skydmark1

Hey there fellow Ford fans. Tomorrow I'm going to look at a 2004 Ford F150 Ex-cab XLT 5.4L. The last ford I owned was a 95 F150 so I'm not as familiar with these later models.

I'm wondering what the weak points are on these trucks that I should be looking for. Particularly up here in the Salt belt. I know about the 5.4 problems so I'll be sure to give the engine a good listen. It's only got 100K miles on it so I'm hoping all is well there.

Any frame issues on these? Parts of the body prone to rusting more than others? Anything else I should be concerned with. I'm going to give it a good look over but just would like to know about any areas to concentrate on. The stealership says they can probably get me the payment I'm looking for but we'll see. They just got it in this weekend and don't even have it priced yet.

powerranger262

Look around the gas cap cover for rust. Some of the 04s came with staked u joints, so when you go to replace them, you end up having to buy a new driveshaft. It's the dumbest thing I've ever seen.



Otherwise, they have the same issues as the rest of them. Listen for ticking manifolds, and make sure the 4wd is operating. There is a fuel pump driver module on the cross member, above the spare tire. They rot out, and leave you stranded. You drop the spare, and there is a black box that should be pulled off to take a look at the backside. They corrode, and water gets into the electronics. They are around $90 for the newly designed one, so if you can get the seller to replace it, more power to ya.

Patrick Boehm

7/15/2011 71890 New rear tires 0
7/17/2011 71930 floor mats 20
7/26/2011 72090 key, code for door 69
7/26/2011 72090 lens for box light 95
8/15/2011 72350 new shocks rear 124
9/2/2011 73550 seems noisy in 0
9/14/2011 73744 new noise?! 37.5
9/17/2011 73842 noise from right front wheel 862 (actuator 4 wheel drive)
9/23/2011 73850 engine noise, cam phasers 1262
9/23/2011 73850 spark plugs 535
11/14/2011 75200 tonneau cover 275
5/27/2012 79115 new engine belt 41
6/15/2012 79345 ball joint, rotors surface, 824
8/4/2012 80856 replace front rotors 80
8/6/2012 80941 replace rear rotors 120
4/17/2013 86252 noise from left front, see note 1596.12
(couple things done here, actuator issue driver front, seal leaking between transfer case and transmission).
6/30/2014 95940 installed VCT solenoids 194

Not all repairs obviously, but you can see that you will need to do maintenance, like all machines require. Get a repair history. I am at 100600 miles now. All is good currently.