life expectancy of a 5.0?

MattG · #1 11-17-2011, 08:35 PM

looking at picking up an explorer/mountaineer for the 5.0 swap but i was just wondering, what is the life expectancy of a 5.0? all the ones around me seem to have at least 150k on the clock. of course I will be doing things like valve cover/intake/oil pan/water pump gaskets since i'll want to check the condition of all that before I put it in. also, how long should the tranny be good for?

klinger86 · #2 11-18-2011, 12:07 AM

personally if your getting one from a jy i would go ahead and tear it down and refresh it all.... but as long as you check all the gaskets and stuff when you pull the valve covers and oil pan off it could last you several years as long as you dont beat the crap outta it.... and the tranny it just depends on what type of tranny you go with and how well you take care of it when you get it....

doyouquaxu · #3 11-18-2011, 12:10 AM

depends on how hard you drive it really...

MUDFLAP · #4 11-18-2011, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doyouquaxu

depends on how hard you drive it really...

And if you change things in the valve train. Bigger cams will take away from the life of a motor.

And what klinger said as well. Ifnya getten one from the JY go ahead and freshen up bearings, seals, rings(maybe) and whatnot. Check runouts and all that jazz.

HazardousRanger · #5 11-18-2011, 08:03 AM

haha the title made me laugh!

knightmare1015 · #6 11-18-2011, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MUDFLAP

And if you change things in the valve train. Bigger cams will take away from the life of a motor.

And what klinger said as well. Ifnya getten one from the JY go ahead and freshen up bearings, seals, rings(maybe) and whatnot. Check runouts and all that jazz.

Yes and no. A bigger cam will not harm the engine as much as you think if you choose the right components such as cylinder heads, pistons, rods etc. But you are right about the junkyard engine. I'd go ahead and rebuild the ENTIRE engine from the ground up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HazardousRanger

haha the title made me laugh!

Me too. I've got friends that have the old 5.0 in their street rods and trucks of all sizes. They've had them for years and have logged as much as 150K in miles just going to shows across the country in a single year. They've had those vehicles for up to 5+ years now and have well over 300K miles on them and the engines before they were rebuilt had over 200K when they were pulled out of a junk yard some where. The life of an old 5.0 is almost indefinate.

MUDFLAP · #7 11-18-2011, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knightmare1015

Yes and no. A bigger cam will not harm the engine as much as you think if you choose the right components such as cylinder heads, pistons, rods etc. But you are right about the junkyard engine. I'd go ahead and rebuild the ENTIRE engine from the ground up.

Yeah, the recipe has to mix all-n-one for sure.

knightmare1015 · #8 11-20-2011, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MUDFLAP

Yeah, the recipe has to mix all-n-one for sure.

Yep. That's where most people screw the pooch. They'll swap out the cam and nothing else and that really screws the engine up very badly. The only cam company I know of that can do this and have it down to an exact science is Comp Cams. Their stage one cams have been egineered to replace O.E.M cams without having to change any valvetrain components and yet still give you the power and sound that you'd want which is kool. Of course I'm talking about their Thumpr series cams.

Airtruksrus · #9 11-30-2011, 05:26 PM

Definitely, for a 5.0 with over 150k, recommend a complete teardown and new felpro gaskets, new oil pump, timing chain and cam gears - still using the stock cam. Had the motor down to the bare block and new cam bearings, 30 over pistons. The crankshaft needed resizing as well. Turns out to be one hell of a motor, never thought it would perform as well as it does now, just don't use cheap oil and it'll run for a very long time.

knightmare1015 · #10 11-30-2011, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Airtruksrus

Definitely, for a 5.0 with over 150k, recommend a complete teardown and new felpro gaskets, new oil pump, timing chain and cam gears - still using the stock cam. Had the motor down to the bare block and new cam bearings, 30 over pistons. The crankshaft needed resizing as well. Turns out to be one hell of a motor, never thought it would perform as well as it does now, just don't use cheap oil and it'll run for a very long time.

Yep. Alot of engine builders and machine shops either use 15W40 diesel engine oil, or they get the oil additive from camshaft companies. You want an oil that has alot of ZZDP compound in it until it breaks in. But definately go for a ground up rebuild. You'll definately not regret it and that 5.0 will last a long, long time.

Airtruksrus · #11 12-01-2011, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knightmare1015

Yep. Alot of engine builders and machine shops either use 15W40 diesel engine oil, or they get the oil additive from camshaft companies. You want an oil that has alot of ZZDP compound in it until it breaks in. But definately go for a ground up rebuild. You'll definately not regret it and that 5.0 will last a long, long time.

I went to Mobil 1 5w30 from the beginning, change it out every 100 hours and hasn't given me a bit of grief for the last 4 years. Started doing the same to my other vehicles and watching the mileage go up.

I thought i was a glutten for punishment when i drove down to El Centro and back, hauling a 1 ton trailer and getting to find out the performance on the Arizona highways. The excess antifreeze overflowed from the reservoir but the engine never let me down.

modelageek · #12 12-01-2011, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattG

looking at picking up an explorer/mountaineer for the 5.0 swap but i was just wondering, what is the life expectancy of a 5.0? all the ones around me seem to have at least 150k on the clock. of course I will be doing things like valve cover/intake/oil pan/water pump gaskets since i'll want to check the condition of all that before I put it in. also, how long should the tranny be good for?

I had a 1996 f150 with the 302 that I bought new......somewhere around 120k miles my lower radiator hose blew out........my daughters picture was over the temp gauge

as far as I now the truck never over heated.......I am not sure how long I drove without any antifreeze in it.......it could have been months..I don't know......around 160k I needed to change the rear main seal the original was some kind of rope.....the engine never gave me an issue other then the RMS....also at that time in my life I was not great with oil changes etc....I sold the truck with 180k on it....

toyoracing · #13 12-03-2011, 12:37 AM

The 5L is a great and very reliable motor...hence why they've used it up until the early 2000 Mustang GT's. I had a 87 Ford Crown Vic LTD a few years back that I bought off my grandpa for 600 bucks (was my grandma's car and I didn't want him to let it rust away) and 145k on the clock. The engine overheated probably about 2 or 3 times due to either having low oil, or low/no antifreeze (that's a result of letting a girlfriend then a friend borrow the car for work and I didn't realize at the time that they had next to no automotive experience other than knowing how to read a speedo.) but never let me down, drove it to Delaware from Indiana and the only problem was the rear shocks blowing out when hitting a pothole at 70.

Airtruksrus · #14 12-07-2011, 07:13 PM

picked up another 5.0 from an old crown vic with the aod for another long term project. Looks like the motor went through hell n back but curious to find out what the internals look like when i start the tear down.