Looking for Input from F150 with the 5.4L Triton owners, looking at a 2004.

[Ziptar]

I've been looking for a 4WD truck as an "extra" vehicle. I want something I can use for driving to work, around town, and for occasional hauling and towing. I wouldn't be using and driving it enough to make buying a new one worth while, I've been looking at used ones.

I found a 2004 F-150 Crew Cab Lariat at a used car dealer with 162,000 miles for $9500.00 that looks like a pretty good deal. It is in decent cosmetic shape and runs and drives well. All the accessories, A/C, door locks, and etc work. The Carfax checks out with no issues. I like the truck, its comfortable, and for the price it fits my need.

I am hesitant to pull the trigger on it though. I've been doing some research on the F-150 and 5.4L Triton to get an idea of what I might be in for and how long the engines last. Over all body wise people seem to love them but, I've found a ton of discussion on the internet about spark plugs blowing out and breaking. Apparently Ford doesn't consider this a defect and it can cost $300-$500 to fix each time.

I'd hate to buy a "cheap" truck just to turn around and dump a bunch of money into it.

Looking for any input from owners in general about the trucks, what I should be looking for before I buy it, particularly when it comes to the spark plug issue.

[Rick Hodges]

I had a '99 F 150 with the modular engine (not the 5.4, the 4.6) the spark plug issue comes from failure to do maintenance. The engines have aluminum heads and come with 100,000 mile platinum plugs...the manual says to change them at 100,000 miles. What the service manual says is to pull those plugs and clean and anti seize them every 20,000 miles. If you don't do it they will seize to the head and break off when trying to get them out. 20,000 miles is probably overkill. My mechanic says he only sees the frozen plugs after about 70,000 miles....my solution was to change them out at 50,000. I can't see going through all the work in taking them out and not replacing them with new plugs. (Changing the plugs is a real pain...the rearmost plugs have to have the fuel injector rails removed for access.)

I would think twice about buying any vehicle with 162,000 miles on it. I know of F 150's that have over 250,000 miles....but I don't keep them that long. I have no idea what the service record of the truck in question is. That seems like an awful lot of money for a truck with 162000 miles on it.

[Sweetpea]

We have one at work with over 220,000 on it and still going strong...

That said, the motor will last a long time, but it is a dog for power.

[Harter66]

I had 04' Expedition w/5.4. I loved it. It gots best milage at 47 and 78 mph about 19, 12 in town. I only towed w/ it once but it did the job comfortably and plenty of power on demand,even w/5 on board and bags and gear for a week.

The frame was the weak link . It took a hit I would call moderate ,but exactly wrong. It blew out the front end jacked the frame between the bumper and front cabin mount ,totaled. It is my understanding it is the same chassis.

If you buy it and need a left front lower control arm I have a new 1 complete 1/2 price

[possom813]

If you're going to do any real towing/hauling, you won't be happy with a 5.4 in a 1/2 ton truck.

On those spark plugs, any good local mechanic can handle the issue. On my V10, I take it to my mechanic about every 40-60k and he changes them out, I've only had one 'blowout', only it wasn't a blowout per say, the plug seized and stripped into the head, instead of the regular $150 to swap them out(plugs and boots included), it was $250 to repair it and change all the others(a risk discussed long before he touched the truck).

If you're set on a Ford, and you intend to work it a little bit, I'd look for a good F250 with the 5.4, a little bit more towing/hauling power. Same engine, heavier suspension and stouter/more stout rear end.


If you get away from Fords, I would avoid anything GM made from 99-02 or 03, google 'piston slap' and you'll see why. I had an 01 1/2 ton that had a severe case of the piston slap and it wasn't covered under warranty because every thing was within spec.


