I got more than 100,000 on it, just not happy with all the nickel and diming that started at that point. I bought the truck new and take care of my trucks, I own another brand truck with nearly 300,000 flawless miles on it.

 

What problems have you had?

 

I'm curious to know what issues you've had with it too... By nickel and dimeing, are you referring to the "Suggested" preventive maintenance that the user manual lists, things like changing out the plug wires, plugs, fluid changes and belts/ect? Or have you actually ran into issues around 100k that needed immediate attention.

When my 97 4.6 hit 97k I had the plugs/wires and all fluids changed along with the rear diff cleaned up/ect, brake pads and rotors changed, realigned the rear drums which were way the heck off and still have 70% "pad" left, had the exhaust changed out which was the result of my sister burrowing the truck and backing it HARD against a dirt bank damaging only the exhaust to the point it had rusted a hole in it...... and finally changed out the serpentine belt.

Most of those things weren't broken or in dire need of changing but I like to stick somewhat close to the recommended maintenance schedule to prolong the trucks life. Out of all of those things, the only 3 things that were DIRE, were the Exhaust, the brakes and the serpentine belt. Otherwise when bringing it in the truck actually drove perfectly fine.

 

Both head gaskets changed, ac comp., exhaust manifolds, ball joints , maf sensor not to mention some of the bs I went through and had to fight for under warranty.

 

You were still under warranty at 100,000 miles? And yes I had a problem with my exhaust manifolds rusting through on me. However, I was living in the North then and every time it snowed, they would salt the roads... a lot. So all the metal on my truck has had a lot of salt/moisture exposure.

The head gaskets really surprise me. I don't know much about it but isn't the leading cause engine overheating? As far as I know, Ford's modular engines do a pretty good job of keeping cool, so that really surprises me. Don't the modulars even have a system so if the engine starts to overheat, it turns off four of the cylinders and uses them as a pump to cool the engine?

It sounds to me like you got a lemon!

 

300,000 flawless miles. What do you call flawless. Nothing run flawless unless you are from 0 -300k. Honestly, there isn't a brand of truck that I know of that can hold a candle to a Ford truck as far as longevity.

The biggest problem I've found that the consumer does to their engines is over-fill the crankcase by using the top hash mark,- and then some more lol. You can spin a bearing that way, starve and stress internals. Also PCV valve maintenance is overlooked. That little can be every bit as important. If people were less careless, they would see flawless, -at least their vehicles would stand more of a chance. Yea, I'm not falling for this one because I know it's not the manufacturer, - not really. Allot of consumers run off brand spark plugs that fall apart inside the engine.

If you took the time to learn about your investment, you would get "flawless". Some people don't so much as read the manual, follow recommendations and take chances, hoping that their engine may be idiot proof. Nope!, it's forgiving, but not idiot proof.

 

What do I call flawless, the only thing I had to replace besides regular schedule maint. was a fuel pump thats what I call flawless. As far as knowing or learning my vehicle and being careless ,I know my truck, Sometimes they just might make a clunker ya think. I dont overfill the oil, I dont use off brand plugs, I do all the reg. sched. maint. I dont beat my trucks it is what it is.

 

No I was not under warranty at 100,000 I was talking about the steering shaft that went at 30,000 and the cracked door skins and all the rust at every welded seam, under the doors and tailgate that they would not fix, at least they replaced the steering shaft.

 

I guess it is, for you. Sorry for your luck.

- That's is unusual.

 

i have 154k on my 4.6, still runs like new and i pull cars and a bunch of other stuff with it just fine, yes it sucks getting up to speed, but it does it!

 

my dad had a 2003 5.4 fx4 and it crapped out at 106k took it into the dealer, cost $1600 and still never fixed it.

my 4.6 had 115k on it when i bought it, up to 154 now.

not downing the 5.4, if i were to get another truck it would be just like mine only fx4 and 5.4

 

Sorry to hear that Diggler. I think any one of us here can agree that even Ford puts out a lemon every so often, it could be the smallest little thing that constantly wears down on all aspects of your trucks over the years, an unfortunate thing. That being said my parents have an 04' FX4 with 68,000 miles on it..... up until this last week I knew it to be flawless. Right now its got a power steering leak which I seem to think is just the springs in the fill cap being weak so its spurting out the top. Anyhow.... My mom refuses to bring it to the dealer even though its under warranty because my dad is a cheap *** and wants to squeeze his every last penny on the last visit to the dealer pretty much while its under warranty. So instead of bringing it in when the heck they should, they are going to continue to fill up the reservoir when it gets low and bring the truck in god knows when so that they can have them do everything at once...

There was a point to that story....... That is, you don't know what the previous owner allowed to go un-fixed and for how long. That fluid could drip all over other parts and cause issues down the road just because they were lazy about fixing a simple issue that's either a filler cap or a rubber hose, G F'ing G.

 

I know what you mean, I come from a Ford family and have seen some good ones and some doozies, of all the ones I have owned this one has given me the most headaches, why , I dont know, lets put it this way in a 100 years who will care.

 

The 4.6 is a very capable engine. It has been the mainstay of the Mustang for how many years now? There are countless thousands of mods for it. To put things in prospective: A 281 cubic inch engine is pushing a 5000 pound brick. The 5.4 is just a larger engine with more power.

Ford in now producing the new 5 liter and it will leave the 4.6 where the 4.6 left the old 5.0 that it replaced. Some of the trucks will be getting the 6.2. Night and day difference with the 5.4.

FWIW I had to opt for the 4.6 because I wanted a manual transmission. This is my 2nd truck that was configured with the manual and 4.6. I beat the crap out of my trucks and both 4.6 engines held up just fine. I wanted more power so I modded my 4.6. Then I wanted more and swapped in a 5.4. Soon that wasn't enough so I supercharged it. Now I have my eyes on the 6.2. Should bolt right in.

.

 

How many M5OD's do you have for spares, JMC?