Hi,
This may be on here somewhere, but I can't seem to find. I have a '99 F-150 Lariat 5.4L V8 2WD. Loud knocking sounded like rods, took to mechanic and he said yes, but wanted to replace whole engine. He said that these engines had a bad rep for rebuilding. Well, I can't afford the $5,000. So, bought push rods and lifters. We have a Haynes book for the truck but it only states info for replacing rods on the 4.2L V6. Tired of looking for info. Please, where are they(rods) on the 5.4L and any info for easy replacing? Appreciate any responses.

 

huh???????? whats wrong with the enigne? there is no pushrods in the engine! its a modular engine

 

I would reconsider my mechanic. And the place I bought the pushrods from.

 

He may have gotten pushrods for the old Ford 330's??? I know there was an FE 332. I have seen parts listed for 5.4L's that were the old pushrod style, but I am not sure of the particulars. I also remember seeing such a thing while researching replacement engines.

 

These engine do have pushrods, even though they are OHC. On a SOHC setup, you have little pushrods that open the valves. Only DOHC engines dont have any pushrods at all.
I would get a second opinion from a mechanic you can trust though, sounds like this guy is trying to make some money off of you.
Octane

 

They have cam followers and hydraulic lash adjuster (much like lifters, except they sit in the head and do not ride on the camshafts). There are no pushrods in these engines. The cam followers (like rocker arms) ride under the cam lobes and are help up by the valve on one end and the lash adjuster on the other. The lash adjuster keeps tension on the cam follower to eliminate ticking.

Does it knock all of the time or at higher rpm or idling? It could be a connecting rod which connects the pistons to the crankshaft. If they are knocking, then you have big problems and a rebuild or new shortblock is in order.

 

no there is not a single pushrod in the engine. the mod engines use cam followers no push rods.

 

Is the knocking at startup? Could it be piston slap?

 

or it could have worn valve guides causing a rattle/knock that is really loud in the finder well area

 

My uncle's 4.6 developed a piston slap sound (whch is what it was) around 100k miles. He now has over 178,000 miles on that same engine still the sound, but no problem. Perhaps what you hear is P.S.?

 

Well, there are no push rods or lifters on the 5.4. The 4.2 is an OHV engine with pushrods. The only way to get to them is by removing the head and the rocker. The pushrods push on the rocker, and with the engine inside the vehicle it's not an easy task to be removing heads. I would reconsider my mechanic