As far as working, I'd look for a 98-02 Dodge 2500 extended cab 4wd with the 5.9 cummins. Really good fuel economy for what it is(close to 20mpg, I've seen a few touching 23mpg), will pull anything, quite comfortable for a 3/4 ton, and will last 500k miles or more if you take care of them. The cummins trucks are the only trucks that I wouldn't be afraid of buying with over 150k miles on them, as long as it's been maintained and no carfax incidents.

A good cummins in the 98-02 range can usually be found in that configuration for around 10k, give or a take a little bit.

[TXGunNut]

At 162K the plug issue has likely been dealt with at least once and most good mechanics know how to deal with them. With a good maintenance history and good maintenance on your part you should be able to get another 100K out of her without much drama or expense. If you're going to pull over 3-4,000 lbs on a regular basis I'd follow the above advice about considering an F250. Heavier suspension and brakes but a significant fuel mileage penalty.

[southpaw]

At 162K the plug issue has likely been dealt with at least once and most good mechanics know how to deal with them. With a good maintenance history and good maintenance on your part you should be able to get another 100K out of her without much drama or expense. If you're going to pull over 3-4,000 lbs on a regular basis I'd follow the above advice about considering an F250. Heavier suspension and brakes but a significant fuel mileage penalty.

I have a 01 f250 extended cab 8' bed and I get about 10mpg city and 14-15 on the highway. My mom and a friend both have newer f150's extended cabs with the 6' bed and they get the same miles per gallon. I have checked my moms so I know that one is the same and my friend said that he should have gotten the 250 since we are getting the same gas mileage.

My 250 can handle a pretty good load. More than one time I have been a little over weight[smilie=1:. But now I have a 350 7.3 and it does about the same fuel mileage wise but with alot more power. Now I don't have to overload the 250.

Just my .02 cents.

Jerry Jr.

[Lloyd Smale]

im a bit old fashion but wouldnt buy ANY truck with that many miles and if i did id be willing to except the fact it was ready to crater at any time. I surely wouldnt buy a ford v8 in that year before i personsaly saw the recipe for a plug change within the last 20k.

[Ziptar]

Thanks for the input. I am going to step back from this truck. When I checked kbb.com and nada.com the F150 I looked at booked out at ~$13,000 even with the miles. I figured it was a good deal. To be honest though, I've now read and seen so many horror stories about spark plugs I wouldn't buy one if it had 62,000 miles on it.

I'm a diesel guy anyway, engines shouldn't have spark plugs! My current car is a 1991 VW Jetta Turbo Diesel. I'd originally wanted either a Dodge 2500 with the 12 valve Cummins or Ford F250 / F350 with the 7.3L Powerstroke, might do a 6.0L if it's had all the fixes done.

Being diesels the prices are more than I had wanted to lay out for an "Extra" truck and anything in the sub $10,000 range is pretty well beat.

GM is out. I love the 73-87 "Rounded-Line" pickups and have had several over the years, including a 79 Silverado with an Olds 350 Diesel which I wish I had never sold. Anything after that body style is terrible.

I guess I'll just be patient, up the amount I am willing to spend, and keep looking for a diesel pickup.

[uscra112]

The plug blowout issue was corrected in 2002. They tried a very-short-reach plug early on (why, I never found out), and it sure caused problems. The plugs had to be perfectly torqued on installation or the thread in the head would fail. 99% of non-Ford-trained mechanics did not know this. Even a lot of trained techs failed to torque the plugs, 'cause it is a PITA to do, so a lot of failures did occur. They went back to normal reach plug in 2001 or 2002, problem solved, unless Omar the gorilla worked on your truck. I remember this pretty well. As Elmer said, "Hell, I was there." (Been retired since 2009).

The Triton with even reasonable maintenance is a 300K+ engine. Couple of points I know about, however:

1.) IGNORE the recommendations for light grade oil. This was promulgated by Ford because the thin oil gets them a better number in the EPA gas mileage tests. GM does it too. Use minimum 10-40. I use 20-50 all year in my E150 van, (at 285,000 miles now), but in very cold climates 10-40 is necessary in winter. I helped make it possible to run those engines on such thin oil, but that still doesn't make it right.

