May be rebuilding a 2V 5.4 soon....

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Eric in Wyoming

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What's happnin yall, been awhile!

So the 5.4 in our '97 EB is approaching 310,000 miles. Runs like a top still, but the other day I started her up and noticed what sounded like a slight rod knock that went away after a few seconds. Got me thinking it's time to either put the old girl out to pasture and get another vehicle, or start prepping for a rebuild now. For the rebuild option, I'd want to swap on some PI heads/intake and some longtube headers to go with the already - upgraded exhaust. I know I'd need PI-era pistons to do that and not need higher octane fuel.

I currently have a lead on a PI 4.6 engine, and from what I gather the PI 4.6 and 5.4 both use the same pistons and heads, heads have the same combustion chamber volumes and cams, pistons have the same compression heights - so how then do they achieve the same compression ratio when the 5.4 has such a longer stroke than the 4.6??? If I go this route I don't wanna end up with an OEM-spec engine that pings on race fuel.
 

joezek

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I have a nice looking set of 5.4 PI heads. They came off a 2003 F250, they look clean. It's the engine I just bought to rebuild for my expedition and I have a new set on the way. You may want to have them looked over by a machine shop, not sure on the mileage. I have them listed locally but have so much crap collecting at my shop that I want them out of here. If you paid for shipping and I don't know, maybe $50 for the pair you can have them. When my new heads get here I'll have those boxes to put these in.

The back/top side of the intake valves are actually pretty clean, very little oil getting past the guides if any at all. The cam lobes look great too. I would definitely suggest changing the rockers and lifters though. I talked to a couple machine shops who said people don't realize that the heads are the weak link on this engine, and cam bearings or a few other things can quickly lose oil pressure. In my case I broke a roller rocker and wiped out the cam on my other engine. There's actually no cam bearings unless a shop has line bored them and added bearings. From the factory they use the aluminum head itself as the bearing.

If you are looking at rebuilt heads like I did, I would suggest Global Core, out in TX. The guy there was very helpful and they were the only shop willing to work with me and price them without cams, lifters or rockers because I already have new ones. They also have LOTS of used engine parts if you need something on your build.

Screenshot_20220516-145347_OfferUp.jpg

One head is cleaned in the picture, I haven't cleaned the other one yet. I just tried to do a quick degrease and then coat it with LPS-3 so it can't corrode while sitting.
 
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Eric in Wyoming

Eric in Wyoming

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Man I appreciate the offer! Still on the fence about whether to rebuild or replace - it'll still be a 25-year old vehicle with 25-yr old issues(lights, seat leather, carpet stains, etc) if I do the rebuild, so I gotta consider all that. And if you happen to offload those heads before I make up my mind, I completely understand. Got a garage full of stuff I need to cull out, too!
 

Hamfisted

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Joe if you're getting bare heads and assembling them yourself make sure which end has the open oil port holes for the tensioners during your assembly. The heads are interchangeable once the camshafts are remove, and a lot of people overlook that oil passage for the tensioner during the head assembly. The rear of the head should have the oil passage plugged by the threaded plug ( 5mm allen wrench...). But make sure that the front end of the head has the open oil passage where the tensioners mount. Very important. Then of course your cylinder head temperature sensor goes on what's going to be the driver's side head....








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joezek

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Joe if you're getting bare heads and assembling them yourself make sure which end has the open oil port holes for the tensioners during your assembly. The heads are interchangeable once the camshafts are remove, and a lot of people overlook that oil passage for the tensioner during the head assembly. The rear of the head should have the oil passage plugged by the threaded plug ( 5mm allen wrench...). But make sure that the front end of the head has the open oil passage where the tensioners mount. Very important. Then of course your cylinder head temperature sensor goes on what's going to be the driver's side head....








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The heads should be assembled as far as valves and springs. The left and right were sold as two different part numbers, hopefully they're labeled. I'll check with Global who rebuilt them and make sure.

I did also order a kit from MMR that connects both heads on the back side with an oil pressure hose. It's supposed to make sure that both heads always have oil pressure and "should" eliminate the chance for oil starvation to the cam bearings. I believe that hose threads into the same ports you're talking about.

Joe
 

Hamfisted

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Well since you're using the oil balancing tube that will take care of the plugs in the rear of the heads. They'll be removed for the balancing tube. Just make sure the same oil passages are free and clear in the front of the heads, for the tensioners to get their oil. If you sit the two heads on a table, with the camshafts removed, and look at them you'll see they are exact matches except for the direction they are assembled on the block, and which end has the oil plug in it. That's the "modular" design of the motor. The camshafts are side specific, so don't get those confused.
 
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Eric in Wyoming

Eric in Wyoming

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Total squirrel moment here - I wonder if you could swap the heads around and make your mod motor into a "hot vee" engine?
 

joezek

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Well since you're using the oil balancing tube that will take care of the plugs in the rear of the heads. They'll be removed for the balancing tube. Just make sure the same oil passages are free and clear in the front of the heads, for the tensioners to get their oil. If you sit the two heads on a table, with the camshafts removed, and look at them you'll see they are exact matches except for the direction they are assembled on the block, and which end has the oil plug in it. That's the "modular" design of the motor. The camshafts are side specific, so don't get those confused.
Looking at both my cylinder heads and they're totally different from each other. The front of each head has a large cutout with the mount for the chain tensioner, and timing cover to bolt on. The back of the heads don't have anything like that. Then the intake and exhaust are specific to one side or the other. Putting them side by side they look completely opposite one another. If I was to attempt to put one head on the wrong side then the intake/exhaust would be on the wrong side or the timing cover/tension area would all be on the back of the engine. It's impossible to screw up.

I do see what you're talking about on the 2V heads though!! Damn that's crazy, I can definitely see someone mixing them up.
 
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Hamfisted

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Looking at both my cylinder heads and they're totally different from each other. The front of each head has a large cutout with the mount for the chain tensioner, and timing cover to bolt on. The back of the heads don't have anything like that. Then the intake and exhaust are specific to one side or the other. Putting them side by side they look completely opposite one another. If I was to attempt to put one head on the wrong side then the intake/exhaust would be on the wrong side or the timing cover/tension area would all be on the back of the engine. It's impossible to screw up.

I do see what you're talking about on the 2V heads though!! Damn that's crazy, I can definitely see someone mixing them up.

Yes, sorry I was thinking you were working on 2V heads. Somewhere along the storyline I got mixed up. I might've been thinking of another forum member doing the same thing you're doing. My bad. I saw your picture of the 2V heads and lost track. Yeah the 3V heads are impossible to mix up.





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Expd830

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Wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy another engine? I just overhauled my 5.4 V2, at 312,000 miles from top to bottom, except new seats and carpet. I’m glad I did, and know that it was cheaper than buying a new truck, even though I did that also 2 weeks later.
 
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