Well, my Dad died on Saturday April 27th from a series of strokes. He was 76 years old and an honorable man and great husband / father to his family.

After the funeral home came to pick up my Dad's body at Gaston Hospice, I started my trip home in my 2005 F350 5.4L 3V Super Duty. I immediately could tell that the engine is not running smooth and shortly thereafter the "Check Engine" light came on. I pulled over to the side of the road and to do a quick engine check but it was raining "cats and dogs" so it was difficult to accomplish that task. I called my Mom and asked if I could drop my truck off at her house and drive her car home until I could check out the engine the next day. She said no problem... The engine must have been in "Limp Mode" because I could only get to 45 MPH.

The next day (Sunday), I took my Innova scanner to attempt to check for DTC's. I did get three codes, one being P0360, but lost the codes when I ran the KEOR test. I got an ISO 9141 code, which I still do not know its meaning. So, I had the truck towed to a local garage for repair. When the truck was placed at the garage, it was too close to another vehicle. So I was going to move it away from the vehicle. I started the engine and immediately heard "metal on metal" in the engine so I immediately stopped the engine. Up to this point, the engine ran rough but nothing this dramatic.

The next day (Monday), the owner of the garage (Tony) thought that it MAY be a COP but did not start the engine. I was hopeful it was a simple repair, but I would not know until Tony took a hard look at the engine.

Later that day, I visited my local Ford dealer (Huntersville Ford) and spoke with a service agent. I told him all that I knew about the truck and he stated that the engine was out of the warranty period. I knew this already but was asking for some assistance if the engine needed major repair or replacement. He gave me the telephone number (800-392-3673) for Ford Customer Relationship Center. They informed me that the ONLY warranty on my truck was Customer Satisfaction Program CSP07M08, which is for faulty fuel injectors. This extended factory warranty covers the 2005 Super Duty 5.4L 3V engine for 10 year / 220K miles. However, it ONLY covers the fuel injectors... not any damage to other parts of the engine, even if the fuel injectors caused the damage. Funny, I never received a letter from Ford Motor Company regarding this extended warranty on the fuel injectors. If I had, maybe I could have had the fuel injectors examined and potentially avoided this crisis.

The Service Manager told me that because I did only $1,100 worth of service at the dealership, he was NOT going to assist my in any way with regard to discounts for parts or labor.

I checked with the Parts Department and a remanufactured 5.4L 3V engine (Part# 5C3Z-6006ARM) listed for $5,425 and retailed at $4,932 with an $800 core charged. Horizon Ford's online price is $4,438.80 with the same $800 core charge.

Today (Friday), Tony calls me to say that he has pulled the intake, heads, and front cover off the engine to determine what is wrong. He rotated the crank shaft and one piston is NOT moving... the engine has a broken rod and maybe more broken parts internally.

Remember, my engine only has 42K miles and has not been used for any towing or hauling since I purchased it 5 years ago. All maintenance has been done to the vehicle and it is an occasional daily driver. I average only 4K miles per year with this truck.

So, my question is what remanufactured engine do you recommend? Tony mentioned AutoZone and Jasper. Tony stated that used engines are in the $2,500 range with no warranty.

I guess that I could contact the Ford Customer Relationship Center for assistance but they are only going to cover the fuel injectors, and only if they even need to be replaced. My local Ford dealership has already stated that they are not going to assist me in any way.

 

Sorry to hear about your Dad Andrew.

A broken rod in a 5.4 is definitely a unique occurence, the bottom ends routinely hold up to 250k with a lot of taxis and municipals here closer to the 1/2 mil mark.
Are you thinking that an injector tip might have broken off, managed to get through the intake valve and lodge itself in a cylinder wall? I would really want to see a teardown of that motor before letting Ford off the hook that easily. You shouldn't have to replace the long block at 42k.

 

I, too, sympathize with the loss of your father. I recently lost a grand parent to similar causes. Never easy to see a loved one pass.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune on your 5.4L. Definitely seems to be an outlier. These gasser engines are not known for that that sort of failure. Appreciate you disclosing which dealership told you that, though. I definitely know where I will NEVER be going for any kind of business.

