Finally got my 5.4... getting ready to drop it into my 04 Mountaineer | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Finally got my 5.4... getting ready to drop it into my 04 Mountaineer

coletrain777

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October 9, 2010
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City, State
Harrisburg, MO
Year, Model & Trim Level
2004 Mountaineer Premiere
So I finally picked up a low mileage 5.4 (48K miles) for $500. Getting ready to drop it into my 4.6 Mountaineer, have already removed the cooling cluster (what a dumb design), disconnected engine harness wiring and exhaust from manifolds, and started removing bellhousing bolts. I may get some time in the next few days to get the 4.6 out and clean up the engine bay... then in with the 5.4. Just thought I would update folks on progress as I hate when people say they are going to do something and don't follow through. I take a few pics of the 5.4 later and post them up (looks like a normal Modular engine).
 



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YES!!! for the love of all things holy please let us know how the swap goes, i would love to do a built 5.4 and some small PSI. Is the flexplate a 6 or an 8 bolt btw? Dont forget to recheck the space between the torque converter and the flexplate before you bolt it all togeather.
 






YES X 2!!! I'm really excited to see how this works out. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take lots of pictures and notes during the install! A write-up would be even better :D
 






just an FYI. IF you are comfortable with the task, you should transfer your cylender heads over to the 5.4L. Unless the 5.4L is from an 04 or newer 2v application it has the old style heads and will be prone to shooting spark plugs.
 






Oh boy can't wait to see this swap. :popcorn:
 






I am sure I will take a few pics... but guys this is a remove and replace operation... shouldn't be anything to see???

I will be using the 5.4 heads as my heads aren't in the best of shape, but I understand the spark plug problems :(

I will do a write up if there is anything worth mentioning, but I met a guy the other day that had a 5.4 swap in his explorer and he said other than mating the manifolds to the stock explorer exhaust and changing the throttle body elbow, that everything was exactly the same. If this is true than a write-up would be pointless.

I am sure I will have a few questions along the way so I will keep everyone updated... Hope it turns out to be as easy as it looks :)
 






They can do the head-fix to the 5.4 heads if you want to take them off, depending on how long you plan on keeping her could be worth it. If this pans out i will deffinately be going the 5.4l route on my performance build off.

Ive pulled the engine and transmission out of my 03 4.6l more times than i can count so if you have questions feel free to ask!
 






Subscribing, this is interesting. Never knew it has been done.
 






Is there any reason that the engine/trans can't be removed together... just always liked removing them as a unit rather than fighting getting the torque converter seated and the like. I know it looks pretty tight, but what if I had a helper under the vehicle holding the tailshaft of the trans down until the rest of the assembly had slid up and out. Just wondering if anyone had firsthand experience on this. Don't mind doing it the other way, but I prefer to remove them together.
 






Just a few pics...
Here's a pic of the 5.4 on the floor
-F781-4C2A-80D9-391BC5CD3A83-3418-0000045746443194.jpg


The 4.6 in the mountaineer with the intake removed
-72B5-4B76-8018-EE111DB40C9C-3418-00000457288EF1D0.jpg


The intake in the floor
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Just a few pics...
Here's a pic of the 5.4 on the floor

The 4.6 in the mountaineer with the intake removed

The intake in the floor

I'm pretty confident in my mechanical capability, but that looks like a HUGE headache. Granted, I've never removed my engine before... But it still looks pretty involved.
 






It only took about 20 minutes to remove the intake... of course I use air/power tools for almost everything :)

Just a little more progress (no pics right now). I got the top two bellhousing bolts out, and I unbolted the y pipe from the rest of the exhaust (I am going to remove the y pipe just to have lots of room to get the side bellhousing bolts out (I have fairly large hands). It's not a necessity to remove the y-pipe, I just think it will make it easier on me in the long run, and it's only two extra bolts to disconnect it from the rest of the exhaust. I going to head back out and see what else I can break...err... I mean get accomplished!
 






HiImBrian - removing the intake is probably only a 2 on a 1-10 scale of difficulty... no biggie at all.
You just disconnect the wiring to the coils,injectors, sensors and other things on the intake, egr tube, and some vacuum/water hoses, and then remove several bolts and the 8 intake bolts and it's off.
I know that sounds like a lot but I have never worked on a modular motor before and it seemed pretty simple to me??? It would take a lot longer if not using an impact and air ratchet. It does stink to have to remove the intake to get to the two top bellhousing bolts, but I would rather do that and remove them easily than use 3+ feet of extensions and wobble joints and fight it the whole time... just my 2 cents :)

Once I have the engine out, I am probably going to make access panels that remove from the firewall to access the top bellhousing bolts from inside the vehicle. I may make access panels so that they can all be removed from inside the vehicle by removing the carpet, removing the panel, and using an extension... we'll see? When I was younger and I had a fuel pump go out on a car, I would create an access panel through the trunk to replace the pump rather than drop the tank (I had a 5.0 mustang that I put 3 fuel pumps in over the course of a few years and I could do it on the side of the road in less than 15 minutes :)
 






HiImBrian - removing the intake is probably only a 2 on a 1-10 scale of difficulty... no biggie at all.
You just disconnect the wiring to the coils,injectors, sensors and other things on the intake, egr tube, and some vacuum/water hoses, and then remove several bolts and the 8 intake bolts and it's off.
I know that sounds like a lot but I have never worked on a modular motor before and it seemed pretty simple to me??? It would take a lot longer if not using an impact and air ratchet. It does stink to have to remove the intake to get to the two top bellhousing bolts, but I would rather do that and remove them easily than use 3+ feet of extensions and wobble joints and fight it the whole time... just my 2 cents :)

Once I have the engine out, I am probably going to make access panels that remove from the firewall to access the top bellhousing bolts from inside the vehicle. I may make access panels so that they can all be removed from inside the vehicle by removing the carpet, removing the panel, and using an extension... we'll see? When I was younger and I had a fuel pump go out on a car, I would create an access panel through the trunk to replace the pump rather than drop the tank (I had a 5.0 mustang that I put 3 fuel pumps in over the course of a few years and I could do it on the side of the road in less than 15 minutes :)

I'm not really intimidated by the intake. I've had my throttle body off a couple of times with absolutely zero issues. I'm more intimidated by everything on the 5.4 block that you're going to drop in. It just seem like there is a lot to pay attention to dropping it in. Never mind pulling all the same stuff out. Are you pulling the 4.6 harness and replacing them with one from the 5.4?

