Guides and Chains in my 01 Grand Marquis ... I told ya so

[OVERKILL]

modular was around in 92

5l and 5.8 were both big turds in terms of longevity

The 302HO's would last an extremely long time, I personally took one to over 200,000 miles as did many guys in the Mustang community, with many of those being at considerably higher power levels than stock. They had the 351W firing order, and were factory balanced and blueprinted, putting them a significant cut above the lopo engines that received none of those features.

Short stroke/big bore was a recipe for longevity with those old pushrod motors, and why the bores on the 302's didn't wear, despite not having any of the advantages of low friction coatings and higher quality oils we have now.

The PCV screen on the passenger car applications (HO and lopo) was a problem point that many people didn't know about, changing the valve and not the screen, which would plug up and result in oil consumption, blow-by and a dirty lifter valley. For many years the truck/SUV versions were batch fire and flat tappet, while the cars were SEFI and roller, which made for much better longevity.

 

[Fordiesel69]

The 2v 4.6L/5.4/6.8 all had undersized exhaust manifold studs too. I find that this absolute most annoying part of owning one. Always the fear of not "if" but "when".

 

[SwampSurvivor]

My ‘97 F250 5.4 2V has 300K and nothing has been replaced. That includes PS pump, water pump, tranny and master cylinder. Alternator was original and I replaced it a few months ago. Just because. Whatever.
OP, you said you put in Cloyes. What is the country of origin?

China

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The 2v 4.6L/5.4/6.8 all had undersized exhaust manifold studs too. I find that this absolute most annoying part of owning one. Always the fear of not "if" but "when".

Oh yeah. My 5.4 blows the right side exhaust manifold gasket quite a bit. It's had a few broken studs. Anything exhaust manifolds are one thing I won't do. When I did the head on my 5.4 I had to remove the manifold to get the head on ... what a pain that was - and mine being a leaf sprung Superduty is the easiest to do one on!

When the Marquis needs manifolds, the engine has to come back out.