 

I totally agree that this should not have occurred. Tony has not disassembled the short block at this point. However, I will ask him to look for a broken fuel injector.

The part's guy at Huntersville Ford said, "That sucks! I would be mad as hell." My Dad had just died... I didn't need to get angry on top of every other emotion that I was feeling.

 

I am sorry to hear the news of your father.

I would try a local re-builder and avoid autozone engines/ transmissions. I have never seen a 5.4 with a broken rod. I also would be Interested to see the pics of the teardown. Have you tried Ebay or finding a wreck for the motor? I would find try to find a low mileage used one or just go with a motorcraft replacement or a jasper reman, they are re-built in Indiana

 

I have looked on Car-Parts.com and there are several used engines available but the prices are as high as a remanufactured engines that have a 3 year / 100,000 mile warranty. I just can't see myself placing a used engine having 100K plus miles in my truck (that only has 42K miles) just to save some money. My truck was 100% SOLID... until this happended.

 

Condolences on your loss.

Its time for Tony to earn his paycheck.

http://www.tousleyfordparts.com/part...iagram=T171030

Assuming the broken rod didn't tear into the block, parts are reasonable enough that replacing what is broken, plus new rings and bearings and gaskets, might be less expensive in the long run, considering the engine will be "new" again.
If you go used, you want to make sure the engine is a later year that had the better spark plugs, 04s and some 05 3V engines in f150's would have plugs snap when being removed

 

That was a problem in all 05-08 3v motors, V10 5.4 and the 4.6. Ford has released a new revised 1 piece plug to fix that issue.

 

jasper for your truck with that mileage put a good reman and send that broken rod to ford so they can see there work

 

What an awful time for this to happen. My condolences on your loss, I can only imagine what you're going through right now.

Like everyone else said the rod failure is an extremely rare event. I'd be very curious to see pics of the carnage if you get the chance. Really sucks that this happened out of warranty, as it's almost certain to be a manufacturing flaw in the rod that caused this at your low mileage. The interesting thing is going to be figuring out what happened to cause the first check engine light before it let go completely. P0360 is an electrical fault with a COP, I wonder if it's on the same cylinder that let go?

I also wonder if your aftermarket tune had anything to do with the failure. I seriously doubt it, but one has to wonder.

 

I wouldn't go Jasper, Ive seen heads welded to fix cracks and leaks and as long as it holds they ship it out. Personally id go to a local motor builder when that you can speak to people who used them before, have them re do the motor and be done. It will be cheaper and built ten times better than ANY reman motor from Ford or any other distributor. My cousin installed a 6.0 in his 2001 Chevy 1500 regular cab short bed, a year later he blew the heads from the turbo he was running. Brought it to a local engine builder and for $3300 he now has a completely built turbo proof 500HP monster under the hood

 

On Wednesday (5/15) I called the Ford Customer Relationship Center to request that a representative examine my engine to determine if FMC could offer any support in the repairs/replacement of the engine. They stated that no one would be sent either to the repair shop or any dealership... thanks FMC!

So, I have two choices...

1) I can replace the engine with a remanufacured longblock at a cost of approximately $5K - $6K including parts and labor.

OR

2) I can have my trucked towed home and attempt to sell the truck with or without the remanufactured longblock installed.

My issue having the remanufactured longblock installed now is that the warranty will only applies to me... If I sell the truck, the new owner will no longer have a warranty. My thought is that I can sell the truck and have the remanufacured longblock installed immediately after the sell.

What are your recommendations???

 

Andrew...sorry all this has happened to you. Where is the truck at now?

I would put a jasper in it and call it a day myself.

Sell it with the paperwork in and as is.

 

Are you dead-set against a used engine? There is one in Benson, NC with 35K miles for $3080. A complete engine drop-in should save you some money.

 

The truck is at Paynes Auto Service in Gastonia, NC.