Author Topic: Name the best and worst truck engines (Read 12633 times)

PartsMan · « **Reply #30 on:** October 04, 2007, 11:10:01 AM »

Best - chevy 350 small block
worst - chevy 350 diesel

go figure

Keith L · « **Reply #31 on:** October 04, 2007, 02:55:36 PM »

Quote from: Lloyd Smale on October 04, 2007, 09:07:03 AM

Im a chev man through and through but will answer this honestly. The best is a toss up between the 300 6 ford and the small block chev (either the old 350 or the new generation motor both are excellent motors. Worse again is a chev ford toss up. The chev 305 was completely gutless and had many problems and the for 4.6 just because iits about the most gutless thing that uses 8 spark plugs thats made today and gets worse gas milage then a chev that puts out almost a 100 more hp.

I had two of the 300 6 and they were really good and reliable. I had a couple of the 350s that were fine except the soft cam in one required replacement at my expense. I have a 305 in my 2000 GMC van that hauls me and the wife with our dogs and half a ton of camping stuff all around the country. It seems to have enough power and has been flawless so far in 67,000 miles. I hope it keeps up with that. It also gets 20 mpg at 70 MPH pushing that van with the aerodynamics of a brick. So far so good. I hope I got a good one.

I have no experience with the 4.6, so I can't say.

Sourdough · « **Reply #32 on:** October 23, 2007, 06:25:40 PM »

Forgot about the worst: The FORD Triton engines. They have a habit of blowing sparkplugs out of the heads. Check them out, there is only four threads holding the sparkplugs in the head. After the engine blew two sparkplugs made the FORD dealer replace the heads. Then a year later on a trip to Anchorage blew another plug. Half way between Anchorage and Fairbanks. 200 miles of nothing either way, middle of winter, 40 below. Cost $800.00 to get it towed back to Fairbanks. Traded it the day I got it out of the shop. Today I own a Diesel.

deltecs · « **Reply #33 on:** October 23, 2007, 07:53:56 PM »

Quote from: Sourdough on October 23, 2007, 06:25:40 PM

Forgot about the worst: The FORD Triton engines. They have a habit of blowing sparkplugs out of the heads. Check them out, there is only four threads holding the sparkplugs in the head. After the engine blew two sparkplugs made the FORD dealer replace the heads. Then a year later on a trip to Anchorage blew another plug. Half way between Anchorage and Fairbanks. 200 miles of nothing either way, middle of winter, 40 below. Cost $800.00 to get it towed back to Fairbanks. Traded it the day I got it out of the shop. Today I own a Diesel.

I have a Ford Triton engine in a 1998 Glavel Conversion van on an E-150 frame. The van now has almost 90,000 miles on it with absolutely no problems whatsoever. On the highway I get over 20 mpg at 65-70 mph. In town it is around 16-18 depending on stop/starts. This Triton is the small one and not the one most used in trucks. I have no experience with the larger Triton. Sourdough is probably right about the Triton but I've not heard about it or experienced the same problems. Ford's 6 cyl 300 was a strong engine with lots of low end torque but gas consumption was terrible. The diesels are probably the way to go for long term reliability.

bodyman · « **Reply #34 on:** January 07, 2008, 05:22:15 PM »

I think a lot depends on your luck I have had good and bad on all. Rite now I like the 5.9 cummings

Drilling Man · « **Reply #35 on:** January 07, 2008, 06:25:07 PM »

I put quite a few miles on 3 full size Ford vans with Tritons... First 2 were rentals, and one of them on the hi-way, driven decent, would get 16 mpg... The other 15mpg... I bought a new one, and the best it EVER got no matter how you babied the gas pedal, was 15.7mpg, usally 14 or so...

I'm sure glad i don't have to buy $3.25 gas for that hog anymore, it's gone!

DM

GrassLakeRon · « **Reply #36 on:** January 09, 2008, 07:25:08 AM »

Ford: Best, 300, 390,460 Worst, 351W (sucks the gas and does little work), 4.6 L Trition (Why did they build these?), all V6's.
Chevy: Best 350, 454 Worst, 305 (gutless wonder) 350 Diesel (had one, wow it is junk)
Dodge: Never owned one.

Ron

The Gamemaster · « **Reply #37 on:** January 11, 2008, 05:03:14 AM »

Out of all the truck engines that I had, the best one was a 402 Big Block Chevrolet, followed by a 5.3 that was in my 1999 Chevrolet Silverado. The Silverado had lot's of power and torque.

When it only had 175 miles on it - 3 days old, one of my old school buddies called me because he got stuck trying to pull out a Chevy Blazer - back in the woods and wanted to know if I would come and help get them out.

