Ok I have a 2002 ford e series 5.4 liter van 250.

I have a cylinder with a valve that is not seating (can be heard fluttering) and havent had to do a valve job on these vans before. I do know that to remove the motor you have to pull off the front body of the van Is there a way to repair this valve without pulling the motor?

Thank You for your time.
Mike

 

never heard of a valve burning on a 5.4 are you sure its not a blowing spark plug, or a manifold gasket leaking. the valve would be the last thought. Have you done a compression test?
The 2002 vans engine comes out a lot easier than the early 90's vans, the intake must be taken off and then cherry picker pulled out the front from what I understand.
But I would make sure that is the problem before that much work.
The loose spark plugs sounds like what you describe, and cracked manifolds will do the similar sound
AE

 

You cannot fit a fist between the valve cover and the van body without dropping the engine off the mounts. I recommend removing the engine if you need to get to the heads. Previous post offers good advice. I can back the exhaust leak sounding similar, and its not an uncommon issue.

 

X 3 ...the 5.4 is OHC so in order for a valve to float it would have to be bent from over revving which I doubt very much ...most likely/ probably a cracked or loose manifold / gasket issue

 

Thank you guys for the quick replys. I know this much.......Let me exsplain. I am taking over from where our last mechanic left off. (yes its one of those lol) I was told that the valve may not be seating. Our vans are used for an electrical company and run wheighted down pretty heavy and these guys dont check there oil let alone drive easy so there really is no telling how hard they drive um,lol. You guys know alot more about these vans which is why im here so I really appreciate the help. The van has two issues.

1) As stated above there is a verified fluttering noise coming from the motor. I have heard this myself and have not check the spark plugs or tested compression which is what I will be doing next thank you for the advice very much.

2) The left cadalatic converter is clogged. I have no way of testing it here but I had it tested at a shop and they said the catalatic converter left side is clogged. I think that the test should be 0-5psi if its good so I assume its above that. I didnt think these two issues could be related but im not always right,lol.

Thats where im at as of now. The other two vans im working on are almost finished so as so as i get the other one from the shop I will check compression and pull the plugs.

Thank you again and agian.
Mike

 

Verify it is faulty, then replace the catalytic converter before going much any further. They cause all sorts of difficult to diagnose issues. Cats dont just go bad, they either go 150k miles, or they die from overfueling/contamination. How many miles does the vehicle have? If its not over 100k, check the coils, plugs and injectors. Something is not right, you either have a piston blowing oil, or excessive fuel is getting down there, which a bad exhaust valve could cause...

If a valve isnt closing then the valve is either bent, burnt, a broken spring, or the camshaft is fuxxed. Either way, motor is coming out.

 

Not to derail, but is this true? Did something change with "The 2002 vans" or are '97-'07 the same in regard to "engine comes out a lot easier than the early 90's vans"?

Had thought that FORD modular motor's larger size made them more difficult to R&R than '92-'96?

Old friend has 5.4 in F250 that vintage & it ate a valve! Made noise for awhile still under warranty & dealer insisted it was normal engine sound. After warranty term ended valve let go, sucked inside & destroyed engine.

 

You are correct. Ford Service Manual step by step follows:

http://www.filedropper.com/05eseriesdropengine

11 pages, 68 steps, including some that lead to a whole new pile of fun! (Recover A/C, Remove Intake Manifold, etc)

For my titular 1995 E150 5.8L, it is notably less complicated...

Could be worse, you could have a cracked exhaust valve on a 7.3L PSD equipped van (Lord help me; if I ever have that happen again that van will be at the bottom of my pond...)

 

Maninblack IF this becomes a repair requiring head removal I don't believe its necessary to pull the entire engine. No offense to citing Ford's manual but in some instances it's recommendations don't coincide with real world procedures used by for-profit shops where time to complete is important.

If you want a chuckle check Ford's recommended procedure for replacing the heater blend door assembly---they start by dropping the steering column before proceeding to have you remove the entire dashboard! In the real world this repair/replacement is dealt with entirely differently requiring removing very little of anything, certainly not the entire dashboard!

I was facing the all-too-common small oil leak at the right side rear head which requires head gasket replacement. Labor was about $1600 for both sides but it was doable in-frame. This shop oversees a small fleet of 25 E250's with the 5.4 and have serviced the heads only many times without removing the engine.

