03 Ford E350 500K miles with low compression??

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Jul 21, 2024
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So riddle me this?????????? A recent $400 purchase while on a business trip :p:ROFLMAO:



Haven't had the chance to drive it, ONLY start it and let idle for 1 hour NOT expecting much for $400 worse case it will be used as a "Storage unit" lol but curious of what others think on this




2003 E350 painters van
490K miles YES almost 500K miles
5.4 2V
NO knocks
Stack of records since 2003

1 owner since new old man 75yo

Issues: Suppose limp mode wont drive past 30MPH( didnt have chance to drive it, It was late at night and I was just there to purchase and go back to my hotel)

When I went to go look it over old man said he accidently put water in the oil filler instead of windshield reservoir and when I checked oil it was gray on dipstick and some white smoke while idling
So im like crap its a bad head gasket??
So added some engine flush and GUMOUT fuel cleaner with PEA and let idle for 1 hour while me and him BS'd about these vans and other things in life lol

After some idling the white smoke went away
then i turned off and oil was clear NO MORE gray mix??

Paid and got title and went back to hotel

He gave me a bag of records and once I sorted out the papers, BAM!!!!! the bad news he "forgot" to mention

Cylinder #3 low compression
Cylinder #4 low compression and Heli coil installed

Van has NO engine noises, No metal in oil, good normal oil PSI pn gauge??

what boggles me is it started up and idles normal at good oil PSI??? no knocks noises nothing??


So what do you guys think problem is?? Any suggestions on repair or where to start??


Cool bonus he said there was a bunch of old tools and paint equipment in the back that he didnt care to mess with and it all goes with van :cool: (y)

1735820198699.webp
 
The oil dilution in the oil likely damaged the bearings in the engine. The oil pressure gauge is basically an idiot gauge with a pointer. It will show normal with a pressure with as little as 6-7 psi which isn't good. You need to connect an actual gauge to determine oil pressure..

I would just limp it home and use it as your storage unit unless you want to replace the engine. With 500k miles, there can't be much life in it anyway. Body is in nice shape.

The compression issue with two adjacent cylinders is likely atleast a head gasket problem.
 
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Not bad for 400 bucks if the trans works. That's a big shipping container to store stuff in for 400 bucks. Doesn't look rusted, bumper and barn doors look a bit knackered but it's a work van. But as for the compression issue if it's in neighboring cylinders that sounds like a head gasket. I think this one is worth putting money into. It's the long wheelbase and unless I'm fooled it doesn't look rusted which is the biggest issue you can have.
 
The oil dilution in the oil likely damaged the bearings in the engine. The oil pressure gauge is basically an idiot gauge with a pointer. It will show normal with a pressure with as little as 6-7 psi which isn't good. You need to connect an actual gauge to determine oil pressure..

I would just limp it home and use it as your storage unit unless you want to replace the engine. With 500k miles, there can't be much life in it anyway. Body is in nice shape.

The compression issue with two adjacent cylinders is likely atleast a head gasket problem.

Ya I figured bad head gasket :ROFLMAO: :p

I live 250 miles from where the van sits was gonna use my AAA or pay my buddy to go and pick it up for me. Was going to have mechanic check oil PSI on cyl #3,4, change oil, air/fuel filters and replace the plugs/coil packs since I keep those parts in my inventory and paid less than $50 for all of it lol


So would this work as a band aid?? Maybe at least to drive it 250 home??


Probably wouldn't hurt for him to do a coolant flush and add bottle of this stuff??


1735823929853.webp
 
Ya I figured bad head gasket :ROFLMAO: :p

I live 250 miles from where the van sits was gonna use my AAA or pay my buddy to go and pick it up for me. Was going to have mechanic check oil PSI on cyl #3,4, change oil, air/fuel filters and replace the plugs/coil packs since I keep those parts in my inventory and paid less than $50 for all of it lol


So would this work as a band aid?? Maybe at least to drive it 250 home??


Probably wouldn't hurt for him to do a coolant flush and add bottle of this stuff??


View attachment 256960
It's worth a shot
 
Not bad for 400 bucks if the trans works. That's a big shipping container to store stuff in for 400 bucks. Doesn't look rusted, bumper and barn doors look a bit knackered but it's a work van. But as for the compression issue if it's in neighboring cylinders that sounds like a head gasket. I think this one is worth putting money into. It's the long wheelbase and unless I'm fooled it doesn't look rusted which is the biggest issue you can have.

Yup Weatherford TX van all its life!!! NO RUST!!!(y):cool: Someone rear ended him so rear bumper is trashed and rear door are stuck closed OUCH!!!Gonna have to fix that to use it for storage lol

Made an error cyl #3 low compression and they couldn't check #4 because of re-tapped spark plug helcoil insert??

trans is the E4OD (4R100) and supposedly rebuilt back in 2020
 
dont you have a van? rent a uhaul tow dolly, drive it on, drive it home?
 
I'd say for four hundo, you did well.
Other than the back end, it appears pristine.
Around here, 98% of those are rust buckets, if they are even running at all.
If you need it operational, I'd just drop a boneyard engine in it and carry on.
Otherwise, do what you said and use it as a pod.
 
If the oil pressure is low, it might be worth it to try a Melling high volume oil pump. The stock pumps are all aluminum and they tend to get wallowed out inside at high mileage. It's not an insignificant task, the front cover has to come off the engine. But the bonus is, it's easy to replace the timing components since you have to remove the chains anyway to get to the oil pump.