I ended up pulling them all out on the same chain in one big pull.

I bent the tow bar, but got the job done.

I wouldn't have done it, but the two guys that owned the Blazer were both in wheel chairs.

The worst engine in my opinion was the 351 M Ford.

Here is some pictures of the 99 Chevy truck in action.

rp4prez2008 · « **Reply #38 on:** January 19, 2008, 03:55:46 PM »

318-best engine ever built. My '97 ram just crested 410,000. Nothing but regular maintenance, and this truck is worked. My old dakota with the 318 hit 310,000 before I sold it to my brother, still goin' strong. Now the dodge tranny...

Worst-any peice of crap chevy motor.

Moss88hunter · « **Reply #39 on:** January 20, 2008, 10:15:43 AM »

Best Gas: Chevy 350
Best Diesel: Ford 7.3

Worst engines: The other ford engines

Evan

jiminpa · « **Reply #40 on:** February 02, 2008, 05:37:28 PM »

worst i ever had 5.4l ford.threw 2 plugs out,cracked exaught manifold passenger side,drivers side axle,both front hubs(plastic in a 3/4 ton??what where they thinking??)all after the warranty ran out.
best Chevy 350 and 250.

bighairygorilla · « **Reply #41 on:** February 25, 2008, 12:07:39 PM »

Worst: How about that head gasket blowing, gutless. no horsepower, 16mpg getting 4.2 liter V6 Ford puts in the new F150. Bought a fleet at work and 1 of 12 made it past 90k without head gasket issues.....wow. And to think Ford replaced the 300 with this heap! What a shame.

30-30man · « **Reply #42 on:** February 25, 2008, 01:48:49 PM »

I'll agree with that one. The 4.2 replaced the 300 I6 not because it was a better engine. It replaced it because it met emission requirements. The 4.2 might look better on paper but won't win in dependability. The 300 I6 was just too dependable for Ford to keep producing.

Doublebass73 · « **Reply #43 on:** February 28, 2008, 12:32:07 PM »

Best - 300 Ford Straight Six, 225 Chrysler Slant Six

All the UPS delivery vans that are gas powered have an HD Ford 300-6 in them.

Worst - Chevy 305 V8

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #44 on:** June 05, 2008, 12:50:19 AM »

if a guy is looking for the best one made right now id have to say the chev 5.3 is it hands down. It has much better power then the ford motors and although it gives up maybe a couple hp to the dodge hemi it gets about 25 percent better milage. I think even the hp advantage is overated on the hemi. My 06 is a club cab with the 310 hp alumimum motor and to be fair has a cat back exaust a k&n intake and a reprogramed computer but it has smoked 3 dodge hemis so far. One is my niehbors short box std cab truck with 410 gears. He came over to the house the day he had it chomping for a race. THe kid is about 25 and was pretty embarashed when a 51 year old man in a club cab spanked him. Where the new chevs are weak is in the transmition. Its a pos unit and they put all kinds of computer crap in them to keep you from abusing them. If you punch it off the line timing and throttle are automaticly backed off to save on trany. The computer chip takes that crap out of them and it makes a world of differce. Stock against stock im sure it would have been a differnt outcome.

gypsyman · « **Reply #45 on:** June 09, 2008, 03:58:03 AM »

Had 2 different Fords with 302's, one a van, one a F-150. The truck I sold had 250,000 on it when I sold it, and the guy that bought it, put another 50,000 on it, before the rear end gave out. The van had 225,000 on it, and I sold it to get a one ton van, don't know how long that went before it finally gave up the ghost.
Now I'm driving a Ford E-150 with the 4.6L engine. Read and heard mixed comments on this one. It's only got a little over 50,000 on it now, switched to synthetic oil the last time I changed it. Been getting 18.9 to 19.2 mpg, holding it to 65mph. Lets see how this one holds up when I get over 200,000 on it. ('course that should happen in 2012, and my luck, the Myan curse will blow up the world, just after I get the damn thing paid for, I'll probably hit the lottery the month before too!!)

bilmac · « **Reply #46 on:** June 09, 2008, 04:35:14 AM »

I assume Ford has dropped the 300-6. I was looking for one when I bought my last truck, but couldn't find and got a 318 Dodge instead. So far I'm pretty happy with the 318. It gets 19 on the highway if I drive instead of the cruise control. With my small pop-up camper it gets 15mpg mountain or flatlands.

deltecs · « **Reply #47 on:** June 09, 2008, 08:36:47 AM »

