What are thoughts on the 460 motor?

[WKCwith5]

I have been looking at 1ton and 3/4 ton Fords and have seen a lot of them with the 460 V-8. Some have 80k and some 180K. I am sure the fuel economy is around 10mpg and know a lot of folks that have had good service out of them. Besides the fuel economy what would be the good and bad of a truck with The big block. They are a lot cheaper to replace for one and give a better choice of vehicles that are for sale. So wait for a Diesel? or go gas with a good solid truck.

 

[Teamjeff]

Great motor in my opinion with no real reliability issues. 10 mpg is spot on in my experience, 1990 F350 4x4 crewcab long bed - 10mpg in town, on the highway, & towing a trailer!

Awesome truck!

 

[spencyg]

They are strong but very thirsty. As long as you can justify the fuel bill, than go for it. If you're like me, the cost of the trip sometimes is the determining factor whether the trip happens at all. Obviously a diesel would be the best, but they are hard to come by.

At the very least, you'll be investing in jerry cans. Lots and lots of jerry cans.

Spence

 

[WKCwith5]

I have tow other diesels and the fuel is 15 to 25 cent more per-gallon. So in the end it is not that much cheaper to run my diesels fuel wise. Then there is the oil changes that are $50 dollars more. Thanks for the in put.

 

[redthies]

As "TeamJeff" said... I looked for a long time for a 7.3 diesel in the 92-97 F350 and like you, found a ton of 460 trucks. I bought one unseen from a guy in California who had put 170,000 on it. The truck is spotless, and I just put 15,000 on it towing my trailer around the southwest and Mexico for 5 months. In that time I changed the alternator and that is it. $89 for 5 months hard towing! The 460 is not the pinnacle of engineering or economy, but if you factor in the fact that you will pay about half the cost for a 460 that you will for a diesel in the same condition, it is worth it in my opinion. Just think about changing your oil in the 7.3... 16 quarts versus 6 in the 460. Injectors? Up to $200 per in the diesel. That $1600 will build you a whole new 460. If you don't mind a stick, I had an F250 with the ZF5 5spd and it got way better mileage than the auto does in my current truck. I could get 14-15 if I drove it easy. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE A DIESEL! But, it just doesn't make sense if you are looking at older trucks. I would grind the gas sellers for a great deal!
Good luck what ever way you go...:sombrero:

 

[driller]

I run a 1997 F350 regular cab 4x4 with 4" lift, 35x12.50x16.5 tires, e4od automatic with 4:10 gears. Timing advanced to 12* btdc short tube headers with 3" exhaust after cat. I run a cab high shell and average 13.5 on highway.
I also have a 10' cabover alaskan and average 10 with it. Set cruise control on 65 enjoy the scenery you go any faster and mileage drops to 8 with the camper. The headers made the biggest change in performance and mileage. I have just over 100K on the truck and engine has no intentions of slowing down. Last trip with the Alaskan pulling a 16' flatbed with 3 atv's to Colorado and back averaged 9.9

 

[driller]

Next thing I'm goin to try is swapping the 19.5's off my dodge to see if i can get another 1 to 2 mpg out of the 460.

 

[WKCwith5]

If I could get 12mpg that is good with me. Most of our trips are under 500 miles total. We hope to head out west next summer. But in general every big gas motor I have run avg around 10 t0 15 mpg. I really like the V-10 motors and had good service with them as well and got the same mpg as the 5.4. Most of the newer trucks are out of our price range. I would like to be under 15,000 with a truck camper combo. And the gas truck is looking more cost effective.

 

[Capt Sport]

If you go with a 460 make sure you keep an eye on the timing chain. My buddy had one and it would wear out a timing chain and gear set pretty frequently compared to say a small block Chevy. His would go about 35K and the time would be off and the truck would run like !@#$. Other than that it was a great motor. He pulled a 27 foot boat with it. And, loaded or empty it got 10mpg period.

 

[bucketosudz]

I had one in a 90, they are great motors as mentioned. THIRSTY is an understatement. 12 was pretty normal if you didn't push it. If you happen to get an older one, make sure if it has the E40D Tranny to get it updated and put in a quality cooler and temp gauge if you plan to tow with it. They are spendy to rebuild and/or replace.

 

[ntsqd]

They're my second least favorite Ford engine. Unfortunately in anything reasonably late model (EFI vintage) they are the only large displacement gasser Ford choice. It's not that they are a bad engine, there just were better choices for truck use that Ford let die.

 

[WKCwith5]

Well said. The 429 was a really nice motor plenty of power and a good runner.

 

[Rot Box]

It's not that they are a bad engine, there just were better choices for truck use that Ford let die.

I couldn't have said it better myself :sombrero:

I agree with everyone's responses. I will add that you should get used to the exhaust leak on the manifold tick tick tick tick vrooommm I think they came from the factory like that :coffeedrink:

A good free flowing exhaust and intake will go a long ways with the 460 as they are pretty choked down in stock form. Although it is not practical for what you are doing higher performance heads and cam will really turn these engines into a completely different animal!

 

[WKCwith5]

If you all could do 4 or 5 things to a 460 to help with the performance what would you chose. Better air filter and exhaust are easy upgrades. Then what would come next? Better plug wires and cooling maybe.

 

[redthies]

I have a free flowing 3" exhaust, K+N, Jacobs ignition and fancy wires. I still get 10 mpg on average when towing and a tiny bit better empty. Judging from a previous post, I will try maybe headers and intake next?