This problem is often caused by using engine oil other than the reqired 5W20. If you make this error, the 4 and 8 piston rod bearings may not get enough oil, will spin, and will ruin the crank. In this case you must pull the engine which is difficult but possible. Pulling the oil pan without removing the engine is a chore, and replacing the damaged bearings that way, even with undersized bearings, almost always fails. Pull the engine. It requires using two or three jacks and taking sevral different bites on the engine. It eventually must come out with the crank verticle but will not come out yet. You will have to remove the oil pan to get enough room to pull the engine out of the engine comaprtment. A 2X4 placed across the frame will help you get a new bite on the engine. Once removed, mount the engine on an engine stand. Then: 1. remove the valve covers. 2. remove the spark plugs. 3. put four bolts back into the back of the crank to use as a place to pry to turn the engine over by hand. 4. Don't remove the rod caps until after you number them 1-8. Liquid paper works great. No rod cap will mate with any other rod except the one it was on originally. If you mix them up, the new or machined replacement crank will bind when you torque the rod caps. The caps have a beveled edge on one side of the butt end. That bevel must face toward the front of the engine on all of the caps. A number such as 635 was originally printed on the side of each rod and on each cap, and it is sometimes still visible if you carefully study those areas. If so, the 635 cap only matches the 635 rod. If not, you must exactly match the "fracture" lines on both sides of the cap with the lines on the rod. a proper match will be obvious; a bad match will also be obvious. These areas were not machined and are irregular and unique to each set. When properly installed and torqued, the replacement crank will not bind and should turn with little effort. You will have to pull the pistons up, replace the bearings, and install the caps in such a way the crank doesn't hit or bind on the loose ones. The cams may have to be turned by hand and the crank rotated one way or the other to prevent a piston from hitting the valves. Don't force anything. I hope this post proves to be helpful. The info in it wasn't in any of my books, save for numbering the rod caps.

 

Hi John:

Thanks for taking the time to type out a post that is clearly intended to be helpful. Two things, though. First, the "Titan" is a Nissan pickup truck; Ford V8's in their trucks are called "Triton" engines--so your heading is more than a bit misleading. Second, you might want to post this in the 4.6/5.4 engine forum section instead of the 2009+ Ford F150 section, since you are talking about engines that are older than 2009 and which are in more Ford vehicles than just pickups.

Welcome to the forum,
George

 

Moved to correct forum.

 

I stand corrected. Thank you. How do I amend the post?

 

You should have an "edit" feature at the bottom of your own posts, and I think "go advanced" will allow you to edit the title, whereas the first edit step allows you to edit the actual post language.

There may, however, be some limitations for newer users on editing posts. (Not sure because I'm so old myself.)

Again, thanks for taking the time,
George

 

Thank you for taking the time to guide me through this process. The advanced tab allowed me to change the title of the post. I had edited the post itself earlier.

I helped my son rebuild his 5.4, and we learned those things by trial and error and by using some info on the site. I'm still learning how to use this tool and appreciate your willingness to help.

Thanks again. J.L.S.

 

You're very welcome...I've been on various Internet forums for about 14 years now, and love those with the ability to fix my mistakes, which I've made PLENTY of

This is a great truck forum with a lot of great characters; glad to have you aboard. My first Ford truck was a 1978 F100 that I bought new, so I definitely go back a few years with Ford trucks.

George

 

Agree wholeheartedly with George---can't add a single thing because my experience with online forums is much the same!

Not to be too petty about this wonderful opening post but you might want to place each numbered sentence on its own line which would make reading it a bit easier. Its great information and could prove to be valuable whether someone ever does this job or not themselves.

Hate being so specific so please don't take it as a negative comment at all!

Thanks and indeed welcome to the forums here!