New truck questions

About all I can come up with says they are fairly reliable engines. I bought a 2003 F150 a year ago with the 5.4L. In the past there was an issue with plugs blowing out. Most seem to believe this is related to improper torquing of new plugs, although some seem to have been plugs that were never removed. The newer heads seem to have fixed this problem (mid 2003 models and up) by increasing the number of threads in the spark plug hole.

As for the short piston and long stroke. These engines are known to develop some piston slap over time, particularly when cold. I have yet to see any data that says this is actually causing damage. Of course, I don't see any real proof that it isn't either. Mine has not developed this yet, but I suspect it will. The biggest problem that I can see from the piston slap is reduced resell value when someone hears the noise.

Charles Perry P.E.

My F150 with the 5.4 has 40k on it and is solid as a rock so far. 16 mpg in town and sometimes over 20 on the road. Pulled a 4500 lbs trailer on several trips with it - maybe 7500 miles total - and so far no problems at all. I'm told Ward's Automotive lists the 5.4 as one of the world's ten best engines - if that is worth anything.

As for the live axles on the super duties: my brand new F350 4WD (with the heavier suspension for the slide-in camper package) rides as good if not better than the 2001 F150. You will get some hop if you hit a sharp bump in a curve due to the amount of unsprung mass. But the new ones are so different than they were just a couple of years ago in terms of ride quality you would not believe they are almost the same suspension.

Good luck.

hello al,

i can't tell you about longeveity, these are new design 5.4's but i highly recommend buying your vehicle through costco, if your a member they hook you up with a local dealer and you get a no haggle price through them.

enjoy

Al, I will let you know as soon as mine arrives. It is due from the factory as day now.

2004 F-250 5.4L, Manual transmission, 4X4, Regular Cab, long bed in Wedgwood Blue :-) I bought one for its simplicity and ruggedness.

Michelle

Big Al wrote:

Michelle -

Let us know how you like the 250 with the 5.4L. Looking at some for company trucks but not sure if the 5.4 would have enough performance. Would love to go that route as they have to get better mpg than the V10's.

Thanks

Don

We've had one since 2000. Not quite as much hp as a new one. It's a Lariat F-250 crew 4x4 with a 5.4 5-speed. Needless to say it was special ordered. It gets about 17 mpg empty and 13 or 14 pulling a car-hauler. I never pull anything all that heavy. 6000 pounds tops. The drivetrain is well worth the $zero I paid. I have no regrets. We live in the mountains, which makes a difference. If you have a really heavy trailer, you wouldn't like it, but the new 3-valve 5.4 with an automatic would handle a trailer even better.

The 5.4 in the F250 is 2 valve right? I think only the new F150 has the 3 valve engine.

Al

I see some of you have a 2004 with manual transmission. From what I've read from Ford, only auto is available. How do you get the manual?

Thanks

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Manual is only available on 250 and 350 trucks, not 2004 F-150. This thread is about the F-250 so a manual is available but the 3 valve 5.4L is not...yet.

Charles Perry P.E.

2004 Ford F150 Heritage Edition is still available with manual transmission. The "New" F150 is not.

Al

I understand that they are going to be putting the 3-valve 5.4L's in the SD's as soon as they get caught up with production. Also, I hear that there is a 3 valve head coming out for the V-10 - which really ought to be something to see! And, to top things off, they have some new plans for the

6.0 PS for 2005 - no details yet - but you know they have to do something to beat the output of the new Duramax! And I just bought a 2004 - damn!

Don

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Don't buy a 250 or 350 pickup with the 6.0 diesel. We've learned that they are having serious troubles with fuel delivery on that new engine and do not have it solved as yet. The old 7.3 diesel was replaced by this 6.0 and is not, as yet, reliable.

Do you have proof the 2004 models are still experiencing problems?

AFAIK any 6.0L PS diesel built after April 2003 has had these problems fixed...it was a problem with the injectors. From what I understand, Ford never issued a recall on the problematic injectors...I think they just planned to fix them as they came up, as long as the engine was still under warranty...out of warranty, the owner is SOL...

• * * Matt Macchiarolo
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good luck with the new truck.. i'm jealous..

Yes, a close friend had the fuel delivery problems, took it to the dealer twice, with no fix. They loaned him an identical truck with the same 6.0 diesel and it failed to start after warming up. He got a trade out to another vehicle without the engine and is happy. This happened very recently.