Ford 5.4 Remanufactured Engine?
 

Im currently having the cam phaser knock, or as my mechanic said he thinks its a lifter. Well anyway the truck is a 2007 Ford expedition Limited with 130k miles, and is paid for. From a few other forums and researching Ive come down to just replacing the motor and hope it last another 130k miles. My question now is that are the remanufactured engines the same thing thats giving me problems now, or have they been fixed? One mechanic told me its all updated cam phasers, timing chains, and what ever other things that were causing the problem, and another mechanic said yah but didnt sound to sure. So I go with remanufactured or jasper?
Please give me some pros and cons

Both Ford and Jasper would certainly have the latest updates in components, especially those which had been most problematic during the first years of service. Since each also offer a warranty its best for their bottom lines to eliminate or improve any known life shortening issues.

I was thinking of a reman'd motor for my '00 E250 and found over all Ford's program was the least expensive, by a few hundred dollars out of the box; $2750 for the motor delivered anywhere in town. A local trusted mechanic would do the swap for $800 plus any needed parts or additional work I wanted, their experience didn't show either brand better or worse over the longer term.

Both brands are well respected, close in price and offer pretty good national warranties too----don't know there's a real clear cut or definite advantage to either.

Not much help I know but your two choices are probably the best out there these days!

Was that motor through a Ford dealer? or somewhere else? Sorry to dig up an old thread but trying to figure out the best course of action for my truck (2006 F150 King Ranch 5.4 FFV)

Yes the motor was direct from Ricart or Masheter Ford here in Columbus, Ohio.

When you order the long block they need your year and most likely production date in order to assure its a drop in replacement, no field mods needed.

Were it me though I'd still go with the Ford motor but Jasper would be a strong second. I'd not go with any other brand---those two are just too well known and in-use it makes no sense looking elsewhere.

HTH

I picked up a rebuild for my expedition last year. I had the same questions you have on problem areas being updated and fixed. I found it at a place in Omaha Nebraska, delivered 30 miles for $2200. The reason I went with it was the warranty. I figured if anything failed within the 3 year 100,000 mile warranty it would be well worth my trouble. The engine from the Ford dealership was about 4000 from the dealer and another 2000 to have them put it in.
My theory is even if the rebuild has the same issue at 130,000 miles that is another several years of driving under a warranty.
I am not certain of the brand of engine I got, the place I got it from said it is their top selling engine. They said it comes from the same rebuilder that the Ford dealers in town use, and a lot of the independent shops in town buy this engine from them.

Deputy my only concern with an unknown rebuilder would be how would any warranty issues be addressed? With Ford or Jasper its pretty much national coverage which if you travel that's mighty important.

Yes a dealership would run you $6K easily---probably more if they can squeeze it out of you. There are trade discounts to be had if you simply ask, if nothing else ask to talk to the parts manager. Selling at list price to those who don't question it is a good day for parts guys but it doesn't wreck their days to sell something, anything!

With Jasper you simply talk to your local sales guy---it helps tremendously if you already have a shop in mind and/or make arrangements, at least set something up.

Just my $0.02 worth ya know?!? :)

You all have hit the remanufactures side hard on this thread but to add .02 to this what about engine out of the same year from junk yard and rebuilding it with mods price would be about the same. as long as the block is not cracked. everything would still be a drop in... and if you upgraged cams, crank time bels , crank new pistons, rods, port and polished the heads up dated the lifters and springs for the roller rocker. wouldnt that be the best was to go?

That was one of my concerns about the engine. An advantage I have is I do all of my own work. A friend of mine has a tow truck and works in a shop, so he can get me home if I have trouble with it. He has used these same engines for about 11 years and has had good luck with the warranty work on them.
I am currently working on my 99 F150 with a spun bearing. After looking at my options for both the pickup and the expedition I have decided a rebuild is the way to go. The cheapest used engine I found had 160,000 miles on it. It had been in a front end collision and the oil filter parts had broke so it wouldn't hold oil. That was $1,000. With the expedition the cheapest used engine I found was 145,000 miles for $1200. I figured with that many miles I would be buying someone elses problems.
That is local scrap yards. On the internet I found some cheaper, but by the time I paid shipping costs it was still around $1000.

We began this thread talking about purchasing a reman'd engine from someone---or that's the way I thought it started.

If we're doing all our own work, have a towing buddy who'll come snatch us up when/if we're dead on the side of the road then yes going the least expensive way would be best.

Like most of us tackling this we'd take most every opportunity to upgrade, improve and enhance everything we could thinking the result would be more bullet-proof and longer-lived than before. As I said earlier the reman'd motors WILL have the later parts or improvements even if they're used in a pre-update chassis.

If we're looking for quick turn around and the least amount of work or hassle then a crate motor from someone makes perfect sense.

I guess in the end your choice will depend more on your personal preferences or budget, perhaps a combination of both. There's probably many more ways to view this or offer suggestions but for me a Ford or Jasper would be first choice.

Best of luck with your project!

Seriously, thank you for the reply JWA, sorry for getting you dragged into this! hahahah!:-drink

We're okay---just giving another POV in the event it would be useful! :-X22 :)

Knipdlo,
For what is worth I am on year 3 of a Jasper reman 5.4 2v in my 2000 F250. Only problem was with a leaking gasket from install. A small bit a metal shaving caused a very hard to find leak on the intake. The Jasper kit comes with base model plugs and the shop that does the job will use all other parts off the old motor so if you have old coils (100+k) I would suggest new. Engine runs very well and I am pleased.
Regards,
M

I've heard about this other reman company, promar performance.
Long blocks for $2300. I have no experience with them, but I have been researching this for my 99 with 188K on it. Just throwing that out there. I'm always looking for more information on this. I have been trying to decide between used and reman. I have seen used for around 1200-1500, mileage up to 100K. I just hate thinking of buying a used engine with head gaskets and other stuff that are already 10+ years old.

on the other hand, Econoline vans also use our same 2 valve engine at least through 2010. A more recent 2 valve with lower miles would be good too. I believe you have to change intakes and possibly some accessory pulleys, but the block is the same. Like I said, i've been researching but have no first hand experience with this.

I believe it was model year beginning 2000 where the 5.4's received PI heads---that's a consideration that needs to be addressed. I've read here the intakes aren't compatible with the previous version heads.

If I'm incorrect in that someone please let me know.

E-Series have never had the 3 valve head motors---we're a bit lucky that way. :)