Does anybody out there have any suggestions,thoughts, ideas on pulling and replacing the 5.4 engine in my 2000 f-150. I remember seeing some "how to" -pictures on line somewhere but can find the site. Any help, advise, best practices and shortcuts would be greatly appreciated.
Q- Remove radiator and pull from front, disconnect trans or pull as one?
THANKS - RAP

 

well i cant help you too much because i dont have a 5.4 or even a truck of that style in front of me. but i think its easier to just take off the hood and lift the engine alone.
make sure you unhook the battery before you start tearing down the engine and then drain the fluids and such.
are you planning on putting a stock 5.4 back in or are you building a motor for it?

 

I do them kinda strange, at least to most people. Unless it's a 4x4, I'll pull the transmission out from underneath first, then the engine out through the top. It's easier to me to line the transmission back up with the engine, rather than lining the engine up with the transmission, but I've done them both ways. If it's a 4x4, I leave the trans/transfer case and all in, because I don't wanna mess with the torsion bars getting the transmission out.

Remove the hood, radiator, fan/shroud. Remove the intake manifold, and you'll probably have to raid Home Depot for some bolts and chain to hook to the engine to pull it. I put one on the passenger's side rear of the engine, and one on the driver's side front, hook the chain to that and up and away. It's gonna be a tight fit coming out and going in, especially if you have an external oil cooler, but it's not impossible.

 

Just did an engine pull on a 2004. Shouldn't be that much different.

If it's a 4X4 (mine was) I'd pull the oil cooler, transmission cooler, AC evap, radiator, fuel rail, intake, PCM, battery, fan, alternator (you'll need to to pull the intake), and all associated paraphernalia. Also pull the cowl stuff by the windshield. You can get the motor out with this in but you won't get the new one in.

Also, if it's not a 4X4, think seriously about pulling the tranny with the motor. It makes the lining up process a crapload easier.

Another thing... make sure you pull the 4 torque converter nuts before you try to pull the motor. This is CRUCIAL!!!!!!!

Also, when you realign the motor with the tranny, the torque convertor needs to be perfectly aligned with the flywheel, at the same time, seating the transmission bellhousing with the studs on the back of the motor. At the same time, ensuring the motor mounts seat correctly. This is a PITA and took me about 5 hours the first time I tried it. Took about half an hour the next time

The trick is that the tranny will twist and shift once you pull the motor, so you need to ensure that it's at the right height and twisted so that the holes are in line with the motor.

Other than that, it's a piece of cake.

 

when my friends and i pulled my motor..some of the basics were..drain everything..unbolt tranny from motor..disconnect all wiring..remove radiator..move ac compressor over..remove belt and fan..remove upper/lower intake..mark everything in a baggie or some other organizational way..disconnect fuel lines..***** load of vacuum lines..etc..remove the hood and pull out the top and have a beer

 

When I did my 98, the truck was whacked hard in the front. I ended up cutting the radiator support out as it was slated to get replaced due to the damage. I disconnected and drained everything. I dropped the transfer case and pulled the engine and transmission as a package. Re-assembled everything in the garage and re-installed as a package. On a side note, 30k miles later, I ended up pulling my transmission to fix TCase/Trans issues (another story) and a tip that I wish I had when I did it the first time around, get yourself a long 1/2" drive ratchet extension (aprox. 36" long) and once the TCase and everything else is out of the way, lower the transmission slowly, you will then be able to see the top 2 bolts and remove them.

