All knowing Beeb I am looking at possibly buying a 2004 F150 XL 4.6 V8. Truck is in good condition but I am wondering if there is anything I should look out for, any issues with that type engine? anyone have that truck that can give me some feedback? What should I pay for it max?
If it's a 4x4 you might want to get the drive train checked. The vacuum locks (???) went out on my hubs almost immediately after the warranty expired to the tune of $2G. The car ran like there was a bag of gravel each of the front wheels.
Grandpa has the 4.6 and I am not a fan. Feels like it's always in and out of passing gear. For work and running around town, great truck.
I bought a new F150 SuperCrew, 2WD with Posi and the 4.6 V8 in 2003. If I remember right, it had a 6500 lb towing capacity and I had a 6 x 12 enclosed trailer hauling two bike and gear. It was fine when I live in IL and everything was flat, flat, flat. I moved to E. TN in 2006 and it didn't do so well trying to pull the trailer in the mountains down here. The 4.6 was a great motor and had no issues with it whatsoever......just short on power for towing in my opinion. 18.5 MPG was about the best that I ever got on the highway (70 to 75MPH and A/C on with cruise) and when I hooked onto the trailer, it went down to around 11MPG. I sold it in Oct. 2010 and bought a new F250 SuperDuty with the new 6.7 PowerStroke and I'm much happier with it for my needs (I now tow a 7 x 16 V nose tandem axle. All in all it was a very good truck, and it met my needs for everything including towing, until I moved into the mountains.
Only real issue with the modular v8's is the coil/plug issue and some problems with exhaust manifold studs breaking. I've had two 5.4's I've had to replace a coil on. Shop mechanic has an older 4.6l that he's replaced several on. It's not hard and they're not very expensive.
Not sure if they fixed it or not. But my expedition with the same series engine blew a spark plug out of the engine while towing. Tore up the coils, etc. If they hadn't back-peddled and covered it under warrenty...It's have been out $2500 for repairs. No I'm not kidding. (At 40K miles....in 20 months of ownership.)
They never fixed that no. They changed the plug design that now gets stuck in the head. The 4.6 is good, like said, may have a coil go out here and there (misfire) and you may have exhaust studs breaking, more so in the salt belt but still, thats minor shit compared to what i've seen in the grand scheme of things.
It's a Mustang motor. Those motors have probably been abused more than any other motor in that generation. If there is a problem, there is a fix. If there are short comings, there are a million aftermarket fixes. I wouldn't sweat the power plant at all.
Brake lines will rust in a certain spot and blow out sooner or later. happened to many a F150 owner besides me from 99 to 05 looks like
In florida? They rust up and blow out here all the time but when they spread salt on the road like they are paving with it anything rusts out. I've been able to see front driveshafts through the floor boards on quite a few vehicles.
I'm pretty sure there's a lot of information out there about the spark plug issue on the 4.6 and other engines in the modular family. An aftermarket fix is great and all that but little consolation when 3 of the 8 spark plugs screwed out with the threads in them.
The '98-03 (I believe as I have an '01) have shitty transmissions. Lots of people have posted about it. Other problem is with coil packs. Love my truck though.
If the truck has been in florida all these years then no. But ya never know the previous owner might have been in a road salt state.
Not all of the 4.6 have the shitty spark plugs.I have an 05 and when i did mine,to my suprise,it did not have the plugs with the shrouds on them.