2.) Do not rev the engine high for long periods (ten minutes or more) if you want long engine life. It is known to weaken the plastic facing on the cam chain tensioner and cause it to fail.

This is coming from a guy (me) who spent fifteen years working for a Tier One supplier to the Ford and GM engine plants, and who lived and breathed process control on Triton block/head/crank machining lines (mostly at Windsor) off and on for several years running.

A fleet owner I knew in those days ran nothing but Triton-engined limousines, and told me he traded them in at 300k miles, because the interiors began to look worn. Never had a major mechanical failure, he said.

[Liberty'sSon]

I realize you said no to GM products, but I have an 02 w Duramax and Allison trans. Gets 20 mpg on highway, has 250k and no issues. I've never heard anything bad about the drivetrain other than the occasional injector going out. I thought I had an injector problem but I had an honrst mechanic that just reflashed or rebooted the computer and solved the issue.

[10-x]

There is a tool to remove broken plugs in this engine. Any shop that's worth going to should have one, no big deal. Had an 04 F-150, loved it as it was as comfortable as a Continental my Dad had back in the 90's. Mileage was so so , but hey, it's a truck. Sadly the Ford dealership broke off #4 and #8 plugs at about 60K miles. They ate the repair of about $2000 back then, way before the removal tool came to be. Traded it afterwards, didn't trust their work......that's another story.

[arjacobson]

I have an 01 f150 so it still has regular plugs(still a PITA to change though) We have 8-10 f150's at work and ALL of them got the plugs swapped out to the newer(not supposed to break) plugs. 50% of the trucks had plugs that wouldn't come out even with the "TOOL" Every mechanic I talked to said to ALWAYS do oil changes when needed. ALWAYS use the recommended weight oil (something about oil passages plugging up with dirty/wrong oil) NEVER open the hood and wash the engine down. I guess the coil packs will hold water and short out. The plugs will also get wet and make removal tough. Other than that I have heard of the 5.4 running well over 200k miles. Mine has around 98 on it and runs like a clock. I love my f150

[Lloyd Smale]

plug blowout might have been corrected but thats not the major issue its plugs seizing in the heads and breaking off when you try to get them out. My brother in laws ford had it happen and that was 3 years ago so if there was a tool it sure didnt help as they had to pull the heads off and this was at a ford dealership so id think theyd have known any trick there is to fixing it. He got so mad at his 2200 dollar plug change that he went and bought a gmc and said hed never go back. Im a big chev fan so im sure some here will take this with a grain of salt but these were his opinions not mine. He said his new gmc rides better, Handles much better and has alot more power but then he got a 6.0 liter gmc that should have more power. He said his gas milage is as good or maybe slightly better then the 5.4 got. He was a ford man all his life and bought new fords every 4 years and said there will never be another in his yard again. Ford made a big mistake not standing behind these big mistakes they made and making there customer foot the bill for it. Im sure hes not the only x ford lover over this deal.


The Triton with even reasonable maintenance is a 300K+ engine. Couple of points I know about, however:

1.) IGNORE the recommendations for light grade oil. This was promulgated by Ford because the thin oil gets them a better number in the EPA gas mileage tests. GM does it too. Use minimum 10-40. I use 20-50 all year in my E150 van, (at 285,000 miles now), but in very cold climates 10-40 is necessary in winter. I helped make it possible to run those engines on such thin oil, but that still doesn't make it right.

2.) Do not rev the engine high for long periods (ten minutes or more) if you want long engine life. It is known to weaken the plastic facing on the cam chain tensioner and cause it to fail.

This is coming from a guy (me) who spent fifteen years working for a Tier One supplier to the Ford and GM engine plants, and who lived and breathed process control on Triton block/head/crank machining lines (mostly at Windsor) off and on for several years running.