 

I just finished installing a new 5.4 in my 2003 S'crew. If you go to a body lift site (sky jacker or other style) they will give you the install instructions for a 3" body lift................. hint hint......... you dont have to take the cab off the frame as the dealer will tell you. I have done this more than once so I do know what Im taking about! I put 6" wood blocks between the frame and body (once everything is unbolted) and you can pull the engine very easily. Its about a 30-40 hour job. After your done the install........... buy the 3" body lift and install it. It makes engine servicing soooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier. TTYL

Cheers and beers

 

30 or 40 hours???? You must drink more than me
I did mine, and left the trans in (4x4) in about 14-15 hours. With the cleaning of all parts, installation of new parts, swapping of parts from old engine to new etc... With one friend/brother and lots of beer. I'm no certified mechanic but have done a few swaps. To be honest, this is one of the easiest Ive done as far as complications. Lining up the trans/torque converter bolts took no more than 20 minutes. It was a matter of setting the engine in close and rotating the crank pulley till they lined back up. Which was partially set up before it went in. Once they lined up, with the trans jacked up. It was lowered into the mounts while my brother lowered the trans at the same time. Simple. I got hung up on installing the starter longer than I did lining up the trans and setting the engine back in.

 

Im a Canadian. HELL YA I DRINK MORE........ and it aint 4% either.......... LOL. The dealer quoted me a minimum or 40hrs. While my engine was out I installed new u-joints in the front & rear D shafts .............. new front hubs............. washed everything nice and sparkly. It is the second engine install in this truck. If I was smarter (it must be the beer) I would have used a new engine in round 1 instead of a used one. So far I put 600km on the new engine this weekend and everything seems great. next road trip is 2400km (Whitetail hunting in Sask later this week). We'll see how things go on that RT?

Cheers & Beers

 

A certified ford mechanic in a ford shop should be able to pull it off in under 10 hours. But I'm sure their " book" states more.

Yea, with the engine out, it is a good time to clean the engine bay. Just dont soak your cats/02's with whatever type of cleaning you are doing. I did mine by hand with a spray bottle of cleaner and box of rags vs. pressure washer or hose. Otherwise protect what needs to be protected and wash away. I would also say, as far as how complicated it is, it depends on the area or condition of the truck. I have seen some of you guys over there in that rust belt..... I can't imagine a single bolt wanted to come off. Let alone the things that would break or fall apart. We have no rust issues up here, every bolt came off with ease.


And same here.. well, I'm thinking. I bought a used engine with only 10k miles from a insurance/salvage company. Great shape and runs like a top (put 20k on it so far) but has started to develop a slight noise on start up that I am chasing down.

 

I pulled pulled mine on an 05 4x4, left the trans in place. Pulled it out of the top by myself. Had an extra hand to run the hoist when I went back in with it. Didn't have to much trouble getting it lined back up with the torque converter. Just used a pry bar and spun the flywheel till they lined up. It took me about 8 hours to get it out. Took me about 16 hours to put it back in and start it. Could have been faster if I wasn't taking my time and working on it only 4 hours a day.
The biggest help I had was the leveler that I had for my hoist. Going in from the top the leveler is very helpful. I wouldn't recommend doing it without it. Also something I wish I would have done is take a picture of exactly where I had mines chains and how many links on each I had when I pulled it. Knowing this will help you to make sure you chain it back up the exact same way when going back in. It will help your alignment if you can set it back up exactly the same.

 

It helps a lot. I didnt use one and had to re-pick 2 separate times for different angles on the way out and way in. Use the rear top bell housing bolt and front alternator bolt with washers. Balances out nicely if you make sure they are opposite each other.



This is without any support, you can see how it balances without wanting to roll.

 

Thats scary when there up hang from the chain like that. Be nasty if the chain came off..

 

It was. Actually, just after that pic was taken it almost fell. The hook on the hoist had a broken safety clip. When I gave it a tug the chain slipped out of the hook and the very tip of the hook caught the edge of the chain. It was literally hanging there by 1/8" of chain. After I set it back down I took the hook off the hoist and put a D ring with a latch through the chain. The attachments at the engine never showed any signs of stress. Just the incident with the hoist hook. And I had it a bit higher than that when it finally cleared.

 

Yeah I did it the same way. Unnerving.. Is always like that though. I've back yard R&R-ed several motors. I've even used a tree and one of those chain winch deals years ago. I hope I dont ever have to do it again. Thats my goal. Never doing another engine. Getting to old for that crap.