Hay all I’m new here and I am in the market for a new to me truck. I would like a f-250 or 350 and I can't decide on the motor. My initial thought is go Diesel but the V-10 sounds good to. I'm going to mostly use the truck for a daily driver and play but there will be some medium duty towing. What are you all getting for gas mileage and how has reliability and longevity been. The more the merrier you can never give me too much info. lol Thanks Paul

 

Welcome to FTE. I would do a search. This subject has been covered here pretty well. Either will do the job. Has to be your preference. I picked the Powerstroke.

 

If you are strictly going for gas mileage then the diesel is for you. My '99 v-10 gets 10-12 mpg and my brothers '01 7.3L diesel gets 15-17 mpg. As far as everything else it comes down to personal preference, try to test drive one of each and get a feel for it. My brother's diesel probably pulls a little bit better, but he has the 6-speed manual tranny, my v-10 is automatic so that may be the difference. Both do the job great though.

 

Doesn't that sound like an oxymoron?

 

I would think for good fuel #s , resale value , towing, maint., and longevity the diesel is a no brainer.

 

thakns guys i'm gona go for the diesal i read some other threds today and every thing points to the diesal. thanks

 

Diesel.

Diesel..

Diesel...

I drove my wife's F150 Harley 2wd 5.4L again yesterday.

All I can say is GUTLESS!

 

yep, personal preference...
mine is a daily driver, almost one year old and 17000+ miles, i towed a trailer once..
i always wanted one, and went with the DIESEL
but dont drink and drive...

 

I was considering the same things, but when I saw gasoline prices dropping while diesel stayed where it was...the equation becomes a bit stickier.

Consider the greater initial cost, the cost of diesel vs. gasoline, the difference in reported economy, the availability of diesel (many stations don't have diesel), the yet unknown ramifications of the ultra-low sulphur diesel (fuel economy is reportedly even less than before) just entering the supply chain, and on and on.

For me, right now, gasoline is a known entity. Diesel is not. Ask me this question three years ago and I would have given you a different answer. We don't yet know how the new diesel will behave. Many truckers are talking about having to run additives year 'round. Many did before anyway, but there's talk of decreased lubricity, elevated gel temps., a whole host of things I just did not want to pay $2-3,000 more to experience. I figured that money would buy me the best part of a year's gasoline, or the difference btw gas & diesel for several years after allowing for fuel cost and mpg.

Read the V-10 section and the PSD section and also see what kind of deal (or vehiche availability) there is for you. If you find the truck that has everything else you want, the engine debacle might be minor once you have a price to chew on.

I am surprised there has been very little exchange here about the low-sulphur diesel on here...maybe I'll start a thread on it.

 

I've heard that the diesel likes to be run, and run for long times. I had the same problem trying to decide between the two. I also use mine as a daily driver and 99% of my trips are short, meaning less than 10 miles either way and found that this kind of driving is not good for a diesel. I decided on the V10 and and happy I did.

 

A lot has changed in the diesel arena. In my industry, the locomotives were shut down only periodically..possibly as little as once or twice a year.

With fuel costs the way they are, my company wants all enginesshut down if not to be used for as little as 15 minutes, unless the outside temps are below 35 deg. Mind you, when they started doing this, there were many locos with weak batteries and bad starters, but that is rare now.

Plus, all diesels start easier and there are low temperature aids to enable starts in most weather conditions.

My V-10 is nicely warmed up in 10 miles, but I doubt fully warmed throughout. Anything shorter would be hard unless you take it out and drive for an hour every week-end. Batteries don't fully recharge in such short a time, oil is barely up to temp., even the condensation is probably not cooked out of the exhaust.

Which reminds me of a story:

I was working in Rochester, NY one winter and we had an extended cold spell. You know, high temps. in the teens, overnight lows at 0 or below for a week or more (I know you Minnesota and Canada folks get this every winter, but we don't here). So, a buddy's girlfriend drove their rice-burner P/U to work just a few city miles. Eventually it started to run poorly, then would start, but wouldn't stay running. He had it towed to a shop and (you way northerners have already guessed it), the exhaust system was completely plugged...with condensate ice! Had they taken a 30 minute drive every few days, they probably would not have had this problem.

I drive an hour each way everyday, so I have never had such a problem.

Winter is rough on your battery: harder cranking, defroster on high, headlights, wipers, rear window defogger. A standard alternator can not keep up at idle, has little left over for the battery re-charge at highway speeds. I always try to turn off all power drains as soon as they are no longer needed. Put the blower on low if possible, and go through a power-down routine before turning the key off...and let it run a bit before I do that.

My daily driver before the van was a '97 Crown Vic bought at 1 year old, 18,000 miles. It now is just about ten and has 160,000 miles on it. It still has original equipment Motorcraft battery...I have never bought one for it.