A fleet owner I knew in those days ran nothing but Triton-engined limousines, and told me he traded them in at 300k miles, because the interiors began to look worn. Never had a major mechanical failure, he said.[/QUOTE]

[Lloyd Smale]

the plug blow out might have been corrected but the big problem is plugs seizeing in the heads. My brother in law spent 2200 bucks at a dealership getting his fixed so if theres a special tool they surely didnt have it and that was about 2 years ago. He got so mad that he went and bought a new gmc and said hed never own another ford. Ford lost alot more customers then just him when they left there loyal truck buyer out to dry over this deal. It was an obvious design problem that they should have went good for. Hes bought 6 new ford trucks since ive know him and said no more. By the way he said his new gmc ride better, handles much better+ when pulling his 5 wheel camper and the 6.0 liter motor gets bettter milage then the 5.4 did and has alot more power to boot. personaly i think ford is going to loose even more customers if they dont shelf gimicy, overly complex and troublesome **** like that eco boost motor and get back to what real grass roots truck buyers want.
The plug blowout issue was corrected in 2002. They tried a very-short-reach plug early on (why, I never found out), and it sure caused problems. The plugs had to be perfectly torqued on installation or the thread in the head would fail. 99% of non-Ford-trained mechanics did not know this. Even a lot of trained techs failed to torque the plugs, 'cause it is a PITA to do, so a lot of failures did occur. They went back to normal reach plug in 2001 or 2002, problem solved, unless Omar the gorilla worked on your truck. I remember this pretty well. As Elmer said, "Hell, I was there." (Been retired since 2009).

The Triton with even reasonable maintenance is a 300K+ engine. Couple of points I know about, however:

1.) IGNORE the recommendations for light grade oil. This was promulgated by Ford because the thin oil gets them a better number in the EPA gas mileage tests. GM does it too. Use minimum 10-40. I use 20-50 all year in my E150 van, (at 285,000 miles now), but in very cold climates 10-40 is necessary in winter. I helped make it possible to run those engines on such thin oil, but that still doesn't make it right.

2.) Do not rev the engine high for long periods (ten minutes or more) if you want long engine life. It is known to weaken the plastic facing on the cam chain tensioner and cause it to fail.

This is coming from a guy (me) who spent fifteen years working for a Tier One supplier to the Ford and GM engine plants, and who lived and breathed process control on Triton block/head/crank machining lines (mostly at Windsor) off and on for several years running.

A fleet owner I knew in those days ran nothing but Triton-engined limousines, and told me he traded them in at 300k miles, because the interiors began to look worn. Never had a major mechanical failure, he said.

[10-x]

Friend of mine has a repair shop and breaks off F-150 plugs often. The tool is easy to use, I've seen it used, no head removal required. Check a Snap-On, MAC or other quality tool distributor. Yea it sux that Ford's design of the "new" head and the "oil furnace" looking spark plugs cause so much problems. The old heads had "weak" threads for the plugs, cause the blow outs, so what did Ford do? Made the head thicker and designed the STUPID "tunnel" for the body of the plug to fit into so carbon can build up and freeze them. So whats worse?

[pdawg_shooter]

One of our outside sales pickups was a F250 with the Triton engine. It had a little over 350,000 on it when we retired it and made it a yard truck. The engine was original with only a water pump replacement. (not counting belts, hoses,etc.) The transmission had been replaced once, brakes three times, muffler once, and one p/s pump.

[rockrat]

If you look for a Dodge, be sure to have the brakes inspected, and the front suspension. Ball joints go at about 100K, along with the track bar and sometimes the power steering gearbox will get pretty loose by then. My '95 was a great engine surrounded by 4000 lbs of rust(Thank you state of Colorado and the mag chloride they put on the roads).

