I am looking to purchase a 94,95, or 96, Ford F-150 or F-250. Most used trucks in this category have between 125-225K miles.

For longevity, a good engine is key.


QUESTIONS
1) What 94,95,96 engine is the best for longevity.
2) How many miles should one of these engines last?

 

Well if you want a Deisel, the 7.3's are know to last a long time...

But really; all the motors these trucks came with were pretty damn tough... I have seen 4.9's 5.0 5.8 with 400K on them and still running (not like brand new, but were still chuggin along getting the job done)

The 7.5 lasts a long time as well. I think its due to the massive torque, and how that engine doesnt work NEARLY as hard as a small block. My '97 460 has 276k on it, and it runs like it just came off the showroom floor..

And to answer #2.... well, they SHOULD last forever... Engine life all comes down to maintenance, and driving habits... If you dontnchange your oil regularly, do a tune up, coolant etc you be lucky to get 100k out of it. Or if you constantly thrash the thing while towing overly heavy loads you're askin for trouble.

Key is to pick one that has been maintained over the years, and keep that up...

You can usually tell by the trucks overall condition if it has been looked after, or if it has been a work/bush truck that has had a hard life...

 

Any of the engines available in the trucks you mention are reliable powerplants, the real question is how well did the previous owner take care of it. Also, not too sure about the manual transmissions, but with the auto's, the transmission is likely to need major work before the engine ever does.

I have ~250k on my 351. Previous owner gave me all known service records (he was the second owner) and there are no work orders for major repairs involving the engine. Since I've owned it, all I've had to replace engine-wise is a water pump, and that was due to corrosion eating thru the steel heater hose nipples.

Find one that's been taken care of, do whatever maintenance and repairs you see fit, and enjoy it.

EDIT: for that matter, ANY Ford I've ever owned has never given me trouble as far as the engine itself is concerned. Fuel and ignition systems, yeah, but not the engine mechanical plant itself.

 

as said all of the engines are great, a fella who posted in the thread how many miles on your 4.9 had 830,000 miles on his and was still towing stuff, the top two engines for reliability that most people will say is the 7.3 diesel or the 4.9 gasser. any engine will last a long time if taken care of properly. the 4.9 could be small for a 3/4 ton but it all depends on how big of load your are planning on towing if any, the 4.9 has enough torque and power for anything a half ton will have behind it even if they are slower. most people agree that the 5.0 is a terrible truck motor. others say it does great you just have to rev the crap out of it, but that cuts into the reliability of the motor and makes parts wear faster

 

The 300-6 is supposed to be prettymuch the most reliable engine in the world. I've heard stories of people (usually highschool kids) going out of their way to break these engines and failing.

The 7.3's, both IDI and PSD, are known for being reliable as well, though they're more sensitive to sensors playing up than some engines, and if you ever do need repairs done to the engine, it ain't cheap. If you go this route, take the extra time and find a GOOD one.

Like someone above said though, Ford generally makes superb engines. My 7.3l IDI has just under 300k on the clock and, according to the previous owner, the engine hasn't been opened once. We've got a '91 Explorer parked out back, we parked it because we got tired of fixing every new thing that broke, it had 225k on its V6 with the engine never being opened. We've also got a Lincoln Mark VIII with the 4.6l Modular, last I looked it had 145k, and again, never opened the engine (though it's THE most touchy and idiotically engineered car in the WORLD). My boss has a 302 in his truck, tows his boat with it, and it's around 240k, never opened.

Instead of spending too much time on the engine, look at the transmission more. E4OD's are known troublemakers.

 

not really, on our 94 it was used at least twice a week hauling scrap iron weighing at least 8 thousand pounds and in that time accumulated 212,578 miles on the original e4od, fluid replaced at 150 thousand. and it still doesnt have an auxiliary trans cooler, just the one in the radiator

 

The 4.9 will last just about forever if properly maintained, and with the right setup will give you the best fuel economy even over a PSD diesel. The PSD is also a good engine, but will cost more to maintain as some people have already said.

The 7.5 (460) will also last a long time because it almost never has to work hard and it make a it's torque down low like the 4.9. You can get a lot of miles out of them if taken care of well. The downside there is that you're probably looking at 13 MPG empty on the highway in a 1994+ 7.5. Probably 8-9 MPG around town.

