gooeydwarf

im new to this site, but im familair with forums. i have used many to fix cars. i have a question for everyone and i mean eveyone. i have a 2001 f150 larait its 4x4 and 5.4l i just scored this truck for 900$ but not running i was told it spun a bearing but noy biggy... then i got to lookin troubleshooting if that was the real prblem. come to find out this kid must have threw a rod or somethin n broke a big ol hole in the block with again no biggy get a junk yard engine swap no problem but i have been lookin n reading n talking to ppl and i am told to make sure i get an L code block because it is different then the one without 4x4 option... so pretty much wanting to know does this matter or could i go get just a 5.4 outta a 2x4 f150? or could i even swap in a whole diffent engine maybe newer even more fuel efficient or power. well thanks leave as much imput as possible

Cmanjr

There is no difference between the 2wd and 4wd truck motors. Just go get a motor out of a 99-03 truck and swap it in. There is not one single difference between the motors.

2003XLT

I'll tell you what. If it was me I would act like that truck was a blank slate I would restore that truck and do what I could do to protect from rust and rot. Then I would slap an L code 5.4 and rebuild it so the trucks brand new and will last you a good amount of time

Cmanjr

What does the L code stand for

meb

cmanjr, is it 99-03 or 97-03?

Cmanjr

From 97 through 98 ford used non PI motors (non performance increased) and these motors differ from the 99-03 motors which are the PI motors (performance increased). The 99-03 block I think also had one extra sensor being a knock sensor IIRC. I'm not 100% sure on that extra sensor. But the blocks are just about identical if not completely identical from 97/98 and 99-03 motors. The 97/98 motors also had flat top Pistons while the 99-03 motors had a slight dish in the Pistons, but the 99-03 motors had better flowing and better performing cylinder heads hence why they're called PI motors.

2003XLT

There was 2 types of 5.4 liter motors

The "L" is an engine code which is found in upwards of 70% of all 5.4 motors

Bifuel "z" coded engines are designed to run on either e85 or regular unleaded fuel
(and I believe a cng-lng motor was available for order I may be making it up but for some reason I wanna say it's a real thing haha)


The only trucks that came with the flex fuel or cng optioned 5.4 was the 7700 GVWR f150 they were fleet trucks

The most common motor in these trucks is the "L" engine code 5.4 regular unleaded fuel motor or the 5.4 v8 SOHC 16V F1 engine

Cmanjr

Ahh okay. I knew my truck had an L code motor but I forgot what it the codes stood for

meb

cmanjr, thanks, you know a bit more detail about these engines than I do, which is cool! I try to help where I can. I'm bit of a motor head as obvious as most of use are...other than ford fix it on my 2000 f150 (still running strong) I have a 65 (25 years) and 70 Chevelle (10 years) that I restored that rock. Most of my major engine work is chevy although I have done extensive Ford truck "typical" repair (can't afford the dealers . Seriously, nice to meet you all over the Internet!!!!!

Cmanjr

Glad to help, and I do know some stuff about these ford modular motors but I've still got lots to learn. Some people here who know a whole lot more about these ford modulars are [MENTION=99584]ibd2328[/MENTION] [MENTION=113]Jbrew[/MENTION] [MENTION=76842]Carcrazygts2[/MENTION]

You should show a pic of your cars man, sound like sweet rides! I know a lot of info about these ford modulars that may help me in the future but I consider myself to not know a whole lot about them. I know some basics and major things about them and general info on them that could help someone like yourself in your current situation. If you need to know anything else just ask and we'll be glad to help or you can search the forum to see if you can find a thread with the info you're looking for. Glad to help you man. And yeah those dealerships are more of stealerships it seems haha.