Ace9313

Hey guys,

newto the forums and new ford owner here, been a chevy guy all my life but when my suburban bit the dust the 04-08 F150s looks and my budget made me switch to ford.

so i just pulled the trigger on an 08 fx4 with 99k miles. it runs great quiet engine might have a slight tick but nothing compared to the roaring agony of my old chevy.

anyways i see all these horror stories online about how these 5.4L are horrid, the cam phasers fail costing thousands in repairs the plugs break and so on.

did i make a mistake buying this truck? should i head the warnings and run to the dealer and trade this in for a reliable chevy? is there anything i can do to avoid major repairs before 200k miles? all my chevys have lasted 200K plus, its common practace for the chevy 5.3L to last at least 200K so this ford is freaking me out and has me worried about every little noise i hear.

does anyone have good luck with these 5.4L cuz it seems every forum i read these things are just money pits

Thanks in advance guys!!

chadderkdawg

You can run a 3v well over 200k no matter how loud the phasers are. If you still have the factory plugs in, I think you can take it to a dealer and get them replaced with the fixed plugs. These motors can go well over 200, just need to keep up on maintenance and treat it well. I'm sure Chevys have their quirks too.

Stitan

Neighbor has about 260k on his and we have one at work at about 230k. Neither have been maintained well.

BlacKnBack

Hopefully the previous owner changed the plugs. Other than that...in my opinion, you're not going to run into anything that any other 100000 mile motor will have.

I went through transmissions and front end parts with my chevys. Blew a motor in my Dodge. Had bad oil leaks with my wife's Nissan...etc....

You never know. With that said.......

Welcome to Ford!

Mastercraft1981SnS

I have seen a bunch of trucks with the 5.4l with 250,000 to 300,000 miles on them for sale. I think you are just over woried about it. Heck if you look up stuff on the chevys they also have problems like the 4.3l intake manifolds and the differentials exploding. Chevy also is known for cylinder number 7 failing. Not bashing Chevy just saying they have there own problems too.

Ace9313

chadderkdawg

I thought driving with the knock will blow the engine.

Thanks for the replies guys!

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

Well you guys commenting on the plugs have no clue, do you? The 08's have updated heads that use brown coil boots (engine build dates after 10/09/07). If you pull a COP (coil on plug) and have brown, not black boots you have the updated cylinder heads. Plugs are not a problems with these. Cam phasers are still a concern, but if you stick with 5W20 or 5W30 semi or full synthetic oil and use only, and I mean only Motorcraft FL820S oil filters and change your oil in 5K or less intervals, you greatly lessen the chance of timing system failure. Come on over to the 04-08 section, plenty more help over there. So calm down and take a deep breath, you made a great choice since its an 08. I just traded a 07 Expedition 5.4 with 152K and it was quiet as a mouse, so is my 07 F150 with 158K. Welcome to the club!

Ace9313

I know mine was built 2/2008. I plan on running 5w30 full synthetic mobil 1 in summer and 5w20 in winter. Do auto parts store sell the motorcraft filters?

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

Yep, most parts stores have it. I get them at Wal-Mart. Maybe ask a mod to move this thread to the 04-08 section : https://www.f150forum.com/f4/

Ace9313

Hey guys i had this in another thread but was directed to put it here. New ford owner and new to the threads.

I just switched from chevy to ford. I thought i had a great deal on a great truck with this f150, however after reading these forums it seems like these things are pieces of junk. 3-4k on engine repairs after 100k miles, coming from chevy world that's unheard of.

The truck seems to have a tick when running at idle it cant be heard from in tje cab only when you stand outside the truck. Is this the inevitable cam phaser failure. How loud is tje cam phaser knock? Also it seems no matter what the cam phaser issue will happen and put these engines out of commission well before competitor trucks, but when does that usually happen when does the phaser blow the engine.

Also is there anything i can do to prevent this, becuse all the threads seem like it is gonna happen soon. One guy said "i wouldn't recommend a 5.4l to my worst enemies Its an 08 5.4l flexfuel.

Thabks guys!


(I combined both threads into this section. -Lenn)