Mileage out of a 4.6 and replacement price?

[zmurphy]

Hey guys, i have a 98 Expy EB 4wd w/ 4.6 and 169k on the odometer. i am the second owner and have put about 45k on it sicne we have owned it. other than an emissions thing i am batlting, the motor runs great. it did burn 1qt to 1 1/2qt between oil changes. but that has improved dramatically now that i am using high mileage oil and an oil additive during the oil changes. i have been doing that for the last year and a half. and since the mileage is on up there, i stay on top of the oil changes.

my questions are:

1) what kind of mileage are people seeing out of the 4.6 motors? (when maintained decently) since i have 169k on it, can i expect some more?

2) when the 4.6 finally dies, what kind of $ would i be looking at to rebuild it? and during a rebuild is it possible and would it cost alot to "up" the power?

we don't owe much on the vehicle and will be replacing it soon as our "family vehicle". and i am leaning towards keeping it for myself as my daily driver. i want a good size vehicle for myself (i'm a pretty good size guy) but i don't want another car payment. so if i can keep the Expy, get some more miles out of it, rebuild the motor when it dies and then just keep driving it....i think that would be cheaper than buying a new vehicle. because overall, its in great shape.

sorry this is long , thanks for any help.

[galaxie641]

There is no magic mileage. I have around 225K on my 5.4L and it is showing no signs of crapping out any time soon. I'd say from what I have seen on the various forums I read that 250K is easily achieved on the modulars. I think Jasper reman's are running around $3K but I haven't priced one lately. So figure $4K-$5K to have the engine replaced at a shop with a 3/75K warranty.

[86halfton]

i just rebuilt the 4.6 in my 95 tbird 160k+ miles and sill looked brand new

[YoGeorge]

Originally Posted by zmurphy

Hey guys, i have a 98 Expy EB 4wd w/ 4.6 and 169k on the odometer. i am the second owner and have put about 45k on it sicne we have owned it. other than an emissions thing i am batlting, the motor runs great. it did burn 1qt to 1 1/2qt between oil changes. but that has improved dramatically now that i am using high mileage oil and an oil additive during the oil changes. i have been doing that for the last year and a half. and since the mileage is on up there, i stay on top of the oil changes.

my questions are:

1) what kind of mileage are people seeing out of the 4.6 motors? (when maintained decently) since i have 169k on it, can i expect some more?

2) when the 4.6 finally dies, what kind of $ would i be looking at to rebuild it? and during a rebuild is it possible and would it cost alot to "up" the power?

we don't owe much on the vehicle and will be replacing it soon as our "family vehicle". and i am leaning towards keeping it for myself as my daily driver. i want a good size vehicle for myself (i'm a pretty good size guy) but i don't want another car payment. so if i can keep the Expy, get some more miles out of it, rebuild the motor when it dies and then just keep driving it....i think that would be cheaper than buying a new vehicle. because overall, its in great shape.

sorry this is long , thanks for any help.

The 4.6's last a very long time....if you look at old Lincoln Town Car limos and Crown Vic cop cars on Ebay or another such source, you'll see a LOT of them with 300k and like that. I know there was a thread on the FTE forums somewhere about high-mileage mod motors. I've also read forum posts here and elsewhere about 4.6's being torn down after 150k miles and still having the cross-hatch marks on the cylinder walls. (I've only got 61k on my 2002 E150 with 4.6 and am not driving it much, so that engine should last forever...)

Although it's a 5.4 and not a 4.6, you should check the following website for inspiration as to how far a mod motor can go: Million Mile Van

I don't think you need to worry about your engine any time soon. I'm guessing the oil burning may be the valve seals, so if you have to fix them, it's not gonna be anywhere near a rebuild cost.

George

[71dusterdan]

zmurphy dont go replacin a 4.6 without pming me, i have a source for them cheap. a buddy guts panther bodies for demos, he rips out the ford drivetrain and replaces it with chevy junk. i can get em cheap in northern illinios. Dan