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Gather round O ye Experts: 4.6 L ford V-8 head work

skyking

skyking

Lifer
Wife's friend has a 1998 F-150 that is going through water, and has tossed a code that indicates a possible cracked head or blown head gasket.
She gets advice that this engine is a real PITA to do head work on, because of OHC timing. She gets advice to do an engine instead, $1900 plus the swap.
I am calling BS on the valve train being that bad to set up, but my first stop was here with the gurus of automotive. I know many of you have been or are mustang enthusiasts and can offer me some firsthand experiences with it.
What say ye, O experts of the infernal combustion engine?
I am clearly not afraid to tear it down and repair it. I just don't want to waste my time and her money.
 
Yes, they are a pain to work on. I worked at a Ford dealer for years, and they were not popular engines with the motor guys.

1900 is a pretty darn good deal for a complete engine....plus, it's a 98? How many miles are on it? I'd be very hesitant to go into an engine that old, anyway. I can just about guarantee you'll be opening up a can of worms.
 
Is the 5.4 a bolt-up to the tranny? Might have to deal with different mounts/wiring, but I've heard more than a few people make that move.
 
Arkaign said:
Is the 5.4 a bolt-up to the tranny? Might have to deal with different mounts/wiring, but I've heard more than a few people make that move.
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The 5.4 is a bolt up to everything, including the computer. Even the heads are interchangeable.

The only thing you need is a different intake manifold or adapters to use your current manifold.

Lots of crown vic guys go that route, and it should be easier in an f-150 as the larger engine will probably fit no problem.

In my experience, the 4.6 is a pretty easy motor to work on. The biggest issue is that it's time consuming to get the valve covers off in my town car because of how far back in the engine bay the motor sits.
 
Arkaign said:
Ah, found some info on it :

http://www.f150online.com/forums/articles-how-tos/355403-4-6-5-4-swap-notes.html

Doesn't sound all that bad really, compared to a lot of swaps. Mostly smallish stuff that's not hard when you've already got everything out and ready to go.

If the pricing is similar, I think it'd be a winner. If you get a steal on a 4.6 though, maybe just skip.
Click to expand...
That's what I'm talking about😀

Thanks man, that opens up another set of options for her.
She tows a small TT, so the increased torque of the 5.4 would be welcome.
 
LordMorpheus said:
The 5.4 is a bolt up to everything, including the computer. Even the heads are interchangeable.

The only thing you need is a different intake manifold or adapters to use your current manifold.

Lots of crown vic guys go that route, and it should be easier in an f-150 as the larger engine will probably fit no problem.

In my experience, the 4.6 is a pretty easy motor to work on. The biggest issue is that it's time consuming to get the valve covers off in my town car because of how far back in the engine bay the motor sits.
Click to expand...

Not so sure about the 5.4 bolting up to EVERYTHING.....The 5.4 has a coil on each cylinder....Don't believe the 4.6 does...I think it has a centrally-located coil pack with plug wires. I know it did on the cars. Now, if you got a complete engine with everything on it, you'd be good to go, but if you simply buy a long block 5.4, you're going to have to do some adapting.
 
Pac is correct. The detailed guide above notes a lot of little details relating to the coils/different years and the oddities you encounter when doing the 4.6 to 5.4 swap. Overall not bad, but not exactly plug and play other than the main tranny bolts and motor mounts. There are some extra steps depending on model year, like the PATS system disable, etc. Still sounds a helluva lot easier than going from say OBD1 1.6 to ODB2 2.2 with a Honda for example.
 
Need to stay with the same generation engine/computer for the easiest time swapping. EEC IV, etc. You'll have the best luck going with a 5.4 that came with the same generation computer for the proper ignition controller, crank/cam sensor layout, etc. Each progressive revision added support for newer things like OBD II, coil on plug, returnless fuel system, flash programming, etc, topping out with the EEC V, and crossing over different generation engines and computers would be slightly.. erm.. challenging.

4.6 and 5.4 themselves are nearly identical aside from some minor obvious things, like being a stroker with a taller deck with wider intake, among other physical things. Other than that most all major parts are interchangeable. There is a reason they call it the *modular* engine family. 🙂
 
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The link Arkaign posted was very good in that regard, and the author preferred the 99 engine because it combined several good traits.
 
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