I am wondering if I could replace my 4.6 with a 5.4 for a reasonable amount of money.
I called a graveyard, but they told me that the two engines use two different part numbers for the transmission.
I thought the 4.6 and the 5.4 are suppose to be "modular".
Or is there an easier way to get 5.4 performance.

 

Hi. I don't know about the trannies, just thought I'd let you knoe I saw a 2000 5.4 Triton on E-bay last week for around $1200. It might be still there. It was unused and in the crate. He has them from time to time if you miss this one.

 

I have the 5.4 but a friend of mine has essentially the same truck with the 4.6 and it drives very well. There's some difference on the low end compared to my truck but I've done a fair amount to my truck as opposed to his stock configuration. He regularly tows a 4000+ pound travel trailer and has no problems. He's using everything stock, no chip, exhaust, intake mods or anything. I did my mods to better my gas mileage and help towing capacity since I do a lot of highway driving towing a 14' cargo trailer.

What are you trying to accomplish ? Enhancing towing capacity or just the need for speed ?

Check out the various forums in the engine message board. Lots of people doing lot of fairly straight forward things that are reasonably cost effective. Start with an aftermarket exhaust, Y-pipe and air intake like the K&N FIPK or one of the other nice home-brew mods folks have done. You'll be surprised at what 4-5 hundred bucks can do, I definitely was. Not only will you save a bunch of bucks but if your truck is running good why do an engine swap and take a risk that the motor you're putting may have 'issues' with it that are not visible on the surface...

Eduk8er, the 5.4 is still on eBay. It's $1299 + $25 for the crate and $175 for shipping. I've seen his posts before and it he sells all kinds of engines and parts. Looks like it's a complete block, unused, with all covers, etc, but no ignition, injectors, throttle body, alternator... I have no idea why there would be different engine numbers for different trannys. I can see different torque converter housings with different hole patterns to adapt different engines to the various trans options but a different engine number ? Sounds to me like the bone-yard may not have accurate information...

 

Woahhh... New development...

Look under the thread "Anyone know where to get a bracket to mount an aux hyd pump?" in the engine forum. Neal, who contributes quite a bit, says that the 5.4 and 4.6 blocks are different. The deck height is taller on the 5.4, which means that the distance between each of the decks is wider, which probably means that you cannot swap out the 5.4 and 4.6 blocks if you bought the engine from the guy on eBay. Looks like you would probably need to get a complete engine to do your swap since at least some of the accessories on the engine will not transfer over. Looks like the engine swap route would be a lot more expensive than it seems at first glance...

Just saw this after I posted my 2-cents-worth and thought you'd find it informative...

 

Briguy, what tranny do you have? I run the 4.6 with a 5 speed and I figure my horses to the rear wheels are close to a 5.4 with an auto...simply put, no torque converter to go through and loose 30 horses or so.

 

you can put the 5.4 in your truck, but you will need to get the PCM and the trans wiring harness for the 5.4. they are different, will have to have your local dealer reprogram the new PCM. even though the engines are modular, they are slightly different due to the 5.4's taller block, that's how the get more cu. in. out of it. the accessories(a/c compressor, alt, p/s pump) can be used on the 5.4. but the intake manifold is different, you have to make sure you have an intake manifold for the 5.4. you will also need the 5.4 EGR tube. you are better off staying with the 4.6 and modifying it.