Engine Tech pistons, are they any good? (2024)

Hello,

I’m rebuilding my Ford 5.4 3v engine, main reason for this operation was extremely high oil consumption. After disassembling everything and measuring the block it turned out that 2 out of 8 cylinders are 0.090 mm (0.0036 inch) out of round. It seems that the only solution for this engine is cylinder boring, so I’m in a need of buying oversized pistons. Can someone share his opinion about Engine Tech pistons? I can grab a set of them for a really good price, but are they any good? If they’re a total junk then I’ll buy Mahle, but Mahle is 60% more expensive.

This is my daily driver, stock parameters, no tuning, etc. I just want it to be reliable and last some more years after the rebuild.

Have a nice weekend!
MC

EngineTech are typical rebuilder quality; good enough. My machinist has used hundreds of sets with no problems.

Most rebuilder pistons are "de-stroked" on the assumption the head and block will be surfaced during the rebuild.

Thank you for your opinions. In a meanwhile found that I can also get a set of silv-o-lite pistons for a price somewhere between EngineTech and Mahle. Those silv-o-lites have a pretty good reviews on the Internet, do you think they are a better quality than EngineTech?

When it comes to the compression height I need to ask my machinist how much is he going to deck the block. Stock compression height is 1.220 inches, EngineTech pistons are 1.209, silv-o-lite pistons are 1.210.

MC_PL wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 6:48 amHello,

I’m rebuilding my Ford 5.4 3v engine, main reason for this operation was extremely high oil consumption. After disassembling everything and measuring the block it turned out that 2 out of 8 cylinders are 0.090 mm (0.0036 inch) out of round. It seems that the only solution for this engine is cylinder boring, so I’m in a need of buying oversized pistons. Can someone share his opinion about Engine Tech pistons? I can grab a set of them for a really good price, but are they any good? If they’re a total junk then I’ll buy Mahle, but Mahle is 60% more expensive.

This is my daily driver, stock parameters, no tuning, etc. I just want it to be reliable and last some more years after the rebuild.

Have a nice weekend!
MC

Can you get a replacement short ?

3 and a half thou out of round is massive for a modern engine, how did that happen, i.e wear ?, worth reboring and correcting the cause.

Overheating ? You need a new block.

Happens to all of them ? you need a new car.

Some of these cheap piston options are very likely to be heavier than standard.

Tom68 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 4:49 pmSome of these cheap piston options are very likely to be heavier than standard.

Most of the Enginetech and Silvolite rebuilder pistons come out of the box matched within two grams and close enough to OEM that the crank doesn't have to be rebalanced.

Actually was planing on asking kinda the same thing here soon, those Enginetech pistons are cheap. How much power could they handle? Got a stock 350 with lower miles and was gonna deglaze & re-ring it, so figured maybe swap some Enginetech flat tops on as well.

My research shows they are reboxed and that Enginetech doesn't make the pistons themselves.

Channel About My diy Projects & Reviews https://www.youtube.com/c/BOOTdiy

I know as much as I can learn and try to keep an open mind to anything!

If I didn't overthink stuff I wouldn't be on speedtalk!

BOOT wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 9:44 pmActually was planing on asking kinda the same thing here soon, those Enginetech pistons are cheap. How much power could they handle? Got a stock 350 with lower miles and was gonna deglaze & re-ring it, so figured maybe swap some Enginetech flat tops on as well.

My research shows they are reboxed and that Enginetech doesn't make the pistons themselves.

They're all mostly fine for normal to mild performance use if you can get them in the dimensions you need i.e, Ring package and not lowered comp height (common to stop increasing comp' with the overbore). Stay away from detonation and preignition and they'll be fine.

BOOT wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 9:44 pmActually was planing on asking kinda the same thing here soon, those Enginetech pistons are cheap. How much power could they handle? Got a stock 350 with lower miles and was gonna deglaze & re-ring it, so figured maybe swap some Enginetech flat tops on as well.

My research shows they are reboxed and that Enginetech doesn't make the pistons themselves.

They'll be fine with a stock 350".
Over the years, Enginetech has sourced pistons from the US, Mexico, Israel and Brazil. One never knows from kit to kit where they'll be from next.

Channel About My diy Projects & Reviews https://www.youtube.com/c/BOOTdiy

I know as much as I can learn and try to keep an open mind to anything!

If I didn't overthink stuff I wouldn't be on speedtalk!

Might be going out on a bit of a limb here, and I could be wrong, so .......

To the best of my knowledge Enginetech don't 'manufacture' pistons themselves, they're a distributor so source from various suppliers

At least one set I used lately looked suspiciously like UEM 'Silv-o-Lites', complete with graphite skirt coating, but that was just an observation and I had better things to do than try to confirm it

I don't do 'stock' engines, always mild performance upwards and have used numerous sets and have had no issues, the quality/cost compromise generally seems about right ....... but they're by no means 'race' pistons

They are always a little 'short', but that's common amongst rebuilder type pistons anyway, and the weight match is 'good enough' usually

Just watch the sizing, the set I have here for a Pontiac (they don't look like UEM......) at the moment have a spread of around six tenths, so you need to size selectively, but if you're doing it right you'll do that anyway

JMO

Can you get a replacement short ?

3 and a half thou out of round is massive for a modern engine, how did that happen, i.e wear ?, worth reboring and correcting the cause.

Overheating ? You need a new block.

Happens to all of them ? you need a new car.

Yes, 3 and a half out of round is crazy. I don’t know what has happened to this engine, I bought it like that. It doesn’t overheat now and it doesn’t consume coolant, the only problem is an extreme oil consumption. I’ve been looking around for a new block, but all I found looks like a crap, so the only way to get this engine repaired is machining my block. I hope that after the job it will give me some years of driving…

BTW: I’ve found this thing in the oil pickup screen. Do you have any idea what can it be? Looks like a part of a head gasket, but my gaskets are intact.