Quote from: gypsyman on June 09, 2008, 03:58:03 AM

Had 2 different Fords with 302's, one a van, one a F-150. The truck I sold had 250,000 on it when I sold it, and the guy that bought it, put another 50,000 on it, before the rear end gave out. The van had 225,000 on it, and I sold it to get a one ton van, don't know how long that went before it finally gave up the ghost.
Now I'm driving a Ford E-150 with the 4.6L engine. Read and heard mixed comments on this one. It's only got a little over 50,000 on it now, switched to synthetic oil the last time I changed it. Been getting 18.9 to 19.2 mpg, holding it to 65mph. Lets see how this one holds up when I get over 200,000 on it. ('course that should happen in 2012, and my luck, the Myan curse will blow up the world, just after I get the damn thing paid for, I'll probably hit the lottery the month before too!!)

I've got this engine in my Glaval Conversion Ford Van. It is the small Triton engine in 1988. It has 90,000 and still going strong. I get over 22 mph with it on the highway with cruise control at 65 mph. In town, I get around 17-18 depending on the stops and starts at lights. I plan to get another van when this one gives up the ghost another 10 years from now. I have had no problems with this engine whatsoever. 2 brake jobs, tie rods and on 3 set of tires but nothing mechanincal to the engine. I do change oil religiously, along with lube and filters about every 4,000 miles.

Graybeard · « **Reply #48 on:** June 09, 2008, 10:50:02 AM »

I guess I've heard more tales of 250,000 to 400,000 plus with no major engine work from Toyota owners than all others combined. Dunno if they are the best or not but they do seem to outlast most others. I hope so cuz I have a 2005 Toyota Tundra with the V8. I will soon have had it for four years and likely will have well under 30,000 on it at that time it only recently rolled 27,000 and I don't do 7500 per year on average.

I fully expect it to last me the rest of my life without any major work needed. What more could a person want?

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #49 on:** June 10, 2008, 01:05:28 AM »

you might have a point. You know my opinion on jap vehicles but i was at camp a few years ago and one of the guys that used to go out there ( he died recently) had a little toyota. I dont know what year the thing was but it was about a rust bucket. Even had a stake bed on it. He had just came back for n. dakota and was in the yard and we were talking. He said it had just turned 300000 miles. I sat in it and actually hit the igniton to start it and didnt realize it was allready running it was that smooth still. He said it still didnt burn a drop of oil and i believed him. We run s10s and rangers at work and they will usually go about a 150000 but ive never seen a chev or a ford make it to 300000 let alone one make it and still run like new.

Quote from: Graybeard on June 09, 2008, 10:50:02 AM

I guess I've heard more tales of 250,000 to 400,000 plus with no major engine work from Toyota owners than all others combined. Dunno if they are the best or not but they do seem to outlast most others. I hope so cuz I have a 2005 Toyota Tundra with the V8. I will soon have had it for four years and likely will have well under 30,000 on it at that time it only recently rolled 27,000 and I don't do 7500 per year on average.

I fully expect it to last me the rest of my life without any major work needed. What more could a person want?

30-30man · « **Reply #50 on:** June 11, 2008, 04:48:10 AM »

The Japanese trucks are looking much better now that they have come out with a fullsize truck. The only thing I have against them is the part availability. I have a buddy with a 92 Nissan 4wd and he can not find a transmission for it nowhere. The dealership can even get them and there are none to be found in the local junkyards. He's stuck with a great running truck with no transmission. That doesn't seem to happen with the domestic trucks.

Anyways....
Worst:
Chevy: 2.2 or 2.8 v-6--No Power and drank way too much fuel for their size
Dodge: 3.9- Ran forever but no power/drank fuel
Ford: 4.2 Head gaskets, Head Gaskets, Head Gaskets--Why did Ford replace the 300 I-6 with this turd?

Best:
Ford: 300 I-6 by far
Chevy: 350---Probably the best engine ever made
Dodge-Hemi, 318--These two are just two great engines

mrbigtexan · « **Reply #51 on:** October 16, 2008, 01:37:40 PM »

i would have to say best- 4.0 jeep i-6, or chevy 350
worst- 2.8 v-6 in s-10 p/u, probably had more to do with the torque convertor swelling up with the rpm's

kyelkhunter3006 · « **Reply #52 on:** October 17, 2008, 09:02:47 AM »

Chalk another mark up for the Ford 300 and the Chevy 350 motors.....unstoppable.

I know a lot of people that like the old 302 Ford motor. I got one in my 1993 F150 I bought back in April, the truck has 127,000 on it (not very many for the year) but still has great power/torque and when I'm cruising on the highway I get almost 20 mpg, and the truck is an Ext. Cab 4x4, with slighly over-size tires on it.

