How can I tell if I have the original eng? I would like to find out if it was changed due to piston slap or something else.

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1997 XLT Teal 4.6L Flareside 4x4 ORP. Automatic, Reg. cab, 3.55LS, tinted windows, bug deflector, Dual exhaust, K&N Generation 2 air filter, BullDog keyless entry/remote start(installed myself), Modern 16" wheels, bedliner, Covercraft tonneau cover, White faced gauges, electronic shift on the fly, Clarion ADX5655z Double Din Cassette & CD, 4 Pioneer TS-A6865 speakers and superchip. Going to add headers.

 

I don't suppose you'd be lucky enough to still have the paper label on the driver side valve cover, would you? They show the date of manufacture of the engine assembly.

 

Give a local dealer's service department your VIN # and they can pull up truck's service history if the repair was performed at the dealer.

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97 XLT S/C Long Bed 2wd, 4.6 Romeo, 4R70W trans, 201,000 miles

 

the problem is with the 5.4s and V10s
If I have this right it goes
the 5.4's and V10's have a floating wrist pin in the connecting rod
there was a problem with the tolerence
on the piston
the 4.6's have a pressed pin wrist pin and they don't have the problem
I know i've seen a couple of posts were people with the 4.6s say they have piston slap
but the bulk of the problem is with the 5.4 & V10s engines



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99 XLT SC 4x4 STYLESIDE ORP 5.4,AUTO & 3.73 POSI
MED. TOREADOR RED
EXTANG TONEAU,BED MAT,
K&N FILTER & WOOD DASH KIT

 

4.6, 5.4, 6.8 have full floating pistion pins, more common to slap on 5.4 and 6.8 due to the fact that they have the same stroke (longer than 4.6), wich increases the side thrust on the piston more than compared to a 4.6, thus they are more likely to rattle, ford updated the pistons by offsetting the piston pin to try and offset the amount of thrust on the major thrust side of the piston, mind u some people on here still say they are getting pistion rattle, so who knows.