I didn't disagree with what wontacceptthis said in fact I agree with everything he said. I just added to it.

 

Im sure right from the start of the triton 5.4, thier were issues with spark plugs, in my 02 F-150 the 260 hp 5.4 was a 100x times the engine of the 5.43v in my 04.

The first issue with the 5.4 was thier were not enough threads in the head to keep the spark plug inside the head, and they shot out of the engine, as the triton 5.4 contiuned production, even Ford techs would break of the spark plug tips when changing out the plugs, than a retap and die was in order.

Triton v10s also have spark plug issues and im not out to pick on Ford, but Fords new line of engines pretty much says the Tritons were crap.

 

What about that 2.8 that Jeep/AMC used for a while in the 80's? That was an oil using, underpowered pile of crap.

 

The V10s had/have the same spark plug problem. Since it's all part of the Modular Engine deal and plus, the V10 is nothing but the 5.4 with two more cylinders. Neither the 5.4s or the 6.8s had the threads needed to keep the spark plugs in.

 

I hear this from a lot of people and i understand there are exceptions to every rule but i just sent one of these 4.0's to the crusher with somewhere between 400-600k on it (broken odometer) with no motor work ever. I got it in an explorer @ around 40K and used it as my DD for the past seven year until recently cracking the head, which was prob my fault.

List of things that i replaced on it over the time i drove it:

- computer @ 100K or so.
-Alternator @ around 200k or so.
-Ground wire between battery and frame (less than $2)@ just over 270K or so.

These are the only things other than 2 batteries, several sets of plugs and wires, and the norm that i ever had to do to it.

Oh and here are a few "kickers"

1) One of the plugs was such a pita to get to that it was never changed! around 1/2 a million miles on 1 plug.

2) Same clutch. felt like it was going out from day 1 but never changed. Had pressure but didnt catch until 3/4 of the way out.

3) This motor saw lots of snow, sand, water, and mud.

I put some kind of slick50 stuff in it every 10 oil changes or so. Other than that all i did was change the oil every 5k and kept a fresh air filter.

BTW the head cracked because i drove it 60 plus miles with no water in it. <----long story that i wish hadnt happened.

 

I agree with all and will throw in the anemic no power 2.8 six in my 1986 Blazer. POS. Took 6 hr to r&r the starter and the entire motor had a combination of metric and SAE fasteners on it and the thing was so slow it would not maintain freeway speeds above sea level going up hills.

 

The GM 2.8 doesn't seem too bad in a Fiero. But I suppose you could probably put a lawn mower motor in a Fiero and still have enough power to motivate it.

 

Yeah, a Fierro probably weighs half what the Blazer did!

 

I had the bigger brother of the same engine in an Isuzu Pickup: the 3.1 (most everything is interchangable - example: heads and intake). I completely agree with the grab bag of SAE and metric fasteners being idiotic. Half chevy half jap- Ugh. I rebuilt it in high school right after I bought it. Then, being a backwoods, high country mountain Colorado guy.. I drove the tar out of it. Literally tried to blow it up for several years. Spun WAY too many RPMs for WAY too long. I spent more time sliding sideways in that truck than I did driving straight. Couldnt get it to fall apart.

I cant really speak to the lack of power comment- Mine wasnt stock. I ran a little hotter cam, had the heads decked, gasket matched and larger valves installed, headers and ran a chevy 4.3 throttle body.

 

I'll say one was the Ford 292 V8. Got horrid mileage even for the day, had no power from 1200 rpm and up, and was a loud motor mechanically even dead stock.