Have any of you had trouble with your 5.4? Son was driving it last friday evening. Engine died. No visible signs of trouble(gauges) or ugly sounds till the serpentine belt started slipping and squealing.Engine seems to be locked up. Levels on oil and coolant are good. Engine about quart low but is standard as its time to change oil. Not even close to being a mechanic. Just wanted to know if anyone else has had trouble with the 5.4 THe engine has 82K on it as a 2001 .Oil changes not as frequent as they should be but not real abusive. Can anyone out there lend any info or advice. Dont find any water on the dipstick and all levels are good. HELP :confused: :( :(

 

It may not be as bad as you think..

Sounds like maybe something driven from the serpintine belt locked up.. If it was squeelin, then the engine was driving the belt, while one of the accessories was frozen..
Power Steering pump, alternator, AC, (is water pump belt driven?)

Something to try: remove the belt, and see if the engine will run. (don't try to drive it like this). If it runs, see which belt driven item is locked up..

 

Bess- appreciate ur reply. The engine wont turn over. Had a mechanic come look at it at the house and he tried to turn it over by hand using a ratchet and couldnt get it to turn over.

 

texstar..........I would definately remove the serpentine belt as RBess suggested and see what happens.If your mechanic did this before he tried to turn it over by hand I appoligize,but I can tell you from experience that you want to be sure before pulling the motor.I hate to admit it,but I did a complete tear down on a 350 chevy that was "locked up".Tore it down to a bare block,and couldn't find what had it locked.Started scratching my head and re-checking parts. Picked up the alternator,and guess what.Locked up tight.Felt like an idiot then, and still do when I think about it.If you already did this again I appoligize,but if he didn't remove the belt he would stand less of a chance turning it over than the starter itself would.

Good Luck.............FRF

 

thanx fan- will check it out. The battery was dead , boy I would really be upsettearin it down and something simple like that. Dont know if the mechanic had the belt off before he tried to turn it but I know its off the pulleys now . WIll check the alternator , like I said the battery was bad when I first tried to start it. Gonna whisper one of those silent prayers and go check it
THanx again , heres hopin

 

well , the pulley truns free on the alternator so I dont guess that was the culprit. Guess my luck is comin thru. I think I could find a truck load of gold and they would start takin tennis shoes for the world standard. Dont guess anyone else has had the same problems. That s good I guess. WIll get it to a shop and find out tomorrow. Fraid its going to be sad talkin and slow walkin

 

Good luck texstar. Don't blame you on the oil. Who wants to change the oil and filter every three weeks?

 

Dont know so much about want to change as much as time. Obviously when u put that many miles on ur behind the wheel most of the time. I run a commercial hunting operation and about 6 months of the year we are working 16-20hrs a day attending to clients. The truck has been awesome in performance under VERRY harsh conditions. Made a lot of folks change their minds about FORDS and I was certainly impressed with what the 150 handled . I had been in powerstroke F250 s before but couldnt take the pounding the things give u on the rough ranch roads. I know sales people that are on the road all their lives and change oil in their vehicle once or twice in a 100k vehicle. If the engine tolerances of the new vehicles are designed so close on the new vehicles maybe they need to program a function in like the breathalizer in some . If the oil needs changing it wont crank . Im really not impressed with the engineering nightmares we are driving and spending 30K+ for. I tried to pull the plugs on the
truck yesterday evening and that was really a joke. U almost have to pull the engine.