I am buying a 2004 F150, some questions...
 

Hello guys, I am in the market for a F150 4x4. With my budget I can afford a 2004 to 2006. I am currently driving a 2006 Ford Crown Vic. I love the 4.6L V8. What can you guys tell me about the reliability of the 5.4L. How many miles are they good for. If I buy one with 170 - 200k miles will it still be a good truck? What are common issues I should look for? I heard they have cam phasers problems. Thanks

They have finicky VCTs and usually require a rebuild and a Melling high flow oil pump.

Otherwise good trucks.

I'd recommend getting the 2v 4.6l v8.

a friend of mine bought a 2005 f150 with the 5.4 and it always had the cam phaser noise, its never gotten worse and it has 270k on it now and still going strong

I would still stay away from the 2004 5.4 3 valve, it had more issues than later years. 2005's had a bad batch of fuel injectors, be prepared to replace them.

5.4 3 valves built before mid-2008 had 2 piece spark plugs that stick and break when you try to remove them. All years have the VCT system, poor maintenance almost guarantees problems when you get over 100k miles.

at 200K or near most all of the regular problems will have been addressed
just make sure there is no noise from the engine
get a GOOD code reader and learn to use it and check for any pending codes, a good reader can also tell you how many times the codes have been cleared and when cleared the last time.
good code readers are inexpensive and easy to use
the 5.4 is a great engine if kept up

Yes, but how do you know the previous owners did that? The 2004 is especially marginal.

well if it's made 150-200K somebody has done something right
but your right, I'd stay away from 04

You can always luck out.

You may find the 1 guy who knows what he is doing, did everything that needed to be done, and has the records for all maintenance. With any luck, he also modded the truck the way that you would want to modify it. You might get the lift kit, big tires, stereo system, off-road lights, re-geared differential, custom tune, electric fan, underdrive pulley, cold air intake, seat covers, back-up camera, vent visor, custom exhaust, emergency strobes, ScanGauge II, SCT tuner, camper shell, ladder rack, nerf bar, push bumper, tonneau cover, Line-X bedliner, mag wheels......after all, he's had the last 10 years to add all that stuff. If & when I decide to sell my truck, the next owner will get all that crap that I added. To sweeten the deal, I'll even throw in an orange cone, safety vest, and hard hat, so that he'll look official for illegal double parking.

I have an 04 FX4 Supercrew. Im the only owner. Love my truck. I have 300000 miles on it. New engine at 200000. Replaced normal items ie; struts/shocks, brake components, starter. I use Wix filters only. Beefy truck. Ive been run off the road twice. Both into cornfields at 55mph. Aluminum lwr ctrl arms n the suspension did its job. Nvr had to hv alignment. There are only 2 Cons I hv. The oem spark plug issue. If you caught it quick enough which I did. They were a pain and expensive. But fortunately I didnt hv tht problem n actually changeg them every 30k. So I'm a Big Yes on the 04. Also the VVT solenoids are easily replaced. Its a 15 minute to 30 min job depending. Vids on youtube make it easy. Buy buy buy

Good Luck

5.4 3 valves built before mid-2008 had 2 piece spark plugs that stick and break when you try to remove them. All years have the VCT system, poor maintenance almost guarantees problems when you get over 100k miles.[/QUOTE]

Remember when the trucks were new, and Ford said that the spark plugs were good for 100,000 miles?

Yeah, and I remember some people would stretch that out until it missed … like fellow who come into store wanting a code read to understand why his was missing at 249 thousand …. still on oem plugs. He wanted to fix miss before trading it in, put new plugs in and coils, he liked it so well, gave up on trade.

I have a 2004 F150 5.4L and the previous owner did not maintain it very well and now that I have removed the timing chain cover I can tell it has seen better days..... Planning on upgrading oil pump and getting quality timing chain parts to get it back up and running again.

Oh, well. So much for 100,000 mile spark plugs & lifetime maintenance free transmission. What else did they lie to us about? Mileage? I've never seen the mileage claimed on the window sticker.

My 2002 5.4 was at 119,000 miles when I changed the plugs and it was still running great. I think the reason you need to change them more often on the 3V engine is so they won't get stuck so bad causing more plugs to break when removed.

Well, technically the plugs themselves were good for 100,000 miles. The only problem was, they were so familiar with their surroundings by then that they didn't want to leave.

I remember asking the owner of my local Ford dealership if I should change the plugs in my 2005 5.4 at 50,000 miles because I normally cut the factory recommended maintenance intervals in half. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "Why don't you just make it the next owner's problem." But that was back before techs learned various quick and effective ways of getting the plugs out.