I recently bought a 99' F150 with a blown motor. The motor had some pretty heavy knocking, I suspected it was rod bearings and upon pulling the oil pan confirmed my suspicions. #7 bearing had spun and scored the crankshaft pretty bad.

So the way I see it, my options are
-machine the crank and replace rod bearings with oversized bearings
OR
-buy a new crankshaft that includes bearing kit.


I'm leaning towards buying a new crankshaft that includes all bearings. Was curious if by spinning the bearing inside the rod, if it might have reduced the ID of the rod and the new bearings might not fit as snug?

It's a high mileage motor (155,000 miles / 250,000km). I'm probably going to replace all seals and the head gaskets while I have it apart. Is there anything major I should consider while the motor is out? Hone the block and replace piston rings maybe? I'm fairly new with the 5.4, so I don't know what it's major problems are aside from I've hear the spark plugs like to pop out of the cylinder heads.

 

IMHO
if your going with the new crankshaft and bearings ( which I agree is a better route)...then you might as well refresh the cylinders as well and cam timing chain and associated components...etc....in other words do the whole nine yards and Overhaul it.

odds are good if you would just do the crankshaft, then the heads would go or timing chain or something else would let go 6 months later...

which BTW you may or may not have the PI ( power improved), heads on it now...during this "rebuild" would be a good time to update those too if you didn't have them.

as far as the spark plugs ejection deal goes....that is pretty much corrected with proper torque of 28ft/lbs instead of the prior 15ft/lbs

maybe consider electric fan setup and LT headers and a tuner that can take in account of electric fan and headers

 

By the time you get done, you may come out ahead if you can find a reasonably priced boneyard engine. The Tritons are not easy to rebuild correctly.

 

Decent boneyard engines for the 97-03 2v 5.4's are starting to get harder to find. People are going to have to start building them..

 

sadly you are right...

 

wich are the best spark plugs to use in the 5.4, mine is a 2002. i have been using motorcraft.

 

motocraft are best Imo. Some prefer autolites too.


so, I live in Northern BC, parts are scarce so I ordered a new crankshaft, complete gasket set spark plugs, timing set, water pump, and head bolts and exhaust studs.

Once I get things a little more torn apart I will look into boring or honing the cylinders before doing a re-ring job. Will check clearances on the oil pump and replace as necessary. Thinking I can get away with a rehone and standard rings atm.

 

The very first thing to do before buying any parts is to remove the cams and look for scoring and high heat at the cam bearing surfaces. A spun rod or main bearing on these engines is a possible indication of oil starvation. Many times if you see this condition then the cyl heads are a bust as well unless you have after market cam bearings installed. Good luck.

 

Thanks! Will look into this further.

 

Started rebuilding the 5.4. The pistons are in really rough shape in terms of carbon / sludge buildup. I have soaked and scrubbed them in varsol repeatedly but still can't get them to shine. Rather than spending 20 hours cleaning landings and risking the possibility of scoring the aluminum pistons, I opted to go with a set of NPR pistons that include rings. However, I had originally bought a set of Sealed Power (Federal Mogul) rings that I was planning on using.

I have heard mixed reviews about NPR piston rings / oil blow by. I was thinking of using the sealed power ring set on the NPR pistons, but am unsure if I should just use the rings supplied with the pistons instead. Thoughts?

So far the heads needed 2 intake valves and a fresh set of lifters (pretty sure the other ones have pieces of rod bearings in them). They have been port and polished, planed, and had a valve grind done

Heres a few pictures so far.


Note the chunks of rod bearing in the oil passages... New crank!

Years of leaking valve cover =


Block after hot tanking, hone, and some paint

 

Looks like you're well on your way to a nice rebuild & much needed.
keep us informed

 

Dug into the transmission while I was waiting for parts. Steels and fricition plates appear to be in really good shape aside from some minor heat spots on the steels.

Installed the new crank with thrust and main bearings today. Didn't have a torque angle gauge so I torqued the bolts to spec and then sharpied a line on the bolt so I could visually confirm I got the 90 degree rotation after torquing (dowel to main cap retaining bolts are torque to yield and must be replaced once used) Used lubriplate as assembly lube to hold thrust bearings in place and on surfaces of new bearings. Got pretty much all the replacement parts I need to do this motor. Just waiting for pistons now!

 

Are those thrust washers backward or are the grooves supposed to face outward.

 

Grooves are supposed to face outwards for oil flow between crankshaft surfaces and thrust bearing.

 

Thats correct.