A local rental company I worked for in the past had three 1985 Ford F-250 standard pickup trucks with 460 cubic inch V8 engines and automatic 3-speed transmissions. They were used by company employees for deliveries and pickups that varied between small power tools to a trailer/load combination of 7,000 pounds. All three were serviced regularly at 5,000 mile intervals with oil and filter changes, and the coolant was changed every two years. They all gave very satisfactory service and performance until their odometers reached 200,000 miles. At that point, all within 12 months of each other, their engines began consuming oil - slowly at first, but increasing to where the last of them, at around 215,000 miles, needed a quart of oil every 200 miles.

I am looking at buying one of two Ford F-250 extended cabs, one from 1993 (143xxx miles) and one from 1994 (117xxx miles). My question: Is what I saw in those 1985 engines indicative of the life expectancy for 460s, or can I expect longer life from properly maintained 1990s models?

 

A rental vehicle is driven like...well, a rental vehicle...by a whole lot of different people. A lesser engine than a 460 would probably be shot by 100K. I'd be very wary of this deal.

 

This is a interesting thought. All the Vehicles I own have been through multiple owners over its life time.
I've got a few 460 engines in my Ford Fleet. #1 has a carburetor, was manufactured in 1984 and has approx 135,000. #2 is a 1989 EFI equipped 460 with 120,000. #3 is a 1993 EFI 460 with what I was told was ~165,000 but really don't know.
Engine #2 runs like a top and pulls good an strong through the rpms. The vehicle is my Daily. Engine #3 is a funny story. The engine is in great shape and runs great. The rest of the truck was abused and treated poorly. Somebody tried to fix it and didn't do a great job. After driving it I figured out how unsafe the truck was and parted it out. I've kept the engine and trans for now because they work good. 460 engine #1 is daily driven but has leaks from sitting for years before it came into the family. It runs alright but smokes until its warm. Out of all the trucks the one with 460 #2 was the best taken care of over the years and its the engine that I trust the most.

Its just been my experience that if you take care of something it will last. Notice that the only engine that I'm having issues with was allowed to sit. The truck is in great shape but the engine hasn't aged well which has led to multiple gaskets having issues. At work we have a 1993 F-250 with an EFI 460. At its last oil change that I did, then engine was in the 150k range. The truck is abused and the engine feels abused also.

The other thing to keep in mind with these '90s Fords is that the components around the engine tend to fail and give you more issue then the engine itself. IF you feel that the maintenance and repairs have been kept up and done properly I would get a "high mileage" truck.

 

Thanks, Skitter. Thumbs up!