does a "modular motor" have that name for a reason? any certain charactersitics? what makes it "modular." what does modular mean? always wondered and never bothered to ask until i saw the modular shootout on ESPN and it got me wonderin

 

Modular in this case would mean Allowing flexibility and variety
The 4.6 and 5.4 use many interchangable pieces, allowing FLEXIBILTY and VARIETY in the manufacturing process.
Or something like that.

 

Modular Motor-- The engine of choice for vehicles parked in front of trailer homes.

 

If modular only meant interchangable then the 5.0L would have been considered a modular motor. You can swap parts from a 289/302/351 with no problems other then the intake manifolds. IMHO and I could be wrong.....modular is referring to the overhead cam design of the 4.6/5.4. Like I said, I could be wrong. Chevy's 283/327/350 would be mod Fords 429/460 would be mod the list goes on and on, I could do this all day. You get the point.

 

Are the V6 and V10 "mod" motors?

I thought that was the deal, that the V6,V8, and V10 shared parts.

 

If you can fit some V-10 heads on a V-6 block I'm sure there are some engineering companies willing to hire you. Not flaming....just saying think about it. At the very least you would have to share the same amount of cylinders. Since I've done no research on the fact I'm basing my theory solely on common sense.

 

Almost forgot to answer your question. Yes the newer V-6's and all Ford V-10's are mod motors. Based on my theory of a mod motor being designated such for having over head cams. I wish someone else would reply to this thread so I could either confirm or be corrected on my thoughts.

 

ok, I'll reply, your theory is wrong.

also, the V-6 motor available in the standard F-150 (4.2L) is not overhead cam. it is an increased stroke version of the 3.8L overhead valve motor.

the only overhead cam V-6 motors available from Ford right now are the 3.0L DOHC(escape/taurus) and the 4.0SOHC(explorer)

Ford also uses the 3.8 ohv v-6(windstar), the 4.0ohv (explorer/ranger), and the 3.0ohv (taurus)

None of these 6 cylinder engines has anything to do with the 4.6/5.4/6.8L mod motors.

INTERCHANGEABILITY - Modular engines share the same basic design in blocks, aluminum heads and other key components

 

That's the kind of useful info I was looking for. Now that you''ve answered that age old question please inform us what the true definition of a "modular motor" is. Are you saying that V-10's and V-8's share heads, exhaust manifolds, intakes?????? If that's true then I need to sell all my vehicles and start riding a horse to work.

 

Ok, it took me like an hour to find, but I KNEW I had the issue of Super Ford from 91 with the Modular Motor introduction in it.

Here are some excerps from the article that should help explain:

"It is the Ford story of 91 because it is our first look at Ford's engine future and a revolutionary concept designed to turn the tables on lagging lead times in engine design and manufacture"

"The modular engine will also reduce the number of engine families at Ford, saving costs in all aspects of design, production and servicing."

"What does modular mean? The modular approach to engine manufacturing is the ability to process any type of material- aluminum or cast iron- or any engine type, V-6 or V-8, using the same basic engine components across several variations."

"Modularity also means you have some common..accessory componenets, like water pumps, oil pumps, and so forth"

There you have it, right from the horses mouth (some of those quotes were quotes from Ford people in the article about the motor).

 

Thank you Sal. I guess I can tell people that the 428 in my 69 Mustang has a old-mod?? motor in it because it shares many of the same parts with the 352's and 390's. I guess Ford has had this idea for years and just got around to putting a label on it.

 

Well, lots of motors "share" parts in the same family. I think the concept of the Mod motor was to eliminate the different families and base all the parts off the same engine. For example, take a 302, 351, and 460. All have a different piston size, none of which will bolt in place of the other. Now take the replacements for those three motors, the 4.6, 5.4 and 6.8. Guess what, all three motors use the exact same piston. You can put 351 heads on a 302, but the casting isn't the same, and the head bolts are different thicknesses. But the 4.6 and 5.4 use the same exact head casting, bolts, and gaskets. That's the idea behind the modular motor. Different motors based off the same engine.

 

Sorry Sal, I didn't mean to come across as disagreeing with you. I understand the theory. I guess I'm just a stubborn ol' Ford boy with more grease on my knuckles then papercuts. I guess part of my confusion came from when Ford started putting overhead cams in thier vehicles a few years back, it was about the same time the term "modular motor" seemed to appear. Atleast in my head

 

I didn't think you were disagreeing with me at all. After your reply I had to sit here for a minute and think as to why the mod motor theory is any different than parts shared in previous Ford families. The answer is simply that the mod motor was designed to NOT need different families .

 

Just to add to what Sal said, as he hit the nail on the head, the Modular Engine program allows Ford to be cost effective in its parts development. The 4.6, 5.4 and the 6.8 V10 ALL use the same Bore Size, 3.55...The difference in displacement comes from the longer stroke in the 5.4 and the V10( along with another cylinder). Both the 4.6 and 5.4 SOHC Heads are the EXACT same, and thats why you will see on a new 4.6 SOHC GT, the heads have a casting on them that say 5.4 PI heads. The new 03 Crown Vics also now use these heads. They were introduced in 99. Also, the several sets of DOHC heads out there, will mate up to both the 4.6 and the 5.4 blocks. The 96-98 DOHC cobra heads, the 99-01 cobra heads, the Navigator heads DOHC, and even the rare FR500 DOHC heads and 2000 Cobra R DOHC heads...The new 03 Cobra heads are just the Navigator DOHC heads, as they have much larger intake ports than the old 99-01 Cobra DOHC heads....

Sooo, in theory, if you guys wanted to mate up some DOHC heads to your trucks, it can be done quite easily. The only hard part would then be fabbing up a lower intake to work with the eaton blower, as the port design is much different than the SOHC heads, as well as being alot wider on top. Also, a DOHC timing cover would have to be used along with the additional timing chains and guides necessary for the DOHC heads....

I hope this makes some sense here!!! LOL

Jeff