This won't fix excessive bearing clearance obviously. But for some modulars, this provides a new lease on life. Another thing I recommend is not using 5w20, I always used 10w30 in my 5.4 and some say they do well on 10w40 when they have high mileage.

But if you just want to use it for storage anyway, don't mess with it.
 
I couldn't possibly imagine trying to do the Ford authorized spark plug hole repair on the rear passenger plug hole on a van...jeez.
That is probably what is wrong with it, the plug repair wasn't correctly done.

It must be an early 03, because the 2V heads changed to 8 thread plug holes in 03 & 04. 04 still had the heritage F150s and the Lightnings that were 2V 5.4s
 
Some things to think about. The coil on plug units (8 of them) are amoungst the highest counterfeight part on those vans. Hold foot to floor and crank, if engine cranks and has several speed up areas as it rolls over you knoiw you have bad compression. If all cylinders are hitting and loading the start motor correctly then you may just have bad cops. I cannot stress how common this is. Oil, water, coolant, debris gets into the spark plug wells and you know the rest.

Now having said that.....the 5.4L 2v engine is actually a very good engine minus the bad exhaust manifold studs breaking off. At 400 to 500K miles however, all aspects of this engine will be worn out. Due to severe rot, i would assume you can find a good low mile engine quite cheaply instead of rebuilding this one.
 
Some things to think about. The coil on plug units (8 of them) are amoungst the highest counterfeight part on those vans. Hold foot to floor and crank, if engine cranks and has several speed up areas as it rolls over you knoiw you have bad compression. If all cylinders are hitting and loading the start motor correctly then you may just have bad cops. I cannot stress how common this is. Oil, water, coolant, debris gets into the spark plug wells and you know the rest.

Now having said that.....the 5.4L 2v engine is actually a very good engine minus the bad exhaust manifold studs breaking off. At 400 to 500K miles however, all aspects of this engine will be worn out. Due to severe rot, i would assume you can find a good low mile engine quite cheaply instead of rebuilding this one.

Severe rot??? This is a north Texas van:unsure:. Only thing rotten around here are teeth on some of these southern folks :p :sneaky: (y)

Yup the 4.6 and 5.4 2V's are good but they like to shoot plugs if not tightened correctly

Ya this old girl is the highest mileage vehicle I own!! I was SHOCKED how well it idled after 1 hour:oops::oops:
 
dont you have a van? rent a uhaul tow dolly, drive it on, drive it home?

I have 5 :p:ROFLMAO: but one is down cause of bad trans😢😢

I have 3 mechanics and the only one that can get me in and look it over is 50 miles away from van location so its getting dropped off tomorrow by AAA and the fun begins!!!
 
You bought a lot of steel for $400. I can’t buy a yard shed that big for that price, and those are plastic. LWB with a rebuild could make a nice camper! I wonder if an LKQ motor might be the easy way through this.
 
I meant due to severe rot on other vans and trucks, you could get a 100k engine pretty easily. Up north they only make it to 100 maybe 200k and the bodys fall apart.
 
So riddle me this?????????? A recent $400 purchase while on a business trip :p:ROFLMAO:



Haven't had the chance to drive it, ONLY start it and let idle for 1 hour NOT expecting much for $400 worse case it will be used as a "Storage unit" lol but curious of what others think on this




2003 E350 painters van
490K miles YES almost 500K miles
5.4 2V
NO knocks
Stack of records since 2003

1 owner since new old man 75yo

Issues: Suppose limp mode wont drive past 30MPH( didnt have chance to drive it, It was late at night and I was just there to purchase and go back to my hotel)

When I went to go look it over old man said he accidently put water in the oil filler instead of windshield reservoir and when I checked oil it was gray on dipstick and some white smoke while idling
So im like crap its a bad head gasket??
So added some engine flush and GUMOUT fuel cleaner with PEA and let idle for 1 hour while me and him BS'd about these vans and other things in life lol

After some idling the white smoke went away
then i turned off and oil was clear NO MORE gray mix??

Paid and got title and went back to hotel

He gave me a bag of records and once I sorted out the papers, BAM!!!!! the bad news he "forgot" to mention

Cylinder #3 low compression
Cylinder #4 low compression and Heli coil installed

Van has NO engine noises, No metal in oil, good normal oil PSI pn gauge??

what boggles me is it started up and idles normal at good oil PSI??? no knocks noises nothing??


So what do you guys think problem is?? Any suggestions on repair or where to start??


Cool bonus he said there was a bunch of old tools and paint equipment in the back that he didnt care to mess with and it all goes with van :cool: (y)

View attachment 256957
I'd throw in Fords 7.3 Tremor motor and call it a day. Is there ANYTHING else the owner forgot to mention?
 
I'd throw in Fords 7.3 Tremor motor and call it a day. Is there ANYTHING else the owner forgot to mention?

Well update

Sunday had it picked up with tow truck and fuel pump is now XXX :cry: :cry: Had a fresh 850 CCA battery for it and 5 gallons of fuel and NO GO???

@ mechanics right now getting basics like oil change, plugs, coil packs, coolant flush, air/fuel filters replaced and go from there............. possibly needs a new fuel pump :unsure:🤷‍♂️
 
You bought a lot of steel for $400. I can’t buy a yard shed that big for that price, and those are plastic. LWB with a rebuild could make a nice camper! I wonder if an LKQ motor might be the easy way through this.

I'm just happy where I live its "open parking" and property manager never tows anything ;) So I always have several "on-site" storage units ;)
 
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