I have been a big fan of 300's since childhood. I have seen what they can do under extremely grueling circumstances. That being said, one area I am unsure about is their longevity? I currently own a 93 f250 with a 302 (gutless) I am looking at trading it in for a similar vintage truck with a 300. The only problem is the 300 has high miles (170K+). Is this a good idea or will I need to replace the motor or have major work done on it soon? I have been told that the EFI helps the motor last longer.

Thanks

 

my dad had 310,000 on his. a guy i worked with had 465,000 on his, i got 165,000 on mine. all with no rebuilds. I am in the process of a timming set. but s**t happens. change the oil and do your maint. it'll last for ever.

 

The basics of the 300 are ok at 170k usually, but what about the rest of the truck? If you're going to "upgrade" consider getting newer/lower miles. You may be OK on the motor but think radiator, heater core, general body hardware, diff, trans, front end parts, stuff like that there.....

 

A friend in Fl has a 93 F150 with over 500K on his 4.9(300 6).Still going strong.Majority of his miles is interstate driving.He has a sales route.

Leo

 

I've got 315k miles of driving like I stole it on mine and it still runs great. The body is showing its age, but mechanically it's in great shape. I would change the timing gears to metal ones before leaving town in it.

 

as far as engines, I dont think you can kill one, mine has 188000 something like that, and the speedo doesnt work so not sure for the excat miles.. my old one back in HS had alot of miles on it...

Mine ticks ticks, a lifter, I guess...everyone who has came to look at it has said something about it ticking and thinks its oging to fall apart.. oh well I bet it will last many years, guess I could rpelace the lifters... but I would rather just drive it, maybe I will replace them one day soon


keep good oil in it and keep the air filter clean and everything else serviced and it should out live you...

I love inline engines..

 

mine ran 237,000 hard miles before it spun a rod bearing, ran it out of oil.

i beat the ever living crap out of my 82 f100, ran it through fields, ditches, plowed over garbage cans and mail boxes. i jumped it over railroad tracks and dirt ramps. i'd rev it up and slam it into drive, i'd slam it down into first and lock the tires up doing 50 mph. i ran it low on oil countless time.

i got the truck on my 16th birthday and drove it until i was 20, i put 94,000 miles on it in 4 years. when she died it was spewing oil out of the dipstick tube and pcv breather. the windshield was busted the bumpers were bent and there wasn't a body panel that wasn't dented.

the 300 is in my book the toughest engine ever put together, its like the energizer bunny. after everything mines been though, i pump the gas twice and yank the choke out and she fires up. it knocks, misses, and shakes violently but it still runs.

in a narrow minded attempt to "put the ole girl out of her misery" i started it and put the gas to the floor, it screamed for everything it had, but when the cab filled with blue smoke i lifted my foot. it ran wide open throttle with a spun rod bearing for maybe 3 min and didn't gernade, built ford tough is an understatement.

long live the mighty 300

 

Near as I can tell I would have a hard time killing mine and its not in the greatest of shape. Was in even worse shape when I bought it.

I bought mine with 140k miles on the odometer. I currently have 176k on it......six months later. I have driven it through the stop and go rush hour traffic. Done smoke shows. Gone flyin down the freeway doing 85mph empty and 65mph with a fully loaded bed and trailer. Up and down dirt roads, quad trails, and even an old wagon trail. And found a new use for it last friday when I was camping. That low reving high torque motor is perfectly suited for crawling over and through things as long as the clearance is there.

That thing just keeps chuggin along. My compression still tests within acceptable range. Have a few burned out sensors but I don't burn a drop of oil. It just leaks like a sieve lol. I'll get around to doing an overhaul one of these days. But till I do I have complete confidence that its going to hold itself together till then. The motor is bullet proof.

 

I have NO IDEA about the miles on the 300 in my 81 4x4.
Its a 69 engine and was taken out after the F250 it was in rusted away. It lived
in another truck for 6-7 years until that truck was totaled, spent a couple seasons running an irrigation pump. now its in my truck.

 

For industrial use rebuilders usually quote 300,000 miles [or the equivalent] between rebuilds. UPS used the 300 in its brown delivery trucks for ~25 years, stopping only when production ceased in '96. Imagine the start/stop wear and tear those things went through, with drivers always ragging them out to get to the next stop ASAP.

With its 7 bearing crank the 300 is build more like a diesel than a gasser in terms of solid construction. If it had a wimpy 4 bearing crank lifespan would probably be cut in half. Only downside to this construction is a fairly big/ heavy block for the power it generates. Always trade offs.

Weak spots? The bottom end is about bulletproof, only weak link being the composite cam gear that appeared in 84 and later models. On top the head does not like to be overheated. It's long and doesn't have the best coolant flow pattern, so there are some hot spots and the front half gets hotter than the rear. It's well bolted to the block, so when overheated tends to crack rather than warp. This is not a "normal" thing though, only happens if you ignore your gauges and let her cook.

Annoyances? The gasketing methods were never "modernized" so they love to leak oil. Cheap to fix parts wise but tons of labor to replace many of the gaskets/ seals. Lifter tick seems to be a given. No one seems to know exactly why, they just do. Learn to live with the quirks, check the oil regularly and they'll keep on going.

 

WOW, that thing has been proven to be tuff

There great engines, I never even heard of one untill i had my first car, a 1979 mecury capri had a straight 6 200 in her, auto. ran great all the time.

the 300 in my old 69 was 3 on the tree it was great loads of pulling power in first gear, if you was stuck in a hole put it in 1st and go with it.

this auto seems to be strong but maybe not as strong, but i think i just have a few vacum lecks on this one

 

Why would you slam the tranny into 1st at speed,just to try to ruin your truck?

 

Mine has 217,000 miles. Has a slight tick that's been there for a few years I think. I've had the truck about 5 years. Doesn't leak or burn oil. Runs good. These engines (both in carb and EFI) are KNOWN for several things, one of which being LONG LIFE.

 

i had hoped mine would die before college, that was 3 years ago!! i'll never know what all its been through but it hasent had a life of luxry, if you want a reliable daily driver this is the pavement pounding machine for you! but as forementioned, after 170K a truck tends to deteriorate more than the major organs... if you're gettin it cheap latch on to it and dont look back, but if youre takin a little bit of a hit in the wallet i'd think twice

 

Were you never a sixteen year old guy?!? That's one the most fun things to do! slam it down in gear at speed and go slidin! we used to do that in my 86 BMW, or take it off road to try and 360 it at speed! ended up takin a round about at 60 and hit sand, slammed it into a curb and bent the frame (The pass side wheel was almost horizontal! lol)

But yes these engines are great! I'm putting in a new on next week in mine, not because the one I have is bad, but because someone's giving me one and it's a lot easier to me to just swap the engine than fix all the oil leaks and a head gasket...