I've been reading through this thread the last couple of days cause after not being on the site for a while, this was the first one I came across and I have been biting my tongue not to say anything cause some people do have the mispleasure of purchasing a vehicle that does turn out to be crap for whatever reason, and that goes for ALL brands. But now I'm reading about chewing up brakes, air filters that are a PITA and getting a (cough,cough) Titan for a truck.

Well as for the brakes, I generally find that to be a driver issue, all gas and all brake (that's me) will definitely go through some pads. That is what was happening to me until I changed my rotors all the way around and started using a decent ceramic pad, now I don't change my pads for at least 100,000 miles.

Air filter? Really? I have the 5.4 so I don't much know about 4.6, but how hard can it really be?

And as far as a nissan Titan goes, come on man, that's not even really a truck, it's laughable. Do yourself a favor and get another Chevy, you seemed to be happier in it, and I know guys who have chevys that are somewhat impressive, not that I'd ever get one

This thread prompted me to start one yesterday, cause just last week my truck joined the 200,000 mile club and is still going strong and will continue to do so, yes I had the trans rebuilt, but that was only a short 5,000 miles ago and I can't say I was easy on it, hell I'm kinda surprised it didn't go out on me at 125,000 miles cause for me that's about average.

I am truly sorry you've had a crappy experience with your Ford aggie, but that can happen with any brand, there is no perfect vehicle being sold on the market today and I'll stick with what works for me and that is Ford

 

The round air filters on the 4.6 and other 2v engines can be a bit of a pain.

 

They aren't THAT big of a pain. My 2V 5.4L in my old 98 Scab had the round filters, and I never spent more than a couple of minutes changing out a filter. The design isn't anything worth complaining about in reference to Ford being a POS. Granted, the design on the 3V 5.4L is much better.

 

A bit of a pain, yes, a reason to dislike a truck, no.

It takes a minuet to pull apart, and if there is not enough room just take the clamp off and pull the whole box out. Worst case scenario it takes 5 min.

 

on a truck, not a real issue...on an e-series that its a little more of an issue but still nothing to post a ridiclous thread about. If u have issues reassmebling the air cleaner then how do u manage to walk n chew gum at the same time? Trans and rear? well, a bit premature but maybe it was partly user error. Brakes? Slow down and dont use junk parts. Electrical issues, ya sorta an issue with these trucks but show me any newer vehicle that doesnt. Power steering hoses, i call that maintance not an issue. Ya have 133,000 miles on it...its gunna cost some money with those miles.

oh and cool story bro, wanna tissue to wipe those crocodile tears?

 

The tranny went in my 05 at 66K miles and my dealer was trying to sell me on a rear clutch pack replacement. I took it home and changed the lube, added friction modifire and drove it in circles for a bit and the shudder stopped. I can relate to the frustrations, that is why I sold mine and went Chevy. But really, the only retarded engineering I seen with mine was the spark plug design and the faulty fuel injectors.

I dunno about your comment about buying a Nissan... I think you would be better off giving it another try at replacing that air filter

or just stay away from anything under the hood

 

wow, nice vent thread OP!!

this makes me love my 4.6L even more now!!

so if this engine and trans are crap then why does every state have
-crown vic P71 (police)
-crown vic taxi (cabbys)
-lincoln towncar (chauffer drivers)
-E150 (delivery and cargo)
-F150 (police and border partol)

and the list goes on, most of these vehicles come with the 4.6 WORKHORSE engine and trans, and have well over 300K with routine maintenence on them.

my mother is a chauffer and i have personally seen this mileage and more on her company vehicles....

sorry youve had these problems but thats life buddy, you should see all the brand new lathes and mills that have to get fixed at my shop everyday!! and these are top of the line MORI-SEIKI machines!!!!

good luck with your quest for a perfect truck.....

 

Titan? You do know that the rear ends on those "trucks" suck don't you? A guy I work with owns one. Bought it brand new. Less than 10,000 mi. on it the rear end dynamited. Course, it got fixed under the warranty. Otherwise it would have cost him a fortune. Just sayin'.

 

wtf? never been a pain for me! Unhook, move out of way, r&r the filter, and put the dang thing back together!

 

I beat the Effin **** out of my own personal co van 04 e 250 5.4 ,owned since New,once a yr /35k Amsoil oil filter changes,plugs at 100k,diff ,tranny @ every 60 k miles,frt o2 sensors every 30 k,fuel filters at 15 k,just turned 443,000,never in shop,yes its had brakes frt rear several times ,frt wheel bearings once ,rear end right seal,frt lower left ball joint,runs strong

 

at work we had a fleet of 25 E-450 buses used for our countys transist for the elderly n disabled and we beat the **** out of em literally each n everyday and had no major issues even @ 250K. Biggest issue was fuel pumps, brakes and exhaust getting ripped off on the ford side most of the issues were with the coach.

That changed quite a few opinions of died in the wool gm and dodge guys who worked there. Just sayin.