Naturally make sure you have a head-related issue first though---hopefully its something more easily fixed that doesn't require removing the heads. Check everything as already suggested and let us know what you find please---always good to share experiences.

 

Agreed on the in-place head removal. My 2002 E150 with 4.6 had the faulty early Romeo PI heads for which Ford issued a TSB. I got both heads replaced under warranty by the dealer. The engine did not come out of the van.

George

 

So i was checking the coverters for these vans and wondering why the guy kept telling me about 4 converters and i now know what he is talking about. The 5.4l and 4.5l are completely differant (yeah go figure) and i looked at the vin number and this van is a 4.5L sooooo this kinda changes everything guys Im sorry about the confusion. I got the vans mixed up. The van was at the shop and I had the wrong vin from the start. Just to clarify its a 2000 E series 250 4.5L.

 

Hey Maninblack. It is a 4.6, not a 4.5 liter engine if it is a smaller V8 (not totally different from the 5.4--lower deck though). Unless it is a V6, in which case it would be a 4.2--and that would make a bigger difference. Hope you can take care of everything OK.

Also just a quick suggestion--in the title of your post, you might actually specify the topic (ie valve problem) instead of just titling with the year of the van. It will help focus responses.

Note also that there is a separate mod motor (4.6/5.4) forum on the FTE pages as well as one for the V6's, and using the search feature can sometimes help you track down discussions that have already been completed on a topic of interest to you. Again, welcome to FTE; it is a great place with a lot of knowledge and helpful people, and good luck with your van.

George

 

Good to hear 4.6/5.4 heads can be removed in place on E-Series. Had been told these engines needed to be removed by long established mechanic. Was a big reason he preferred the old 5.0/5.8 engines. This & spark plugs blowing out made me wary of '97 & up Econoline.

Does anyone still argue an '02 modular 5.4 "engine comes out a lot easier than the early 90's vans"? Can we all agree that modular engines are more difficult to R&R?

Read FTE threads about having to pull engine in F-Series just to do head gasket. Someone even suggested pulling the cab off chassis to do head gasket! The hood on my F150 is 40" long, but design apparently does require pulling 4.6 motor to remove head.

Does FORD's E-Series manual say engine has to come out to remove head? Haynes doesn't. That veteran mechanic's opinion, at a real world for-profit shop, seems overdue for a heave-ho. Thanks for update.

 

George thank you very much for the advice I will in the future include the above in the post. It is a 5.4L V8. I am learning these vans trial by fire so it makes for an interesting an unforgettable situation. I am new to the forum so learning how to post and search for threads is a big help.

Thanks Again,
Mike

 

No idea what the manual says. Mod motors are indeed large and will absolutely be difficult to remove. They are also incredibly tight and dependable engines, particularly the 4.6, which is known to run for hundreds of thousands of miles without a problem. And the 4.6's don't blow nearly as many plugs especially given how many of them are out there--theory is that the larger 5.4 and 6.8 vibrate more and have more cylinder pressure (which makes sense given their larger displacement).

I will note the guy on millionmilevan.com who is up to 1.2 or 1.3 million miles on a 5.4 that has never had to come out of his van. So you are worried about what, exactly? The mod motors will run a lot longer without problems than the 5.0 and 5.8 in general. I'll bet you that the percentage of 4.6's that have made it to, say, a quarter million miles with no issues far exceeds the % of 5.0's that have done it. Go talk to someone who runs a fleet of Crown Vics for a police department, cab company, or limo service if you want to check up on this. (Note also that the vans typically use the Romeo version of the 4.6 which is the one commonly found in the cars, not a big deal but just trivia.)

EDIT--I just checked the millionmilevan.com website and the guy's 5.4 finally died, lost oil pressure, at 1,299,986 miles, so he never made 1.3 million miles I'd still say he did OK with his 5.4 in terms of cost per mile...he did blow his first plug at 1,041,000 miles, so it does happen.

Seems to me you are looking for $5000 vans, so if the worst possible thing happens, just sell it for parts and buy another one. Or keep looking for your ideal "needle in a haystack" sliding door 5.0/5.8 van and I'm sure one will turn up the day after you have to give up your driver's license from old age or are buried.

Mod motors are excellent and dependable motors, period. I never thought they needed overhead cams, but they are what they are...and they are out there working day after day in the real world without causing their owners undue worry.

George