I have a 97 with the 5.4l. Really like the truck but I did have a sparkplug blow out. Had to have a specialty shop rethread/maybe used some special fitting to fix it at maybe 125k miles. Changed all the ignition coils at around 115k miles. That was not fun. Around 140k, and only drive it maybe 2k miles a year now.Some (many?) years of the 4.6l and 5.4l have exhaust manifold stud issues where the stud breaks and then you get a crack between the manifold and the block which can result in fumes in the passenger compartment and increased noise. Listen carefully for ticks or more on cold start. The crack tends to close fairly quickly (at least to some degree) as the manifold and block heat up. This is a very expensive repair due to labor and is no fun to do yourself. My parents had 2003 and 2008 4.6ls that suffered from this to some degree the 2003 was worse. Maybe ok to ignore in a minimally used truck though. The 5.4l three valves have cam phaser failures (this doesn't seem to impact the 3v 4.6l to nearly the same degree or perhaps they are just a lot less common I don't know). Also I believe certain years of both the 4.6l and 5.4l have issues with the sparkplugs blowing out the head. And some later models stuffer from the reverse problem where the spark plugs break off in the head when you are trying to remove them. This should be less of an issue these days as there have been some engineering changes to the plugs over the years so hopefully at this point most have been replaced with upgraded plugs.I would get the 4.6. The 5.4 is a real gas guzzler.Are there any Ford-specific problem areas to watch out for? Any opinions on *which* V8?Find a 1999-2004 F150, V8. One of the most dependable trucks ever.
No issues I’m aware of.
Statistics: Posted by Carl53 — Mon Aug 05, 2024 2:22 pm — Replies 60 — Views 4705