I have a '97 light duty F-250. Engine is 5.4 Triton. First engine quit with 97000 miles on it, wife had been driving it, and I think it had run low on oil. This engine has about the same milage on it and quit going down the road. Mechanic said it 'seized'. Oil level had been good earlier in the day, and I didn't notice a drop in oil pressure, but I wasn't watching it that close.

Talk to me about rebuilding and options.

 

I think personally I would pass on rebuilding the same engine. I would either go with a running one from a donor vehicle, or a remanufactured one with hopefully a warranty. Have you looked on KarKraft? Thats another option.

 

If it were me,It would depend on how badly I needed the truck in the short term.If its not a daily driver,and you have the time,and tools,place etc,I would tear into it,and see what happened.Might be able to find out by simply pulling the pan.
At that point you could make the decision to rebuild it yourself,or put in a reman. Salvage yard engines are ok if you plan to "dress up" the truck and sell it,but as for me,I would want to KNOW what condition the powerplant is in.
Also,if you are considering rebuilding it yourself,do some homework on engine shops in your area...be sure they can rebuild heads,turn cranks,and install camshaft bearings etc.This will help you in figuring out the investment potential versus a remanufactured long block.

 

Ok before you go on replacing the engine I would check a few things first. I had a customer bring in his truck on a hook with an engine in the back for us to put in. Someone else told him his engine was seized. Well............ no it wasn't. If your oil level was/ is good and was not making any noise, and you've changed your oil there is no reason the engine would be siezed. I have seen (rare case) something in the trans. mostly planetarys or input shaft lock up or sieze. Or like the other truck I was telling you about earlier the A/C compressor bearing is locked and stalls the engine and will not crank.... Pull the belt off the truck and try to start it. Those 5.4L didn't have many oiling issues.... Unless of course you had no oil.... Well good luck keep us posted......

 

i saw a car with a seized up starter drive and it felt like the motor wouldnt turn.

try turning the motor over with a bar and socket on the front pully

 

Damn good suggestions - it's a bit rare for normally treated Modular Ford V-8's to go bad that early (though I did see one owned by a kid who abused the hell out of it).

 

I'd use a salvage yard engine I could hear run before pulling it, or buy a donor wreck/skin it/scrap it. Rebuilds are expensive and engines are common.

I'd save the old engine for parts, since I make it a rule to accumulate lots of spares for anything I own.

 

Thing I hate about a salvage yard engine, from the Pittsburgh area at least, was that they pull 'em out and lie to you about how many miles the engines (or, really, a lot of parts) actually had on 'em.

My family used salvage yard parts a good deal over the last 30 years for their used car business (if they ended up buying a car that had a known blown motor, bad tranny, etc., sometimes even just a strut and spring).

I don't trust anyone who sells pulled motors anymore. Just assume it's gonna have 20k or 30k more miles on it than they tell you if its pulled before you get there.

 

Hey Thanks guys for your information.
A lot of good Ideas.

Will probably be a month or two before I can really get to it.
But, I will check it out thoroughly. In truck and then pull engine and go from there.

I will keep the thread updated on what is going on with it. I really need a 3/4 ton to pull a trailer with and possibly move round bales of hay (1000lb)

Thanks Again

Nolan