are if it's been well-maintained, they won't cause any issues.
I'm glad your truck is great and issue free! I know there are some 3v's that run strong forever.
I've heard the 2v don't have any issues besides plug blowout anyway. Driven many E350 vans with that engine all over the entire county. Great engine, I will fully agree.
I was only trying to say that, for the most part, the 4.6 2v seem to be less problematic in general.
Last edited by 2008_XL; 06-26-2015 at 07:56 PM.
#14
Let me offer my 2 cents if I may on Cam Phaser issues. I've had more F-150's than I care to count with both 4.6 (2 & 3 valve) and 5.4 (again, 2 & 3 valve) motors going back to 1997. (I had many more Ford trucks prior to that, but they aren't what the OP asked about.)
The only engine's you're likely to see a plug blow out issue on are 2 valve motors prior to 2001. My 1997 4.6 ran 55,000 miles and never experienced the issue. Of course I never had to change the plugs before I traded it in either. Installing new plugs incorrectly led to most plug blow out issues.
My 1999 5.4 2 valve ran like a Swiss watch and never gave me any issues in 53,000 miles. Of all of my 4 speed automatic trucks, I still say this one was the fastest too. And again, no plug blow out issues.
My 2002 4.6 liter 2 valve also ran well - although it did not have nearly the power of the previous truck.
My 2005 had the 3 valve 5.4. The truck was back in the shop with the entire front of the motor apart after less than 500 miles due to a faulty set of Cam Phasers. It also had more problems than I'd ever want to air here and were it not for the best Ford Dealer in New York State (Shepard Ford in Canandaigua, NY), it would have been my last Ford truck.
My 2010 4.6 3 valve was a much better truck, but by 48,000 miles, you had to shut it off in a drive through so the staff could hear your order. Worse yet, Ford had issued a TSB stating that it was perfectly normal and wouldn't hurt anything. That kind of ended it for me.
So are Cam Phasers in 3 valve motors a problem? Well, if you look at my experience with two in a row having issues, I'd say they might be. Are they a big issue? I don't think so at all. Most of the 3 valve modular motors run just fine for many, many miles with them. If I was looking at a used truck with a 3 valve motor though, I'd pay special attention to what kind of noises were coming from under the hood. I'd also make sure the spark plugs had been recently changed.
Getting back to the OP’s question though, I’d suggest staying away from the 2004 & 2005 F150’s. Sure there are plenty of them out there that have served their owners well with very few problems. But the 2004 model was a brand new truck with typical first year quality issues. Ford’s own internal quality data shows that 2005 was a low point in their Quality levels. (They’ve been getting better ever since.) My 2005 F-150 – purchased to avoid the first year blues – kind of proved that point even with all of the running changes that were made to address known issues.
If I had to choose between the 2004, 2005 & 2006 models the OP mentioned, I’d suggest the 2006 – just because it benefitted from more running engineering changes than the previous two years.
Hope that helps.
The only engine's you're likely to see a plug blow out issue on are 2 valve motors prior to 2001. My 1997 4.6 ran 55,000 miles and never experienced the issue. Of course I never had to change the plugs before I traded it in either. Installing new plugs incorrectly led to most plug blow out issues.
My 1999 5.4 2 valve ran like a Swiss watch and never gave me any issues in 53,000 miles. Of all of my 4 speed automatic trucks, I still say this one was the fastest too. And again, no plug blow out issues.
My 2002 4.6 liter 2 valve also ran well - although it did not have nearly the power of the previous truck.
My 2005 had the 3 valve 5.4. The truck was back in the shop with the entire front of the motor apart after less than 500 miles due to a faulty set of Cam Phasers. It also had more problems than I'd ever want to air here and were it not for the best Ford Dealer in New York State (Shepard Ford in Canandaigua, NY), it would have been my last Ford truck.
My 2010 4.6 3 valve was a much better truck, but by 48,000 miles, you had to shut it off in a drive through so the staff could hear your order. Worse yet, Ford had issued a TSB stating that it was perfectly normal and wouldn't hurt anything. That kind of ended it for me.
So are Cam Phasers in 3 valve motors a problem? Well, if you look at my experience with two in a row having issues, I'd say they might be. Are they a big issue? I don't think so at all. Most of the 3 valve modular motors run just fine for many, many miles with them. If I was looking at a used truck with a 3 valve motor though, I'd pay special attention to what kind of noises were coming from under the hood. I'd also make sure the spark plugs had been recently changed.
Getting back to the OP’s question though, I’d suggest staying away from the 2004 & 2005 F150’s. Sure there are plenty of them out there that have served their owners well with very few problems. But the 2004 model was a brand new truck with typical first year quality issues. Ford’s own internal quality data shows that 2005 was a low point in their Quality levels. (They’ve been getting better ever since.) My 2005 F-150 – purchased to avoid the first year blues – kind of proved that point even with all of the running changes that were made to address known issues.
If I had to choose between the 2004, 2005 & 2006 models the OP mentioned, I’d suggest the 2006 – just because it benefitted from more running engineering changes than the previous two years.
Hope that helps.
Last edited by 2stroked; 06-28-2015 at 07:14 PM.
#15
It wasn't a dig at your current truck, either. Nothing wrong with the V6 or 4.6L V8 in general if it suits your needs. Given the choice, I'd still take the 5.4L over the other engine options up until the 5.0L/EcoBoost became available.