I know these are fairly new engines to the ford family....Anyone have there 4.6 or 5.4 go bad on them?

My family has owned many ford vehicles and getting 200k miles on them was not a problem but i haven't heard many things about these newer motors...

Any testimonials good or bad?

Thanks in advance for any information!

-JD Garza

 

Search the board and you will find a heck of a lot of talk on the durability of these engines.

At this point, I hesitate to even call them new anymore. The 4.6l has been around since 91 or so when installations began on the crown vic, grand marquis, etc cars. The 4.6 is essentially the same engine in the truck application with a little different tuning for more low end grunt. The 5.4 is simply a 4.6 with a longer stroke. Think of the high milege applications you might find the 4.6 in - fleet service in Taxi's, police cars, etc... It is a very decent engine with a very good reliability track record. They were designed so that nearly all of them should reach the 150,000 mark with now problems.

Anyways, Good Luck!

 

I just bought a 97 F150 with 4.6L and thought the motor would last a while, considering the work I have done on crown vics with 150,000 miles. These cars are driven daily and driven hard, but run like a top. My dad has also had two expeditions and one F150 w/ 5.4's with no problems. But now my motor has a rap with 94,000 miles and they say the bearings are gone and I need to either rebuild or replace. My 1988 had the indestructable 4.9L and she is still running strong at 120kmiles and probably still has another 100k more. My truck was a one owner truck and is in very good shape (minus some off-road scratches and a couple of small dents) but maybe the owner just beat on the motor. Possible I have a rare one of a bad bunch?? Just my two cents!!

 

My 97 Lariat 4.6 has 71,000 miles now w/ no problems & I plan on keeping it for atleast another 100,000 miles w/ no problems -- its a great truck!

 

I have had three 5.4's but my wife's Expedition only has 65,000 miles on it so far. But they are trouble free miles. I have an F-250 LD with the 5.4 and pull some heavy loads with zero problems. I have 40,000 miles on that one.

I did however ride in a 97 F-150 owned by a hotshot driver. It had 326,000 miles running Shell dino oil changed every 7,000 miles. The only problem he had was the right real axle went out at 181,000 miles. Bear in mind that these are pure highway miles. But still, that ain't bad!

Also, my father in law is a chief deputy with the local Sheriffs dept. Most of their older crown vics with the 4.6 are all over 150,000 miles.

 

My 1997 (made in 1996) 4.6l now has 102,000 and I have only had to replaced the altinator. I have some piston slap that has been there from the beginning with no problem. I have a friend who works for Ford Truck Service at a local dealer and says these engines are bullet proof. They have fleet vehicles comming in with 300,000 miles on them. I've gotten my moneys worth already. Hope to keep it for many more miles.

 

i have an 00' 5.4 and 42,000 on it after a year and a half of owning it.i drive it like a race truck every time i get in it and i've had no problems with the engine,only with a few squeaks in the rear suspension.it still runs just like it did the first time i drove it off the lot.i've used fram filters every time i change the oil(between 5 and 3,000 miles) and castrol 10-40 syntec(until i found out it wasn't a real synthetic)and mobil 1 15-50 since then.

 

Hey Guys,
My 1998 F150 has almost 40000 miles on it and
it has run perfect since day one. I just
discovered the door crack, but I'm ok with that.
What I'm getting too is that if you change the oil
at 3000 and just stay on top of maintenence, there
is no reason why you should not hit the 200,000
mile mark. My uncle Butch almost hit 500,000 on
his 302 F150, Same engine but 2nd tranny...
Alot of that has to do with him being too cheap
to buy a new one...
He has a new one now...
Good Luck