[oldred]

Since you said you were going to pass on that truck I was not going to say anything but with the continued discussion about plugs I want to mention something, the coil pack/plug boots do only a fair job of sealing the deep hole the plug is located in. Crud/dirt or even small hard objects (sometimes dropped accidentally?) can/will accumulate around the the plug fall and into the spark plug hole when the plug is removed if this junk is not removed by blowing out with compressed air BEFORE the plug is removed. I know of one engine that was trashed by a small unknown object that destroyed the piston top, cylinder head combustion chamber and the valves in that chamber within an hour of changing the plugs, almost every one of these engines I have changed plugs on have an amazing amount of crud/junk come out of that deep spark plug recess when blown out with compressed air. While it may not usually be enough to cause the serious damage I mentioned with the trashed engine it is still junk falling in there when the plug is removed!

One of the biggest reasons I would not own one of these things (and I am a die-hard Ford owner!) is those STUPID coil packs! Grossly over priced, notoriously unreliable and TOTALLY UNNECESSARY! Individual cylinder ignition is about the dumbest thing automotive engineering ever devised, it multiplies x=the number of cylinders the odds of a failure and while a single failure may not leave you stranded it is much more likely to happen and each cylinder usually costs more to repair than a central type ignition (distributor or distributor-less solid state). Add to that the Ford system's NOTORIOUSLY unreliable coil packs and most owners of these things will be out big bucks on them eventually, I know some owners will proclaim they never had a problem but I see these junky things on a regular basis!

[300winmag]

The company I used to work for had a fleet of the fords, years 2000 and up, they were notorious for the coil packs and intake gaskets.

[dkf]

I have had and been working on modulars since 98'. Have spoken with several of the engineers from Ford that designed the engine and trans for those series. Anyone whom has actually seen the inside of a modular and know what material the cams ride on and the passage length knows that thick oil (on startup) is not ideal and the engine was not designed for it either. The 5w20, 5w30 and even 5w40 is good and I run 5w-30 in my own. For flow tests the modulars at the engine plant with 5w40 due to the thicker oil used in countries outside North America that the engines are exported to. The numbers of 500k plus and 1 million mile shuttle vans with modulars running nothing but 5w-20 and 5w-30 is plenty testiment to debunk the myth of needing heavy oil. Heavy oil (especially 20w50) has killed more modulars than most can imagine, you are doing no good whatsoever putting that honey in your engine. The cam phasers on the 3Vs were not designed for the heavy oil either.

The extra thread length for all 2V modulars was implemented in 2003 MY but depending on the build date 2003 MY trucks may not have the extra thread length. All 2004up 2V engines will have the extra thread length. And yes I have done plug changes on 03' MY modulars that have the old style short length heads.

In 2004 the F-150 first came with the 3V 5.4l. The 2003 and prior 5.4l in the F-150. The 3Vs were known to have cam phaser issues and the plugs would break off in the heads. Ford switched to a different plug design mid 2008 MY to which corrected the plug breakage issue, however that plug will not work in the 3Vs with the old plug design. The plug breakage was primarily due to the 2 piece plug design which Ford still uses.(the current MC part # is still a 2pc plug) Champion and Brisk make plugs with 1 piece bodies which will not break. There is a TSB from Ford on the removal precedure to prevent breakage and if breakage occurs. Several companies like Lisle make removal tool kits to remove any broken plugs.

Ford lists 100k plug changes however in my experience misfires, decreased economy and etc can often occur long before 100k miles. Depends on how the vehicle is used.

The 2004 MY was a year of redesign for the F150. The engine, frame and body among others things were changed vs the 2003 MY. Thus there are most often more TSBs and minor issues after a redesign like that. They are good trucks it is just wise to keep that in mind. I would recommend getting an Oasis report if at all possible. The Oasis report will show you far more than a Car Fax or similar report and will show any TSBs the truck was brought to the dealer for along with any service and etc.

