Well, everything was going great, but i've had this persistent rattling sound in my van's engine unlike anything I've ever heard before. I finally took it in since I have some road trips coming up, and my mechanic (an independent old-school Ford guy with a great reputation) thinks it's connecting rod failure. Pretty rare for a 5.4 but he says he's heard it enough times and is going to rule it out with a stethoscope and no serpentine belt tomorrow morning. He says it's possible but not likely that I've got an accessory sending that sound through the motor, but he thinks I've got a one in a million failure, or the PO ran it low on oil or didn't change it very often. This surprises me since the van was very well taken care of. I did ask about all of the things I've suspected such as cam phasers, or a manifold leak, but he says the noise is way low in the motor.
Questions, what should I do? 130K and I have a lot of money (otherwise) in this van, it's a homebuild camper. I could probably replace the whole van for what a new engine/install will cost but I sure hate the thought of that considering all of the extra work I've done to it myself.
Can the oil pan be dropped on a 5.4 in the van to inspect things?
If I do have to have a motor, how easy would it be to swap a v-10 in instead of another 5.4? I'm not sure if the v-10 uses the same tranny, I'm sure I would need an ECU but I'm no expert at this stuff.
Any advice welcome,
thanks guys

 

I would drive it untill it blows up....then I would get a low mileage 5.4 and just swap it in ...unless your transmission is pooched ....if that is the case I would start looking for a V10 with transmission attached and swap the assembly...the whole front of the Van has to come off and the engine slides in like a drawer....thats my .02
Good Luck either way

 

yikes!!!!!!

I wish I could offer help other then get a V10 LOL!

 

Yep, I love the idea of a v10, but it would take a little time to pull off. Meanwhile I've got nonrefundable money on a trip to Colorado in 2 weeks. I need the van driveable ASAP! I hate making decisions in a hurry. I have already learned 3-4k for a motor with a warranty (like Jasper maybe), I wonder what the labor time and cost would be???
Also, I've been looking today to see if I could just replace the van, but I've got so much time and effort in this one, and I really like the way she drives, even with the 5.4.

 

Bump up your towing to unlimited miles ASAP. Just in case something happens on the road.....


I have a 94 e-150 van with a 5.8l that I lost the engine due to the cast alum oil pump went bad. Got a custom rebuild with cast iron melling oil hi out put oil pump, towing cam & hypetech pistons. Love it!

 

That's a great idea jamnjm, i'll make sure I've got some towing insurance for the road. Thx. I never think about that stuff, perhaps I should.

 

New Jasper on the way, big money, 100k warranty, I hope it's worth it.

 

You'll be fine, get it installed before that vacation!

 

install+ vacation= you happy.

 

well, mostly happy. Not at all happy about the price, but happy I'll have a 100k warranty from a reputable company, so overall, I'm still gonna be ahead so to speak.
Rob, I REALLY want to do the V-10 conversion but I have a date set with Derek at Colorado Camper Van to do my pop-top in 2 weeks! I'm just hoping the engine installer will have the work done when he says. I'm hating this because right now I have the opportunity to do a v10 conversion which I've always wanted to do, but I have a deposit and date down with a converter to do my camper top.
For those curious of what I'm doing here and why I need my van on the road ASAP, it will go from this

to this, but mine is an extended length 2wd, not the van shown

So, it looks like i'm going to have a 5 star tuned 5.4 instead of V10 power. I looked around for headers yesterday thinking that's something I could do cheaply to give the 5.4 a little more power while the motor is out, but I can't find any for a 5.4 van. Anyone got any ideas on that? Is it even worth it?

 

You might want to think about putting in a Ford 300 from an earlier model van. I think 92, 93, 94, still offered the 300 straight six as an option. They are in virtually every UPS van, and get good mileage, and provide a lot of power, and still get decent mileage after modifications to make it run best. I got quotes from dismantlers for engine and tranny for under $1000. It uses an E40OD. Or an adapter for yours.

Unless you like putting $100 in your tanks every 285 miles. Then go V10.

 

fyi, my tank has gone 558 miles before refill
yes 15.9 mpg

but I'll keep my eyes open for you scotty

 

Thanks but the deed is done, the engine is ordered and should be here tomorrow. I have put probably a million miles on Fird 300 6s in our work vans, and they are bulletproof, but that would be backing up I think. The 5.4 is a great motor, not a v10 power wise, but I was pretty happy with mine, that is until it died. Actually though, it's not technically dead yet, but I can't risk it since all I do with this van is travel. It will have 10 k on the new motor before summer is over.

 

Scotty just out of curiosity what prompted your choice of a Jasper engine over the Ford long block? I'm facing a possible engine replacement and locally have been advised the factory rebuild is about the best deal for the money; $2700 delivered with a good warranty as well.

 

Well, to be honest you've got me there! I would never have thought an engine from Ford would be cheaper, but that's 600 cheaper than mine. My main motivator was time (there was one available in the local Jasper warehouse), and my mechanic is a Jasper guy. He's pretty honest and has a solid reputation.