If you're talking about that piece of junk that came out in 2004, I absolutly suport that opinion. We bought one new in 2004 and it was in the shop constatly. And after it was fixed, a few months later we would get a recall notice to have the stuff they had just replaced, replaced. That's right, we had one of the first to brake. I could go on for hours.

Best engines I have had:
429 ford and 340 mopar. The 340 was unbelievable. My dad never changed the oil in it (for years) and we put over 100,000 miles on it before I started to drive it. But like most old dodges, the body failed the motor.

 

funny how it all depends on the slice, midget sprint (USAC, i believe) cars use a 4 cylinder that is a chev v-8 chopped in half down the middle and they are screamers.

 

Best: Ford 4.9
Audi 2.2-2.3 5 cylinder turbo
Detroit/GM 6.2L diesel (saved my butt many times in Afghanistan)
Cummins 6BT
T444E
T700-GE-701D (GE CT-7) turbine engine used in HH-60s, Apaches etc etc.(Also saved my *** many times
Worst: 6.oh dizzle (#1 in my book)
GM tech 4 (until Chrysler bought patent and installed a improved tech 4 in wranglers)
Ford 3.8
There's much more I'm sure.

 

The Pontiac and International slant fours made from V-8's in the early 1960's werent so great. I've driven both in a Tempest and Scout. Generally, an I-4 much bigger than two liters without balance shafts is a bit rough.

 

i have no idea about those (and i wasn't talking about those) but my guess is they weren't a sbc chopped down the valley. heres what i was referring to.
notice the valve cover, header config, timing chain cover and coolant intake port.

thats a badass 4 banger...a "/-4" half a v maybe?


<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NSQLFCxuXSs" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

 

My guess would be it's probably like the Mercruiser 230ci 4 banger. It uses a purpose built block so the SBC performance parts fit. For any of you who aren't familiar with the Mercruiser, it uses Ford 460 parts and is an upright design.

 

It could also be a Sesco/Chevy. Sesco made a business out of slicing up Chevy small blocks for Midget racers starting back in the 60's.

 

The Mercruiser fours are GM Industrial engines, based on Chevy I-6 not V-8 architecture. Im puzzled about the Ford 460 parts statement.

 

Not all of them are GM, Mercruiser built their own bigger 4cyl using pistons rods and a head from a 460. It was 230ci, and I think 188hp. It replaced the 302 w/351 heads they had been using. The engines you are thinking about are actually the old ChevyII 153ci and it's stroked cousin the 3.0L.

 

There were 194, 230, 250 and 292 ci versions of the final Chevy I-6 architecture, and the 153 I-4 was part of that family, as is the current 3.0, but its not the same engine, bigger bore for one thing.

Give me an historical context of what era that was that Mercury Marine built a Ford-based I-4. Ford had a 144/170/200 six and 240/300. Were they basically the same and was there ever a four cylinder version, maybe based on the smaller six in Europe, for instance?

 

It was called the Mercruiser 470 / 3.7. It was a custom block with a 460 head, rods and pistons.

 

Thanks Lead Head. jimandmandy are "experts" on engines.

 

The chevy 327sb had to be detoned cause it was making more power than the 396bb. And chevy was having a hard time selling bb With 1990 chevy350 heads and fuel enfected and 700R4 and propane you can get close to 30mpg. And V.W. 1600 after you fix them up look at the baga 1000 the worst chevy 2.8 ford 2.9 I hated seeing a hill.

 

Just FYI, the 2.5 in wranglers had nothing in common with the 4 tec GM other than the displacement and bell housing pattern. It is an AMC design based off of the 4.2l straight six and has been used since 1983 - 84.

 

I have to agree on the 4.9 liter 300 cu in straight 6 Ford.
Great motor, low on power.
I had a 1994 straight cab F150 4x4 with the I6.
It had Warn Hubs and a 5 speed standard.
I used to get 26 MPG with the dome light fuse out. Canadian Gallons.
That would convert to 21.5 MPG with a US Gallon.
I don't know if you knew about the dome light fuse. If you took it out, on 1992 to 1996 F150 it would slightly improve the miles per gallon, but it would also disable the speedometer and odometer. If the truck was new, and you did this, you could make your warantee last a pretty long time, because the milage wouldn't be accurate come oil change time etc.
I installed a small digital tack on mine. In highway conditions, if the tack would read 2000 rpm on a flat road, I was doing about 60 miles per hour.