[Lloyd Smale]

I talked to an engineer in that works in the oil industry and hes says just the oposite. Alot of research has been done by the manufactures to determine which oil run best in a certain motor. He said the lube system is the first thing that has to be approved before a new motor hits the market. 5/30 oils are recomended because the just lube better. He said if anything in the future even thinner oils will be used. He said even in nascar motors very thin oiis are used. Some are even experimenting with 0 weight oils. A big benifit to thin oils is that thin oils abosorb more heat the thick oils. part of the reason the newer motors are going 2-300000 miles is because of research done with oils. Bottom line is that gas mileage is an added benift. The less friction you have the more horsepower your going to develope and that equates to better fuel economy. With the new cars coming with 3-5 year warantees and most drivetrain warantees extendeing to 50 to a 100k would you think that the car manufactures would recomend an oil that was going to cause wear on your motor? Run 1040 if you want but when your motor goes tits up good luck trying to convince ford that you knew more about oil and lubrication then there engineers that designed that motor did.
The plug blowout issue was corrected in 2002. They tried a very-short-reach plug early on (why, I never found out), and it sure caused problems. The plugs had to be perfectly torqued on installation or the thread in the head would fail. 99% of non-Ford-trained mechanics did not know this. Even a lot of trained techs failed to torque the plugs, 'cause it is a PITA to do, so a lot of failures did occur. They went back to normal reach plug in 2001 or 2002, problem solved, unless Omar the gorilla worked on your truck. I remember this pretty well. As Elmer said, "Hell, I was there." (Been retired since 2009).

The Triton with even reasonable maintenance is a 300K+ engine. Couple of points I know about, however:

1.) IGNORE the recommendations for light grade oil. This was promulgated by Ford because the thin oil gets them a better number in the EPA gas mileage tests. GM does it too. Use minimum 10-40. I use 20-50 all year in my E150 van, (at 285,000 miles now), but in very cold climates 10-40 is necessary in winter. I helped make it possible to run those engines on such thin oil, but that still doesn't make it right.

2.) Do not rev the engine high for long periods (ten minutes or more) if you want long engine life. It is known to weaken the plastic facing on the cam chain tensioner and cause it to fail.

This is coming from a guy (me) who spent fifteen years working for a Tier One supplier to the Ford and GM engine plants, and who lived and breathed process control on Triton block/head/crank machining lines (mostly at Windsor) off and on for several years running.

A fleet owner I knew in those days ran nothing but Triton-engined limousines, and told me he traded them in at 300k miles, because the interiors began to look worn. Never had a major mechanical failure, he said.

[cajun shooter]

You are very correct Lloyd. I don't understand people who have any type of gas or diesel engine and then run heavy oil in it.
The new synthetic oils are in the 5W-40 range for diesel motors like my 2005 GMC SLT 3/4 ton with Allison tranny. It has been proven for many years now that a thinner oil will lubricate better in lower air temps than a heavy oil of 30W.
Most all the wear in any engine is during start up with a cold engine. If the oil is thick it will be like trying to pour your Maple syrup outdoors in 30 degree weather. It moves slow and therefore takes much longer to reach those metal to metal parts. Your rings are going at 1500 or more rpm in a dry metal to metal environment.
If you run your engine in the desert with temps over 95 and up then the thicker viscosity oils will come into play. A oil with the range of 5W-40 will run in all areas of the US will no problems.
I will not even began to try and sway the OP from Ford as I have been in that one for 66 years. There will always be a group of GM owners who challange Ford owners and vice versa. The Dodge diesel with the Cummins engine is a work horse with no body to carry it.
The OP should try if he will, do some research on the many test of comparing the GM Diesel vs the Ford Diesel. Later David

[dkf]

I talked to an engineer in that works in the oil industry and hes says just the oposite. Alot of research has been done by the manufactures to determine which oil run best in a certain motor. He said the lube system is the first thing that has to be approved before a new motor hits the market. 5/30 oils are recomended because the just lube better. He said if anything in the future even thinner oils will be used. He said even in nascar motors very thin oiis are used. Some are even experimenting with 0 weight oils. A big benifit to thin oils is that thin oils abosorb more heat the thick oils. part of the reason the newer motors are going 2-300000 miles is because of research done with oils. Bottom line is that gas mileage is an added benift. The less friction you have the more horsepower your going to develope and that equates to better fuel economy. With the new cars coming with 3-5 year warantees and most drivetrain warantees extendeing to 50 to a 100k would you think that the car manufactures would recomend an oil that was going to cause wear on your motor? Run 1040 if you want but when your motor goes tits up good luck trying to convince ford that you knew more about oil and lubrication then there engineers that designed that motor did.