 

The 4.6 2V engine series is about as bullet proof as any out there.

I retired in 2010 as a Master Trooper. I drove CVPIs from September 1998 up until January 2010 and in those 11+ years and three cars, totaled about 350,000 miles and not 1 engine problem and I idled them for hours in summer heat and winter cold working wrecks and radar and etc, often going from long idle to wide open throttle for miles and miles, many hot days of non stop radar details on interstate highways, you name it. As a trooper in an area with two major Interstate highways , there were times I might go a week and not have to run WOT and then there were days when I spent hours between WOT and dead idle in the heat.

On those really hot 90-100+ degree days I popped the hood at wrecks / etc and raised it a little NOT because the engine idled cooler ... but rather because doing so let the AC blow colder air by letting heat out from under hood, that way when I got back in with vest and etc on, it would cool me off.

My '98 was replaced at 130K miles because that was the cutt off then, I simply had my miles. My '00 was issued to me as a "used car" with 20K miles on it, I took it to near 160K and turned it in for a '06 in Summer 2006.

The last of those three cars, ... my '06 .... when I retired it had 86,000 on it and the guy who got the car to replace the one he wrecked drove it to almost 160,000 miles when a catalytic converter needed replacement and they sold the car at auction as he got his new 2011 CVPI.

Among those three cars I had one alternator failure and a dead IAC on the '00, a brake booster that Ford replaced on the '98 which likely could have been just the rod needing a slight adjustment, and my '06 had a leaking axle seal on the right rear the day I picked it up brand new in 2006 which I found after driving 130 miles back home ... Ford fixed it.

Otherwise, just regular maintenance, tires, oil, and I did hit a deer at 65+ mph on Nov 1st, 2006 with the '06 that cost $7,128 to fix (nearly half due to air bag 1st stage deployment).
Never an engine or trans problem. That '06 in particular run like a striped ape ..... and just leaving it in OD or 4th saw the tach at 52-5300 each gear change except 3rd to 4th where it went about 5400.

The 440 in my first police car was also trouble free (though it did need frequent belt replacements as they slipped after awhile and valve cover gaskets burnt off them fast as the cast iron exh manifolds came up beside the lower rail of the valve covers and plugs about every 10K) but back then at 80K they sold the cars and you got a new one as back then, it was rare to see 100K on a police car and no serious problems. That '78 Plymouth did need some rear end work once and two driveshafts .... go figure? Brakes lasted about 8-10K on front and tires 8-10K on the rear? (In contrast, these later CVPIs often get near or over 20K on tires and brakes last well into 50K range)

 

Problems=life. Do you replace the toilet when it backs up?

Sorry to hear of your troubles, but my perception is that this will happen again be it a Chevy, a Dodge, a Nissan, a van, a car, or a horse (maybe not electrical on that last one) if you use anything for it's intended purpose over a period of time, it WILL wear and all or some will need replacing. My buddy lost a finger in a press at work, his wife kept him. I can go on with analogies, but I'm sure you get it. Best of luck to you and all your future vehicles.

 

I might not be the only one who noticed this, but I'll chime in: 133,000 on an '07? So you're averaging anywhere from 23-27k miles a year on it...And I'll bet you change the oil every month and a half, averaging 2200 miles a month.... Now I'm not saying others here don't do those miles, but it does seem like pretty high mileage for an '07. Your driving an '07 that has the basic age of an '01!!! (well, at 12k a year) You look at it as a 5 or 6 year old truck with lots of issues, but it's essentially an 11 year old truck with those miles. It's not about the actual age of the truck and these issues you are dealing with, it's the age you've put it at, and with that many miles in those few years, I'd bet you use it pretty hard...

Oh, I have experience with those filters....really not worth discussing or you bringing up. Ok, so there aren't two tabs and bang, it slides out...

 

Should have known I'd get so many asinine comments from a Ford fan site. I'm not retarded people and I'm not saying a bad air filter design is a reason to get rid of a truck. I'm simply citing the air filter as yet another example of bad engineering on this truck. Maybe mine is faulty or something but the damn tubes just don't ever want to go back together.

Yea I drive a lot for work but isn't that what a truck is for? Last I check they didn't build them to be used as driveway art. I do ALL the maintenance and do not abuse the truck whatsoever. I get comments weekly from strangers about how nice my truck looks. I don't hardly ever tow anything and don't drive aggressively. I realize mechanical things break and wear out over time. It's a fact of life but really, a tranny and a rear end before 100,000 miles??? Tranny went out at 69,000 miles and rear end was completely rebuilt at just under 100,000 miles. I would have been better off buying a piece of crap Dodge. At least they have a 100,000 mile warranty....

I looked at the Titan and it's definitely not the answer and I would have traded this truck off long ago if it weren't paid off. I'm not like a lot of people on these forums who trade their trucks off every other year and lose a ton of money. My Dad has an '08 Tundra with 100,000 absolutely trouble free miles so when my Ford finally kicks the bucket for good, I'll most likely get a Tundra.