New member here with a old and very discussed problem. I have a 2000 F250 SD, 5.4 with 135,000 miles, 5 spd. manual with 4:10 axles. Its been a great truck, I've hade it about 15 yrs with very few issues and would like to keep it. Well after pulling a small pop-up camper for many years my wife decided she needed indoor plumbing and we ended up pulling a 4500 lb. toy hauler. You know how this ends, I'm in second gear going over the mountain passes here in Colorado, and there are people on bicycles passing me. I need more power and have considered everything from a diesel conversion, swapping in a V-10 to just buying a newer truck. The 5.4 is just tired and I don't think small power adders like tuners or new exhaust will do a whole lot and big power adders like a supercharger or turbo probably aren't a good idea on a old, tired engine. I am leaning toward replacing the 5.4 and need to know how much newer can I go with the 5.4? A 2009-2010 would give me 60 more hp. and 40 more ft. lbs. of torque. Does anyone know if I need a complete used engine or can I go with a new long block and just swap out the covers, manifolds, acc. mounts etc.? Will the transmission bolt up? Will there be major issues with fuel delivery, injectors, sensors and the computer? Any information or comments would be greatly appreciated!

 

newer 3v motors won't work without major wiring surgery. A correct year range V10 swap will cost a lot, and not give you that much more for you dollars. A 2v 5.4 can be rebuilt using a TFS top end kit, which will give you a big bump, but again, many thousands of dollars. you can rebuild stock and add a supercharger, but more surgery and many more dollars. Given the age of the truck, you may just be happier upgrading to a new (or newer) 6.2 and calling it good.

 

money wise.. replace your tried and true 5.4...

maybe a returned fleet/lease 6.2L.. I did.
as trying to ADD big power to the 5.4 is big money... and it will be down for weeks. even a month.

I tow a 9,000 pound trailer... and a loaded truck... my 2012 F250 XL has 156,000 miles.

 

Your truck seems to have served you well. But I think it is time to replace it.

Colorado high country... Can you handle the extra cost and maintenance of a diesel? For the altitude, you would really benefit from a turbo. And getting that kind of power out of a gas engine is going to have a price tag connected to it. I think you would be ahead in the long run getting something from the factory that can do what you want (beat bicycles up a mountain grade).

 

I have crossed mountain passes all over the country and my diesel kicks gas *** all over when towing. I tow a 5th wheel and i get 11.2 MPG. There is no shortage of power with my 6.7. Buy a new one so you know how it was treated.

 

Thanks for the input every one, I agree the ideal solution is a newer diesel, but a truck payment would be painful, and then there is starting over with accessories, winch, lighting, tires and wheels, etc. Rough plan is a upgraded 5.4 2v long block from Powertrain, opening the exhaust with shorty headers and true duels with x-pipe and high flow cats, in front of that new coils and injectors and a programmable tuner to make them play nice together and maybe try to open up the intake a little more. Should be around $4000 which would barely pay the taxes and registration on a new truck here in Colorado. I drove a tractor trailer here in CO for many years so dropping a couple gears and watching them line up behind me used to be a way of life, why stop now, and I might even get around a couple bicycles.

 

Have you looked at Gear Vendor? It would let you split your gears and hold higher RPMs across a better speed range. Or even dropping to 4.56s if you have tires larger than 31".

What RPMs are you running pulling up a big grade? We pulled campers on I-70 through the tunnels for a number of years with a 302 Bronco, 4.6 in an Expedition, and a 4.0 in a Ranger and none of them were as slow as you seem to saying. If you're not pushing the engine up past 3500 towards 4k you aren't getting the power it already has. The Ranger had a stick so it was easy to let it bog down, the Expedition somtimes seemed better for pulling because it had an auto and would downshift and spool way up on its own. If you're used to the RPM range on a diesel with a stick, it might not seem like 2500rpm is lugging the motor, but for a 2V 5.4L modular it pretty well is.

 

pulling using a gas engine.. its all about RPM'S...
you can cruise up hill at 80 percent of red line.. without doing any damage.. as its not wide open...

 

The big thing a tuner will help with is **** points, it will help your truck stay in the power band. I tuned my 1999 5.4 F-350 and I was surprised with the difference that it made after all the reading that I did saying it would do nothing. The only way I have to measure the gain is the 0-60 time. Before the tune I got 16 sec, after it was 13 sec both done in the same spot going the same direction without any brake torquing. My favorite part about it is that I can cruise on the freeway at 70 and accelerate to 80 without downshifting out of overdrive. Before it would downshift constantly just to hold 70. This is all unloaded and I don't tow much with this truck so I can't comment on how it would help with towing.

 

I think you seriously misspelled "shift." Or you have really bad tunes. One or the other...