✅ Questions about Ford E450 w/ 6.8 Triton Gas V10…

[magentawave]

I am thinking of buying a 2006, 2007, or 2008 Ford E450 (fleet vehicle) with the Triton 6.8 gas V10 and the 5R110W TorqShift 5-Speed automatic trans. These are fleet trucks that have had hard use carrying heavy loads but all had full inspections and oil and filter changes every 5000 miles.

I have a few questions, please…

1) Considering the regular maintenance, how reliable are those engines and transmissions?

2) Is it ridiculously hard to work on the engine (tuneups, oil changes, replace starters and alternators,etc.) due to everything being smashed together under that little van hood?

3) How difficult is it to do a compression test?

4) What kind of MPG should I expect if I drive very conservatively at 55 mph?

Thank very much! 😀

 

[DirtWhiskey]

I have a 2006 V10 in an F450. Great motor, lots of grunt, super thirsty on the MPG. I get about 9mpg around town and 11 or 12 on the freeway no matter what. But my truck has a heavy 9 foot steel flatbed.

I think the 3v V10 is way better than the 2v (pre-2005 I think) at not spitting out spark plugs. A little more power. They love to eat exhaust manifold and exhaust studs like most large gas V8s. Can't speak to the van engine access etc.

 

[magentawave]

I have a 2006 V10 in an F450. Great motor, lots of grunt, super thirsty on the MPG. I get about 9mpg around town and 11 or 12 on the freeway no matter what. But my truck has a heavy 9 foot steel flatbed.

I think the 3v V10 is way better than the 2v (pre-2005 I think) at not spitting out spark plugs. A little more power. They love to eat exhaust manifold and exhaust studs like most large gas V8s. Can't speak to the van engine access etc.

I have read about the flying spark plug issue too. Some say it was mostly resolved by 2003.

Interesting about the exhaust manifold because reading through 11 full maintenance and repair reports for these vehicles so far I can see that quite a few have had repairs done to the exhaust manifold. Is there anything that can be done to alleviate that from happening?

 

[deserteagle56]

I have a 2007 E350 4x4 with the 6.8 and 5R110W transmission. Had it regeared to 4.56 with ARB air lockers in both axles right after I bought it. If I remember correctly it has about 77,000 miles on it now and according to my spreadsheet it has averaged 11.8 mpg since new. It has been totally trouble free. My home away from home...quad fits inside it along with all my camping gear.

 

[magentawave]

I have a 2007 E350 4x4 with the 6.8 and 5R110W transmission. Had it regeared to 4.56 with ARB air lockers in both axles right after I bought it. If I remember correctly it has about 77,000 miles on it now and according to my spreadsheet it has averaged 11.8 mpg since new. It has been totally trouble free. My home away from home...quad fits inside it along with all my camping gear.
View attachment 845382

I was thinking about adding air lockers and possibly converting to 4WD later too.

Any thoughts on these two questions?

2) Is it ridiculously hard to work on the engine (tuneups, oil changes, replace starters and alternators,etc.) due to everything being smashed together under that little van hood?

3) How difficult is it to do a compression test?

 

[deserteagle56]

I was thinking about adding air lockers and possibly converting to 4WD later too.

Any thoughts on these two questions?

2) Is it ridiculously hard to work on the engine (tuneups, oil changes, replace starters and alternators,etc.) due to everything being smashed together under that little van hood?

3) How difficult is it to do a compression test?

As I said, I've not had to do anything to the engine in the 17 years that I've owned it so I can't give you a good answer. Other than oil changes, that is, and those are very easy because the oil filter is easily accessible from under the vehicle. Here's a pic from underneath showing the external oil filter housing for the transmission - and yes, the OEM transmission oil pan has a drain plug so no need to drop it to change tranny oil. The engine oil filter is the white thing on the other side of the exhaust and as I said, it is easy to reach by hand or with an oil filter wrench.


The starter looks to be easily accessible from underneath the vehicle also. Don't have a pic of it. The alternator sits at top front of the engine, just behind the air filter housing and looks to be easy to get to...looking at the engine from the front, from under the hood, after removing the air filter housing.


Unfortunately, to actually access the top of the engine looks to be a problem as the engine sits under the dash of the van. None of it is under the hood and not much of it is inside the van and accessible after removing the engine cover. So to access the spark plugs or do a compression test, you might need to be a contortionist! Been thinking I should change the spark plugs soon so I'm about to find out! View of the engine from inside the van, with the engine cover removed.

 

[86scotty]

I was thinking about adding air lockers and possibly converting to 4WD later too.

Any thoughts on these two questions?

2) Is it ridiculously hard to work on the engine (tuneups, oil changes, replace starters and alternators,etc.) due to everything being smashed together under that little van hood?

3) How difficult is it to do a compression test?

You'll find no shortage of V10 fans and knowledge on the Sportsmobile Forum also, and everyone there has one in a van cab which is specific to your situation. There are a couple of members who have run them up to half a million or so miles before rebuild.

Question 2: It's not that hard with a little prep. First, if you work on your own van you'll get used to moving your junk out of the cab interior and removing the doghouse, exposing the pic you see above. If you are doing something like a full plug/coil job or compression testing it is actually helpful to remove the front seats creating all sorts of room to roll around in the cab while working without trashing your seats or killing your back. You'll also get quick and comfortable at removing the intake plumbing from the top/front of then engine. It's quicker to do both these things than to try to work around them. The seats are only 4 bolts and you can lean them back out of the way if there's room behind them. As for oil changes/starter/alternators it's no different than any other vehicle really. Belts too. You won't have to do much to a V10 though if it's not rusty (manifold bolts as mentioned above) and after you sort your plugs/coils out if they haven't been maintained.

