There should be like a black book. Of things to follow and what to watch out for.

Like Spark plug torque for the 10th generation modular's...Don't go by the book or you may be sorry. It's off by 10' lbs, - at least!

Or the 4wd vacuum diagrams, yep, Ford got that one backwards. Just in some of the manuals. How many model years affected..unknown. - To me anyway.

So much is true, - along with the fact that they have been producing some of the best, if not the best, production vehicles in the world.

 

I'm old enough to remember new cars coming out in the late 70's. That was some sorely engineered crap. The EPA regs wanted the car manufactures to do stuff they wernt at all ready for. The modular engine is a huge leap ahead of the stuff that came before it. Unless your an idiot. Even some Idiots get lucky and get a couple hundred thousand miles out of them but the engine design dose have a couple of minor flaws. 4 thread heads. Those can be fixed in minutes by a guy who is even fairly capable. I can do it. In my drive way in less then an hour and I am far from a master mechanic. As far as plugs go I like Motorcraft NGK and Denso.. For the modular.

 

jethat, I know what you mean. Population growth and economic demands fueled auto industry through most of the 60's and early 70's. Unions got Detroit to use cheaper steel so they rust out faster which meant more cars to be built by union labor. Saftey standards started to come on board, which Detroit thought was a PIA. And they put most of their eggs in the muscle. The big storm hit with oil shortage and pollution standards being imposed. Detroit again dragged its feet rather than putting employees to work with new designs that they were capable of then. We had engines that clanked and ran on for 10 minutes after the key was turned off. Detroit wanted neither cleaner or more durability, but small patches such as no lead added some durability. Can you imagine an oil/lube job every 1000 or 2000 miles depending upon driving? Or a complete tuneup every 10,000 miles?

 

Modular is not a new concept, except at the mass production stage. I have followed the 4.6L somewhat over the years. Can anyone explain to me why they just did not use what I think was the first design universally, that is a 32V. Now, I no longer remember if it had variable cams. I drove a couple of different Lincolns of that vintage when new. What power! Fantastic mileage on the highway! What happened?

 

Actually the 4.6 2 valve was first released back in 1992 without variable cam timing.

The 32 valve was first released in 1993 in the Lincoln Mark 8 but again no variable cam timing.

Ford didn't come out with VCT in the modulars until the 3 valve came out in 2005.

-Steve