Worst Ford Engine Ever Made?
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 8,140
Likes: 4
From: Oak Harbor, OH
IIRC the 2.3 ohc monster is still used today in racing.. I forget what kind of cars they are, but my dad has loads of web pages for performance parts. Those little 2.3s can make some serious horsepower. I think you all are talking about the FWD variant that made it into the tempos, that thing was fine until you over heated it. It was all aluminum from the valve cover to the oil pan. I had one.
Hotshot
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 18,423
Likes: 9
From: iowa
don't forget about the 1.9L (I think that is right) that was used in the excorts, they were an interfernce engine meaning that if the timing belt broke the valves would interfere with the pistons destroying the entire engine, and to make it worse the water pump was driven off of the same timing belt vastly improving your chances of breaking the belt, bending every valve in the head, busting the cam in half, and punching holes in a min. of 2 pistons, and usually destroying hte rest of the head in the process and if it was going hard enough at the time would bend, and break the rods putting holes in the blocks (yes I actually stopped to help a gal that was stranded on the freeway, and she stated it just stopped I had a feeling of what I would find when I lifted the hood considering I could trailer her right to were she parked by the oil, and antifreeze, and I wasn't dissapointed)
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 299
Likes: 0
From: South Texas
Heh, my first car was an '88 Escort with that 1.9 in it. That car was by far the biggest piece of junk I've ever seen. Ford should have been ashamed for even producing that car. Every week I owned that lemon I was fixing something. I even experienced the timing belt break and a week later the head cracked. So I second the 1.9l as the worst Ford engine.
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 542
Likes: 0
From: Milpitas, CA; Tyler, TX
Originally Posted by pfogle
IIRC the 2.3 ohc monster is still used today in racing.. I forget what kind of cars they are, but my dad has loads of web pages for performance parts. Those little 2.3s can make some serious horsepower. I think you all are talking about the FWD variant that made it into the tempos, that thing was fine until you over heated it. It was all aluminum from the valve cover to the oil pan. I had one.
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 542
Likes: 0
From: Milpitas, CA; Tyler, TX
Originally Posted by Ruckus
jcp123, I had a 260 in a 63 Merc Comet fastback back when I was 15 years old, but never heard of a 255. What did Ford put it in? Thanks!
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Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,074
Likes: 1
From: Las Vegas
Originally Posted by Ruckus
I had a 79 Mustang with the 5.0 302, so it could have been some other year for the 255. I never heard of it.
I "think" '80 or '81 was the year of the 255...........had it in shoe box T-bird. Gutless yes, but basically the same archetecture as a 302. Don't ever remember any reliability problems.
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by Dialtone
The only problem I ever saw with the FE motors (332/352/390) was the exhaust manifolds. They tended to crack, had really small bolts to the heads, and never sealed to the heads properly.....
Dialtone
Dialtone
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,322
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From: Northeast Ohio
I definately agree with Kevincw. The 2300cc engine was Ford's worst engine built in my liefetime. Soft cams and leaking rear main seals made this a JUNK engine in my opinion. I don't know why I kept buying those stupid things. I think I kept thinking they would improve them throughout the years. Well, I know from experience they never got better. They also had a bad gas mileage record for a 4 cyl. in my opinion. If Ford would have used a downsized version of the 4.9 300 6 cyl. for the 2300cc 2.3L they would have had a winner.