Changing F250 5.4 intake manifold is not for the meek.

[legend 550]

Uncle had to change the turbos on a 3.5 eco boost. While he had him opened up did timing chains

[Winger Ed.]

Uncle had to[A[/ATTACH]

If you're set up for it, pulling up a cab, or truck bed to change the fuel pump is no big deal.

For me, it'd be one of those (dreaded) things that start out with, "All ya gotta do"..........

[MaryB]

Oh yeah. I already graduated from that school.
I was able to get the broken one-- driver's side rear out with the Lysle tool and didn't have to re-cut & tap the hole for a insert.
I've heard horror stories of plugs just blowing out of these too.

I put a new set of OEM Motorcraft plugs in it, and the new ones don't break off. They're made more like old school ones,
and the tips aren't separate from the base/body of the plug like the first generation ones.

I did the plug change when a coil or two went sour around 58,000 miles or so. I put in a set of Edelbrocks.
This summer, one of them started acting up less than 2,000 miles later, so I changed them all for new Motorcraft OEM coils.

I drive less than 1,000 miles a year, and think I'm done with changing coils & plugs.

I looked real quick at the old manifold. I couldn't find a crack, but it sort of looks like the gaskets under it were leaking.
The OEM gaskets for it are pretty big bucks by themselves. As old as it is, I'd probably have changed the manifold anyway.

Look at the groove the O rings for the coolant crossover tube sit in. The lip breaks off and fluid can leak by under the O ring because nothing is holding it in place. Most common side is passenger...

[Froogal]

Kind of makes a guy wish for the good 'ol Chevy small block engine. Go out after lunch, Open the hood and replace BOTH heads and have the car back on the road by supper time.

[Rockindaddy]

My old 1994 Fud F-150 has 159K on the original 300 6-cylinder Has the original 5-speed on the floor. The only thing I had to fix last year was the harmonic balancer that came apart and wore a hole in the timing gear cover. Not too bad of a fix. Can't believe guys want to know if I want to sell the ole' girl !!! The sticker shock of buying a new F-150 could cause a stroke. I asked to have my new F-150 set up with a set of gears. The salesman laughed and said why would you want a gear box? Told him that I can fix a standard trans but did not want to rebuild an automatic. He informed me that manual transmissions were not available!!! Maybe they did not have one on the lot. This ole' F-150 doesn't make much oil pressure. Recycled Bullet; now you have me scared!!! Worn out camshaft bearings.

[jonp]

Just got my 2004 5.4 3V F150 with 170K out of the shop for an engine knock sensor code. Wire was broken to the sensor and after looking up how to do it I said "No Thanks". Fixed that and a couple of other things but now threw a code for lean on both banks. I pulled the MAF sensor and sprayed it down then reset it but hope nothing else. Figuring the shop messed something up and will take a hard look tomorrow. These engines suck to work on.

Don't even try the back sparkplugs. I can't wait to dump this thing. Another $1900 down the tubes. Rebuilt transmission, rebuilt motor, rebuilt transfer case, new oil pump, new water pump, new timing chains and cam phasors, new drive shaft, steering shaft, wheel bearings, shocks, struts, tie rods, ball joints (which need to be done again) O2 sensors, muffler and pipe and so on and so on including a leak at the oil filter housing so have to do that too. At least I can do the housing gasket and ball joints myself. Back end jumps which looks like a chewed up rear gear so that will be several hundred more bucks.

Did I mention I can't wait to dump this dog?

[Winger Ed.]

The salesman laughed and said why would you want a gear box? T.

I hadn't looked at the other auto makers, but I think Ford did away with them in full size trucks around 2010.
My '06 has one of the few/last six speed manuals.
I ordered it special. I'd always been a GM guy, but when the stars came together and I was able to get a new truck---
the Chevy folks wouldn't let me have what I wanted.
The salesman looked me in the eye, straight up lied, and refused to sell me one.

I said, "I want a 3/4 ton, extended cab, gas fired V8, six speed manual trans, fleet model..... This is not negotiable".
I got--- 'OK,,, Chevy doesn't make standard transmissions any more. (They did then) Let me show you these Diesel Silverados".......
I talked to the Ford guy on Wed. He said he didn't have one on the lot, but could get one from Houston by Friday.
He told me the price, and I said 'Send it to Dallas'. I picked it up on my Lunch break that Friday.

