Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Opinions of Ford 2007 5.4L Triton engine?

I am looking at a Ford F150 from 2007 with the Triton 5.4L engine.

What's the pros/cons of that engine with 65k miles on it?

Had a buddy that had that engine in his Expedition. He put over 300,000 on it before trading it in. Only thing he replaced was the water pump. I had one in a F-150 SuperCrew King Ranch that I put 40,000 miles on before trading it in on a F-250 6.7 Diesel SuperCrew. Never had a bit of trouble, but it was a gas hog.

My 2007 F150 XLT Supercrew has ~69000 on it. Its been worry free thus far. Gas mileage isn't great, but its only got a 4 speed auto IIRC.

Yes, the 4 speed tranny is rated at only 12/16 mpg.

Should I be worried about the phasers, cams, timing issues or is that all overblown?

Should I be worried about the 2-piece spark plug setup?

My 2006 ford f150 with the trition 5.4 has been somewhat of a money pit just turned 154,000 miles.Rear end went out at 90,000 miles $1900,both engine manifold replaced $1400,front end work $600.Spark plugs are a pain in the ass to change most shops in around here want $400 to change as they break off. I always take good care of my trucks to make sure they are serviced on time.I get around 15 mpg,s with the auto tranny

If the price is right I’d buy it. The 3v 5.4 won’t win any races or get all that impressive of mileage but it is a stout engine and will pull with the best of them. There are some issues with cam phasers in the 3v variant but it’s seems to be hit or miss. Usually they start causing issues around 100k if they’re going to cause issues at all. If they’re going you’ll know as they whine like crazy. As far as spark plugs I seem to recall that issue being resolved from 2007 onwards. I have a 2010 with the 5.4 and 6r80 and average about 16 mpg with it.

I’ve owned every generation of the 5.4, 5 of them in all. And the worst I ever had to do to one was replace two coil packs. All 4 of them combined had about 700k on them before I sold or traded them and I’m still driving one. I have replaced 4 exhaust manifold studs, 2 on the 97 and 2 on the 02. 2 injectors, 2 fuel pumps, 2 coil packs, and 1 O2 sensor. Everything else has just been maintenance items, oil, filters, plugs, etc. Had them get anywhere from 10 to 21 mpg depending on the truck. Had one auto and one manual that got great mileage and one auto and one manual that were gas hogs, as well as one auto that was a 14-15mpg “normal” one. I wouldn’t sweat the plugs, knew a guy who bought one new and ran it for 275k on the original set. Plus the toolsfor changing them have gotten cheaper and there’s plenty of tricks available online to help if you ever need to do a set.

My daily driver is my 07 5.4 f150 with 128,000 miles I think the cam phasers are a little over blown, but I switched to 5-30 recently and mine have quieted down. I did my plugs at 98,000 and had one break, but I had the removal tool so no biggie. Ok so the things I have replaced over the last few years
plugs and coils ( didn’t need to do the coils but wanted new ) / power steering rack (because the hard lines that feed the rack rusted and they are not replaceable on their own) / power steering hoses (rusted) / tie rods , upper lower ball joints ( only one ball joint had play but I did them all ) / front wheel bearings ( only drivers side was bad but did both ) / fuel pump drive module ( they are tucked up under the spare and are known to go bad they collect salt road grime and corrode)
All u-joints (just because I wanted greasable ones ,I was surprised just how good the factory ones still were) / replaced rear axle fluid outer axle bearings and seals ( I do a lot of towing and I wanted new but did find the bearings had a little play ) / transmission fluid flush / blower resister. So as you can see a lot I did was preventive maintenance and some was needed, but most are wear parts that one would have to do on any truck.

I am a auto tech and I have fellow workers that are on their third set of wheel bearings on their chevys with same mileage as my ford. But if you are not mechanically inclined having the plugs done can be very expensive especially by a shop that doesn’t know how to do them.
If it’s s good deal I say buy it..

This is my 3rd 5.4 powered truck, this time in a 2002 F150 Supercrew. They have been completely reliable for me, and work just fine for my needs.

The mod motors are proven, and have a reputation for incredibly long lives if even a modicum of maintenance is performed.

What would comprise said modicum?

Do the cam phasers function better on a higher number weight oil (up to 30w) or to run a lower one (0w weight)?

The 3V is designed to run 5w20 from the factory, and that is what I would run. Changing oil weights won't fix worn cam phasers, it might just quiet them down in the short term.

A couple of months ago, I bought a '01 F150 with the 5.4 Triton for my son from a friend that owned it since new. I'm not sure what the differences are between it and the '07 model, but this one just turned 235,000 and has had no issues so far with the engine. It only gets 10 mpg around town (4x4), but runs smooth. He did have to have the rear-end rebuilt (new axle shafts and bearings and he had the front end rebuilt as well. But, did nothing to the engine during that time.

But, seems to be a good truck and engine. Hope it will last my son a few years.