Question 3. Not hard, not as easy as a truck. You'll do the rear half of the engine from the doghouse and the front half from the front. Vans aren't hard to work on, just different. I'll take a van over removing an entire intake manifold to get to half the plugs (like a Jeep 3.6 for instance) any day. I have only had to remove the fuel rails on one V10 after being told it was an easier way to remove plugs. It is not. Work around them. Trust me, it's easier.

The plug spitting issue is vastly overstated. Anyone who buys a new-to-them van/v10/Triton engine should replace plugs and coil boots (test the coils, they are probably fine) and properly reinstall the newer designed plugs and then pretty much forget about it. Use Motorcraft plugs.

 

[DirtWhiskey]

IMHO I'd really kill for access to the back of the engine like that!

 

[magentawave]

Some are saying that Ford went a little overboard when fixing the shooting spark plugs issue in that the plugs can be so difficult to remove that they often break. I wonder if squirting a bunch of WD40 or PB Blaster in the holes the night before I replace plugs would help?

 

[magentawave]

You'll find no shortage of V10 fans and knowledge on the Sportsmobile Forum also, and everyone there has one in a van cab which is specific to your situation. There are a couple of members who have run them up to half a million or so miles before rebuild.

Question 2: It's not that hard with a little prep. First, if you work on your own van you'll get used to moving your junk out of the cab interior and removing the doghouse, exposing the pic you see above. If you are doing something like a full plug/coil job or compression testing it is actually helpful to remove the front seats creating all sorts of room to roll around in the cab while working without trashing your seats or killing your back. You'll also get quick and comfortable at removing the intake plumbing from the top/front of then engine. It's quicker to do both these things than to try to work around them. The seats are only 4 bolts and you can lean them back out of the way if there's room behind them. As for oil changes/starter/alternators it's no different than any other vehicle really. Belts too. You won't have to do much to a V10 though if it's not rusty (manifold bolts as mentioned above) and after you sort your plugs/coils out if they haven't been maintained.

Question 3. Not hard, not as easy as a truck. You'll do the rear half of the engine from the doghouse and the front half from the front. Vans aren't hard to work on, just different. I'll take a van over removing an entire intake manifold to get to half the plugs (like a Jeep 3.6 for instance) any day. I have only had to remove the fuel rails on one V10 after being told it was an easier way to remove plugs. It is not. Work around them. Trust me, it's easier.

The plug spitting issue is vastly overstated. Anyone who buys a new-to-them van/v10/Triton engine should replace plugs and coil boots (test the coils, they are probably fine) and properly reinstall the newer designed plugs and then pretty much forget about it. Use Motorcraf

Good info there and thanks for the tip to check out the Sportsmobile forum.

 

[magentawave]

Is it normal for a 6.8 V10 with 172,000 miles and oil changes every 5000 miles to need a quart of oil every 1000 miles?

 

[Atl-atl]

I have an E350 6.8 V10 former rental RV that is now ujoint 4x4. I specifically wanted a V10 truck because they are known to last a long time and take a ton of abuse while requiring minimal maintenance. The polar opposite of Fords diesel engines. Mines got ~100,000 miles and runs great, 75k of that was Cruise America renters and their terrible maintenance so thats saying a lot about reliability. Has plenty of power for my 11,000 pound rig, I can run 55mph up to the Eisenhower tunnel in Colorado with no trouble. Only down side is Im lucky to get 11mpg, regardless of how or where I drive. Its super easy to work on given the engine layout. Recently replaced my #6 coil pack and it took 30 minutes. Also recently pulled the radiator, flushed the coolant and power washed the radiator, ac condenser, trans cooler etc. Super simple job. Radiator comes out the top of the engine bay in about 30 minutes.

Also there is a van specific forum on here. https://forum.expeditionportal.com/forums/4wd-and-2wd-camper-vans-a-k-a-vanlife.58/

 

[ExpoMike]

Only down side is Im lucky to get 11mpg, regardless of how or where I drive.

Yeah, I have a Dodge 8.0L V10 in my 2000 Ram and with the popup camper, I am getting 9-10 max. With the optional 4.10 gears, it pulls like a freight train though.

 

[Atl-atl]

Is it normal for a 6.8 V10 with 172,000 miles and oil changes every 5000 miles to need a quart of oil every 1000 miles?

A quart every 1000 miles is not normal. Thats definitely something you should get checked out.

 

[BajaRunner]

Is it normal for a 6.8 V10 with 172,000 miles and oil changes every 5000 miles to need a quart of oil every 1000 miles?

A full quart every 1k is a bit excessive, yes. I'd move on. FWIW, my 2001 V10 w/ original 230k does not burn or leak any oil I can measure between changes.

They changed to a newer Power Improved head/intake in 2003, then introduced the 3V in 2005+ years. However, all Econoline's received the 2V version, which arguably is a more reliable setup than the 3V for various reasons. 2003+ motors shouldn't have the plug spitting issue. Also, the old heads prone to spitting can be mitigated by using a torque wrench when installing the spark plugs. There are thread kits as well (Cal-Van is a nice kit) that will fix a spark plug hole for good.

After owning Toyotas my entire life, working on the Ford is a dream. Lots of room and built for maintenance. The MPG of 9-10 ain't much worse than my 80 series land cruisers or even my 3.4L 4Runners.

You can add a 2011+ genuine Ford E-Locker into your 10.5 sterling axle very easily. Just run a switched wire back to it and it operates as any E-locker.

You ask about compression testing - I am uncertain what spark plug access is like on the econoline's but the F-series, you need a spark plug socket with u-joint extension to make it bareable. Pulling all the plugs and checking compression on 10 cylinders obviously takes a while.

Check out Forscan, free software with a lot of great features for Fords. You can run a powerbalance test and see if any cylinders are out of whack before diving in.