4.6 L issues

[Crosby]

Hey guys,

I'm new to the forums and have never owned a ford, much less an F150. I am currently looking at a 1999 F-150 Supercab Automatic, 67k miles, 4.6L v8 4WD The truck seems very clean, only one owner and garage kept. So far it seems like a very nice truck. Now its time to ask the experts. Has there been any notorious problems with the 4.6L engine? I plan on having a mechanic look at it, but any additional information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. :cool:

[RhinoZ24]

No significant problems. Just take care of the truck and it'll take care of you. Keep up on the scheduled maintenance and you'll have no problems. But definitely take it for a test drive first to check it out. My '05 has the 4.6L and it only has 65,500 on it but works great.

[alfie]

I second that. These trucks are good.


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[Ford Fan#1]

Not good great

[Raptor05121]

Is it the 2v or 3v? Some had chronic spark plug blowouts (primarily 3v models) while earlier car models had coolant leak problems, but that does not apply to later F-series engines. Look up the 4.6L TSB. Other than that, it is a stout engine. It made Ward's Top 10 Engines list I think 5 times over, which is impressive. Later models made more power, and if you get an earlier model, you can swap the intakes (PI heads) to pick up a few ponies. Have a GOOD mechanic take a look at it. Compression test would be ideal but that sounds like RIDICULOUSLY low miles so it should not a problem. Let us know how it goes.

[RhinoZ24]

Is it the 2v or 3v? Some had chronic spark plug blowouts (primarily 3v models) while earlier car models had coolant leak problems, but that does not apply to later F-series engines. Look up the 4.6L TSB. Other than that, it is a stout engine. It made Ward's Top 10 Engines list I think 5 times over, which is impressive. Later models made more power, and if you get an earlier model, you can swap the intakes (PI heads) to pick up a few ponies. Have a GOOD mechanic take a look at it. Compression test would be ideal but that sounds like RIDICULOUSLY low miles so it should not a problem. Let us know how it goes.

It's 2V, they didn't offer the 3V variation of the 4.6 in the F-150 until 2009, anytime before that the trucks all had the 2V 4.6L V8. Just inputting lol.

[Crosby]

Is it the 2v or 3v? Some had chronic spark plug blowouts (primarily 3v models) while earlier car models had coolant leak problems, but that does not apply to later F-series engines. Look up the 4.6L TSB. Other than that, it is a stout engine. It made Ward's Top 10 Engines list I think 5 times over, which is impressive. Later models made more power, and if you get an earlier model, you can swap the intakes (PI heads) to pick up a few ponies. Have a GOOD mechanic take a look at it. Compression test would be ideal but that sounds like RIDICULOUSLY low miles so it should not a problem. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,
I did look up the TSB, and it does make mention of the spark plug blow out for that particular truck as well. Ford recommends using a tool kit, in which case I'll be going to the school of hard knocks learning this motor. I am somewhat mechanically inclined, but I'm hoping to get a few years anyway before tearing into it too deep. (which would be a great time to swap out the PI heads)

Thanks for the advice and I will definitely request a compression test, and it may not be a bad idea to swap out the plugs just as a precaution.

[Crosby]

So I took a look at the truck tonight.
http://providence.craigslist.org/cto/4294632933.html. (It's from a dealer who posted on Craigslist)
Both the interior and exterior body look immaculate, however underneath is a different story. From what I can see the truck may have been garage kept for some time, but the owner did fail to take care of the frame. There was quite a bit surface rust, some minor pitting, and found some bondo underneath the quarter panel. As mentioned earlier I am going to have my mechanic look at it. I talked him down to $5,100

From what I was told, (Ill confirm tomorrow) it has new spark plugs, and new brakes.

Any ideas/suggestions on taking care of rust underneath? Or would I just be putting a band aid on a broken leg. As always, thanks.

[RhinoZ24]

The Bondo would make me worry a little. If its just surface rust on the frame and only the frame that's fixable and curable. If its not thick, you can sand it away and put some roll-on truck bed liner to protect it and ensure it never comes back. But see what your mechanic says.

[Jersey_Joe]

First off. Make sure it wasn't whaled lol. Minor repair ? Not to and I guess. But the rust. If it's just surface rust u can sand and underarmour the frame. It will look much better after that

[Crosby]

So I think the bondo is limited to underneath where it rusted out, but I will take a magnet to the body to confirm. Due to the weather conditions, I rescheduled the mechanics assessment until tomorrow. I'll post some photos of the frame (and whatever work i do to it) when I get a chance.

[Crosby]

So your not going to believe this, but I got a call from the dealer tonight telling me that the truck has already been sold. I guess there was some miss communication between the dealer and his sales partner, but in any case his partner took a deposit 3 hours prior to my arrival yesterday. So yeah.. That's a bummer...

Well regardless, I do appreciate your guys advice and I am going to stay on this forum learning all I can about these trucks. Well at least I know what type of truck I want.
The search continues.

[Ford Fan#1]

That sucks it's hard to find a good looking low miles F-150

[RhinoZ24]

Agreed, that does suck, but I'm sure you'll find another great F-150 out there, maybe one with less rust too!

[Crosby]

That's a great way of looking at it Rhino.

