F-150 with 4.6L burning oil?

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My neighbor's F-150 truck with a 4.6L V8 sport side and 4WD is burning oil. Short of an engine rebuild, what can you check to stop the excessive oil burning, such as replace PCV valve? Any suggestions on this engine. I will find out what year and no. of miles on Truck shortly. I always like to do the easy and cheap items first before the rebuild.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
The PCV hose on them, there is a revised Ford Part #. What year is the truck though?


X2. The PCV valve hose is a common issue on the 2V 4.6L.

Is the CEL on? Sometimes these will throw a lean code when the PCV hose leaks, sometimes not.
 
Originally Posted By: 95busa
Those were like 92-95ish. The 150s didn't get the 4.6 until 97


True, still have seen it on higher mileage 97-99 F150s though. Usually maintenance history is questionable at best.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim Spahr
My neighbor's F-150 truck with a 4.6L V8 sport side and 4WD is burning oil.
Define "burning oil". I know some people who go spastic if their car uses a couple of ounces over a 5k OCI. It's unusual for a post-'96 to burn any significant oil unless it's been badly maintained or abused as the cardinal said above.

...and by significant, I mean more than a quart in 3,000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: 95busa
Those were like 92-95ish. The 150s didn't get the 4.6 until 97

92 the mustangs and trucks still had 302s. The 4.6 didn't go into a mustang until 96. Not sure about when the trucks got em
 
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: 95busa
Those were like 92-95ish. The 150s didn't get the 4.6 until 97

92 the mustangs and trucks still had 302s. The 4.6 didn't go into a mustang until 96. Not sure about when the trucks got em

1997 when the new F-150/250 models switched from the 300 I-6, 5.0 & 5.8 Windsors to the 4.2 v6, and 4.6 & 5.4 OHC engines...

Leaking valve stem seal issues were a problem on ALL pre-'96 4.6 models, usually not a issue from '96-up...

I just bought a '96 F-150 with a 5.0, not a 4.6 fan at all(or the newer P/U really) though other than valve stem seals on a couple early ones I've never had a real issue with one...
 
OP says that the F-150 in the inquiry above is: A 1997 ford F150 with 157,000 miles. As previously stated, it has an auto trans and 4WD. Sorry for the delay. Please help if you have a suggestion. Thanks, Jim
 
My 98 F150 4.6L would occasionally smoke on cold startup. It only happened when it was physically cold outside. Generally when I was on a trip up North.

It was related to valve guide seals and temperature.

The truck is still running perfectly on Mobil 1, 10W-30 with 260,000 miles. Cylinders still look new inside!
 
I am the original poster who said: My neighbor's F-150 in the inquiry above is burning oil. It is a 1997 Ford F150 with 157,000 miles. Auto trans, 4WD, and DD. Recently , he checked the oil and found it was four quarts low! He happened to mention it to me. I am having trouble getting more feedback from him. Like most people, he wants the answer to his problem, but doesn't want to provide any info get good, valid feedback. I am trying to find out what type oil he uses, how much it uses, and if he has a MIL on the dash. He was about to start to look for a re-manufactured engine for it. Let's save him from buying and installing a rebuilt engine by finding out what is the cause of the excessive oil burning. It maybe a simple fix like the above mentioned upgraded Ford PCV hose /which I have e mailed to him. Thanks for the suggestions, Jim
 
Originally Posted By: Jim Spahr
it was four quarts low! I am having trouble getting more feedback from him. Like most people, he wants the answer to his problem, but doesn't want to provide any info get good, valid feedback.

i understand! but until we can get how much oil its burning it is a moot point. it may be burning an amount of oil that is fine with leaving it in service? if this is the case we can assume that the problem he wants answers for is: his inability to pop his hood and check his oil.
 
From the Original Poster: I talked with my neighbor with the F-150 this morning and tried to get the OCI and type of oil, etc. Here's all that I got: He uses Pennzoil High Mileage oil and whatever weight oil the factory calls for. He didn't remember. He does not know the oil change interval and he 'may have let it go' too long. Then he happened to check the oil and it was down four, yes , four quarts! So he doesn't have an OCI!? BTW what is the oil capacity in this 4.6L engine? I have to assume it is burning a significant amount of oil.
 
In the trucks It's six quarts... May be like the wife's cousin that said her Neon was a little overdue, turned out it had 29K mi on the OCI...

Unless it's burning enough to make visible smoke which is around 1K mi per quart, I wouldn't be worrying about it...
 
I am trying to get him to change out the PCV valve and the PCV hose to the OEM Ford parts and the upgraded/revised part in the case of the hose. Then he needs to change the oil and filter and watch the oil level closely. I will let you know what transpires.
 
Yesterday, my neighbor with the F-150 said that he only noticed it smoking when he took off. That sounds like the classic valve stem seal problem. That was supposed to be an issue with 1996 and older 4.6L V8's , not this 97. Of course, if not maintained properly, it could be a problem in any year.
So he was driving it on two quarts of oil. Six minus four.... Would that cause damage if it was caught quickly?
 
Unless it was driven very hard, I doubt running on only two quarts did any harm, I've seen engines with less oil that are still going... Maybe would be a problem in a very cold climate, where oil would be slow to drain back into the pan...

As long as it doesn't have any odd noises, I'd toss some HM 10w-40 in it and keep on going... I ran that stuff in my '93 4.6 from around 80K mi till near 150K before I sold it... A friend has it now and it's up near 200K mi, still going... That engine did get down to approx 2.5qt on one occasion when I owned it...
 
OP says: I went over to my neighbor's garage and he was working on the neglected F-150. He had a new Ford Genuine Parts PVC hose part no. F852-6C324-CA and it comes with a genuine plastic Motorcraft PCV p.n. EV-98-2B14 attached. The old hose was taped up? and the PCV valve part no. didn't match the new one. The old hose had oil in it. The PCV valve did rattle. So I am hoping this new revised hose will cure the oil burning problem. I posted these part no.s in case the resident Ford parts guy -BD Cardinal?= will verify these are the correct 'revised' PCV hose numbers. Thanks, Jim
 
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