Hey all, first time poster and in need of help. I currently have a lifted 04 f250 regular cab with the 5.4 and auto trans, 115,000 miles. Great, reliable truck, but want something with a bigger cab. I'm currently looking at an 04 f150 with 125,000 miles to trade plus $3,000 on my end. I love how the truck looks, but I've heard that the 5.4 3v is a pos motor, much worse than the 5.4 2v,and I'm just wondering if anyone can verify that or disagree with it and calm my nerves. I'm okay with buying a truck that will have problems as they all will, but if it's an absolute POS then I'll shy away. Does anyone have advice for me? Please help!!!

 

If the timing components have already been replaced I would not hesitate to buy it. I bought my 04 with 80K miles on it ticking like a diesel. Replaced all the timing components with the revised Ford parts and still running good and quiet with 150k on her now. The major issue I have seen with the 5.4 3 valve is the timing chain tensioner seal blowing out. That causes a chain to start slapping and break the guides.

 

It all depends on how it's been maintained. If you feel good about that and it sounds and looks good I wouldn't be afraid of it. I've had mine since new and no internal engine work has been done whatsoever. Still runs like a dream.

Best of luck to you.

 

The timing on the 3v is key, and can be very finicky. If it jumps timing due to the tensioner breaking, the motor is hosed.

 

I was worried when I bought mine in early 2010. I bought it at 43k and then as I read more and more about these trucks, the more I felt I had made a mistake. Well, almost 6 years later and 134,000 miles, she is still as smooth as the day I got it. Just had to replace coil packs the other day, but otherwise it has been a reliable engine.

Main thing is listen to the truck closely. Listen for chain slap on the initial startup. Allow the engine to warm up completely and listen for ticks, knocks, taps, rattles and so on. If it makes any abnormal noises, then you might want to pass it up. While these engines can be pretty reliable if maintained right, they are a pain to work on if something in the timing fails.

 

I think a lot .... not all maybe, but "a lot" of the bad press about 3V 5.4s is rooted in plain old fear or unfamiliarity. That's where it started, but now years later and after seeing that most don't have issues as long as they are maintained as a modern close tolerance engine should be, as it was designed to be. True, they are more particular to oil grade and weight and filter quality than a old pushrod '70s or '60s engine or a '40s flathead ..... but then they do often go further on a set of plugs than people expected a vehicle to go in a lifetime back then. It's not recommended, but it's also not unheard of a first plug change at 100-200,xxx miles or like one guy who came into my store one day last year .... 269,xxx miles on oem plugs ..... "it's missing" he said.

 

I don't think that a 3V motor in itself is any cause for concern. My concern would be how many times it's been owned or titled.

 

The 5.4L 3V is no more or less a piece of junk than the 5.4L 2V is.

Sure, replacing timing components to fix an annoying cam phaser noise can be costly (common with the 3V), but so can repairing damage from a spark plug randomly ejecting from the cylinder head, or stripping out the threads of the head during a change (common occurrence with a 2V)

I'd rather rent a Lisle spark plug extractor to retrieve a broken plug from a head of a 3V, than have to buy and install a time-sert kit to repair one that's taken the threads with it upon its exit of a 2V.

They've both got their high and low points.