I'm in the market for an f350 but want to know some details about the 460 first. I'm looking at a 96 4dr 4x4 with the 460 and 31x10.5s. What kind of milage could i expect out of that combination? Are there any weakspots to look out for in the engine? I know what to look for in the body/frame and such, but donlt know about the engine much.

 

I have the same truck, has 133,000 miles on it and have had no problems.
gas milage is about 9 MPG. it is a great truck. people tell me that you could pull a house with it, but i thank it lacks power

 

I have a 94 F250 4x4 460 4.10 E4OD longbed supercab, with stock tires. 96,000 miles.

Don't know with your tire size and heavier truck but better fuel injection system, don't know your gearing. But in general I get 10-12mpg in around the town freeway driving with only a little stop and go. If I drive at higher than 70mph I get closer to 10mpg.

I have owned my truck since 36,000miles and tow maybe 20-30% of the time.

Only problem with the engine I have had is that occasionally sparkplugs will rust into place, this was when I lived in the Pacific NorthWET. Otherwise the engine is rock steady. Trannies earlier than 95 had some issues. I go thru brakes quicker while towing, duh, and have had a few issues with uneven wear which probably would be taken care of by more frequent greasing of the brakes and a more thorough inspection of the inner pads.

I have noticed that the the dash board gets a little rattly or squeaky on mine and a relatives Fx50 trucks after a lot of miles.

Only thing I wish was that I could get better mileage, like the salesguy claimed, 15-18mpg, yeah sure. I knew he was lying.

Jim Henderson

 

The only consistant problem I know of is with the passenger side exhaust manifolds. They have a tendency to crack if you work the truck hard and shut it down hot. I always idle Clyde for a while after a good pulling session but still have developed a problem that will have to be addressed in the near future.

Use the FL1HP oil filters.

 

Roger,
You not had any problems with the heads or valves ??.
I guess its just me or that its a motorhome I'm dealing with, but I'm on the third time pulling the heads.
I dont so much think it is the heads, but the dumb clucks at the machine shop screwing them up.
Man this thing was running good after the second head pulling & porting, pulling the hills right good, running a little warm, but not hot at all & then BAM! after about 6000 miles, white out the tail pipe.
Coolant between 1 & 2 cylinders. I was blameing it on cutting the engine off to quick before filling the propane tank.
After pulling the heads again, #5 cylinder, coolant was leaking from behind the exhaust seat. Come to find out to big of a valve seat was installed & when cutting the hole they cut into the coolant jacket.
No way they could have not seen that hole after the cutting.
Can you not trust any repair shop anymore to do a quality job.

Thats the only complaint I have with the 460s, the heads & them not set up right from the factory to do the job asked of them.
Hard exhaust seats should have been installed in those heads before they were ever sat on a block on an engine if it was going into a truck.
Got over 77,000 on it now & still holds 70 psi oil presure cold & 60 going down the road, but ol rings are tired & blowing some oil out the breather tube. Made me up a catch tank for that though, like the ol 5 hp go karts youst to run.
Neil

 

Never had any problems in those areas .... I always considered that to be GM 454 problems. Most of those needed valve work after ~70K.

I spent ~20 years working as an ag engineer for an agricultural seed company. We used pickups to tow sometimes outrageous loads and I got my fingers into spec'ing and purchasing ~1979 after some previous disasters in truck capabilities. My first 460 purchase was an F350 DRW flatbed that we ran ... and worked the hell out of! ... until I was "downsized" in 1993. For many years I hauled grain to the elevator with this truck and a gooseneck trailer, loads averaging 52 trips per year @ an average rolling gross weight of 29,700#. Never opened up the engine.

During the eighties and early 90's we also ran a couple 454's, GM 6.2's , a few 6.9's and one Cummins but the workhorses were always the 460's with few if any problems. That's one of the reasons when I went looking for a truck for our original 11'3" heavier than hell slide-in camper I felt Clyde was THE PERFECT truck. Now after thirteen years and on our second fifth wheel I stand happily and comfortably with my original decision. I've got a thick folder of maint. and mods over that period of time, but trust the ol' girl anywhere.

My last compression check showed I have one cylinder reading lower than the others but my "guru" advised me not to worry about it at this point in time. IIRC it was either #3 or #4.

