i got thinking today and just looked out the door of my dads shop and there were 3 fords in the lot. mine my dads and a customers. all the customers needed was a new battery, easy swap and out the door. the lot is filled with, 3 motor jobs, an 04 nissan titan almost 72000 miles, 83 chevy pickup with 35000 miles on the 5 digit odometer, and a 01 toyota camry with 120000 miles. 2 steering and suspension jobs, 00 impala and 93 dodge stealth. 4 a/c systems, 88 s10, 91 toyota tercel, 01 chevy silverado, and 02 suburban. and a radiator to a 99 mits galant. i never really payed much attention to this. the only ford motor jobs we've done were because jiffy lube forgot to put oil in the motors. and 1 was because a dealership drove the **** out of it when the owner was going to trade it in. and mine was replaced because it started to use more oil than gas. other than that we see many chevy's go up because of the dexcool antifreese and there oil pump pickup tube o-rings and plastic intake gaskets and blown head gaskets and there spider injector system. toyotas have a mess of engine failures and false mpg ads and we've done a mess of there 4 cyl engine jobs because the camshafts somehow break. honda is the least seen brand vehicle at my dads shop. but the only other times we see fords come to the shop is for the typical cop and sometimes plug blowouts, and preventative maintenance, nothing major. ford has come along way with there cars and their trucks are just flat out bullet proof. i am very proud of my truck so far comparing it to other vehicles. yeah i have put a bit of money into it (new tranny, new engine, new a/c system, new radiator, and tires, and a used rear bumper) but comparing it to everything else that comes to the shop i actually did better than most of the customers did especially with 265000 miles on the truck and driving it with the pedal to the floor to get up to speed 70% of the time. people talk to me like i should get a new toyota but you know what i'd rather have something thats dependable and safe. if i get in an accident at least my truck wont be crushed as bad as if i were in a toyota. ford has had ther ups and downs such as ther cruise control systems and etc. but there is no dought that ford trucks are the best vehicles out there. you just cant kill them.

 

What blows my mind - Damn engine doesn't leak anywhere or use any oil (as long as I'm not towing) @ 245,000 miles.

 

i have honestly never seen a 5.4 or 4.6 leak oil and have never done a water pump to any. they are definately tough engines built right.

 

Yea, I haven't seen any personally. I have on this site tho, just two that I can think of - User Camaro? (something) and Jackels have leaked pretty bad. But who knows what happen to cause it. ?? I think overfilling the engine oil is easy to do for someone not familiar with the way Ford has their markings on the stick. I think they should change that.

The top hash is MAX - NOT full . Full is a 1/4 - 1/2" down from the hash. That's were the hash SHOULD be IMO.

I have a new OEM water-pump in the cabinet, just in case. For now, I'm still using my original pump

 

Had a 97 4.6 that never leaked anything, the new 5.4 doesn't leak/burn any oil at all. I really don't understand how you could over fill them, they have a 6 quart capacity with the filter. Put six in it, start it up, check it. Always the same level for me.

Truly great enginesi believe.

Now that I think about it, my dads 76 F250 doesn't even leak oil!!

 

U don't ? That worries me - Every modular I've seen has a top hash mark. That top hash mark means over filled. That isn't suppose to hurt them, but just imagine how many people who want to do the right thing and take care of their engine. They fill it to the mark, sometimes even more . Just a little above the mark gets pretty critical.

None of these will hit the mark at 6 quarts - Not one.

 

My dipstick has two holes in it, mashmarks between them on one side, nothine between them on the other. The end closest to the end of the stick reads "min" the end of the hash marks that are closest to the handle read "max." oil and filter change with 6 quarts of oil puts my level dead in the middles of min and max, +/- 2mm.

So that is how i'm confused on how somebody could over fill their engine. Maybe I have a freak of nature truck, I dunno.

 

Nevermind

 

So it doesn't actually take the 6qts of oil the manual says? I've just always dumped in 6 qts and called it a day.

 

The 2 valve's take 6 quarts only - No more than that. 6 quarts, as I've said should put you at 1/4 - 1/2" down on the stick. That's where a full mark SHOULD be - I scribed my own since Ford can't do it.

Didn't I just say this?

 

Conversely, I have an '05 5.4 3V with 70K-something on it with a stuck injector. Broke all the rocker arms on cylinder 2, dropped a valve, bent the #2 connecting rod.

I don't think any brand is really any extra special or better than another.

 

Damn Quintin, your an animal - How did you bend a connecting rod ?

Who was chasing yuh ?

 

:

 

Every stick I have seen (muliple fords and chevys) has the min max thing. Its got to be at least kind of difficult to read "max" and then think, "i should put a little more in".

heres one for you though as far as putting in the required 6 quarts or whatever.. the last oil change I did on my 6.0L i apparently didnt run it long enough to heat up the oil. Only about 5 quarts came out (including filter, 6 quart cap), when I was filling I always check a couple times to see how far im climbing on the dipstick, put about 5 in and it was full. if I had just put the 6 quarts in, I would have had to go back and drain some. but then again if i had just done the oil change right, that wouldnt have happened...

 

Mine doesn't use any oil unless I am driving the **** out of it and then I can use up to a Quart every 1200 miles.