Tractive55LS

That's the kind of info I've been waiting to hear from you guys: Jbrew & Carcrazy.

Manuellabour247

To the Op- To try to get ahold of Franchi just use the @ symbol. [MENTION=99933]Franchi Motorsports[/MENTION]

Carcrazygts2

[MENTION=189267]Tractive55LS[/MENTION] All 2v modular heads were 4 thread plug holes until late 2003 where they switch to 8 thread plug holes because of spark plugs being spit out.
[MENTION=113]Jbrew[/MENTION] I'm running Jetronic injectors which are the newest style in my 97. The issue with them being low impedenace causes tuning issues. It took the tuner awhile to get the pulse width right because of how quickly the injectors respond. Its was changed for effiecency.

Jbrew

Nope, -All that happened for 99. Mostly engine info, the best upper intake manifold Ford ever used on 10th generation NA F150's was the 99 aluminum PI manifold for the 5.4Ls. Of course Ford went PI with the 5.4 F150's in 99. Just the 150, vans/trucks 3/4ton and up with the 5.4L still used the nonPI engines until 00. Yea, the F150's were special.

Other misc engine info. The TRUCK 4.6L engines didn't go PI until 01. The 5four and 4six heads have always been interchangeable (Specific to - NonPI&PI) , hence, the word "modular". V10's and V8's are the same motor, -plus or minus two cylinders.

Ford recalled a large percentage of 99 F150's; -Robots over torqued the spark-plugs. The spark plugs couldn't handle it. The 4/5 thread heads were bench tested to 100' lbs over and over without any damage to plug chamber threads. Plugs can only handle 35' lbs before you compromise the ceramic seal.

The problem with 4/5 thread was partially Fords. The thread chambers were proven fine, but the torque was inadequate. Ford raised them to 14-15 lbs (dependent upon which spec sheet you happen to be looking at), -still wasn't enough. Ford wrote off the problem after that. A new torque number was born from the experts @ blownsparkplug.com = 28'lbs. That's a good number. Personally I torque to 21' lbs...if I even bother with a torque wrench.

So yea, not sure where you heard they were fixed in 99 ? That would be 03. Anyway, now you know.

Jbrew

Huh..Yea, I didn't know that.

Jbrew

You could just ask questions...if there's anything specific.

Tractive55LS

Ok, I'll have to see what build date the 03' is for thread count. Hell, if I would have known that I would have looked for an early 04' Heritage engine instead of the 03', darn! Additional improvements were shrinking the coolant passages to allow a larger sealing area for the gasket. Leaks were common before this. It's visible in the pics I posted. Increase flow in the intake and head plenums. I heard that the 00' to 01' still used the aluminum intake with the increased flow design. Mine has the OE NPI Aluminum intake. I had wanted to buy that intake as well but was told by other posters not to, the plastic one was fine, lighter to. When I replaced the plugs a few years ago, I put a sparingly amount of "neversieze" on the threads and tightened them with a hand ratchet, tight as I dared/feel. They have been problem free and all screwed in with close thread fit, no wobble. I'll tell you that the AP103's don't last as long as they're advertised, caused me a recent COP failure, replaced plug at the same time. I'll be using AutoLite APP 103 DP's on this newer motor.

Where on the block or valve covers would the build date be?

Also is there any identifying mark anywhere showing that it has the increased threads-per-inch improvement? I know of the PI casting mark on the side of the block. Various OE Ford stickers are pasted all over the engine.

I got a lot of this info googling directing me to several Ford forums. There seems to be a lot of people who know a few things, but also wrong on other design features and when they were introduced from the numerous threads I've read on the web.

Carcrazygts2

The E150's didnt get PI engines until late in 00. I had a work van that was actually a 01 and it didnt have a PI engine.. The Superduty's on the other hand had the PI engines in 99.5.

Jbrew

I'll get it straight for yuh, well what I can anyway, -

Here's a little more about the head upgrade,-

A friend from another sites quote, about the heads (03/27/2010), -

"Here's the info I have from Ford brew. I can't verify this at all so take it as you will.

Supposedlly any heads manufactured after November 12, 2002 were redesigned 8-thread heads
Seeing as Ford builds lots of parts ahead (see what I did there?) of time, early build 03 trucks got "old stock" heads and engines.
Note, I'm talking about the build date of the heads and engine here, not the build date of the truck.

Casting Numbers you say? Look on your driver side head and look for



Individual Part No's for the 8 thread heads are.......

2L3Z-6049-DA (Left)
2L3Z-6049-BA (Right)"

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Right some model years did have an intake gasket leak problem. The problems will not happen IF you purchase Intake Gaskets from Ford only. They were able to customize their gaskets to take care of the problem. You had to get from Ford, not sure if it's still that way but changed the gaskets just about every other year, along with the location pins on the gaskets. So gaskets are model year specific, - many are thicker one side than the other or thicker just in certain areas. It's sort of old news now, but when fishing for intake gaskets, get them from Ford. That way you get the latest revision for your model year.
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Let see what-else

Nope, The 5.4L PI engines intakes are ALL plastic except for 1999. The 4.6L's is a different story.

A BIG problem plagued the plastic intakes. They would crack just under the passenger side crossover. Right at the flange. Once that eventually happened and you can just about count on it, - the ONLY fix was a new intake...not cheap. The best intakes were the 99's, - You can Port Polish gasket match that intake and it will last for ever.
But, hang-on. Ford did something about this and the new intake went into the 03 models. What they did is improve the composit material and made it stronger. ONLY the 03's have these intakes.
If I had a choice I'd run the 03. It's already smooth...polished and so far they've been holding up.
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Plugs: Nonono lol, do not run ANY Autolite plugs in these engines. You mean, you actually got away with running them in your 98? Your a lucky man. AP/APP 103's and 104's are about the worst plugs fro these modular's. Incorrect heat range. If they fire at all, it's not for long. Bad economy , bad performance, short life. The only plug that worse than those are the Bosch plugs. Bosch plugs eventually fall apart in the cylinders before they start missing. Use just these in that engine, -

Motorcraft
Denso Iridium's
NGK

Nothing else.
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Build date is on the heads. If it's a reman, they are metal tagged front or rear of the block. Build date for the truck is inside the drivers door.
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COP's - Only these, Motorcraft DG508's or Visteon 60-1000's (DG508's). These are the ONLY coils built to Ford spec.
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Did you know, - if you thro that 03 top end on that 98 block, you'll net more HP and Torque than you would with that 03 block?

Jbrew

Sounds about right. I wonder how many people purchased a NonPI engine for their F150 and didn't realize it lol.

That would suck.