dealer confirmed its valve issues.. Has anyone changed a head on these motors with the motor still in the truck? what degree of difficulty is this ?

 

labor is going to be 8-12 hundred at the dealer for R&Ring.. It can be done in the truck but the difficult level is right up with engine replacement if you have high miles jst do that. find a nice low miles junkyard engine..

 

Yea I was thinking same thing .. but I have 2 heads my friend said I could have he took off his 150 that had 75k miles on it when he put new performance heads on it. I am not completely sure what to do... Free Heads off a running truck sounds good to me instead of 1500 for a used motor.

 

How much are they asking for this motor?
Might be you best opting at this point!

 

It's going to cost you $1500. for the dealer to put the good heads on!

 

They want 2,200 for that motor... 1500 for one with 148k miles on...LOL i can do the heads myself im sure I have done many heads before just never on a 5.4l triton though. I have the tools and know how just wondered if there was anything thats tricky on them that I should look out for. I really don't want to take motor out and put another in because I have had bad luck before if I didnt take tranny and motor out and replace with tranny and motor that went together. Its like good strong motor but tranny has 225k miles on it and fails soon after the swap. I am just speaking on my personal experiences maybe I just have bad luck but does anyone feel the same way about that as I do ?

 

2 years ago I replaced the engine in my 99 with one out of an 03 that had 40k on it. cost 1400 for the engine then I replaced lots of stuff while I had the engine out hoses gaskets and that kind of stuff. probably spent 2 grand total. probably added 200k to the trucks life.

 

$2200. is to much for that motor.
Here's an 03 with 106,000 on it for $950.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-03...Q5fAccessories
You need to shop around more, you might even find a better deal.

 

Even something like this looks like a good deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-...Q5fAccessories

 

^^^That's a good deal, 1600 with shipping. Another $400 core charge. I can't find where they specify whether it is a 4.6 or a 5.4, or whether it is PI or not (year) but can tell by the intake ports it is, at least the picture is.

 

theres always this
http://www.car-part.com/
I think the best way to find engines is to break out the yellow pages and start calling every car wrecker in your area. Thats how I found mine.

 

Looks like you order what you want.
So if ya have an 01 and order an 03 you get an 03.
Just be sure the truck you order it for will fit your truck.

"Please note that Engines vary from year to year and that when ordering 123Engine requires the engine vehicle year, make & model in order to properly determine the correct fit for your vehicle. Once you have placed your order be sure to add in the Notes section of PayPal your engine year, make, model, & liters. In addition, the engine photos we have listed are to give our customers a general idea of how the engine will look like. This is NOT the exact engine you will be receiving. The engine will vary slighly based on the information you provide us regarding the year, make, model, and how many liters. "

 

any 2v 5.4 97-11 can be made to work. Gotta swap parts off the old engine. I gotta 03 engine for my 99 had to swap intakes the oil filter relocation stuff and all the pulleys. Otherwise its a straight up swap. If you get one out of a van you might have to swap oil pans..

 

You definitely need to shop around,
There are good deals out there.

 

i found the motors in my area from car- part but i completely forgot about ebay... Thanks guy for all your help i am going on ebay as we speak and listening to my other half say go buy a new truck I dont want you and kids in that truck blah blah blah.. CALGON TAKE ME AWAY... LOL