Swap engine or scrap truck 2001 f150 5.4
01-22-2018, 07:54 PM
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Swap engine or scrap truck 2001 f150 5.4
i have a 2001 f150 xlt 5.4l ext cab stepside 4wd
168,000 miles its got 35" cooper atp discoverer tires %80 tread mounted on 17" ultra billet wheels 6" rcd lift kit with steering stabilizers and a whole list of other things it's not a perfect truck but it's pretty clean and has had a lot done to it.
the issue:
it was down for a while with adown fuel pump I changed that and had checked the oil at the same time it looked fine (this was two weeks ago) about a week after that I started hearing a small intermittent tick I drove i had been driving it hard since I put the fuel pump in and I needed it to move I figured it wasn't a huge issue because it was faint and very intermittent
jump forward to this past Thursday night I had just finished moving and was heading to the store going about 70 on the freeway it started screeching and banging and knocking like crazy I got off the freeway and headed home going slow it ended up dying out on my so I pulled over it wouldn't start up so I towed it home I checked the oil and there was maybe a half a quart in there it has a small oil leak but it must have been burning a lot of oil in the two weeks I had been driving it hard i dropped the oil changed it added 5 quarts of valvoline a quart of resoline and 2 containers of stp oil treatment to thicken it up anyways I got it going and I've driven it around for two days but it is knocking like crazy and it's going to throw a rod any day now unless I drive it under 1500 rpms.
im not really interested in a rebuild at this point but I've been looking into a motor swap I'm pretty mechanically savvy and Im not afraid to try just about anything if it gets me on the road my question is is it worth it swap the motor on a truck this old and spend $500-1000 And chance everything else is gonna run smooth? or take a chance on another used truck with relatively high miles which is what my option would be at the moment
168,000 miles its got 35" cooper atp discoverer tires %80 tread mounted on 17" ultra billet wheels 6" rcd lift kit with steering stabilizers and a whole list of other things it's not a perfect truck but it's pretty clean and has had a lot done to it.
the issue:
it was down for a while with adown fuel pump I changed that and had checked the oil at the same time it looked fine (this was two weeks ago) about a week after that I started hearing a small intermittent tick I drove i had been driving it hard since I put the fuel pump in and I needed it to move I figured it wasn't a huge issue because it was faint and very intermittent
jump forward to this past Thursday night I had just finished moving and was heading to the store going about 70 on the freeway it started screeching and banging and knocking like crazy I got off the freeway and headed home going slow it ended up dying out on my so I pulled over it wouldn't start up so I towed it home I checked the oil and there was maybe a half a quart in there it has a small oil leak but it must have been burning a lot of oil in the two weeks I had been driving it hard i dropped the oil changed it added 5 quarts of valvoline a quart of resoline and 2 containers of stp oil treatment to thicken it up anyways I got it going and I've driven it around for two days but it is knocking like crazy and it's going to throw a rod any day now unless I drive it under 1500 rpms.
im not really interested in a rebuild at this point but I've been looking into a motor swap I'm pretty mechanically savvy and Im not afraid to try just about anything if it gets me on the road my question is is it worth it swap the motor on a truck this old and spend $500-1000 And chance everything else is gonna run smooth? or take a chance on another used truck with relatively high miles which is what my option would be at the moment
01-22-2018, 08:04 PM
#2
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Probably killed it for good. Worse thing you can do is thicken up the oil in one of these engines. That's only an alternative for worn push rod engines. In fact, you could take out a good running engine that way.
If you find another engine, a good one, follow the owners manual as far as maintenance. So your not your vehicles worst enemy lol.
If you find another engine, a good one, follow the owners manual as far as maintenance. So your not your vehicles worst enemy lol.
01-22-2018, 08:15 PM
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Probably killed it for good. Worse thing you can do is thicken up the oil in one of these engines. That's only an alternative for worn push rod engines. In fact, you could take out a good running engine that way.
If you find another engine, a good one, follow the owners manual as far as maintenance. So your not your vehicles worst enemy lol.
If you find another engine, a good one, follow the owners manual as far as maintenance. So your not your vehicles worst enemy lol.
