I no there great engines I have one of my own but are ther any bad ones out there?

 

Oil leaks and head gasket failure are probably the top two. The only real mechanical issue seems to be if they are over revved the rods tend to window the block. I have had two 300s go over 200k and my current one is at 236k and running strong.

 

Not a horror story... but scary to me...

My big6 has about 290,000 and it has the wrong head for my application. Runs GREAT though.

Didn't keep on top of oil leaks and the PCV valve, so as I was driving down the freeway earlier this week I blew up the oil pan gasket and dumped the oil. Stopped on the side of the road and I didn't have any new oil, so since I have a new engine at home anyway and mine has nearly 300 miles, I decided to drive home with almost no oil. By the time I made it the 3 or so miles home, I had drained most of the lifters and was only getting consistent firing on two cylinders. Sounded like a freight train getting derailed.

Put 6 quarts in it as soon as I got home and let it idle in the driveway while I ate lunch. Came back outside and it was running smooth as it ever did. Been driving it since with no problems yet. However, I do plan to swap it out for the new motor sometime this month as the oil pump is surely pretty worn out at this point and the compression is obviously very bad. But they were to begin with, not because of the oil pan incident.

 

I bought my 96 F150 with the 300-6 10 yrs ago it now has 120k miles. Changed pcv, plugs, dist cap, rotor and accessory belt. All I have done to the 300-6 since then is change oil and filters. I have not had any quality wrench time on the 6 at all LOL. Now the truck is a different matter.

 

Most of the 300 I6 horror stories I have heard involve the truck rotting away from around the perfectly running motor, and then getting crushed!

 

That is what will happen to mine.

 

I've never seen a 300 that kicked a rod. I've spun most of the high mileage stock 300's I've owned to 5500 rpms with no problem at all. And there are built 300's that will turn over 7,000 rpms. You have to remember these came stock with forged rods.

Besides oil leaks the only major issues with 300's are blown headgaskets or cracked pistons.

 

All of the 300's came with forged rods? I know the HD versions used in the dumptrucks and such had forged cranks too and a heavy duty exhaust manifold, but I didn't know they all came with forged rods.

That just reaffirms my belief that these inline-6's were the best motors Ford ever made.

I wish they had gone the Aussie route.

What I really wish is that they still made them.

I could only imagine what a new Ford 300-6 would do with twin-turbo's like the new Ecoboost motors.

 

This thread has me convinced to not put the chevy 5.7 in my truck that I bought for it.....Now I'm going to be looking for a 300!

 

I had a 240 fall on my foot when the chained snapped but nothing horrific involving the engine that is in the truck lol. =/

 

460 pounds falling on your foot would be painful!!

 

Where did you hear they have forged rods? That's the first I have heard of that. Trust but verify, in the words of a former president.

Worst exp. with a 300: first engine, bored,balanced, new everything, all newly machined, .o30 over bore, .010 on crank and rods. Everything done as should be. And the oil psi starts dropping within days of firing it up. Tried everything. Changed to HV pump, filters, new gauge, diff oils, oil cooler, changed the bearings too. By the time I changed the engine I had to pour in stp no smoke to get 20 psi on the freeway, and had 3psi hot, with an auto trans, at idle.

When I changed the engine, I never did find out what was wrong with it. The cam bearings looked shiny new. To this day that fricking short block is on a stand in my garage, and I don't know WTH went wrong. That was my intoduction to the 300. But I'm still running one and love it.

 

Well first off I've worked on enough engines to be able to tell a forged rod from a cast one. And the 240 & 300 stock rods are both forged. And this was verified by Greg Koesel ( aka The Frenchtown Flyer ) . So I think I can believe the info from an engineer that worked for Ford.

 

That is a damn shame to have so much $$$ in a boat anchor that is still in your way in the garage. Assuming that the main/rod and cam clearances are good, did you check out the oil circuit from the lifters on up starting with the lifters, lifter/lifter bore diameters push rod ends and the lifters themselves?. It sounds to me that a designed in restriction (as in the oil hole in the rocker arms) is not acting as a restriction. Or it could be a leaking gasket at the oil pump to block interface.

Just some food for thought.

 

My favorite quotation: "There's an *** born to fit every saddle." P.T.Barnum