Any Ford techs out there?? 5.4L questions...

[greg fulk]

Charlie my dad has an 03 F150 extended cab 4x4 with the 5.4 that he tows with....the car & trailer combs is a little over 5000lbs & in his words "you don't even know it's back their" that being said it get just over 15mpg driving & 11 towing. The only issue he has with his truck is with the cheaper oil filters (read orange Fram) it rattles a little bit when first starts. (@ the local track dad charges the car between round with the truck that's when I have noticed it)

[Jeff Lee]

I have both a '03 E150 w/ 5.4L 2V 260 HP & 3.73 gears and an '05 Expedition w/ 5.4L 3V 300 HP & 3.55 gears. Both are 2WD.
Both tow my open trailer and race car and junk for the day at the races (around 5000 #'s I'd guess).
The E150 has about 90,000 miles and I have never had 1 issue other than a factory installed defective rear a/c o-ring that took forever to find.
The Expedition now has 112K on it and it has air ride which I love for towing. I replaced the air ride compressor last year and am replacing all 4 air bags this week. That will be $1200 in parts (not from Ford, that would be almost double!). There are conversion kits to go all wound spring instead of air spring but I just like the air ride. It keeps it level when loaded and towing.
The Expedition 3V 5.4L has had a tappet noise for a long time. I'm told that every TSM says it "just the way it is" and the worst case would be a cam phaser which is expensive. It's noticeable at idle and really noticeable at a drive-thru. It runs great, gets 16.5 MPG at least (if I work it I can get 18-20 MPG). The truck is paid for, still looks great and it's not an issue to me. I fully expect to see over 200K miles on it before I even think about a new vehicle.
I just had the Expeditions spark plugs replaced (and no, that's not a job I want to tackle) with about 100K miles on the original plugs. I was somewhat PO'd as I took it in for the first and last time while it was just about to hit 50K miles and warranty expiration. I was told the plugs had a recall and were replaced. Some line mechanic flagged the hours and did not replace the plugs. Imagine that!
I'd buy another Expedition when this one expires. By then they should have Coyote 5.0L 400 HP versions in them! They'll probably have a 6.2L in them next year.

Back to the E150. That engine with 3.73's has a lot of bottom end. It's smooth and quite. A very reliable vehicle. And more storage in the back (ours is a 7 passenger) than any SUV.

[Bobby DiDomenico]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lee

I just had the Expeditions spark plugs replaced (and no, that's not a job I want to tackle) with about 100K miles on the original plugs. I was somewhat PO'd as I took it in for the first and last time while it was just about to hit 50K miles and warranty expiration. I was told the plugs had a recall and were replaced. Some line mechanic flagged the hours and did not replace the plugs. Imagine that!

So that's how the dealers made a profit?, billing but not doing? Wouldn't the parts department have an over flow of the plugs needed?
I hope the warranty guys aren't doing Ford's books!