were picking up a truck this weekend (hopefully) and its said to have a 460 with a automatic in it. what mpg can i expect from this engine. and what cheap mods can i do to make the mileage better?

anything else i can expect as far as issues with this engine?

 

Not good and not much.

Honestly, I get around 10mpg on a good day. When I play with it, as I tend to do, I may get 8. Yours will likely be a little better as it is fuel injected and computer controlled, but I wouldnt expect to get much better than 12 at that.

Really, the usual things will be the best remedy. Watch your use of the throttle, keep up maintenance, tire inflation, etc.

My gas is expensive, but in my '77 I have no car payment, insurance costs $18 a month and my tag is $24 a year. So you take the good with the bad.

 

Ain't no 98 460, 97 was the last year. I have a 96 with a 5 speed, I get 10-11 in town, maybe 13-14 empty on the hiway if I keep it under 65. I get a steady 11 mpg towing my Jeep through the Colorado mountains.
Exhaust mods really help these engines-get a free flowing muffler/tailpipe.
Really the 460 just drinks a lot of gas-deal with it. It'll pull a house & it's reliable as gravity, the poor mileage is the price you pay.

 

yea thats kinda what we were afraid of..... he's wanting to swap his diesel in it but were gonna run into drive shaft issues with the auto switching to manual from a single cab long bed. he was saying if he could get near 15 he might keep the 460 in it for awhile. 460 would make a good mud truck engine wouldn't it?

 

460 is good for a lot of things, just not gas mileage. In fact, I would say that, for a gas engine it is superior in almost every other catagory.

Probably the only gas engine that comes close to pulling like a diesel. Seen a lot of drag cars run them. Seen street rods run them. Seen LOTS of 4x4's run them. Parts are still pretty easy to get and there is a decent amount of aftermarket support.

Easily my favorite engine.

 

The 460 is great for hauling stuff, but when it is loafing it still swills gas.

My 94 F250 supercab longbed, 4x4 4.10 E4OD truck gets about 11-12mpg on daily commuting with light traffic for most of the way as long as I keep it around 60 or less. Higher speed sucks more gas. I think I get around 10mpg when I drive about 70-80mph. Yes the flow of traffic at times is 80mph or you become a hood ornament.

The great thing about the 460 is that it doesn't care too much when you load it down. When I tow 8,000# travel trailer at reasonable speeds I get maybe 8-9mpg, not a horrible drop from unloaded. Worst I have ever seen was towing that trailer up the grapevine in So Cal on a really hot day. I think I got 5-6mpg and swear I could see the needle on the guage move.

I think once MAYBE I saw 13mpg but it must have been a harmonic reasonance of the planets cause I never saw it again.

Just my experience.

 

yea were kinda hoping it being a newer engine (97-98) we were told the truck is a 98 w 460 we have not seen it yet so im not sure.... but were hoping being a newer engine computer controlled fuel injected we could squeeze more mpg out of it. the only reason were to concerned is that his commute is 45 miles 1 way.

 

Yeah, 100 miles a day would be a deal breaker for me. In the end you can time them perfectly and get the air/fuel mixture just right, but it still is what it is. Its a big, heavy breather. Its a bull, and it eats like one.

I drive 26 miles a day round trip. So the gas is an acceptable loss given the factors that I mentioned earlier.

I will say, as Jim said, the mpg is consistent at least. My mileage didnt really even improve much when I tuned it up last, though my power did. It just plows through. Put a small block in and you may get 17. Then load it down and you will see it drop to the 10-11 range..

 

wow i just remembered we have a 351 sitting in another truck not doing anything...... i would like to see him hang onto the 460 for a mud truck build.... i do think it would make one badass mud truck motor.

 

It does that. However, my gas mileage in my old 351 wasnt THAT much better than the 460. But going 100 miles a day 2-3 mpg makes a bigger difference though

 

is the trans bolt pattern different between 460 and 351W?

 

Im actually not sure. Both engines had a C6 for me but I never messed with the 351's trans.

 

well thats a step in the right direction i suppose.

buddy seems to think there is a different bolt pattern between the small block and big block. i don't know about that..... and neither does he since neither of us have seen a big block up close and personal (other than diesels which is a whole different animal)

 

I would assume your buddy is right. I believe the bellhousing would be the only difference though.

 

My 97 460 5spd gets 10.5 mpg consitantly, I got 13 once when i was really babying it. You will gain little to nothing by swapping to a 351. And the 351 will need a different transmision.