5.0 Engine blown up at just under 58k miles

[apMechorse]

Just rolled to 57,856 miles and my #4 piston decided it has had enough and wanted more freedom.

Not much back story here, nothing at all unusual until it let go during an average drive back from the store with the wife. Turn left onto our street and suddenly the truck appears to go into low power/limp mode, check engine light begins flashing, oil pressure gauge turns orange and drops to zero, and the engine sounds like someone is shaking a cardboard box full of scrap metal.

Nothing visible except all the oil that should be in the engine is now all over the road. Towed to dealer and sixteen(!) days later when they look at it I get a text message from the service manager that says: "Your truck is going to need an engine, a piston has punched a hole in the side of the block."

I'm pretty sure I'd have noticed the threads on here by now if it was the case, but anyone else here had spontaneous catastrophic engine failure?

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[MJG44]

None that I've heard of or seen.
I use to see it often in the 5.4 Lightning world but those were boosted applications. Likely just a one off.

 

[WhiteLightningnshitshadow]

Wow this is a first. When was the last oil change? Have you noticed any consumption?

 

[apMechorse]

Wow this is a first. When was the last oil change? Have you noticed any consumption?

Last change was almost exactly 6k ago, monitor shows 32% life left, always full synthetic and no consumption between changes.

Mine seem to fall about every 10k to 15k per the oil life monitor. I cut the filter open on every other oil change, nothing of note on the last one. Never did the sample analysis.

 

[Natetroknot]

2100 miles and change until you may have had an unpleasant repair bill - it could always be worse but sorry this happened!

 

[apMechorse]

2100 miles and change until you may have had an unpleasant repair bill - it could always be worse but sorry this happened!

Luckily I opted for the extended warranty up to 150k/8yr once I found out that the cost of one headlight assy was about 1/2 the cost of the warranty. ?

 

[Natetroknot]

Luckily I opted for the extended warranty up to 150k/8yr once I found out that the cost of one headlight assy was about 1/2 the cost of the warranty. ?

Nice! I’m on the fence with an extended myself. Love the truck, it has been great, but I REALLY don’t want to pay out of pocket to fix a spaceship! All boils down to how long i keep it. Wish you well with the repair and getting back on the road.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Just rolled to 57,856 miles and my #4 piston decided it has had enough and wanted more freedom.

Not much back story here, nothing at all unusual until it let go during an average drive back from the store with the wife. Turn left onto our street and suddenly the truck appears to go into low power/limp mode, check engine light begins flashing, oil pressure gauge turns orange and drops to zero, and the engine sounds like someone is shaking a cardboard box full of scrap metal.

Nothing visible except all the oil that should be in the engine is now all over the road. Towed to dealer and sixteen(!) days later when they look at it I get a text message from the service manager that says: "Your truck is going to need an engine, a piston has punched a hole in the side of the block."

I'm pretty sure I'd have noticed the threads on here by now if it was the case, but anyone else here had spontaneous catastrophic engine failure?

Hi there, I'd be happy to look into your F-150 concerns on my end. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

 

[MillstoneF150]

Last change was almost exactly 6k ago, monitor shows 32% life left, always full synthetic and no consumption between changes.

Mine seem to fall about every 10k to 15k per the oil life monitor. I cut the filter open on every other oil change, nothing of note on the last one. Never did the sample analysis.

You have been changing your oil every 10k to 15k?

 

[FORDTEXAS]

thanks to you i can’t go to sleep in peace anymore lol.

 

[KTM753]

Sorry to hear about this. Hopefully you only need a short block.

 

[Sneezy]

You have been changing your oil every 10k to 15k?

Yeah that’s way too long in my opinion, anything over 5k is just being cheap. Why be so cheap maintaining an expensive truck?

 

[apMechorse]

You have been changing your oil every 10k to 15k?

I suppose the actual mathematical average is 8,265.1 miles as of right now. I've changed it seven times, and I'm at 57,856 miles.

With the exception of my very first change at 1,234 (not a coincidence) I've changed it whenever the oil life monitor told me to, or sooner if I had a cross country trip coming up. I assume the monitor has a better idea of what is happening inside my specific engine with my specific driving habits than the internet does.

The actual longest between changes that it's had me go was 12,287 miles.

Changes are always with a full synthetic, almost exclusively Mobile 1, and new K&N oil filter every time (the wrench off nut on the end like aircraft recip filters is a godsend) and split the filter every other change.

So no, the 15k was an overestimate. Usually right around the 10k mark, but always w/in what the monitor tells me.

 

[apMechorse]

Yeah that’s way too long in my opinion, anything over 5k is just being cheap. Why be so cheap maintaining an expensive truck?

Your opinion has been noted.

 

[Je1279]

It's never good when an engine decides to add an inspection port on its own. If this was at all common, I'm sure that we would have heard of multiple similar reports already. Hopefully, the new short block will give you many years of uneventful service.

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