Btimbit

Hey guys

Grabbed an F-150 the other day for use as a winter/second vehicle.

'04 FX4 Supercab w/ the 3v 5.4L. 300 000kms on it, previous owner just had a new tranny put in last fall. Originally intended to be a cheap temporary vehicle, but I love the thing so much so far I might just keep it until it blows or getting a bigger trailer forces me into a powerstroke.

Anyway, a few questions. Are there any weak points on this engine I should address? I've changed the oil, oil filter, air filter and fuel filter. T-stat is stuck open so I'll change that tomorrow with a complete coolant flush. Probably take care of the fluid in both diffs and the transfer case one of these days as well. Anything prone to failure I should take care of?

Didn't notice it until I got home, but the cam phasers make it sound like a diesel. I've done lots of reading on the details, cause and repair of the problem, but one thing I haven't seen a solid answer on is whether or not it's a big deal. Does it negatively affect anything or is it just noisy? Ideally I like my vehicles running absolutely perfectly, but it's a second vehicle so I can put up with the sound. However if she's about to blow or really drags down fuel economy I'll look at fixing it one of these weekends.

Thanks in advance and looking forward to being a member of his community.

PyramidsRs

If the sound isn't too bad then don't worry about it for the time being. Once it gets rather loud and sounds a bit violent or the volume of the sound worries you, get or fixed. If you leave it be log enough once it gets bad you could end up floating valves and needing a new engine. People have also reported having to change rocker arms as well due to excessive wear. It can be an expensive fix though, I was quoted about $2400 for parts and labour when I inquired about it on a truck I was looking to buy. If you do it youyourself you will need a special tool and it's very time consuming. Best of luck with what you decide to do.

07scab4x4

One thing thats prone to failure by corrosion is the fuel pump module located abouve the spare tire on a cross brace, the back of it gets corroded pretty good, a simple fix is to dismount it, clean the back and give it a once over with some paint for protection and space it away from the mounting point.....i used just a pair of washers on each mount between it and the frame cross member, also check out how dirty the throttle body is and clean it after taking it off of the engine, definitely noticed better throttle response when i did mine at 125k. and i regularly clean my MAF sensore due to running a k&n with frequent jaunts in the dirt. just my .02 cents bud
congrats on the truck and welcome to the forum bud!!

Btimbit

Thanks guys.

It's pretty loud, I might just see what my schedule is like and tackle it if I have a weekend free over the next few weeks.