I agree, I have had my truck 8 years now. 1995 f150 5speed 2wd. I have pulled, tore, ripped, pushed everything. That motor is unbelievable. I have broken 2 rear ends doing all this. But never touched the motor. A very religious 3000 mile oil change. You will hit 300,000 miles easy. I have heard that the 5 speeds were junk, but I disagree It has served its purpose and doing fine.
OK the beer is starting to talk good night.

 

I am surprised at how long this post has kept on truckin'. BTW, I was formerly known as wild manimal but since I forgot my passwrod and my e-mail that I subscribed with, I am now on here as tralfamadorian. Sorry. But 4.9 forever. Also, I hauled a bunch of gravel with my buddies van that had a 4.9 in it, and on the way home this corolla was stuck in a ditch. I was able to pull it out, with the ton of gravel in the back. I feel as though I am bragging about the 4.9 too much at this point, but that is what we are all on here for anyways, though, right?

 

I loved my 300 I6 in my F100. When I got that thing it was so abused, that when I "drained" the oil it looked like black honey coming out. It had a little over 320K on and I drove that thing everywhere. Then one day I checked the oil (she burned a quart every 100 miles) I found milkshake. Most people I know would have trashed it there, but I drove it another 2 months before selling it, and the guy I sold it to still drives it milkshake and all.

If ya'll love the 300 I6, then ya'll should def think about getting a 6.9/7,3 IDI. They feel just like the 300 but bigger.

 

Can't resist this thread. I am the engine builder at our shop. I see alot of engines. The Ford 300, is quite possibly the most reliable chunk of metal ever built. They are more reliable than anything else out there for several reasons. The blocks are thick, they have a lot of meat around the cylinders, which keeps everything straight. I've run them for 15 miles not a drop of coolant (blew out a freeze plug), and never missed a beat (water turned to vapor as soon as I filled the radiator, well over 300*. The only problen with the 300, is that Ford used that stupid fiber timing gear, but it least it don't bend valves when they break. The Ford diesels, I have to disagree with you dean88. Yeah, they go and go, and put out some good torque, but they have some reliability issues ( the injector caps suck!!!), and some other minor things (frequnt glow plug issues). The other brands......Dodge, well, they last a long time, IF you keep up on religious maintenance, and only IF. The Chevy, cheap, over produced, and too popular. The decks will warp, and if it's a newer Vortec, buy stock in intake gaskets. The Ford 302, cannot and will not ever compare to a Ford 300. The Ford 300 is most closely comparable to an older Cummins I-6. Long stroke, and real small duration cam (super torque house). The 302 is a very short stroke motor, and is a rev machine, not a down low unit. You will smoke a 302 on heavy loads, before a 300 even gets warm. Sorry if I hurt any feelings, but these are the facts, not opinions. The 302 is a very nice engine, I love the short stroke Ford motors, you can rev the snot out of them and they won't fly apart (can't say the same for a Chevy or Dodge). They make aewsome little road race motors, BECAUSE you can rev them so high, and not worry about it. The 7.3 PSD (what a pile). Good motor, IF you take care of it. Gotta run 15/40 and change it every 3000 miles, not 5000 like a lot of other diesels, or you get running issues. Hate the injector o-ring issues. 3 computers that need eachtoher to operate (body computer, injector computer, and engine computer). Trouble codes can have more than one meaning, and it can take several hours to properly diagnose a running issue, or no start issue. Sorry, but if I gotta go diesel, I'll take the Caterpillar I have in my 1953 F-800 semi.

 

No thanks, I already have an N 14 cummins in My pete for comparison.

 

The only bad thing I'll say about the 300 is how moody it can be. Truth be known I have something wrong with mine and don't even know it, but some days it runs downright quick, and some days downright sluggish. But hey, I'm just glad the ole' girl runs!!!!!!

 

6cylbill- I had the same situation when I had EFI. one day its a hot engine, the next a dog. No clue why, she always ran though.

 

Yeah? That's really good to know. Motorhead says the same thing. I noticed she runs more like a dog than she does a hot rod these days, tho. -shrug-

Edit: What do you think it is? A fuel / air mixture? Seems like my truck runs really good on cold mornings, when the fuel would be running rich.

 

I smashed my 96 up 2 yrs ago. However my thought on the gutlessness is due to the close proximity of the exhaust and intake ports. The whole 300 intake setup bleeds alot of heat into the itake charge and wrecks the charge density. High humidity also tends to mess with them. Primarly by ruining mileage.

The flathead had the same problom. Makes for a great winter engine however.

 

-nod- I live in an area where it's 95%+ on the humidity scale. When I first started messing with my exhaust I did a Catback dual exaust system with glass packs. I lost a lot of low end torque. I used to be able to snap your head back off idle. I never did get that back even with the baffled muffler. So maybe it's a combination of things. But there's no denying it; when the truck is running good, it runs good.

 

She'll start, run, and work. She just aint no nascar.

 

hey that's right man! and that's all that matters: if you're truck will start, keep you warm / cool, and get you where you need to go.

 

Tool, that's a good description, I was leaving Boulder Creek CA on a long holiday weekend and heading back home to Middlesex County MA, 20 miles from my buddy's place the clutch slave popped and the pedal stuck to the floor.

I was towing a trailer, 18 foot landscape style loaded with stuff and motorcycles. The thought of being towed, paying a trailer tow, flatbed, a week in the shop really had me riled up. About the third lap walking around the parked truck I had a revelation, being on the FD for over 15 years I could drive the Mack RD 600 tanker with no clutch, why not the pickup.

It was evening and I had no major intersections to cross to get to a highway/freeway system. 1st gear, dab the clutch to hit the clutch switch and with barely a crank the truck/trailer lurched forward under engine running power. The gear split seemed to be if you upshifted at 2800 you'd drop into the next gear at 1600, perfect. There was only one fuel stop that had a concern, so started out in 4x4 low 1st gear (hubs unlocked) till I was clear and recalled that 1(hi) was close in ratio someplace between 2-3 (low). Shifted up to 3 lo, primary gearbox to neutral then a slow shift from 4-lo to 2-hi and it barely clunked, snick into 2nd gear and away we go.

Without the crazy torque and low rpm of the I-6, I don't think much of it would have been possible, having EFI was helpful for easy and sure starting at crazy low rpm's near 500 or less

Made the whole trip in great time with minimal shifting out of OD

When I got home it turns out the problem was the plastic line to the slave got a bubble and ruptured, my local dealer had one in stock.

 

fast st.-Nice, very nice. Find a 350 that can do that.