At this point I've been trying anything to just get me down the road a little farther the engines toast anyways so I figured if it even helped a little it couldn't do much more damage being as I don't plan on rebuilding it I'd rather just swap it out if I plan on keeping it I bought the truck about a year ago and have maintained it just fine but it's been down half the time I've owned it from previous owners neglect I've just sorted through all of its other issues but now I'm stuck on the engine I've already put about $2,000 in a $5,000 truck which is why its hard to just part it out because I know the work I've done to get everything else sound on it
01-22-2018, 11:03 PM
#4
Whether its worth it is up you. An condition o rest of truck.
But its going to cost you a bunch, even putting used engine in yourself.
Its a repair......you will never get the $ out of it that you put in by selling it. If you want the money back you have to drive it out of it. Basically, your buying the truck again for a few more years. If interior and exterior are trashed, its probably time for scrap yard. If everything else is great....might be worth driving 10 more years.
Big ticket items like ac and tranny are a concern. They have to be in good shape to justify a major repair. If not, your truck is a $800 scrap heap.
I spent $7000 on mine 2.5 yrs ago when decided to put another engine in.
Engine, Tires, brakes, rotors, ball joints, sway bar links, shocks, coolant, tranny fluid, stereo, subwoof, rear camera, refinished steering wheel and passenger seat, new driver seat bottom, painted some interior parts, door lock actuator, painted grille.
Only $165 since for an alternator in 2.5 yrs, 50k miles.
Ive just about broke even on $. A newer truck depreciates, and then theres sales tax.
But after spending $4500 on engine, had to be prepared for $2500 for tranny or $1500 ac if it happened. Theres no free lunch. Vehicles cost $ to drive and maintain. You can pay it for purchase cost of newer, or repairs of older, but you will pay. Older vehicles cost less over long run, but they arent free to drive by any means.
But its going to cost you a bunch, even putting used engine in yourself.
Its a repair......you will never get the $ out of it that you put in by selling it. If you want the money back you have to drive it out of it. Basically, your buying the truck again for a few more years. If interior and exterior are trashed, its probably time for scrap yard. If everything else is great....might be worth driving 10 more years.
Big ticket items like ac and tranny are a concern. They have to be in good shape to justify a major repair. If not, your truck is a $800 scrap heap.
I spent $7000 on mine 2.5 yrs ago when decided to put another engine in.
Engine, Tires, brakes, rotors, ball joints, sway bar links, shocks, coolant, tranny fluid, stereo, subwoof, rear camera, refinished steering wheel and passenger seat, new driver seat bottom, painted some interior parts, door lock actuator, painted grille.
Only $165 since for an alternator in 2.5 yrs, 50k miles.
Ive just about broke even on $. A newer truck depreciates, and then theres sales tax.
But after spending $4500 on engine, had to be prepared for $2500 for tranny or $1500 ac if it happened. Theres no free lunch. Vehicles cost $ to drive and maintain. You can pay it for purchase cost of newer, or repairs of older, but you will pay. Older vehicles cost less over long run, but they arent free to drive by any means.
Last edited by mbb; 01-22-2018 at 11:33 PM.
01-22-2018, 11:15 PM
#5
Senior Member
Rust would factor in the most. Once they start to go....
01-22-2018, 11:27 PM
#7
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I know your not....smoocher lol. 
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01-22-2018, 11:28 PM
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Whether its worth it is up you. An condition o rest of truck.
But its going to cost you a bunch, even putting used engine in yourself.
Its a repair......you will never get the $ out of it that you put in by selling it. If you want the money back you have to drive it out of it. Basically, your buying the truck again for a few more years. If interior and exterior are trashed, its probably time for scrap yard. If everything else is great....might be worth driving 10 more years.
Big ticket items like ac and tranny are a concern. They have to be in good shape to justify a major repair. If not, your truck is a $800 scrap heap.
I spent $7000 on mine 2.5 yrs ago when decided to put another engine in.
Engine, Tires, brakes, rotors, ball joints, sway bar links, coolant, tranny fluid, stereo, subwoof, rear camera, refinished steering wheel and passenger seat, new driver seat bottom, painted some interior parts.
Only $165 since for an alternator in 2.5 yrs, 50k miles.
Ive just about broke even on $. A newer truck depreciates, and then theres sales tax.
