I have a ford f150 with a 4.6 manule transmition. Does any know if i can swap my 4.6 to the 5.4 with an aftermarket fly wheel. Will the harnesses cross over to the 5.4. If so does anyone know where i can get a 5.4 crate engine. Has anyone done this swap before.

 

If your 4.6 has an 8-bolt flywheel, which I think all truck 4.6s do, it will bolt right to a 5.4. For an engine I'd poke around www.karkraft.com or www.car-part.com...

 

If the 8th didgit of your VIN is a 6 then you have an 8 bolt crank. If it is a W then you have a 6 bolt crank. Call the local bone yards and find an 8 bolt flywheel out of a Windsor 4.6 and it will bolt right up. You will need a pilot bearing becasue all the 5.4s are Automatics and don't have any. Your clutch will bolt right up to the 8 bolt flywheel even if it is from a 6 bolt. Get a 5.4 from a 99+ model year and it will be a Pi engine, more power. Use your existing 4.6 harness and lengthen the IAC wires and the Oil pressure sender wire. You will need to fab up a bracket to hold the coil packs becasue you will be using the ignition from the 4.6 which uses plug wires. All 5.4s have COP ignitions. You will need a T fitting for the two Coolant temp sensors that your 4.6 has. The 99 only has one bung. The Intake manifold from the 99 truck 5.4s is metal so you could also have a bung welded to the intake for the second sensor. The 5.4s with the plastic intakes don't use a coolant temp sensor they use the Cylinder head temp sensor. They should have a metal coolant cross over tube so you could get a bung welded if you choose a newer engine. You will need to have the exhaust modified to fit the 5.4 manifold. They come off the engine in a different location becasue of the increased deck hight of the 5.4. If your 5.4 dosen't have exhasut manifolds you will need to find some. Get a new water pump if you get a used engine, cheap insurance. Your alternator, PS pump and AC will bolt right up to the 5.4. The engine mounts from your 4.6 will fit as they are the same as the 5.4. The manual tranny will bolt right up and you can use your 4.6 starter. Use the vacuum hoses from the 5.4, the 4.6 need too much modification to be an easy fit. The brake booster vacuum hose from the 4.6 will fit. If I think of anything else I will post.


JMC

 

Thank you for all the information that you have provided me with. I think im going to do it. THats the one thing about my truck that i didn't like was the lack of power. I have upgraded the exhast and intake, put on a throttle body and still havn't gotton what i wanted. This sounds like a nice upgrade that will be a lot quicker and more permenant than ****ing with the exsisting engine.

 

That is what I discovered when I swapped mine. Expect the tranny to wear out sooner though.

JMC

 

Excellent post JMC


The one thing I would mention is if you go to buy an engine make sure and verify its PI as I don't think it was a straight model year changeover, and not at the same time for different vehicle models. The PI heads have "PI" cast right above one of the exhaust ports, I think its the one on the right but no matter, its there above one of the end ports.

 

what was the hardest part to doing the swap. How hard was it to find the right pilot bearing to fit it. Have you worn out a trany yet. If so how many miles did it take. I see from the picture your an avid 4X4 person. I dont do a whole lot but i still take her off road, mostly for hunting and ranch work. Is it worth it to do the swap if you keep wearing out the trany?

 

The hardest part of doing the swap was finding the $$$. The pilot bearing from a 4.6 will fit. I was breaking transmissions even with the 4.6. If you don't beat the living snot out of it you should do fine. Second gear chirps with 33s doesn't lead to prolonged tranny life. The Input Shaft bearings are the weak point. I endind up resetting the shims. This IMHO has prolonged the life of this tranny. On my last busted one the input shaft bearing loosened up and it allowed the shaft to move and chipp a tooth. That was the begining of the end for that tranny. I am an avid seeker of power. I was soooooo close to swapping in a V10. I could have gotten one for a few hundred dollars. I am done kicking myself and I have moved on. I am now in persuit of a supercharger. It is just a question of getting all the required parts to install a Lightning blower.

One last thing I just thought of while typing; you should get a tune for the added displacement of the 5.4. Talk to Mike Troyer in the chips section.

JMC

 

Putting buying an engine aside. How much did you think making the swap costed. It couldn't have taken too long of a time to do the swap. I have pulled engines before but have always stuck the same one in. How long gdid it take you? do you pull a trailer. One of the biggest problems with my truck is im from Montana and we have a tone of hiles that are 8 and 9 % grades that strech for miles and unless im in fourth gear i cant pull them at the speed limit with out a trailer. With one its a sad story. I havn't tried it since the intake and that could have been a big problem there. When i put my cold air induction on i found out that the person before me had taken the intake off and when he put it back on had not done it right. Half of the rubber 3" hose was tucked inside and was blocking half of the flow . I noticed a big increase in power from there on.

I would really like to make the swap i just trying to wiegh my options. Im in the military and dont know if im going over seas ofr 4 years starting june of next year. If i go over seas than i dont have a clue what to do with the truck. I cant take it with me.

 

The engine cost me $200.00. I sold the 4.6 for $200.00 less than I paid for the 5.4. I had to buy an 8 bolt flywheel, $75.00 and have it refaced, $65.00. I reused the old clutch. Oil change and antifreeze. I used the Water pump from my 4.6 as it was less than 6 months old. A chip / tuner is another $400. Figure a couple of hundred for the exhaust work. So add about $800 over the cost of the engine if you don't sell the old engine. The engine R&R should take less than 8 hours. I forgot how long it took when I did it. Using my tools I could most likely pull the engine in about 3 hours. My truck has a 3 inch body lift so getting the intake manifold off is real easy. I have towed with the 5.4 and the 4.6. A world of difference. Well worh the effort and expense.

JMC

 

Thats cheaper than i was expecting. It sounds like i am going to do it in the near future. It will make it a more enjoyable truck to drive. Besides its rare as it is. Lets make it even more rare. Have you heard of anyone else that did the swap. I have a problem with my gears i have to fix first. For some reason its making a wierd griding noise when its cold. NOt like the one it makes whne you just cant shift. Its way differnt. It started happening the same time that it started sucking my stick into thired gear. I dont know. Havn't seen it before. THought it might be the clutch but it seems to be fine every where else.

 

Have you tried bleeding the clutch?

JMC

 

Not yet. I didn't think that it would make much of a differance. I will try that today.

 

I did this swap 2 1/2 years ago and it was the best thing I have done to my truck! See the thread below for all the details of my swap. I had quite a bit more money invested, but that was due to my engine purchase. I got a New 2001 model year 5.4 crate motor with 1 year warranty from karkraft.com. That cost me close to $3,000 but was well worth it. I now have 32k miles on it and have never looked back. I have 150k on the truck and am still on the original transmission. I have 285X75X16 tires and it will chirp the tires going into 2nd. I have a B&M shift kit in the trans which I think has helped make it last a little longer.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...ghlight=sclime

Good luck with your build.

steve

 

I just read all nine pages of script from your forum and all i have to say is i want to do it. You takled every problem in there. Some great Info. THanks for showing that to me. Does anyone know where i can get a 5.4.