[Jersey_Joe]

So your not going to believe this, but I got a call from the dealer tonight telling me that the truck has already been sold. I guess there was some miss communication between the dealer and his sales partner, but in any case his partner took a deposit 3 hours prior to my arrival yesterday. So yeah.. That's a bummer... Well regardless, I do appreciate your guys advice and I am going to stay on this forum learning all I can about these trucks. Well at least I know what type of truck I want. The search continues.
Hey man. That sucks. But u know what things happin for a reason. Wasn't ment to b. your truck is still out there. U just have to find her. Good luck man

[Crosby]

Yeah the search continues, that's half the fun.

[RhinoZ24]

Exactly, stay optimistic.

[Crosby]

So funny story:
The dealer that I was "supposed" to get my truck from stopped by at my work today to give me my deposit back. In the typical sales man fashion he shows up in a suit and tie driving another F150, similar to the one I was going to buy, only this one red. Not 5 seconds at my work, he jumps out, he yells "wanna buy a truck!" "This beauty's for sale!" "$2,900!"
He proceeds to the rear of the truck and opens the tail gate. The entire tailgate falls off the hinges! He spent like 3 minutes trying to get it back into place then broke the driver side tail light. Seriously, the best 3 minutes of my life!

This truck has 150k, rust that made the original one look like it just rolled off the show room floor. There was tears in the seat, and now a driver side broken tail light!

And he threw me an extra $100 for my time. Awesome!

[Jersey_Joe]

Sweet. Paid with entertainment. Perfect

[Raptor05121]

Crosby, do you have an kids? Any hauling? What is your mission with this truck?

[RhinoZ24]

So funny story:
The dealer that I was "supposed" to get my truck from stopped by at my work today to give me my deposit back. In the typical sales man fashion he shows up in a suit and tie driving another F150, similar to the one I was going to buy, only this one red. Not 5 seconds at my work, he jumps out, he yells "wanna buy a truck!" "This beauty's for sale!" "$2,900!"
He proceeds to the rear of the truck and opens the tail gate. The entire tailgate falls off the hinges! He spent like 3 minutes trying to get it back into place then broke the driver side tail light. Seriously, the best 3 minutes of my life!

This truck has 150k, rust that made the original one look like it just rolled off the show room floor. There was tears in the seat, and now a driver side broken tail light!

And he threw me an extra $100 for my time. Awesome!

Lmao, that would've been great to see. And if I were you, I'd go to another dealer for a truck, that one sounds a little shady lol.

[Crosby]

Lmao, that would've been great to see. And if I were you, I'd go to another dealer for a truck, that one sounds a little shady lol.


Awe man the moment he told me the truck was sold I lost all respect.
Yeah I won't be going back to him, but I am going to keep guilt tripping him. Lol.
He would have to give me one hell of a good deal.

[RhinoZ24]

You mean like pay you to take a truck that's falling apart kind of deal? Lol

[Jersey_Joe]

Go online. Plenty out there. PLENTY! Trust me. Look for what kind of truck u want. And u will find it. Might have to even take a flight to go get it. And ya know what. It's more exciting that way. Great story to tell. Ya know? Ya never want to get a truck that's right around ur area. Go hunt that sum bitch down lol. You'll find her. She's out there. You'll know. Cause u won't b able to go home without her. That truck gettin sold was a blessing. Now go find her.........

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Lol

[Crosby]

Lol. That's awesome Rhino.



Joe man that's some damn good advice that I'm going to take to heart brother. Your absolutely right. As you said, I'm gonna hunt that sum bitch down! Lol, this time I get to take you guys for the ride. Hell any excuse to take a break from the winter works for me. Road trip! Florida? Texas? California? So many choices..
Not a bad problem to have. Thanks brother.

[RhinoZ24]

California would be a nice place to visit, just don't decide to move here lol. It sucks, well SoCal at least, NorCal is much better IMO.

[Crosby]

Yeah I know what you mean. I moved from Florida because it sucked. Lol.
But to find a truck and avoid hypothermia for a week or two...I can manage that.

So Cali, what are you studying down there?

[RhinoZ24]

It would probably be nice to get away from the cold seeing as we never ended summer here haha. And I'm studying Mechanical Engineering, if all goes well I'll be using that to enter automotive engineering and hopefully work at Ford one day lol.

[Crosby]

You mean you don't want to work for Chevy?? Lol. Actually I would reconsider, I don't think your going to find much work working for Ford... They never break down

Seriously though, that's awesome man, I wish you luck.

[RhinoZ24]

Haha, I mean if I couldn't get a job at Ford I'd have to lol, a job is a job and you have to pay the bills somehow lol. But Ford is my goal. And thank you, and I agree Fords are great, but just sometimes while working on my truck, I'll find something and be like "what dumb@$$ designed this?" Just things I see could have been done differently or better. But the main reason is I want to help keep Ford #1 in the auto industry. Especially in trucks.

[Crosby]

Well you have a good head on your shoulders man. It's going to be interesting what happens with these trucks. aluminum? Kind of ballsy if you ask me, but should be interesting.

[RhinoZ24]

Thanks Jason! And it will be interesting but I feel like it's a gamble that'll pay off for Ford. People seem to like the looks so far, I'm sure they'll get used to the aluminum too.