Gonna keep good oil and filter in it, oil change intervals no more than 4000 miles, and not drive it hard. Looks like most of these issues happen earlier in an engine's life. Knock on wood. Thanks for the replies.

 

So my 2004 FX4 had a reman long block installed in August of 2014. I religiously used 5W20 MC and filter every 3000 miles and the factory engine still went to crap. Or I didn't want to waste money trying to save a 95K (about the mileage the cam phaser tick became very noticeable, engine survived to 107K) engine that may have the same problems after the timing and phaser repair, and still had factory 2004 plugs on top of all that.

Anyway all that is besides the point, since my reman I've made the executive decision to do timed oil changes with Mobil 1 5W30 synth, twice a year, the mileage is way less important, because I never reach 5K in 6 months time.

So, my oil changes are June and December.

As far as working it hard, LOL, I worked the snot out of that reman moving from Louisiana to North Dakota the summer of 2017 and then back to Louisiana in the fall of 2018 with the same. Towing the biggest Uhaul that thing would tow fulled loaded plus the bed and cab was chock a block full of stuff. Bikes, weights, rifles and ammo, clothes, dresser, bed. It was messy I bet I had 5K of weight including the trailer. I think that finally broke that reman in, as it only had about 13K in miles on it when I moved. Sitting now at 35K

Makuloco Ford mechanic on youtube made a good point, no matter what people think, these V8's were made to work. Stop and go grocery getting driving is one thing that kills them. Though that isnt what killed my factory engine as the bulk was interstate highway going to work offshore and it would sit for 2 weeks, then at home on time off it wasnt in traffic all day stopping and going either.

 

Not sure why you would choose 5w-30 instead of recommended 5w-20. I have been running Mobile 1 5w-20 every 7,500 miles for 153K now. I wouldn't be changing oil specs without significant reasoning. The cam phasers can be picky enough without changing oil viscosity on them.

 

I had one engine fail with motorcraft 5W20 synth blend. It had been pretty well agreed by people at this point, including youtube star Fordtechmakuloco that the reasoning behind 5W20 was CAFE standards, aka government regulations for fuel efficiency, and really had nothing to do with protection.

That said if I lived in a cold climate. I would likely use 5W20, but I live in the swamp of southwestern Louisiana.

 

So you have definitive proof that 5w-20 was the source of your failure? Or are we just making assumptions that it was the cause? I don't mean to be argumentative, but for every 5.4L that failed on 5w-20, a few hundred thousand went on for 150K+ without the slightest issue. I'm not inclined to believe that there's just a massive oil viscosity issue given the sheer number of 5.4L's produced in most every F-150, some F-250s, and Expeditions from 2004-2009 which haven't had a rash of oil-related failures. Suit yourself, though.

 

5W20 may be what's recommended, but 5W30 isn't going to hurt it, there's very little difference. In fact, I think 15W50 is what's recommended for the same engine in Australia.

 

I don't disagree. I just found it odd that he was implying 5w20 as the reason for the original failure.

 

The only way 5W20 is going to cause a failure is if the engine is so worn it burns it up.

 

Motorcraft 5W30 synthetic blend and Motorcraft filter and change it every 3k to 5k …. and keep on driving it. I seen one 3v5.4 that died after only 417,xxx miles. Sad.

I agree, Motorcraft 5W20 SB is fine too.

The difference you as a warm blooded animal between a colder climate and southwestern Louisiana is not the difference the engine & oil sees. You think it's so hot because of the humidity, bugs, etc. Once that temperature gage reaches normal, the truck don't see a difference.

 

Sludge is what did the passenger side phaser in. I source poor oiling due to sludge to engine oil first. Yes the design is also **** poor but like you said, there are many that don’t break. We may likely never really know how high the failure rate really was/is. Ford certainly didn’t stand behind this mess they created all the way down to the nightmare of broken spark plugs, which they absolutely should have recalled but did not. In short I will listen to the honest ford mechanic on YouTube rather than the scam bull crap artists at the dealer.

 

Not true, put the engine under a hauling/towing load it will absolutely feel a difference if the oil breaks down. Like I said above quoting ford tech on YouTube, they used that thinner oil for fuel efficiency standards and nothing more. I buy a truck to do truck things, not go to work a some cubicle. Farm work currently.