Has anyone done this and can it be done?

 

Anything can be done if you throw enough money at it. This however begs the question, WHY? What vehicle? What year? Which V-8? The 5.4L or the 4.6L ? I haven't done it and would not do it. I would however swap out a V-8 for a V-10. BTW welcome to FTE.

 

The truck is 2001 Ford F250 that I purchased new in Oct 2000. Had oil pressure problems at 50,000 miles in the original engine and replaced it.

Purchased a 2001 V10 engine with only 10,000 miles on it in 2003. at approximatley 100,000 miles on the odometer the engine broke a valve spring on the drivers side. I pulled the head (prior to realizing it was just a valve spring) made the repairs and reinstalled the head.

Now at 130,000 engine lost Oil Pressure to the passenger side head. I checked oil pressure with an actual pressure gauge off the bottom of the motor 65 psi at an idle but no oil at the top on the pass side.

I pulled the cap on the cam 2nd one from the front and its scored so I figure the motor has to come out. Rebuild the head at the minimum but just checking my options at this point of possible going with a V8 as opposed to another V10 tired of the problems.

sorry for the long rsponse
and thanks for the welcome to the site, I have been coming here and lurking for a couple years and never registered till recentley

 

First off, does this truck see regular oil change intervals? Is it driven insanely hard? The V-10 is a stout engine that should last well up to 200,000 miles with reasonable maintenance. Secondly, If you don't have a donor truck with the engine, wiring harness, ecm, exhaust manifolds, air filter/intake piping your better of fixing/replacing the V-10.

 

Insanley hard? The truck does pull trailers all the time, I have 4 different trailers it pulls depending on the work for the day. It receives the same level of maintenance that all my 350 chevy's get. Do I change the oil at 3000 mile NO, between 3 and 7 thousand is more the standard. As for the Valve spring I think that was just a fluke but sounded bad when it happened, lot of knocking and hammering. I dont really think it's a junk motor but the gas mileage is horendous in my opinion and always has been from the day I bought the truck. 11mpg highway was a hard pill to swallow and I suppose that would be the main factor in looking into the V8 but it probably wont happen.

I will probably just change out to the V10 again, like I said just looking into any options if I have them.



"ride em hard put em away wet"

 

I'm wondering if you could find one of the newer 3v V10's out there and swap it in. Don't know for sure, I'm guessing you'd need the PCM to go with it, but more power, possibly slightly better mileage?

Maybe someone here has experience swapping out a 2v for a 3v, could be more helpful, just a thought.

 

IIRC someone was looking into it and the biggest problem is that the 3v models are run on a completely different computer interface.

The V10 has never been known for mileage. Its 415ci of fury. I gotta admit that I have actually grown to love my 10 mpg average.

 

If you convert to the 5.4L V8, you are only going to have lower MPG and more stress on the engine, which means more repairs. IMO, you have three options:

1. Install a replacement V10 2V engine. This is the easiest option.

2. Install a replacement V10 3V engine. A more complicated option but possible with proper research.

3. Trade the truck for a diesel Super Duty. As much hauling as you do, this is the best option, especially if you can find a lower mileage 7.3L diesel Super Duty.

 

The problem with going to a 3V 5.4L is that the PCM also controls the transmission, so you'd have to swap that also, since the 3V engines have 5R110W transmissions instead of 4R100s (unless you have a manual transmission),

Swapping the PCM and installing a 2V 5.4L would work, but you're not gaining anything. Mileage may be a little better, but it won't be enough to justify the swap (especially when towing). Ask any of the guys here, I am a huge fan and cheerleader of the 5.4L V-8, but what you propose makes no sense.

Consider this: The 5.4L V-8 is basically the same engine as the V-10, just minus a few cylinders. If your work routine isn't cutting it with the V-10, the V-8 will give you as much (if not more) trouble, since it will be working harder with the same load.

Triton V-10s are solid engines. You should not be experiencing these problems. Oil pressure problems and broken valve springs are a sign of bad maintenance, bad repairs and/or hard driving. Before doing anything I would take a hard look at why you had oil pressure problems at 50k, why you lost a valve spring at 100k and why you're not holding oil pressure now.

What oil and filter do you use?

 

What oil and filter have you been running on the V10?