Hey guys I am looking at buying a 2004 F150 Fx4 with the 5.4l v8 with 138000. I was looking to get some opinions on whether or not this was a good deal and a truck that would last me another 100,000 miles. Any strange maintenance problems associated with this truck? Any details would be appreciated!

 

The 04 was the first year for the new body and the first year for the 5.4 3 valve in the F150. So there were some issues that year. The first to come to mind are the issues with the timing components. The timing chain tensioner seals often leak and then the entire cam phaser fiasco. Then there's the two piece spark plugs that can break on replacement. I would think the plugs have already been changed by 138000 miles. The timing issues may have been dealt with as well. I would try to find as much history on the truck as you can.

 

Be careful to pay attention for any hesitation of idle. If there's an oil pressure drop off, the computer "kills" the engine power to save the engine. It just seems like a minor running issue, but it takes a new engine block to fix it. That's the most annoying thing I know about them.

 

I can't recall ever seeing a bottom end issues on any of the modulars. A few times on the 3 valve 5.4 a cam would score a head due to oil pressure loss from the leaking tensioner seal. What sort of odd ball problems are you running into down there that require replacing the block?

 

It's not a bottom end issue. The run fine, don't smoke and are silent. (No rod or main noise) It's an oiling problem to the top end. There's something in there that's prone to fail that bleeds off oil pressure. Like I said, the only clue is a slight hesitation off idle. You'll think it's a coil pack or TPS or something else simple. I've had two that needed a new engine because of this. ....and they both ran fine and were quiet.

 

ive been told that oil passages are narrow if the oil changes are kept up sludge builds up in the oil passages causing lack of oil in the heads causing cam phaser issues and other head problems

 

Yup. ...and we just bought another truck with that very problem. I remember now. You have to boil the block to fix it, so it's just easier to get a junkyard engine. This truck is an '05 with only 100K on it.