iRub1Out

Well.. that $4,100 is "business to business" pricing. It retails for just under $5100.
It's NOT the 07-09 motor! It's the "new, improved" design so they say. It has an oversized cam and "locked" phasers that eliminate the noise issue we all have heard of, and also eliminates the possibility of the phasers doing what they did here...seizing.

Bottom line of all of this is... The motor is tired as hell. It cant climb an interstate hill in OD at 70 mph without dropping to 60, TC unlocks just to keep up with NO LOAD. Everything else? The 4x4 is perfect, suspension is brand new, tranny is solid, and no rust or other cosmetic imperfections. The interior is fine with a small rip in the drivers seat....
The truck is perfectly fine, and is otherwise capable of going another "lifetime" IMO. If I can spend a few thousand bucks and keep the old girl, I'm going to do it. Besides, a few thousand bucks is a whole lot easier to come up with than an extra $500+/month for a new truck.

That's how I'm looking at it.

rockymtnrider

"New and improved design"? I was really hoping they would just sell a newer one. I agree with your theory that a few thousand now is better than $500 a month. I was planning on spending an extra $5,000 when I found the one I bought. Good luck Zipper. Let us know how the swap goes.

iRub1Out

Yeah, New and Improved or Latest and greatest.... Those were the terms used by the dealer or reman company. Basically... the 04-06 system sucks, and will fail sooner or later completely resulting in motor failure. In the 07-early09 models the system was changed in a way that is absolutely NOT compatible with a 04-06 set up. I asked 2 dealers and the reman company WHY it wouldn't work and none of them could come up with a reason why, but were sure it just wouldn't for one reason or another.

However there is a silver lining... I found Jasper Motors, and they have the reman 5.4L that has been redesigned to THEIR specs and NOT Ford's. They use a racing cam instead of an OEM cam making the noise obsolete, and the phaser issue completely solved. They can't fail, or go bad, they wont tick and knock! He claims that the injectors are aftermarket so they no longer tick...anyway moving on... They took the POS 5.4L from the 04-06 and figured out how to solve the obvious "this pisses me off" issues that we all hate about these engines. They are a bit spendy compared to the dealer but if it means it wont tick, fail, or resemble a powerstroke, I'm effing game! I'll take pix of the process along the way for fun.

jhelrey

Never had issues with anything Jasper... Plus a great warranty.

LUVmyDUX

WTF?...Jasper can figure out how to fix or improve all the annoying issues with the 5.4 but Ford could not? Wow, this disappoints me.

Big Screen D

I'd be sorely tempted to just replace the VCT and see if it fires up.

MADPIRAHNA

Yeah love jasper, got a tranny from them.

BolletuH

Actually now that you mention it a truck with 180k miles isn't really worth rebuilding in my opinion. I would suggest going for a new truck because you have to remember all the other bits and pieces that are completely worn down, and at this point it will become a huge money hog.

iRub1Out

Perhaps, yes... I'm trying to weigh pro's and con's with either side of the situation. I understand that I would simply be better off getting a new/newer truck, but we'll have to see about $$. I cant sell this as it is, if I tried I MIGHT get 300-400 at a junk yard. Nobody else would want it in it's current state.

BolletuH

True but sometimes you gotta count your loses and walk away. That's happened to me a time or two, and it sucks but you just gotta build back up.