Like people have said, you need to find one that's been taken good care of if you want it to last to high miles. Service receipts are good.

 

The upside is you get the same nearly the same milage loaded up

I know a few guys with 351's and they get the same or worse milage (they get worse with a heavy load) than my 460, and I can see why... I test drove a 351 truck same as mine before I bought it, and I was on the throttle hard just getting her up to speed going around the block fully unloaded. The guy was selling it with a '70's camper and I could only imagine trying to climb a hill with that sucker on the back...

A big powerful engine working hardly at all, will always get better milage and last longer than a smaller engine working its a** off all the time.

My 460 loves the gas station, but I can cruise up a large hill at highway speeds at 1500-1800 RPM and not even notice it.

When I hit the highway bringing it home for the first time, I thought the throttle was stuck on it... Let off the gas and she kept her speed going down the highway... nope, thats just rediculous torque of the old big block at idle


Oh and the "Stump Puller" nickname of the 460?!?!? Yeah she lives up to that... I pulled a stump out in 2WD with barely touching the gas... The tach barely hit 1000 RPM before the stump came out, and and then broke my tow rope

 

My '96 5.8 351W had 220k on it and was towing my boat anywhere without an issue. Never leaked a drop either. I sold it sadly.

My '95 5.8 that I have now also runs great but it does idle a little rougher than my last one. It only has 79k on it as of now, but I'm planning on twowing my boat with it as well.

I'm pretty dang picky when it comes to maintenance and repairs. I always use good parts and do the job properly...maintenance is key.

Of course, there are those occasions where things are just made poorly and don't last like they should.

 

Maintenance is key, like a lot of these guys have said. If you buy a truck that was beat for 50k miles, it probably won't last as long as a motor that was well maintained for 150k.

In my experience they are all very good motors when properly maintained.

My dad had a truck with a 351w HO years ago that had more than 300k miles when he sold it, still running. My truck has a 351w with 95k on it, and I frequently pull trailers, go wheeling at high rpms, participate in truck pulls, and I haven't had a problem with reliability or fixing things aside from routine maintenance. The 351w in those years is about as good as they got by the way. They were roller motors and could come with MAF, which is pretty killer.

The 302 is a good little DD motor if you don't pull a trailer or haul a load. Just as reliable as the 351w with a little less power where a truck needs it.

The 300 is a tough little motor too. I have 2 friends that have more than 300k miles on those. One is a 1990 model, and the other is a 94.

The 460 is a good motor and can last a long time if it isn't beat. In my experience though, most people that bought a truck with a 460 intended to use it for work. That has a tendency to shorten the life span considerably. I've seen 460s that didn't make it to 100k miles even with routine maintenance because they got worked.

The 7.3L (IDI or PS motors) are very reliable and capable of working. But they will cost more initially, and maintenance is more expensive.

 

Yup, that's true. My truck with a carb'd 460 ('88 F-350, '73 460) gets about 10.5 MPG unloaded on the highway and about 9-9.5 MPG towing +/-7k. Not a whole lot of difference there.

Also, you're right about the 351. It may make 2-3 MPG more unloaded than a 460, but will sink lower than loaded 460 MPG when loaded with a heavy trailer.

 

Yeah, I've seen that with 460s. Can happen with any engine of worked hard. I've even seen a couple IDIs that only made it to around 75k before they had terrible compression loss and didn't run properly. Both were worked very hard, carrying more load than they probably should have.

 

I had a 70 Ford with a 300 six my dad bought new. My friend has that truck now with 636,000+ on the original motor. It still sounds exactly the same as it did when new. Which is to say like a straight six sewing machine. That's why I found a 95 with a 300 in it. Had good luck with an 84 460 in an F-250. 351's and 302's have never liked me!!!

FYI the 300 six has powered 20,000+ lb dump trucks, tree chippers, wind machines, aircraft tugs, and the big brown ugly UPS trucks before they went diesel. My best friend has been a mechanic at UPS for 30+ years and he says the 300 will never be beat. All the old engines are so much more robust than the new stuff. All of these new modular engines used now are throw away engines. When you remove main bearing caps the threads come out of the block lots of times.