2005 Econoline 5.4

[FordGuy100]

Well, never thought I would be buying one of these vans, but the right deal presented itself. I know of the spark plug problems and plague the Triton motors, but what else to look at? I have some motorcraft plugs/coils coming along with a host of other maintenance items. It does have 190k on it, but it runs good and leaks zero oil which is nice. I will be going through the front end/steering, any recommendations on that stuff would be great. Anything else I should address let me know.

 

[robert alston]

howdy
the vans did not have those style plugs they and also the were two valve heads and also they were still had theold standard lug pattern mine is an 2006 e350

 

[79jasper]

Maybe the cam phasers and timing chain tensioner.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[robert alston]

mine has a banging noise on the passenger side at least i think it's on that side if you figure that out let me know

 

[FordGuy100]

Maybe the cam phasers and timing chain tensioner.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

I made sure there was no timing chain noise, so I'm thinking its good to go on that front for a while. I don't think the 2v's even have cam phasers, probably why their hp/tq ratings are lower (255/350, hey its faster then the sprinter ). I'm going to do some Auto Rx in it since the oil is fresh, and do the whole routine with that to clear out any sludge in it. The air filter was collapsed and seemed like it got wet at one point. I cleaned the MAF and have it ready to go. Wife and I took out all the seats and shampooed them, will do the carpet and headliner tonight.

 

[robert alston]

wow ya do door to door cleaning mine is filthy ha ha

 

[snicklas]

OK, this is Crown Vic information. But if this is the same 4.6/5.4 the P71's used:

They are the 2 valve engines. No cam phasers, but still have the mile long timing chains.

My 2000 4.6 popped a plug, #5 which seems to be a common one, 3rd one back, passenger side. Used one of the Heli-Coil Kits, (The one that Locotech2000, he's a member here, showed a video of), worked great, and could be done one the side of the road in a pinch. Only bad part was, the kit and the loctite was almost $300, but much cheaper than a head, and it came with enough to do all 8 cylinders is needed. Also had to replace the intake manifold, but that was just an early one issue. That was fixed in 01 or 02 from the factory.

My 2007 4.6 didn't pop a plug, but at about 185,000 it started eating coolant. The rest of the car was getting tired, so it was traded in on my 11 F-150. Only thing ever had to do to the engine at that point was replace a set of spark plugs. Always started, every time. Honestly, if the rest of the car was in a bit better shape, and my knees and back were too, I would have replaced it. But the truck is much easier for me to get in and out of. The newer ones don't have the plug issues, but you still have to be careful. I always use a 1/4 drive set and just make it snug....

I wouldn't worry about a later 2 valve triton. The early with the plug issues, and the 3 valve, I would not want.

 

[FordGuy100]

I believe they went to a slightly different head design in 2003 on the 2v's to help remedy the spark plug issue, I'm hoping thats the case for when I go to remove the spark plugs on this thing. Work space is rather small under the hood/doghouse. At least if I ever have to pull the trans its a cake walk though.

 

[FordGuy100]

Figured out why my vent's werent working. Both the front vents and rear vents would switch where the air was coming out while driving. Apparently the whole system works with vacuum/vacuum actuators to open/close doors in the ducting. The engine provides the vacuum, but when driving it has less vacuum then at idle, and this lower vacuum isn't enough to keep these actuators open/closed or in whatever position they need to be. So I had to buy a new vacuum reservoir and some fittings so I can get that fixed (apparently the vacuum reservoir goes bad and leaks. To get it out requires dash removal, most people just bypass it and add a new one mounted elsewhere).

I jacked the front end up, looks like they tried to balance the very old and worn tires on it. It had a pretty good shake going down the road at 70 mph, and sure enough both tires are out of round by a pretty decent amount. Looks like I get to buy some new tires. I'm thinking about going slightly larger, to 235/85/16 so get highway RPM's down (currently 2100 rpm @ 70 mph, stock tires are 225/75/16).

 

[FordGuy100]

Got the front 4 spark plugs replaced (1,2,5,6) yesterday. Kind of a pain but not really too hard. Most of the spark plugs are stamped with "05" on them so I'm wondering if they are factory plugs. They were extremely worn down, .070+ gap on them.

 

[stealth13777]

Got the front 4 spark plugs replaced (1,2,5,6) yesterday. Kind of a pain but not really too hard. Most of the spark plugs are stamped with "05" on them so I'm wondering if they are factory plugs. They were extremely worn down, .070+ gap on them.

That much wear on a $5 part will eat your coil packs and end up costing a lot more.

 

[FordGuy100]

Got the rest of them changed. Somebody prior had dropped a plastic end cap down into the spark plug hole, and forced it on the side of the spark plug when they put the coil pack down. Took me forever to get that SOB out of there so the socket would fit down over the spark plug. Runs good now, though it seemed fine before.

 

[FordGuy100]

Got brakes changed, new shocks front and rear. Cleaned out the EVAP tank vent, it was full of cobwebs, I'm hoping that this will solve the hard to fill problem I experienced. Got the interior cleaned and put back together. Fixed the vent vacuum source plus added a new vacuum reservoir so that the dash/rear vents don't change position when engine vacuum drops while driving. Put on a new serpentine belt, and air filter to button the engine up. Getting some new shoes tomorrow, and she will be good to go.

 

[FordGuy100]

You must be registered for see images attach

Alright more stuff. So we got some Goodyear Wrangler Trailrunner AT's on it (more aggressive then I was thinking). Runs good going down the road, though I still dont like how much side to side wobble this thing has on the corners. Apparently, no rear sway bar.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

Just wondering: what kind of mileage on that rig? I was always impressed with the mileage on the Sprinter vans, just wondering how the 5.4 compares.