5.4 or 3.5

[sonofagun]

I got rid of my '99 Expy and picked up an '09 a few years back, both with the 5.4L engine. Six months ago I purchased a "new to me" '17 Expy EL with a 3.5L and the turbos! I kept the '09 to haul my utility trailer and boat.

While I'm mostly happy with the '17 and it's 3.5L, I mostly prefer driving the '09 with it's 5.4.

The engine is smoother, quieter and it seems to have much more confidence in towing.

I'm going to miss her when she finally retires!

 

[JExpedition07]

Oh boy, lol I’ve driven both and like both. The ecoboost barely has to come off idle and it’s pulling like a freight train, torque is incredible. 5.4 Triton has lots of torque too, being N/A just revs more to fetch it.

The 5.4 and the 6R80 work together with more harmony it seems with the shift strategies. The 6R80 seems as though it was made for the 5.4 and pairing to the Eco was a bit of an afterthought but still drives great imo!

 

[grumpyoleman]

I too had a 5.4 before my 3.5 and liked it. The 5.4 was in a Navigator and it did everything I asked of it and did it well. Smooth and reliable. But my first drive with a 3.5 (in an AWD Linc MKS) got me hooked. I just smile more when driving my wife's Expy with the 3.5. I am one of those who get more out of the BOOST than the ECO if you know what I mean...

 

[chuck s]

I don't miss my '07 5.4V8 at all since buying the '17 3.5EcoBoost two years ago. The 3.5 is better in all respects -- including towing.

-- Chuck

 

[aagitch]

I had an Expy with the 5.4 several years ago but now have the 3.5 eco. To me, my 17 Expy tows with much less effort and with better mpg's.

 

[jeff kushner]

My 3.5 '17 is my third Expy like you, with the priors being a '99 and an '03EB. I agree that the 5.4's seemed to be a lot quieter but seemed to be choked as well, you know, tuned pretty softly where the 3.5 TO ME, is so much "stronger than it was before, faster, better"...yeah it's pretty much been the bionic truck for me so far....time is the teller of all things so we shall see......but I can appreciate that you also know what you like, no matter the time period. I have a shiny modern bike for the highway but I like my old stuff too. I hope the '09 lasts for another 10 years for you.

jeff

 

[1955moose]

Imagine if they could make the 2020 version sound like a V8? That would be cool. Or better still offer a bigger V8, like say around 5.8, with right around the 420 Hp point. With no cars but the mustang to speak of, they'll have a lot of spare time!

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[powerboatr]

i had a 2010 F150 crew cab 4x4 3.55 gearset. with the 5.4 IMO it was never a grunt motor. it downshifted from 6th at every little overpass.
never felt like it had guts of glory. low end tq was pretty low imo.
it always seemed imo to be making alot of noise but not as much delivery.
but i had just come form a crew cab dually 6.0 diesel 4.30 gears. it would flat jump

but my 3.5 has tons of low end grunt push you back tq. 2 3 and 4 th gear are imo awesome in the tq range in normal drivng, yes i have the 3.73 gears and 4 x4 but it does not downshift on over passes

i also had a 2013 4x4 crew cab 3.55 gears f150 kr...it had gobs of tq as well, it was scary quick

 

[JExpedition07]

Love my 5.4 and 3.73s, lots of torque and a lot more grunt than the 5.3 chevy’s I drove.

 

[chuck s]

There are 3 or 4 V8 Mustangs in my neighborhood with the most annoying and wimpy sounding exhausts. Give me nothing like that!

-- Chuck

 

[JExpedition07]

There are 3 or 4 V8 Mustangs in my neighborhood with the most annoying and wimpy sounding exhausts. Give me nothing like that!

-- Chuck

If they sound wimpy they are likely V6, js

 

[coolzzy]

I traded in a 2010 platinum max tow F150 for my 17 expedition. The 5.4 is a strong motor when paired with the 6r80 and 3.73 gears, it pulled much better than my 12 F150 with 5.0 motor, especially in the mountains. Now the 17 expy is in a whole nother league when it comes to pulling power. It's a real ecobeast. I wish I had a pickup with the 3.5L only for the solid axle and leaf spring suspension since that's where the expy really dissapoints when towing. With a proper WDH though, I always walk away impressed after pulling my rv through the mountains.

The only real place the 5.4 beats out the ecoboost is in engine breaking.
That little V6 just doesn't have much and I have to use my brakes far more in downhill situations to keep the motor from revving too high in 2nd gear. I try to limit it to 4k rpm when descending hills with the trailer behind it.

