Hello ladies and gents

As you all know, Ford has dropped the V6 for their F150's. It's now a 2v or 3v 4.6L as the small motor.
My question is this; What do you all think of the 4.6L(both 2v and 3v) being in a pickup truck? Is the 4.6 a good work truck motor?
I have heard both good and bad about the 4.6L and I wanted to get the word directly from the people who operate these motors.

Thanks everyone. By the way, I did a search before posting.

-Bill

 

I think they are great high reving car engines, not so great for low end truck torque power. My '92 4.6L with around 200hp in a Grand Marquis is comparable to my 280ish hp 5.4L in my '97 AT highway speeds, I'd say they both accelerate from 50mph about the same but my 5.4L blows the 4.6L away off the line. Some of that is also because the 2V 5.4L's start to starve for air at higher RPM's so the smaller combustion chambered 4.6L will run better at higher rev's all things being equal.

 

Hi galaxie!

Thanks for posting. I don't think this thread is going to recieve much attention. All the men who own 4.6's aren't going to say anything negative about their high dollar vehicles. I appreiciate your honesty. Like I said, I've heard both good and bad things about the 4.6. I have also heard they can be built to run. They just don't come out of the box with a whole lot of power.

Again this thread was based on my being curious and also for future knowledge when I do start looking at buying new.

 

We had a 4.6 in an '04 E150. That thing wouldn't win races but it WOULD pull. It towed better than the 351w in our '93.

 

The 4.6 is a strong motor. I have owned trucks with both the 4.6 and the 5.4 and when the trucks were empty and not towing anything there didnt seem to be much difference between the 4.6 and the 5.4, but when the trucks were loaded or towing the 5.4 handled the extra weight much better. The 4.6 would downshift a lot more than the 5.4, on hills that the 5.4 would pull in D the 4.6 would have to drop into 2nd.

 

I know this is sacrilegious, but I prefer the 2V 4.6 in my 2002 F-150 over the 4.9 I had in my 1989 F-150. Both have the same 5 speed manual tranny. For overall drivibility the 4.6 is better, especially on highways going up hill. While the 4.9 has great torque at low rpm's the 4.6 is no slacker and at highway speeds the 4.6 is better. But thats just my opinion owning both motors with the same tranny .

Whimsey

 

The new 3 valve looks like an awesome small V8. Almost the same HP and only 65ft/lbs short on torque compared to the 5.4. I can't wait to get our Explorer with that engine in the spring.

Mike

 

I owned a '98 Supercab with the 4.6L. Good engine,and did what I asked of it. The truck was mostly a grocery and lumber carrier,etc..but it did get used to pull out 30ft travel trailer(6500 lbs GVRW-about 6000 lbs loaded). It pulled the trailer without alot of fuss,and never gave me any problems doing it. It by far beats the 4.2L in towing power and durability-Ford is definitely stepping forward by dropping the 4.2L.
JL

 

Between My Dad and I we've had 3 trucks with 4.6 and they've always been really good in terms of longevity, never had a single problem with em and they have always been high mileage vehicles. What everyone has been saying is correct unloaded the 4.6 is pretty good, but loaded shes got some struggles, you really do have to wind her up to get some juice out of her. And God help you if you have the 3.08 rear end and want to tow. Someone on her said it before, that the 4.6 is a great engine it just needs big gears to go with it. BTW I was going to make another thread to asks this question but here seems as good as any. What is the actual redline of the 4.6? I've looked around, and all I can figure out is that it makes peak power at 4750 rpm? Is that the redline?

 

Do you want the stock redline or what they can go up to before blowing? I've seen them run over 6K, my 5.4L hits over 5K from 1st-2nd and I am sure the 4.6L does at least that.

 

The stock 4.6L shortblock can handle around 6200 max repeatedly,but can take a few bursts up to 6500 or so. Problem is the intake manifold on the 4.6L truck engines. It's so restrictive that getting the engine to rev past 5200 under load is next to impossible.
JL

 

i have the 4.6 in my e 250 that i use for expediting. at 230k the #6 coil pack left the engine with no warning. i was in memphis and was able to get it fixed for 800 bucks.

two weeks ago coil pack #2 went rough at 260K. that cost 700 dollars.
my goodyear dealer told me that all of the coil packs should have been replacved at the same time. once the engine is apart it is simple to do the work. coil packs are 100 bucks a piece.

now.......i took the van in to have the timing chains replaced(10 hrs labor) and the mech discovered that the crank is movin front to back meaning the thrust bearing is worn. well jasper is ending a new engine that will hopefully arrive today. installed about 6K$. the engine will return 17-18 mpg if kept at 60 mpg. 15 at 65 and 13-14 at 70. all that also depends on whether you are crusing thru indiana and illinois or west va and western mo.

when i asked about replacing the 4.6 with a 5.4 the mech said to keep the 4.6 as ford has the problems ironed out but the 3 valve 5.4 is a stay away from engine. sorry don't remember the specifics. like everything else you hear some are good and some are not so good. just my luch i bought used and got 50k out of the motor before installing the new one.

 

How will you be using the truck?

If just as a commuter to and from work, going camping with light loads etc.
Not towing anything too heavy, I am sure you will be pleased enough with the 4.6

Myself I prefer the 5.4 it seems to haul a truck around much better, and is far better when towing any real weight.

So its really dependant on how you plan to use it.

Both the 4.6 and the 5.4 seem to be very reliable.

 

i have to say that i have hauled 2900 lbs inside the van. except for the headlights scanning half way to the second floor the truck ran well. being a 250 the suspension is a little light but i will add either air bags or load adjust shocks.

 

I had a 2006 f-150 and the engine was fine until I loaded it down with 2k pounds of stuff. Then it was kinda of sluggish. The only problem I had with that truck is I went through 5 fuel pumps.