I can baby a clutch along for at least 100,000 miles, but I won't change this one. It's huge!.
I'm used to ones you can carry under one arm from the old 1/2 ton trucks.
This one is the same one they put in a school bus, will take a PTO, and weighs 100 pounds more than a automatic.
I don't have the lifts and trans. jacks to pull or install it.

[Handloader109]

I'll not say mine will go down the road to the dollar general and back the next time I crank it up, but my 2005 f150 with the triton hasn't been bad at all. I bought in 2012 with 95k miles on it and I've gotten it up to 217,000. Replaced all the plugs pretty soon after getting it thinking it was causing the miss, nope it was a coil. So I bought a set of coils and replaced them at about 110k. They lasted until about 175k and I replaced them again with a cheap set and had to replace one since at about 215k. I've got 4 spares left that my brother gave me. He's a mechanic and won't touch one of these for major engine repair due to cost. Especially timing issues as it is cheaper to just do engine replacement... mine still runs good, I'm not selling it yet....

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[Recycled bullet]

This!!

The reason I swapped the motor instead of rebuilding it was the oil pan and timing cover was filled with metal pieces looked like shiny metallic finger nail clippings mixed with shiny sludge and burnt goo.

Would cost at least a thousand bucks a head to start and both were trashed. It failed from oil starvation and there was no way I'm trusting the lower end not to poop the bed.

Some where a Ford engineer is giggling at the stupid design of the Ford modular v8 and the absolute dependence it has of tiny oil ports to lube and cool a poorly designed vvt system.

We've done a bunch of them at the shop.


I don't want to do all the work and still have metal trash stuck in a oil pressure port somewhere.

Still rolled the dice with a reman and got burned by shifty quality control. On first start up it had collapsed lifters and low oil pressure and phaser tick. The jasper rep lied to my face saying they live run reliability test all blocks before shipping them out. He retired and his replacement was so ashamed he sent me another reman this past summer.

This one is a little better.

Winger it sounds like you got one of the good ones that Ford built.

[MaryB]

My 2001 F150 made it to 157k then then dreaded cracked intake at the coolant crossover issue. Hydro locked the engine once but didn't break anything. I looked at replacing it and decided against it, way to hard to get at the back bolts for a cripple like me with a very bad back.

I miss the days of a simple engine, no spaghetti of vacuum lines going all over, no smog crap...

[rbuck351]

The more I read of this kind of stuff, the more I like my 98 1/2 Dodge Cummins. I have had to do a couple of small repairs on the outside engine things (tps) and such and one major repair. The injector pump went at about 200,000 miles and took me a couple hours to replace. Now it has around 225,000 and runs better than new. It has an Edge chip. It is fairly easy to work on/get at the engine and has no hard to get at plugs or expensive coils.

I did change plugs on a 2002 F150 for a friend but I will never do that again. The big car manufactures should have their engineers remove and replace whatever part they design ten times before they are allowed to design another car part.

[Winger Ed.]

The big car manufactures should have their engineers remove and replace whatever part they design ten times before they are allowed to design another car part.

That's not how the system works.
To help hold their price down, cars are (partly) engineered to be assembled as quickly as possible.
Things we can't reach- the factory put that stuff on before the body shell got lowered onto the chassis.

All the suspension parts we have trouble lifting up into place--
the factory may put those on with the bare frame upside down.

A side benefit to that is that it helps get mechanic work out of your driveway, and into the dealer's service dept.

[Froogal]

2012 Silverado with the 5.3. Truck has only 85,000 miles so it should be good to go for quite some time, but in the back of my mind I am curious about replacing that 5.3 with a good 'ol 5.7 when, and if, the time comes. I would set it up with a conventional carburetor and ignition system. Something that I can fix if needed. Probably have to replace the transmission also because I would be eliminating most of the electronics.

[Recycled bullet]

If you do like winger ed and preventively maintain your 12 Silverado you might avoid common failures like cylinder deactivation/torque converter/hydraulic lifters breaking or wearing out.

