Bought new in august 1997 for $25000, thought it was a lot of money but for a gasoline truck to go this far I am happy with it.
Was hoping to get it to 400,000 but started getting a clicking/knocking noise like maybe a rod bearing, also, loss of power and oil leaks so, I decided to pull it and rebuild. i just removed the intake manifold and saw how clean the heads look which means to me that I kept the antifreeze up to date. Anyway, I will pull it monday, disassemble it and take the block to machine shop for inspection.
Hopefully, I can do a .010 over, no more. Removing all of the secondary components out of the way is a pain and saw where some bolts/nuts were difficult to remove. Wish there was more space to remove the flex plate nuts. That drivers side erg tube to manifold is hard to break loose as well.
Has anyone else gone this far on their f150 4.6?

 

there is a thread call "high mileage F150 and still loving it". check it out.

 

Yea, mr dirt, but I would get lost in that, I want to "one up" everyone. How many others have gone 386000 miles???? Not many I would bet.
Here's an eye opener:
Tore the motor apart, looks perfect, no wear....NO WEAR, if you can believe that.
Just got word today that the heads are perfect and they are waiting on new seals. Getting the crank polished, cylinder walls have no ridge ring at all and still has a good crosshatch. All bearings perfect with no scratches/uneven wear patterns. Shocked to say the least. No wonder they stopped making this engine.

 

So did you find out what was making the ticking noise?

 

I'm not an expert but I did not see anything that would cause the clicking noise. Machine shop said the heads were perfect, no problems found. Bearings looked great. To me, clicking means, metal on metal somewhere, but I could not find it. Did notice lots of carbon buildup on the "OIL RINGS" and the oil rings were completely stuck in the compressed position, which is probably why I was using oil and maybe loosing some power.

 

stuck rings could do that... I would look at timing chains and tensioners.

 

Injector tick?

 

Stuck oil rings was the only item that looked out of place, I mean STUCK. Took a lot just to get them out.
Will be honing cylinders, new timing components, rings, gaskets etc, injectors looked perfect, but I did not check them. Truck ALWAYS started and ran great.

 

That is truly AMAZING!!! I am glad I bought a 4.6 now. Since mine has just tripped 100K and I change the oil every 3-4K she will probably out live me. .


My long lasting Ford story was my 63 Galaxie 390. In 2009 I took the oil pan off to replace the oil pump. At that time I pulled the main bearing caps to replace the Main bearings. Much to my surprise the original FoMoCo bearings dated Aug 11 1962 were still silvery babet colored and were still well within specs so I just put them right back in. I am fairly sure she had tripped at least once at that time. The old girl is still running strong to this day

 

since its a 97, im wondering about the spark plug threads in the head ? Threads were marginal in 97-98... have you considered inserts at this time ? You might be OK without, but something to consider ?

 

My spark plug threads are in perfect shape as far as I know. I never dogged the plugs or forced them in.

 

Steve - Do the 99 heads have more threads for the spark plugs? Hope so!

 

F91-- I think the extra threads started about 2000, but I don't know the exact number... Maybe someone else will chime in here.

 

My 2000 4.6 just blew a plug a few weeks ago. Looks like they fixed the problem in 2001.

Check out my thread about about what I found on the problem:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ing-plugs.html

 

Excellent info in your other thread. I had a relatives Corolla blow a plug out and I feared the worst. The threads were fine, it just backed out over time till it blew out. Screwed in back in, the car is till running today with 280k on it. I plan on re torquing
all my plugs this weekend. Thanks!