 

[1955moose]

Sound and taste are 2 of the most important human senses. Think back to the girls fragrance that got you exited in your early days. If you smell something close to that, all those feelings come rushing back. Same goes for sound. I remember back in 1969, when a Kawasaki 500 triple or Honda 750 four cylinder came screaming by me at 8 grand. It makes the hairs on your neck stand up! That's what I miss. I still get that feeling when a 12 cylinder Ferrari comes by me on the pipe, as we used to say. But those sounds or smells are getting rare. One of my faves was going to the indoors 2 stroke racing here in SF at the Cow palace. Yamaha's and Bultaco 250's running blendzall 2 stroke oil/gas mix was what every 16 year old boy needed. 13-15 guys racing around a concrete oval on a Friday night. And you had a friend racing there to root for. Did I mention, they had no brakes, just a compression release to slow em down a little. They were screaming around that 100 ft oval at speeds of 70 mph. I miss the smells!

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[G213]

Both are great engines. I have only one beef with the 3.5L...direct injection. When my 3.5L cold starts, it idles rough. I've heard that this is a byproduct of direct injection and/or the ECU purposely running a rich mixture on a cold start to warm the cats up to pass emissions standards.

The new 3.5L models have dual injection; I think this resolved a lot of minor quirks.

I'll tell you what I don't like though...auto start/stop on the new models....with no way to disable it permanently without a modification. I know some people love auto start/stop....not for me.

 

[LokiWolf]

I'll tell you what I don't like though...auto start/stop on the new models....with no way to disable it permanently without a modification. I know some people love auto start/stop....not for me.

It is just a FORSCAN setting away from being disabled by default.


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[G213]

It is just a FORSCAN setting away from being disabled by default.


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I do love me some ForScan Good to know.

I did just watch a video of someone permanently jumping their auto start/stop switch with a paperclip.

 

[jeff kushner]

on the pipe

We still do Moose! I remember the day I met God, I had gotten on a Kaw Bighorn 350 w/o a clue....sure I had ridden two strokes....but one twist of the throttle and I was looking straight into Gods face and didn't know what had happened.....I finally figured it out....my friends said they had never seen someone pull such a long wheelie on that bike b4....they didn't know that I was terrified that God would abandon me but he didn't, he set the front wheel down gently and called me a fool. <LOL>

jeff

 

[1955moose]

See, that's why I never owned many Kawasaki's. My brothers 175 did the same to me. My Yamaha 175, and 250 enduros had a nice predictable powerband for wheelies. Kawasaki's are either dead on power, like your Mach 3 below 4,500 rpm, or opens up like a fire hose at 5,000. My brothers 175 was the same way. The Mx versions of the Kawi dirt bikes we're even more radical. When I used to run the service dept of Redwood City Honda/Kawasaki/Suzuki, my craziest customer's to talk to were the ones that rode the 500cc full blown race dirt bikes. It takes some big stones to ride one. I rode a 400 once, that had me shaking when I came back.

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[cmiles97]

I guess I don't equate sound to performance. While the sound of a carbureted Harley or a V-8 car does sound good. It's low on my priority list to power, efficiency and reliability.

You can't believe how many Harley Davidson buyers immediately throw away brand new exhaust systems to make their bike "sound better". I'm the Harley owner you want as a neighbor. I hate folks revving the piss out of their bike just to make noise. Mine will only be loud when I open it up for quick acceleration.

If you asked me you can have a SUV with 365HP/420lb-ft of torque that gets good gas mileage but it is going to be quiet, I would say no problem bring it on.

The number of people dumping thousands of dollars into their vehicle to "lift" them for looks only or change their exhaust just to make it sound better, I'll never understand because it's not that important to me. I know I'm in the minority on this especially in the Harley world. The Vrod was my 1st Harley and still the fastest one I've owned never sold well because "it doesn't sound like a Harley". How crazy is that?

Edit: I was thinking about it at lunch. Ford as well as other manufacturers are piping in motor sound into the cab. Talk about a waste of money & effort. Then again if the majority of buyers are more concerned about how their vehicle sounds than other things I don't blame them for providing it. I just want to be able to deduct the price of that off mine.

 

[jeff kushner]

Fine machine, the V and no, the purists panned it despite HD spending millions to try to get it to "sound right" which is why it has cooling fins even though it was water cooled.

I also think it was HD's first 11 second machine sold to the masses. I once rode a Turbocharged Booming Black Flash..remember that bike? XLCR...but this one had a turbo....shook like Satan was inside and pissed....but boy was she fast....I was just lapping it to warm it up for a friend but 160 or so on the back straight was enough to convince me that it was for real but you had to time the throttle or the turbo boost would come on at the wrong time or drop off completely in the turns....

jeff