But after spending $4500 on engine, had to be prepared for $2500 for tranny or $1500 ac if it happened. Theres no free lunch. Vehicles cost $ to drive and maintain. You can pay it for purchase cost of newer, or repairs of older, but you will pay. Older vehicles cost less over long run, but they arent free to drive by any means.
But its going to cost you a bunch, even putting used engine in yourself.
Its a repair......you will never get the $ out of it that you put in by selling it. If you want the money back you have to drive it out of it. Basically, your buying the truck again for a few more years. If interior and exterior are trashed, its probably time for scrap yard. If everything else is great....might be worth driving 10 more years.
Big ticket items like ac and tranny are a concern. They have to be in good shape to justify a major repair. If not, your truck is a $800 scrap heap.
I spent $7000 on mine 2.5 yrs ago when decided to put another engine in.
Engine, Tires, brakes, rotors, ball joints, sway bar links, coolant, tranny fluid, stereo, subwoof, rear camera, refinished steering wheel and passenger seat, new driver seat bottom, painted some interior parts.
Only $165 since for an alternator in 2.5 yrs, 50k miles.
Ive just about broke even on $. A newer truck depreciates, and then theres sales tax.
But after spending $4500 on engine, had to be prepared for $2500 for tranny or $1500 ac if it happened. Theres no free lunch. Vehicles cost $ to drive and maintain. You can pay it for purchase cost of newer, or repairs of older, but you will pay. Older vehicles cost less over long run, but they arent free to drive by any means.
Yeah I plan on swapping it out myself the tranny is solid as well as the exterior and the interior is in god shape the only things it needs are front breaks an engine and ac work I just need a vehicle so i figure I can do the engine and brakesmyself for under $1000 and then worry about the ac later I have pretty good connections for brakes and the motor
01-22-2018, 11:38 PM
#9
Yeah I plan on swapping it out myself the tranny is solid as well as the exterior and the interior is in god shape the only things it needs are front breaks an engine and ac work I just need a vehicle so i figure I can do the engine and brakesmyself for under $1000 and then worry about the ac later I have pretty good connections for brakes and the motor
Factor in all tool rentals, fluids, gaskets, replacement parts, etc.
Probably be closer to double that for 120k mile engine, even doing it yourself. The problem with the replacement engines today is it they're all reasonably high mileage. I wouldn't count on more than 200k on any engine for economic planning.
So if you spend $2,000 to buy only 60000 miles at best is that a decent deal? With other repairs and fixes you're looking at several thousand dollars to probably Drive Your Truck 50 to 60,000 more miles. It may be cheaper than buying another truck but it's not by a whole lot. Then theres the high gas usage. I'll probably spend an extra $2,000 per year by driving my ****y gas mileage truck.
What I'm saying is it really is just going to come down to do you want to keep driving this truck or not because it's going to cost you. Don't kid yourself about how much.
Youre going in the hole on the vehicle. No way around it.
You have option to go in the hole on another vehicle, at slightly greater expense. Most likely.
Its simply up to you.
My brothers hg blew suddenly. He had his f150 towed to toyota dealer, traded it for about $800 and bought a new Tacoma and drove away no hassle. Glad to have a new dependable truck for a while. He had been fighting a c problems and was also having some tranny issues. He was simply tired of his supercab truck that he had.
When my hg went, i I had had months to plan to replace the engine and went ahead and did it along with a lot of fixes to my truck. I think my 2003 SuperCrew is one of the best trucks ever made, I was content to drive it for as long as it took. Still am.
Last edited by mbb; 01-23-2018 at 12:09 AM.
05-11-2021, 07:04 AM
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First of all, you have to understand if it is really worth it. If you have plans to drive that car in the future and if the only problem is related to its engine, which I admit, is not cheap at all, you can try to fix it. If you manage to do it for a small sum of money, why not keep that car. On the other hand, if the engine is quite expensive and you understand that it is more reasonable to buy a new car, then definitely scrap it. You can find many companies like https://www.scrapi.com/cash-for-scrap-cars on the internet that will help you scrap your car for a pretty decent sum of money. Take your chances and do it till it is not too late.
Last edited by Gablora; 05-12-2021 at 11:49 AM.