[Winger Ed.]

replacing that 5.3 with a good 'ol 5.7 .

I'd really research that first.
It ain't like the old days.
If you have modern generation state inspections: There's issues with both visual and emission tests.

These modern systems aren't really that hard to work on.
Get a code reader. Even a cheap one--- The ones that cost a couple hundred dollars a few years ago,
are about $40. now. With it, the car will tell you what's wrong with it. Most of the parts stores now days
will also read the codes for free. They're not as good as the diagnostic tool that costs a few hundred- but it'll
tell you the simple stuff and give you a code number to research for 'cures'.

Back in the mid 80s, I pulled a blown Diesel engine/trans from a '81 Buick station wagon and dropped in
a overhauled '74 Pontiac 350 & turbo 350. The VIN jived up with the Diesel engine so I didn't have to get the sniffer part
of state inspections, but it didn't pass the visual.
My buddy who was a state inspector just didn't wear his glasses when I brought it in.
Without that, I couldn't have gotten a state inspection sticker every year.

I bought a '84 Silverado in '88. It had a blown engine when I got it.
I got the engine from a totaled '87 and swapped into it.
I changed the oil at 3,000. The trans fluid every two years or right after I'd pulled some big trailer
in the summer and it had gotten real hot. I also put the biggest radiator I could find to put inn and still close the hood.
I sold it in 2000 because I was getting tired of looking at it, but it still ran great. I figure the engine had almost
200,000 miles on it, and the transmission close to 300,000.

The moral of the story is that if you baby the 2012 along,
and treat the oils and fluids like the elixir of life that they are--it might last longer than you will.

[Finster101]

2012 Silverado with the 5.3. Truck has only 85,000 miles so it should be good to go for quite some time, but in the back of my mind I am curious about replacing that 5.3 with a good 'ol 5.7 when, and if, the time comes. I would set it up with a conventional carburetor and ignition system. Something that I can fix if needed. Probably have to replace the transmission also because I would be eliminating most of the electronics.

The number one thing you can do for that truck is religiously keep the oil changed. That is the number one killer on the cylinder de-activation. I'm driving an 08 Silverado and it hopefully will be my last truck.

[rbuck351]

Well,trying to keep the price down sure didn't work. Changing spark plugs should be something the average guy can do without removing the body or lifting the engine.
I doubt I'll ever buy a new car again. One, they are very expensive and two they are very difficult to work on.

[megasupermagnum]

2012 Silverado with the 5.3. Truck has only 85,000 miles so it should be good to go for quite some time, but in the back of my mind I am curious about replacing that 5.3 with a good 'ol 5.7 when, and if, the time comes. I would set it up with a conventional carburetor and ignition system. Something that I can fix if needed. Probably have to replace the transmission also because I would be eliminating most of the electronics.

That would be the most foolish thing I can imagine. The LS engines are superior to the old small block engines in almost every way. Coil over plugs are WAY better than distributors, including working on them. The port fuel injection system on the LS engines is as good a system for reliability and longevity that there ever was. Working on them is as easy as I've ever experienced, much easier than working on a carburetor. Here is the kicker, the aftermarket is flooded with intakes for LS engines to put carburetors on them. Seriously, don't do that swap.

As for the transmission, as long as you were thinking something like an NV4500 manual transmission, then I can get behind that 100%. Just be prepared for sticker shock of what they cost now rebuilt. Bell housings aren't cheap either. Don't be dumb and put a 700r4 in there thinking they are better. They are junk. What you already have is pretty good if you change the fluid regularly, 30k miles or so.

[Froogal]

If you do like winger ed and preventively maintain your 12 Silverado you might avoid common failures like cylinder deactivation/torque converter/hydraulic lifters breaking or wearing out.

I bought a "Rangemaster" device. It plugs into the diagnostic port and effectively disables the 4 cylinder/eight cylinder mode.

[Froogal]

The number one thing you can do for that truck is religiously keep the oil changed. That is the number one killer on the cylinder de-activation. I'm driving an 08 Silverado and it hopefully will be my last truck.

Oil is changed every 3,000 miles.