My van came with a Ford remanufactured engine in it. As far as I've been able to tell that happened closer to when I bought it than when it was new. It's prior life as we news van suggests that it might have been driven harder than even an ambulance, so I didn't put too much weight into it having been called into question sufficiently to be replace once already.
Part of my reasoning at the time for buying the v10 (over the vastly more torque producing, more fuel efficient and "clean" diesel) was that swapping the entire engine out, if it came to that, was economically reasonable.
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Originally Posted by JWA
IF I were to ever buy another 5.4 or 6.8 Ford engine I'd DIY an actual oil pressure test which is relatively easy to do. That single test would be a major deciding factor whether to buy or not that particular van. If it would affect the price downward to compensate for a replacement engine then I may still buy such a van, if the body/chassis were in good enough condition to warrant that sort of time and money expenditure.
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Agreed. It's up there with a compression test, and far easier to do.
I actually hooked up a cheap aftermarket oil pressure gauge a couple of years into owning the van, shortly after some of my other automotive experiences forced me to understand how to interpret what such a reading is telling you. I was a bit concerned about what I would find initially, but it turns out that my v10 is in good shape so far.
Other things to look for are any irregularities in oil pressure. A bouncing oil pressure gauge needle can indicate that one or more bearings are on their way out, and will show up sooner than an outright low oil pressure.
Also, while you can make some guesses on oil temp based on water temp and cylinder head temp, it's a separate reading, and if you don't want to be guessing while interpreting oil pressure, it's easiest to just get the oil temp as well. Yes, you can guess pretty closely, but installing an oil temp gauge took that guess work out of it.
Not that any of this is really required, but observing and trying to understand what's really happening inside whatever engine I'm using is part of how I pass the time while driving.