I've been wanting to engine swap my 03 F250. It has a 5.4 Triton in it and I already had to swap the motor and I don ´ t want to deal with the problems of the motor anymore. I can't sell the truck but I do want to swap the motor with a 1st gen cummins. I want to know if it's worth doing or if I should just sell the truck. If I do swap the motor, what am I going to need to do so and what is the price range am I looking at?

 

Sink large money into a twenty model year old ride, or get out of it and into something NEWER, not necessarily brand new if it's out of reach? I think it's a pretty good no brainer to go to the latter option.

I've said hundreds of times and I say it again. Swapping out and engine with anything other than what it originally came with increases expense and complexity many times over. Even more so when going from a gasser to oil burner.

If you're a Cummins fan, why not just get out of your truck and into a Dodge of the model year equipped with a 1st Gen Cummins if that's what you want?

 

Very good advice.

 

Welcome to FTE!

Yes, it is a popular engine swap. Many companies make kits for this exact swap. Do an internet search on "fummins swap kit". You have many options.

If you want a reliable truck or want a challenging project go for it.

We also have an engine swap forum on FTE that you might want to explore.

 

I'm kinda on the flip side of this because.

"Newer" doesn't always mean more reliable, if it's still used. Depending on factors like: If I have the time and money to do it. If it's a truck I've owned for awhile and I know the maintenance and repair history of it. If the rest of the body and chassis is in good shape, andf I plan on keeping it for the foreseeable future, I'd much rather do a swap like this than buy something newer i know nothing about. The difference in expense between a swap and buying newer can be significantly less, and the, relative, complexity isn't an issue if I end up with a vehicle optioned the way I want. Plus, with Fummins being as popular as they are, as long as the swap is done correctly and maintained, the trucks gonna have a higher resale value and hold that value longer than a slightly newer stock truck.

This is all dependent on facilities, abilities, and finances. Some people should just stick to same for same swaps, some people should just go buy a new truck. Know your limits.

 

You need to think about if you ever plan to sell, never is a long time away. Emission testing is going to become a big thing I feel.

 

I hope this will give you some perspective. First, “worth”. Is the truck a sentimental thing to you? If yeah, then I understand going to lengths to keep it viable. What’s your time worth? A 5.4 swap would be fairly straight forward, while the Cummins swap obviously takes a bit more time. I’m pretty sure the Cummins will run you more too. A rebuilt motor isn’t much, maybe a few grand? If you can do the labor, you’re back in action for a few stacks. Or, will the 5.4 just not get it done? I get that, as my F-250 has the 5.4 3V and it’s as far from invigorating. But realistically it gets me from point A to B just fine. I had a 2000 lbs load in the bed and it moved around just fine. I wouldn’t tow 14k regularly with it though. Now for the Cummins, one of the guys in the Excursion forum recently did his. Rainmaker1, I think, but I could be wrong. I’m sadly not as active as I used to be. Something about two jobs and a wife does that to ya, lol. The Fummins swap isn’t uncommon though, so getting together the odds and ends to adapt the Cummins into your ride shouldn’t be difficult, There’s tons of documentation out there.

Is it worth going through all of it? That’s kinda up to you. I’m weird, I love having that truck that nobody has, something unique and one-of-a-kind. I had a couple Yukon XL 2500 8.1s because of that. Or maybe you want the “apocalypse mobile” or whatever with an all-mechanical engine. Idk…

As someone who grew up in a variety of Chevys and GMCs, I came from an ecosystem of vehicles that’s very swap/mod friendly. It soured me to discover, after buying my Excursion, that cam swaps cost twice as much for half the gains compared to the LS. Do you just want a gas V8 with power, panache, and a gargantuan world of aftermarket? Go grab a Silverado. Simplest route seems to be replace the 5.4 with a good reman like maybe a Fraser, and add forced induction if you want more power beyond that. But if it were me, I’d do the Cummins. Hell, I’d do an LS just to **** everyone here off, lol.