 

Did I read somewhere you has a 750 carb on your truck.
Neil

 

Nope, it's an OEM stock Holley/Motorcraft 4180 600cfm that's been rebuilt by my "Carb Guy" on White Bear Ave. in St. Paul multiple times since '96. For my RV usage he kept me with the stock carb. The 4180 got a bad rap from being called an "emmissions carb" but with his tutelage and tuning it has worked well for me. The last rebuild, two and a half years ago, seems to be the best. I added the "quick change" vacuum secondary spring feature years ago and now have the OE two stage power valve reinstalled and on his advice have added a power valve protection device (can't find the link). I have a micro switch installed on the linkage that tells me via an LED installed in the cowl intake when the secondarys open up and this allows me to selectively "keep my foot outa' it".

Runs like a champ and since I started using Stabil when the truck sits for extended periods of time I don't seem to have the varnish and dry out problems like I did before.

Pulling a 10,000# tall "wind anchor" under low wind conditions I run 7.5-7.8 mpg and smile

 

460s are known for getting really bad gas milage.Thats an inherant problem. (I'm being fecetious and obvious)

Eye openingly bad milage. I had a 460 in a 75 Torino when gas was 85 cents a gallon, I put 5 dollars worth of gas in it at the gas station 4 miles from my home, and while driving admittedly fast and hard because I was running late for work, and I ran out of gas pulling out of the driveway at work going to lunch. The math is 28 miles one way to work, -4 to the gas staion= 24, 5 divided by .85 = 5.9 gallons of gas, for 24 miles divided by 5.9 gallons = 4.0 mpg! Also consider there was some gas in the tank before I got gas at the gas station.

Other then that, I've never had or seen a problem with any 385 series engine I've been associated with. They are stout, well engineered engines. If you've ever taken one apart you would understand why. EVERYTHING in them is bigger and stronger by at least 25%. I've never seen a burnt valve, a stripped timming chain, or a blown head gasket and I've seen them abused! No coolant for 10 minutes, 7000 rpm for 10 miles, 5 minute burnouts, they just kept on ticking. All of those occasions were with different 385s

If you do some serious racing with one there are a few things you may need to do.

 

yes the dashes are junk. pull off the kick panel and i bet one of the dash bolt tabs is broken.oh its on the passenger side. common problem.

 

Oh one other problem that the comment on passenger side manifold reminded me of.

The manifolds are "Cup and Cone" style manifold to exhaust pipe connections. There is no gasket. Since I tow a fair amount, there is enough exhaust heat to slowly soften the exhaust pipe near the passenger side connection. The pipe "wrinkles" and gets out of line enough to causse exhaust leaks at the cup/cone. I had the dealer replace it at about 60,000 miles thinking stupidly it was covered under the emissions warranty. Cost me $600 for a new Y pipe. An exhaust shop said they would have just cut off the pipe and welded a new one in place for $80, but he was the one who thought it might be covered under warranty.

I now have the same leak, same side, at 96,000 mile(started at maybe 90,000). Not enough for me to take it in yet but irritating when cold. I seem to recall the dealer repairs were supposed to be lifetime? I need to find the paperwork and check it out. Otherwise, this time I just have the shop weld in a stronger piece of pipe. Or I might spring for stainless headers, not much more than dealer Y pipe.

Jim Henderson

 

Check the rest of the exhaust system & make sure it not plugged up or to small inside & causing to much back presure.

Muffler & exhaust are set so they will be quiet on the truck & way to restricktive when your pulling that load. Another thing you need to be aware of is heat build up in those exhaust ports on those heads. High heat build up is tuff on those valves & valve seats.

I went from the 2 1/2" single muffler exhaust system to 3 1/2" single diesel exhaust on the motorhome & made a bunch of difference.
Only time my exhaust leaked around that donut area was when the nuts was loose on the old small system.
Neil

 

love my 97 (not super duty) 460
old but good
except for milage
does have a bit of trouble pulling 10k lbs up some of the higher passes in its old age..
but on the flats it is quite strong and comfortable with the same load at 75 mph..
i wore out my carrier bearing on the drive shaft on auto trans...thought that was odd....
since it is a 4x4 it sits way up there stock..love to look into the OTR cabs of the trucks going next to me as i pass.

super dutys just not that high...