I agree. The OEMs put thousands of hours into testing a new powertrain and makes necessary changes along the way.

[big dale]

I have been very happy with my Dodge with the Hemi engine for over a decade now. Gives more milage than my 74 Ford F150 did but this one has POWER.

Have fun with this stuff.

Big Dale

[Lloyd Smale]

heres the post he made on another fourm when i asked him the question. By the way im not here to fuel the chev vs dodge vs ford thing either. We all have our opinions on this and they usualy came from a bad experience or even a good one and i know im not about to get anyone to all of a sudden switch brands. Im as guilty as the next on this.




Old habits die hard Lloyd. Kinda like the 3000 mile oil change. Before we had injected engines we had carbs. Carbs were sloppy at best. There was a lot of fuel that ended up in the oil especially if towing. You used a heavier oil because it gave you an edge on the viscosity dropping from the thinning effects of the gas in the oil. That's why a lot of folks used it. Some want to claim that you needed a heavier oil in high heat when the exact opposite is true. High school general science class would have taught you that a thinner fluid absorbs heat faster and cools quicker than a thicker fluid. That pretty much describes what oil does in the system. It gets pumped into the engine where it absorbs heat, goes back to the pan where it's released.


Gotta love the recommend of a 10w-30 over a 5w-30. At full operating temp do you know what the difference is? Absolutely nothing, they both are SAE 30 viscosity at temp. The benefit of the 5w base oil is that those oils are made with a higher Viscosity Index base. The 10W, not being a volume seller, is made from low VI base oils and polymers are used to make the spread. Polymers, while better than those of the 90's, are still a sludge maker. Using a 10w-40 is asking for problems as GM found out and ended up having to replace several thousand engines. The recommendation makes zero sense.


FWIW, you'll be seeing oils even thinner than the Xw-20 as you'll see 0w-10 ans 0w-0 oils in about 5 years. Instead of viscosity keeping the parts from rubbing on each other, we now use film strengths and additives that leave dry film lubes on the parts. Another FWIW, NASCAR teams don't use bottled oil like you and I buy. They make their own. Depending on the race track determines the additive package and viscosity At the heaviest, an SAE 20 and a lot of the races use an SAE 0 oil. Yep, it's about like water yet the engines live at RPMs and heat that would kill your stock engine fairly quick.


Another FWIW. All of the auto makers in the USA are memebrs of ILSAC. ILSAC is an organization that determines engine technologies and especially the oils we use. API is the enforcement arm of ILSAC. Any engine designed for the USA market starts with the lube system. That's the absolute first thing that goes into the specs. Since the lube is the first and most critical thing to an auto maker, wouldn't it make sense that the auto makers recommendation is dead on as that's what the engine is designed around? It's hard to out guess an auto engineer that's been doing it most of his life.

[BD]

If it's the 3V 5.4 triton motor, (8th digit vin 5), don't walk, RUN from it. My daughter is still waiting to get her 2004 with the 3V triton back from the engine rebuild shop with a bill of $4,500. That particular motor has several serious issues, ( the plugs don't blow out, they break off when you change them, every single one), the most serious issue is the cam phaser failure which causes an immediate drop in oil pressure and irreversible engine damage. To add insult to injury, that block is $1,000 more rebuilt than the 2V that preceeded it, and the 4V that replaced it and the core charge is nearly double.
BD