I like the Dodge .318 too. My grandpa swore by the that motor, he was a HUGE Dodge fan. All he owned from 1980 until he died last year were full size Dodge vans with .318's in them. Several of those motors had well over 300,000 on them when he traded/sold them, and the first one he bought in 1980 had almost 700,000 on it when he finally gave up on it (after 5 transmissions).

bilmac · « **Reply #53 on:** October 17, 2008, 10:42:46 AM »

That reminds me of one of the worst, the Dodge 360, again head gaskets. And theyt sometimes got a condition where they would not start hot.

Mike Britton · « **Reply #54 on:** October 17, 2008, 01:53:42 PM »

I'm still holding out for the old 454. Torque like a locomotive and good looks too.

jamesrus · « **Reply #55 on:** October 27, 2008, 07:51:25 AM »

Ok this from a Diesel man.

Ford 7.3
Ford 7.3 powerstroke 1st generation
Ford 7.3 powerstroke 2nd generation.

I had a 1989 with a indirect injected non turbo 7.3 that i had 511,000 miles on when i sold it. Never did any engine work, but did rebuild the transmission.

I had a 1995 direct iinjected 1st gen 7.3 powerstroke i just sold with 313,000 mile sand no mechanical issues of any kind.

I now have a 2001 7.3 powerstroke 2nd gen with 176,000 with zore problems,

they were all used to pull trailers and such.

Jamesrus

45-70.gov · « **Reply #56 on:** November 16, 2008, 06:28:08 AM »

not a gear head so my opinion means little

i saw one mention of the dodge slant 6 i had 2 ran for ever both one was running when it rusted away
the other was sold and the new owner ran it another 50k with a leaky radiator....killing it

i was impressed with the 300 i6 ford van i had once it was running when it rusted away

i now have 3 suzuki samuri 1300cc i4

ottawa rogue · « **Reply #57 on:** March 12, 2009, 03:14:23 PM »

Ok, i'll add my.02.
300 ford, 250 chevy, 225 slant six. you have to work awful hard to kill one.
as faras the worst, looks like a lot here have a dislike for the triton engines.
i've not really had any bad experiences with one and i'm around a LOT of them every day.
same goes for the 5.3 chevy and the hemi engines. (we have a lot of 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton trucks in our fleet.)
I'm underwhelmed by the toyota engine, and the Isuzu diesel that GM uses (duramax)
older engines are just that, older engines. I'd take a 351 over a 350 any day.
as far as diesel engines go, i'm extremly leery of the cummins. I will say that we haven't had very many problems with the B-series cummins that we have but the larger C&L series (ISC & ISL) have been a nightmare for us.
Injectors, hardlines, electronics and with the newer engines, turbos.
you haven't seen someone whine until you tell them that we have to replace a shelled out turbo to the tune of $5000 + labor on an engine that is 30 hours out of warranty.
make mine a cat or a international please
and it's funny that we haven't had but a few problems with the 6.0 powerstroke, we've got 25 in the fleet.
jury is still out on the 6.4
it's funny that navistar can make a good engine like a DT 466 and then turn around and produce a dog like the VT365 (6.0 powerstroke)
Hopefully ford's new diesel will be better for them

BullyDawg19 · « **Reply #58 on:** March 13, 2009, 12:57:14 AM »

im gonna throw one out there that isnt mentioned. how about the early 2.3 ford OHC. they really arent great for anything but are dependable as h***. readily available, easily rebuilt, and good performance from a stock motor. when you see people running them at 6500-7500 rpm in stock racing classes with nothing more than some rings and bearings in a motor that is 30 years old you have to believe in them.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #59 on:** March 13, 2009, 02:10:06 AM »

what kind of milage are you getting bill? I just talked to the husband of the girl my wife works with and he has a new 4x4 v8 toyota and is only getting 17 mpg on the highway. Its a standard cab. My club cab 4x4 chev with a 5.3 is getting 21. Thats a substantial differnce.

Quote from: Graybeard on June 09, 2008, 10:50:02 AM

I guess I've heard more tales of 250,000 to 400,000 plus with no major engine work from Toyota owners than all others combined. Dunno if they are the best or not but they do seem to outlast most others. I hope so cuz I have a 2005 Toyota Tundra with the V8. I will soon have had it for four years and likely will have well under 30,000 on it at that time it only recently rolled 27,000 and I don't do 7500 per year on average.

I fully expect it to last me the rest of my life without any major work needed. What more could a person want?