Just curious to hear from those folks who are happy with their 4.6L engines on their Supercrews. Seems like most of the posted threads I've read are down on the 4.6L, especially when compared to the 5.4L. Yet the 4.6L appear to be a much more popular option than the 5.4L, especially when you look at the owner's surveys posted elsewhere in this website.

My personal experience has been very positive. I have a 2002 4.6L (Windsor) Supercrew with the 3.55 back end. I purchased it in November of 2001, and in less than a year I have 36,400 miles on it without the first bit of trouble. So I have a lot of "experience" with it so far.

My gas mileage runs between 17.5 and 19 mpg with mostly country highway driving.

I tow a 22'4" cuddy cabin boat on a tandem axle (about 4500 lbs) and a 23' TT with dual axles (about 4000 lbs) with absolutely no difficulty whatever. I travel easily at highway speed, without excessive downshifting on grades (I do turn off the overdrive, however, when I tow). Pulling the boat and trailer out of the water on ramps is no difficulty either.

Is my experience unusual, or are there a lot of other silent but satisfied folks with their 4.6L setups? If so, I'd like to hear about your positive experiences as well, if there are any.

 

I chose the regular smily face to say i am mostly satisfied with my 4.6L. I have no troubles with power, gets me around quite well, gas milage is acceptable for a V-8 and no real bad troubles with the engine. But, and you knew there was going to be a but in here, this damn PING has got me so mad! WTF! I drive a police interceptor 4.6L @ work with no PING, also several Expeditions at work with the 5.4L, no PING there, i dont get it, i wish i knew of a way to cure my PING and make for an absolute "perfect" truck, but as for now, it will do.

 

no real problems except for weak coils at 52000 and plugs,dripping water off a/c line into #4,rattling alternator...other wise just as fine as any

 

I've got 55K miles on my 4.6L which I will have 5 years at the end of this month. Truck is a '98 4x2 w/3.55 rear and auto tranny. Only engine problems I have experienced are a slightly rough idle and pinging. I installed an K&N breather kit at 36K miles and pinging continued. I have been burning 89 octane for about the last year which has pretty much eliminated the pinging.

I figure some of my pinging is caused by short trip driving. I only live about 2.5 miles from work so the engine doesn't get thoroughly heat soaked on alot of drives.

What is this I've been seeing about EGR valve problems with these engines?

 

No problems here either. I have had to do some maintennace for other items (I guess in the grand scheme of things . . . nothing MAJOR) but I've been happy with the engine.

Has adequate power for what I need, runs great, decent mileage and pretty much bulletproof.

Now the but . . . if I were to buy again, I'd go for the 5.4. While the 4.6 has been great for me, I'm confident the 5.4 would do the exact same but have that much more grunt for towing heavier loads. Not that the 5.4 is required for what I need, but it is a pretty cheap option given the price of the vehicle. You can't have too much power . . . especially in an extra cab 4x4 like my truck. The 4.6 gets the job done faithfully but there is not much room to play with so to speak. I think the 5.4 would be an awesome engine in an extra cab 4x4 as opposed to an excellent engine in the 4.6.

 

No complaints at all with my 4.6L. I have 97' regular cab 4x4 with 37000 mi on it. It may not be the fastest truck but I have no problems keeping up with traffic and passing at highyway speeds.I dont have any pinging or any other problems at all. For off road use I have plenty of low end grunt to climb hills with little effort. In fact I have found that friends of mine with chevy trucks with the 5.3 and I think its the 4.7 V8 have to really rev there engines to climb the same hills that I do without even breaking a sweat. Sure the 5.4 would be nice cause its allways nice to have a little more power but the 4.6L pulls its weight just fine for me.

 

I've had my 97 4.6L F150 for over 6 years now. It now has 99,105 miles on it. I've had absolutely no problems since I've owned it. It's been babied the whole time. I've taken care of all the scheduled maintainance since the beginning and am firmly convinced it's the very reason it still runs strong.

 

I haven't had any problems with my 4.6L, but I would like to have more power as I would with a 5.4L. My girlfriends dad has a '99 5.4L and he gets better gas mileage than I do with my 4.6L, which I thought the 4.6L was supposed to do better in. I love my truck, but next time I'm gonna upgrade to a 5.4L or possibly into a powerstroke.

 

I had 2 4.6l's, and they are nice engines. Just the 5.4l has more get-up-and-go to it, which is always welcome.

 

I have a 2002 4.6L Screw with 9000 mile, no problems, great engine. Best highway mileage 22 mpg. It does seem that the people with the 4.6L who want more power want the 5.4L, the people who have the 5.4L want more power with modes, and those with that want the Lightning, and those with that want modes so that the Lightning isn’t too slow, and so on. Anything is underpowered once you get used to it. Drove my last truck 184,000 miles, no major engine work (still running, gave it to my nephew), looking for +200,000 from my Screw.

 

Our 99 with 4.6L now has 34,000 miles. No pings, no problems at all. The only wrench ever laid on this engine was valve covers re-torqued & heater hose clamp tightened (under warranty).

My previous employer has a 97 S/C with 4.6L. It has 200,000 miles of flawless service. 1997 S/C had tune-up @ 102,000 and 175,000 miles. It has all orginal engine components (including orginal battery, starter & water pump). This truck was built in May of 1996 in Norfolk, VA.

 

2 4.6's in the family, one with 161,000mi. and the other with 15,885mi..

 

I have a 97' Scab with 4.6 and 43000 miles I love it. I only tow a 4000 lb. 20' runabout (usually no more that 250 miles per trip), and I have not had any complaints. I even like the amount of pep that I have while towing. Best fuel economy 23 mpg. (with a tail wind going to Toronto) Worse, 9 mpg when my sensors failed on the caletic (sp) convertor, I usually average 17 mpg.

 

I think my 4.6 does really good for the gears it has. I have the 3.08's and with a 18 Ranger boat behind it, it has to work, but my best mileage is 21 and that was not all highway. No ping, no noises, slightly rough idle at times. The 4.6 is a good half ton engine, nothing more should be needed in a halfton truck. The 5.4 is a good superduty engine, the horses don't feel that much different but the 5.4 makes a little more power down low. I think the horses are around 220 and the torque is 295 on the new
4.6's. Does anyone know the numbers on the 5.4?

 

Regarding the horsepower ratings of the new (2002) engines, the 4.6L Triton has 231 horses, and the the 5.4 Triton has 255 hp and 350 ft. lbs. of torque, according to the 2002 sales brochure.

I had read or heard that both of these engines received a horsepower boost for the model year 2002 and up, compared to 2001 and earlier.

Perhaps that's the reason why I have found my 4.6L to be perfectly adequate for the towing and uses I have used my truck for!