Identify this engine, 5.4 or 4.6?

1slow95

Founding Member
May 16, 2002
1,797
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48
ohio
Well my cousin blew up his '00 Stang, spun a rod bearing or something equally bad. So we decided on doing a 5.4L swap in it. :) A local guy that I see at a lot of car shows around here had a 5.4 engine for sale for $100 so we picked that up saturday. Not knowing anything about the mod motors we trusted the guy that it was a 5.4 and brought it home, then looked up the casting number(which the guy was too dumb to find).

Unfortunately, it's looking like we've got a 4.6 here....I don't know any good way to tell the difference, but the deck height is 1" taller on the 5.4L. I measured from the center of the crank to the top of the deck and got 8.9", which is exactly what the 4.6 is...I have no idea if that's how you're supposed to do it, so I'm asking you guys. :)

It's out of a 98 Expedition, and the casting number on the block is F7AE.
 
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i dont even think the 98 model expeditions had a 5.4

Yes, they did. :)

I'll get pics up tonight or tomorrow. I also measured the width of the intake at approx. 14 1/2". I tried measuring my dad's 6.8L intake and came up with 15 1/2", but it's hard to do while the engines in the truck.


We bought this engine with the intention of rebuilding it with at least new bearings and rings, then swapping the PI heads and intake from his stang onto it. It's supposed to have 130k on it, and I don't know if it ran or not when pulled.
 
easiest way to test would be to slap the heads off the 4.6 onto the used block and see if the intake fits. If it fits, its a 4.6. If it doesnt, its a 5.4.
 
Grab a coat hanger and unwind it..

Bring #1 to TDC and stick the coat hanger in the spark plug hole.. Rotate the engine and measure how far the coat hanger goes down before it starts going back up..

4.1" == 5.4
3.5" == 4.6

Riley
 
Grab a coat hanger and unwind it..

Bring #1 to TDC and stick the coat hanger in the spark plug hole.. Rotate the engine and measure how far the coat hanger goes down before it starts going back up..

4.1" == 5.4
3.5" == 4.6

Riley


I was going to try this last night, but I can't get the engine to turn over. :bang: I sprayed WD40 down all the spark plug holes, and I'll try it again tonight.
 
You guys are making this harder than it has to be.

:eek:
easiest way to test would be to slap the heads off the 4.6 onto the used block and see if the intake fits. If it fits, its a 4.6. If it doesnt, its a 5.4.
:D


Just measure and compare the deck heights and/or the width across the front intake bolts. Sounds like he already answered his own question in the first post.
 
I wasn't entirely sure if my measurements were correct, which is why I was asking you guys. The old engine is still in the car(plus 150 miles from me), so I don't really have much to go off of...

The good news is the WD40 freed up the pistons enough to get the engine turning over. The bad news is it has a 3.5" stroke. Plus this engine is a Romeo where his current one is a Windsor. I don't know what parts are interchangeable between the two, but it doesn't really matter. He's back on the hunt for a 5.4L, and I think he'll try to resell this 4.6.