I take it you're going to clean up everything really well before you drop it in? I'd tear that 5.4 block down and have it looking showroom before I sank it in there. I really want to do this. My 4.6 is just shy of 170,000 and I have a feeling it won't last much longer....
 






No, I will be using the 4.6 harness, it will stay connected to the engine when it comes out, I will lay the engine side by side, and everything will be swapped over accordingly. I really don't see it being very difficult, but who know's... I could run into problems pretty quick??? I have done a few engine swaps over the years (450HP SBC into a 240z with a 2004R out of a Buick grand national, a few EFI swaps into older trucks, a few diesel swaps... you get the idea).
I am by no means an expert but I do have a nice, fairly well equipped shop, and I am in no hurry to get it done (gas is toooooo expensive to daily drive the Mountaineer)
my poor wife got removed from the Mountaineer when gas went throught the roof, and is now driving the Saturn SL1 (35-40 mpg) and I drive a Honda Civic VX that right now is averaging 52.8 mpg for the summer :) I am looking forward to driving the Mountaineer again, and I do need to have it done by late fall as I don't want my wife and children in the Saturn in bad weather/snow.

The 5.4 has been cleaned and pressure washed, but aside from that no additional painting/cleaning will be done. I will clean/pressure wash the engine bay area before putting the 5.4 in, but this is a daily driver that see's lots of gravel roads and abuse so it's definitely not going to get the restoration treatment :)
 






Ok, just a tip that helped me... in order to get better access to the driver side bellhousing bolts I disconnected the front driveshaft from the front differential (left it connected to the transfer case) and slid it to the side. The extra 2.5-3 inches of clearance made a big difference.
 






zerodevil - The flexplate on the 5.4 is an 8 bolt... what is the flexplate on the 4.6? I imagine I can just use the stock 8 bolt on the 5.4...? Also, is there something specific about the tolerances between the TC and flexplate on a modular motor, or are you just saying to make sure the TC is seated...?
 






Thats where it gets funny. I just did a 5r55w rebuild with some pretty serious upgrades. The explorer flexplate's deck height is higher than other modular blocks, this along with the engine plate, and the plate on the front of the torque converter leads to some really "Fun" spacing issues if you go with anything other than the stock equipment. I had a "6 bolt" heavy duty flexplate which bolted up fine, but between it, and the lack of an install plate on my aftermarket 2500 stall converter, i put almost a half an inch of space between the flexplate and the torque converter (To much, ended up blowing the seal on my pump gear and the TC wouldnt lock up in gear). The acceptable space between the torque converter and the flush mount of the bellhousing is aprox 1 inch on the ford 5r55w. You want to have about 1/16th to 1/8th between the flexplate and the TC to allow for propper engagement. I sugjust you take some detailed measurments. Go ahead and remove the 5.4l's engine plate (doubles as an inspection cover piece) off and rotate the flexpalte around so there is a hole roughly at the 7 o clock position, from that angle you can stick your caliper probe (if you have one) though right onto the engine block and get a PERFECT measurment for you bellhousing to flexplate measurment. You may need to look at aftermarket flexplate and or high end shims before going further. As for removing the engine + trans as a single piece i have never tried. Two things would need to happen, obviously the front clip needs to come off(the idea of this scars the crap out of me ^_^), and there is a cross-frame bar that would need to be removed to allow the transmission to be tilted backwards and still clear the transmission pan (this also scars me because i do not know if it is under tension, and if i would be able to get it reinstalled with out special equipment. In all honesty the process isnt that bad, i was able to pull my transmission from start to finnish in about 4 hours two weeks ago. This gets MUCH MUCH MUCH easier/safer if you go ahead and remove all of the extra shenanigans. Both drive shafts, the Y-pipe drops with the trans cross member, and the y-pipe heat shields. I also recommend that rather than undoing all of the connectors on the engine you just undo the harness at the PCU and pull it that way, just be mindfull of the ground staps.

A more specific answere for your flexplate question, Yes there are differences between them to allow for different transmission options. The 6-bolt plate i upgraded to was intended for a 6-bolt mustang with the 4 speed auto, and wast too short.

p.s. please excuse my spelling, its hard to type books on my smart phone.
 






Thanks for the good info... I will do some checking!

Just an update on progress...

4.6 is out
-1F6D-4AC0-8AFB-0B16BA8AEC1E-3418-0000057A4E6E29A5.jpg


Something is missing here???
-AC0D-4182-B58B-14B6808D69EC-3418-0000057A3B979809.jpg


Now on to swapping necessary parts and figuring out flew plate options and what I need. I may have to source a different fly wheel as my 5.4 was out of an Expedition with was I assume was a 4r100 trans. I am going to take some measurement and get it figured out. So far things are going well.
 



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Still excited! The 4.6 looks so little being lifted out of there like that....
 






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