Hello gentlemen. I have owned/driven GM trucks since I could drive. I now have a loving wife and three kids and want some more room. I'm looking at purchasing a 2001 F150 supercrew with a 4.6L engine. What HP(and gear ratio) is this engine and what are common problems?(please be honest here - I know all trucks have commen probs.... even my GM's). My last 3 trucks have been 1/2 ton GM's with the 5.3L(285HP). Any advice or comments would be helpfull as I look at crossing over to buying a Ford.

 

I think the 4.6 is around 215 hp and they probably have 3:55's. Not a real hotrod, but good on gas, and an all around good light duty truck. I have no personal experience with a Super Crew, but I bet it's a much better family vehicle than my 3/4 ton super cab! Rob

 

You'll notice a definite difference in power, but they are very reliable. We have an '04 E150 with the 4.6 and a 3:55 rear. It's not the fastest thing but it gets 18mpg loaded with tools, and ~13 pulling a trailer.

 

i bought a 2001 SC with the 5.4 motor. had 125,000 miles. had it about ayear so far. i put ball joints and idler arm for the steering. other than that, change the transmission oil, axle oil, transfer case if it is a 4 x 4. no problmes to date.

 

IIRR...check very closely for door cracks at the A piller area. IIRR that was about the time that Ford had fixed the problem. Also the automatic transmission- while the Ford AOD is overall a good unit, they are known for clutchpack failure. This is promogated by reduced internal fluid psi to gain a more "comfortable" feeling shift by the factory. this can easily be prevented by if a chip/programmer is installed increasing the line pressure/reducing shift duration and if this has not been done it might be considered a non-issue if the vehicle seldom did any towing and has mostly highway miles. The 2001's were also of an era (Nasser) when the windshield glass thickness was substantially reduced causing increased wind noise and a few reporting windshield leakage. This is an especially important consideration since about 1978, windshilds are designed as part of the structural integrety of the front end of the vehicle. Also, IIRR, they were also a significant number of questionable structural items specifically with the screw in the event of hard front or rear collisions where the top of the cab collapsed. By 2001 IIRR, all of the head gasket failures were corrected with the 4.6 (but the 5.4 still had what I would call significant problems).

Overall, check for those items that have come to my mind and I think you will have a very good vehicle with lots of maintenance free miles.

 

Ok, first off what is IIRR, I have no idea, maybe because I am slow? Secondly the 4.6L will get about 1 mpg better, likely go with a 5.4L myself, better resale and if you ever tow anything it will do the job. The supercrew is a big beast and it doesn't matter what engine you have in it, it takes power to move it. I got 17-18 mpg with my 5.4L on the highway. If it is for a family, maybe you should look at the crash tests for this year of truck, not very good for the supercab configuration, not sure of the supercrew? But I guess your old chevies were just as bad, maybe worse. Its just if I had kids I would make sure the crash tests were perfect, like the 2004 Ford!!! Problems? Not alot, they are fairly reliable. Guess it depends what day it was made! If you just browse this section of the forum, you will see the problems that they have.

 

Thanks for all the replies. The truck I'm looking at is a 4x4 and it has 86,000 miles on it. The guy pulled a 4 place snowmobile trailer with it, so nothing that I would call over doing it. I haven't actually seen the truck yet - hoping to look at it this week and I will be sure to look for the things mentioned.

 

The biggest drawback to the 97 to 03 F150s is the high prices of normal repairs. A tuneup will cost you around $300. Any major motor repair is very expencive. It takes about 8 hrs to change the heater core. I'm not inpressed with my truck at all. I'll buy a different brand next time. I should have kept my 96 F150. It was the better truck IMO.

 

The 4.6L has 231hp and most 4x4's have 3.55 gears. I have an 01 SuperCab 4x4 with the 5.4L and it is a really good truck.

 

Has anyone tried perf. upgrades on the 4.6L like K&N air filter, dual exhaust, chip/programmer, and if so did you see any noticeable gains in perf./fuel mileage? Thanks again for all of your comments.

 

The programmer works good on the 5.4L, I'm sure it will on the 4.6L too. My highway mileage went up about 1.3mpg and the power is noticable. I also have a Flowmaster cat-back system and a K&N filter.

 

I've driven the GM's 5.3L on their pickups, it has nice power to it and gets better gas mileage than Ford's 5.4L. The 4.6L's is noticeable weaker than the GM's 5.3L, and the gas mileage difference is very minimal versus Ford's upgraded 5.4L. If the power is important to you and plan to use towing frequently, I would go for 5.4L. Otherwise you'll be badmouthing the Ford's versus your old chevy's for lack of power. But the 4.6L is good motor as many of our guys are happy with it reliability-wise. Newer 2001 and up is better choice as it's midway point of 97-03 body design. I love my 02 Supercrew to death as it has noticeable improved performance versus my previous 98 supercab with same 5.4L option.

 

The 4.6 is pretty reliable. I own a 97 4.6 auto 4x4 w/ 1815000mi and it still runs strong. Mine only puts out about 220hp not a lot but gets me down the road and it's pretty easy on gas if you don't lead foot it.

 

IIRR is "if I rememebr right"

 

Hi all, I'm new here but was just checking out the site since we are currently looking at upgrading to a 4 fullsize door model. We are pretty much looking at 2003's. I wasn't sure about the fuel consumption difference between the 5.4 and 4.6 engines and the reliability of each. I have a camper trailer but may sell it so I may not tow that often anymore. I can tell you that towing with my 4.2 wasn't very enjoyable. I have owned my 2000 F150 RWD 4dr manual transmission truck (XL) for about 3 years now. It had 20000 km when I bought it and now has 95000 km and I haven't had any problems at all. I use it to commute to work and it is easy on the gas and enough power in the city to get around as fast as I want. The down side is in the winter I find myself wanting a 4x4, the door arrangement is such that if I'm parked beside anyone I can't get the kids out of the back and with 3 kids I need more cab space. I've owned lots of Ford vehicles and am fond of them since they've been good to me. My father-in-law is a Chevy man but I was happy to point out that almost everything he owned on the farm was Ford including his New Holland combine. They did shaft him however with his motorhome problems and the customer service was not there. He borrows my truck often and loves it. Now he wants to buy it from me. I guess Fords aren't so bad after all. My theory is that it can depend upon the year since it seems the 97's had some issues (wheels coming off etc). The 1st year of a new style doesn't seem to be the best choice all in all with any make IMO.