I received an invitation to be at the Romeo Engine Plant this Friday as the last 4.6 Ford Modular engine rolls of the assembly line. I was there when the first 4.6 was assembled and signed by all of us present after it rolled off the line. Now to witness the last of millions of this engine will be amazing for me. It will bring back a quarter century of memories for me from my career with the testing and hand building of prototypes to the production of this engine and now to its final production.... Thank you Ford Motor Co.

 

Shame. Not the most powerful engine but certainly one of the most reliable. Wonder if the 5.4-2v is finally being killed off in the E series.

 

What is the 4.6 still used in?

Sad to see its finally coming to an end

 

It is a bit of a downer. I learned to love it after first dismissing it...it is a great motor, though not what you want while towing a lot of weight.

Tuned, it is plenty fun and capable, still sounds great with an aftermarket exhaust...

<sigh> Ah well...nothing lasts forever they say.

 

The whole E-series has already been killed off.

 

Yes. It is replaced with the full-size Transit van. It will have a 3.5L V6 Ecoboost or a 5 cyl diesel engine.

 

wonder if that means Ford is giving up on the fleet market. I dont know anything about the transit vans but I do know the Econoline dominated the Fleet van market. I've owned 3. They are so much better then the competitions vans it aint even close.

 

Agreed. As a 16yr contractor Ive owned a few myself.

I have yet to see a Ford transit on the road. The cargo does seem to be taking over the fleet market but where are the Fords? Seen plenty of mercedes and volvo. Nissan seems to be taking over as well.

 

I have seen pics and it's similar to what the other manufactures are putting out. They will both have a high side van and a conventional one. The smaller Transit is going more toward what minivans used to look like, but they will still have cargo ones also. It's going to confuse us Ford parts people when a customer comes in saying he needs a part for his Transit. I'll have to start asking do you have the big or the smaller one.
Sorry for straying off topic. Now I'll go and drive my 09 F-150 with the 4.6L home.

 

Well I like the saying that goes if it aint broke dont fix it. New engine choices maybe for the Econoline and a refresh. Like the Crown Vic when your dominating an area why give that up? Maybe it all boils down to new fuel/safety standars the Econoline just cant be made to meet. For those of us that make our living with a van the loss of the Econoline is not pleasing..

 

The CAFE standards are being raised all the time by the gov. The auto companies have to get better fuel economy or they face steep fines per vehicle and are restricted on how many high profit F150''s and vans they can sell/
The last fully assembled 4.6 came off the line today at 10:30 am. Romeo will be assembling warranty replacement long block and short block engines for the next three weeks. Then they start tearing the old 4.6 assembly line out.

 

What is/was the 4.6 still in?

 

Isn't the small one the Transit Connect that's been out for a while already?

Don't diss the Transit until you actually see them and what they can do. I'm confident they will be a very worthy replacement for the Econoline. It's very easy to resist change, but it's necessary. Getting rid of the old 300 I6 was necessary, it was replaced by a very competent V6 (after they fixed the problems in early production).

 

The baby Transits are used by all of the bakeries, flower shops, etc. around here.

I've been in, messed around with, and driven a few that my dealership has gotten and they really aren't bad. They're cheap-feeling as all hell, but that's the point; they're supposed to be low-cost commercial vehicles. The inside and seats, etc. are very versatile. Plus you have to open the hood by pulling the Ford emblem in the grill to the side and sticking the key in it Very 50s gas cap-like or something

 

The transit connects are everywhere around me. I don't think the full-size Transit is out yet.