mdblb05

2005 5.4L goes into dealership today with ongoing light ticking noise, and a cel from recent misfire under load (ie pulling a trailer up a long gradual grade). 8 hours later...you need a new engine. 'Cylinder 5 is losing lots of compression and 4 and 8 might be losing some too'.
My question was how much?
'We dont know without looking into it further which will be 600.00.' 'We are 99.9% sure the engine is gone and I recommend a long block. We could take it apart for 600.00 and then I am sure u will need at least a short block so you should just save the 600.00 and get the long block.'

The quick background is a slight ticking noise that seemed to get a bit worse after all spark plugs were changed. 2-3 months later I get my first event under load which caused a misfire code and what seemed to be a short limp mode. It stopped, and 6 months later (present) happened again but didnt go away.

My truck is at the dealership, I am out of town. I am sure similar problems were listed on this forum, but I am not in a position to search them all. The advice I need is:
Does this sound like a common problem to have compression loss under load and just need a new motor or is it more likely a single component fix?
If I do need a new motor, would you go with the ford remanufactured motor or with an aftermarker rebuild?
In your reading experience, do you find that people have any better luck sticking with the stealership on this one, or getting an independent shop to do the work?

If you made it this far, thanks for reading the drawn out story.

05screw

i would want to see solid compression numbers before I decided anything.
I would also pull the valve covers and makes sure the valve springs and related valve train are in good working order.

Markdas

The ticking noise could be a multitude of things and although it will scare you to death, you need to read the Sticky on The Final repair thread for ticking noises etc!

I agree with the other response in that, the dealer needs to give you a compression number for each cylinder before you can make the call on what to do. Even if you have poor compression, it could be valves, head gasket or rings that need replacing.

At 143k its possible that you decide a re-build will be an expensive option once you add timing gear, plugs, injectors, gaskets etc etc......but you could do it for $2-3k and have another 100k miles without problems on your hands?

kanga2311

I'm by no means an expert mechanic. I'm not sure what the problem with your motor is. But it sounds like the dealership doesn't have mechanics either, just parts changers. They don't want/know how to find the real reason you have compression loss, they just want to replace the motor for more money. Or they know they can't figure it out with a $600 diagnostic, so hey want to replace. If it was my truck, I would try to find a real mechanic in the area. Good luck.

mdblb05

I did check out that sticky on the ticking, wish I woulda found that a while ago. I agree that this dealership doest seem to have a mechanic. I feel that way after everything I have them try to troubleshoot. The ticking for instance, how is that a common sticky on f150forum.com and ford 'certified' mechanics cant figure that out? Anyways, I asked for some compression numbers which is what they said would cost 600.00 to get to. I would like to pinpoint the problem if I could, fix it and move on to a newer truck. Looks like my next step is to take it home and try a compression test myself which hopefully wont be too bad since the plugs were changed recently or to go to an independent mechanic and roll the dice that he can diagnose a problem that can be corrected for less than the 7500.00 cost of a motor. Thanks for your replies.

freebird518

I would personally have it towed to a reliable mechanic, or another dealer with a good reputation for a second opinion. A problem like this is worth paying a little more for a second opinion.

eatdirt

I'm in a similar situation. Cylinder 3 is losing compression and the phasers are going bad. 600 bucks to figure out what exactly is causing the problem then probably 3k to fix it all. A reman engine costs 4800 to install with 0 miles and a 3 year 100k warranty(not Ford reman) . This is the route I'm going!

I've got 111000 on mine for the record

sglover

What he said, also I have found Quality Care repair shops have great mechanics. I am not sure if they are independatley owned or what but a lot better service also, period.

I usually see our trucks getting upwards of 250,000 miles on them. I am talking worked, overloaded, underserviced e-350s and f-150s.

Tradesman

Sorry to hear about your problems, that really sucks. It's odd because I'm sure we can all agree that our 5.4 3V motors are either hit or miss. I have 160,000km on mine and it still runs strong, and I recently drove one of my apprentices' Lariat which has 289,000km and that thing runs perfectly.

Given the costs I would take it to at least two other Ford dealers or independent shops with Ford certified technicians.

msdins

Mine had a very similar progression and then finally gave out. This was with 82k miles and with my 6000 pound camper in tow. I had it towed to the local dealership and they told me I had spun a bearing and it would be $7300 to replace it. I took off with a trailer and brought it home to my local mechanic who put a reman with 100k mile warranty for $4200.