???'s before i jump in and buy
 

hey guys im Richard, im a fairly knowledgable young guy (20) thats been wrenching on race cars for a long time so im fairly mechanically inclined.
now that yall know that about me. my dad is the used car supervisor for a chain of dealers in my area, and called me about a 04 f150 regular cab flare side fx4 that someone traded in. the truck is in good shape body and interior wise except for a tear in the drivers seat im not worried about.

now onto the problems,the truck has 160k miles on so go figure it has the "typical" 5.4 top end noise, but its alot louder than most and there is no doubt that its time to fix it. how hard is this motor to work on? i have never worked on a newer ford motor, just a few carb'd race motors. whats it more than likely going to need? is there anything else i should do while im in there?

sorry for the novel lol

Hey Richard, welcome to the boards.

The top end noise you are talking about is the cam phasers on the new 5.4 3v motor, which you have.

Many guys are on the fence about it--some cannot stand the noise and change the camphasers for a large cost, while others (like me) just don't care that the noise is there at all and don't bother fixing it.

If the noise doesn't bother you, then great! It is pretty much accepted theory that the cam phasers have no effect on performance, so it's all preference.

However, if you do decide you want to change the cam phasers, then make sure that you have planned for it in your budget. I think the repair is usually $1,500-$2,000, assuming you don't run into any other problems.

Good luck and keep us posted.

even with it being bad its nothing to worry about??? it sounds like a lifter problem but the truck runs too good for it to realy be a problem, at least for now, im just worried that its gonna run good for a while and then something is going to let loose

Usually, no. At that many miles though there can be a lot of room for prior abuse. If it runs fine, then I wouldn;t think too seriously of it. The noise is normal. Have a trusted mechanic look over it if you are still leary and would like a second opinion.

I think personally you need to pass it by. 169k on it is alot of abusive miles in perspective. Not worth the time or $$ unless its very cheap! 04-05 was the worst years for many little motor issues/tranny issues/truck issues. I know all well after my 05.

the trucks plenty cheap and the miles are mostly highway. the guy that traded it in drove the truck for work and put about 1,000 miles on it a week.

If you can get it cheap enough I say go for it. What I mean by cheap is $4k or less. Anything is worth it if the price is right.

it getting swapped for my srt4 neon straight up threw my dads store. i have the truck right now and im going to sign stuff monday or tuesday. it runs good and for now im realy not worried about the noise but im going to start getting parts together to rebiuld the motor, and maybe buy a junkyard motor to rebuild. :thumbsup:

I would not rebuild the motor until it needs it. These engines easily go beyond the 200K mark, and further.

Unless you have money to burn, I'd just enjoy the truck and it's original engine.