I am needing to replace my 4.6l in my 98 f-150 and have the chance to get a low km 97 4.6l from a thunderbird.Is this a straight swap or are the wiring harnasses and sensors different?
Has anyone done one? If so do you have any tips for me .

 

Welcome to the forums.
I am fairly sure the answer is yes the engine swap would work.
You will first need to know if you have have the same engine type, Romeo or Windsor. The Romeo will have eleven valve cover bolts, and the Windsor thirteen. If both are Romeo it will be easier.
Here's a place to start:http://www.babcox.com/editorial/ar/eb40228.htm

 

truck has a intake manifold made for low end torque. the block and heads should drop in no problem.

 

I too am faced with an engine swap (or rebuild) in a '98 F-150, mine due to a broken rod bolt in my 4.6 Windsor. I too have access to a low mileage Romeo (several actually) at a very attractive price, and am considering this as a MUCH cheaper alternative to replacing the expensive 8-bolt crank and rebuilding. The Romeo of course has the 6 bolt crank flange, so I plan to use the Romeo's flex plate.

Has anyone here completed this swap? Pitfalls? Is there a better alternative? I don't want a 5.4L engine! Windsor 4.6 engines (especially with 8-bolt cranks) are rare here in NE Florida, and too expensive elsewhere to have shipped in!

 

truck engines came from the windsor plant. Romeo engines went in to cars. Except in 2000 a lot of cars have windsor engines in them because of a fire in the romeo factory.... at least that is how the story goes on mustang forums. My 2000 GT had the windsor in it.

 

I'm not sure I agree with that. My 97 4.6 has a 2500 rpm stall speed from the factory. I'd say that is a sign of an engine which is very weak in terms of low end torque.

Lots of trucks have come with Romeo engines in them. On paper the Windsor looks better. In reality, I beleive there are less issues with Romeo engines. Aren't all PI style heads Windsor? Are there PI heads on Romeo bottom ends from the factory.

 

The difference in the torque and horsepower ratings of the same engine differ from car to truck due to the intake manifold. The truck intake runners are longer, thus it makes more torque. The car intake is shorter for higher rpm and peak horsepower. Also, the PI heads didn't start coming out from the factory until after the 2000 model year.

As far as using a 4.6 from a thunderbird to replace the 4.6 in your truck, you should be able to keep everything in your truck, ecm, sensors,etc., and just swap the block and heads. I would keep the intake manifold from the truck since it produces more torque, but that's just me.

 

PI heads didn't start coming out from the factory until after the 2000 model year.
________

1999 model year to be acurate.

 

Vaporeyezer, I went ahead and bought a used 4.6L Romeo complete "drop-in" engine from a '97 Cougar with a bad transmission, to replace the Windsor in my '98 F150. Including a $25 core charge and $25 forklift fee to pull and transport the engine to my trailer, it cost me less than $200 from the local Pull-A-Part (Long blocks with heads and timing cover were only $60). The Cougar's tranny was laying in the trunk in pieces, so I felt confident the car was scrapped because of the tranny, and not the engine. I rotated the crank with a socket and large ratchet, and she felt smooth with good compression on all 8 and no strange noise or roughness. No sign of any previous disassembly, other than the missing tranny and exhaust (that made pulling the engine a 30 minute job for my son and I).

Took her home and started stripping her, and it looks like I've got a good engine, except that we'd both missed the bolt broken off in the water outlet in the left head. Somebody tried to drill it out and missed, drilling a 1/4" hole through the mounting flange next to the bolt and into the water passage!!! They'd packed the hole fulll of JB weld and "glued" the broken bolt head in place!!!!! The severely damaged head now has a built-in leak that won't be easy to repair. I'm going to put my Windsor heads and everything else on the Romeo short block. Everything will bolt up fine I think, if I use the Romeo's timing cover and belt tensioner. The Romeo I bought doesn't use the knock sensor mounting hole in the valley, but it's there (not sure which hole size, yet, so I might need a new knock sensor). The extra bolt hole for the truck's oil filter/oil cooler mounting is there on this particular block, but not all. If I didn't have to change the heads, I could have dropped in the complete long block. Not sure yet that I could use the Romeo wiring harness from the Cougar. I've still got the Windsor's anyway.

I'll spend another $425 for all gaskets and head bolts. I could have saved about $300 if I didn't need to change the heads! Oh well! I got what I paid for, and it's still a bargain at this point! Bottom end looks good! If I had the money to do a complete bottom end overhaul, I would have stuck with the Windsor. When you're disabled and on a fixed income, you do whatcha gotta do!

Chris, There are plenty of Romeo's in F150's, believe me! There do seem to be a lot more Windsor's in them, but only a few with 8-bolt flange cranks, like mine had. That's apparently a rare crank and 3 times more expensive to replace, hence my hunt for a used engine.

Countryboy is correct from all the reading I've done recently. The tall aluminum intake from the F150 is much better than the short plastic one for low end torque, and is going back on my engine. I can keep my ECM and all the old sensors and wiring without worrying about calibration. I expect the truck to drive almost exactly the same as before when I'm done. Progress is slow with a bad back and legs, but I'll keep you posted!