I found a 99 F150 with 98,000 miles on it, it has the Triton V8 (4.6 liter). I'm wondering, is this a good engine? I currently have a 91 F150 with a 302, which I love. I just dont know much about this 4.6. It seems to have pretty good get up and go to it. The truck runs fine. Does 98,000 seem alittle high for a truck of this year? Also, does anyone know much about the 3.8 linter 6 cylinder in the Ford vans such as the Windstar? Is it a good engine?

 

I just bought a 2002 with the 4.6 and I am quite pleased by the performance. It seems to be a good all around engine...Decent value from a power and mileage standpoint.

 

I've had no problems with the 80K mile 4.6 in my '98. When I pulled the heads, the cylinder walls still had the cross hatching and the timing chain guides showed almost no wear.

 

I bought my 4.6 with 78k on it and now i have 87 k and it runs really good (smooth) no problems so far. by the way my truck is also a 1998

 

what about this problem I keep hearing about the 4.6 with one of the spark plugs wanting to pop out. The truck is making a ticking noise which they claim is an exhaust leak at the manifold.

 

One negative point of the 4.6 is that the spark plugs only have a short amount of threads to turn into in the heads. If they work loose, they can blow out of the hole..obviosly causing some problems. It can be fixed if this occurs, however it seems that if routine maintenance is followed, the plugs will stay tight. a.k.a...check them for yourself to be sure they are tight.

 

My 96 Windstar 3.8L has 141,000 miles on it. It runs like a new one and still uses less than 1/4 qrt. of oil between oil changes. As long as you don't overheat them, they will last a long time. The 4.2L in the F150's is a longer stroked version of the 3.8L.

 

my grandma has a 2001 windstar SEL... only 30k on it, and its having problems starting lol as for the 4.6? to Big Mac, i hear the same thing, and it is to MY observation, that the ticking noise you hear that DOES sound EXACTLY like a bad flange gasket, is none other than your fuel injectors! lol sounds crazy, but fuel injectors from what i hear are noisy as hell... all they are is a bunch of solonoids clapping around at whatever interval (RPM) so yeah, your gonna hear em lemme guess... the only time you hear it (or mostly hear it) is when you are near something on the driver side of the car? like a curb, or another car/wall/semi/etc.. does that about sum up your distress?

 

actually it really only made the ticking when I was on the gas, I didnt notice it as much when letting off the gas decelerating.

 

i know... you would only hear it then, because aside from that, the injectors arent pumping at full speed, and when they get faster, you hear them more... know what i mean? who said i was talking about letting off the gas? even in an exhaust leak you will barely hear it at idle... you CAN sometimes, depending on how bad it is. But if the ticking sound you are hearing is only usually when you are accelerating next to a curb or other vehicle, or something close by, chances are its just your injectors...you can always have it looked into, but it just makes sense to check those first... pop your hood and let it run, see if you can hear the same sound coming from your lower intake... then put your finger on the injector, and be very still... you will be able to feel the injector clacking with every beat of the motor.... take that as a good thing if the sound is coming more from the bottom of the car, or from an area other than your injectors, or its very LOUD even at an idle, then you may want to look into other things...

 

isent the 5.0 a 4.6 with a shorter stroke ..... and a new look ???

 

No, the 4.6 and 5.4L are totally different designs than the 5.0. The 5.0 is an overhead valve engine with the camshaft in the block that uses pushrods to open the valves. The 4.6 and 5.4L engines are an OHC (over head camshaft) which has a camshaft in each head.

 

is that let it riv alot higher ?

 

I have a 99 4.6. I bought it with about 49k and it has 94k now. The only problems I have had are the dreaded piston slap in the winter, and some bad plugs and wires at about 65k. I get good milage and tows pretty good. It has enough power for me, but I worry about ejecting plugs.

 

My wife bought Windstar 3.8 new and at EXACTLY 100,000 miles it blew a head gasket. It was a terrible job to get at that thing. It was also challenging and frustrating to do. There were things like the fact that the exhaust manifolds block access to several head bolts so you can't just pull the head, then deal with the manifold with the head on the bench.

After I went through the whole thing and got it back together, some time later we got a letter from Ford saying that there was a known problem with the head gaskets on this engine and they would take care of it at no cost. The problem with that was I did the work myself and no longer had receipts for parts and machine work.

After all that, I REFUSE to own another one of those engines. The 4.2 is the same engine family so that was out for me. I just bought a truck Saturday with the 4.6. I'm very pleased with it, but of course, It'll take a 100,000 miles or so before I really know the story on it.

Good luck,
Doc