F-150 - advice for when it dies

[Panther]

I have a 1996 F-150 4wd with the 300 I6 engine. It just turned over 150K miles. It uses about a quart of oil or a little less in 5000 miles. I have always changed oil with a brand name, often with 2 quarts of syn mixed into 4 of dino, every 5k miles or less. The body is in good shape -- no rust.

Hypothetically speaking, if the engine blew up tomorrow, (God forbid!) would it be worth either having my engine rebuilt, buying a remanufactured engine from some name brand reman place, or buying a new engine (assuming it were available still)? What would the costs of those 3 options be, ballpark-wise?

I look at the cost of a new truck and just don't know if I wanna go there...but mine is getting awful old.

 

[addyguy]

I wouldn't worry about this one bit. Rust is the enemy of most vehicles, Ford trucks included. If yours has 'no' rust, it will run as long as you want it to. Those Ford I-6 engines are indestructible - you're changing the oil regularly, not having high consumption...this engine isn't even going to THINK about giving you problems 'till somewhere after 300-400k miles.

 

[SatinSilver]

No rust and little consumption..thats great! I wouldn't worry about engine replacement options for a long time. Frequency of oil changes is the most important which it sounds like your doing.

Not sure about mixing oils though. I once thought it was a great idea but not too sure anymore. Use one or the other for best results.

Consider doing some uoa's(used oil analysis) to see what your working with. This will tell you if certain wear metals are high, is coolant mixing in with oil, etc. Spending $20-30 is alot cheaper than $1000's for a new engine.

Consider Auto-rx to gently clean your engine and condition internal seals. Haven't used it myself yet but probably will soon. Check it out under oil additives on here.

 

[mpvue]

the ford 300 doesn't die. I don't even like fords, but I know about that engine, has a long history, was designed as a tractor motor, indestructable, really.. .

 

[Drew99GT]

With that many miles and having the mighty 300 I-6, I'd be more concerned about other things: tranny, 4wd components, cooling system, brakes, suspension etc. Make sure and religiously change the antifreeze every 30,000 or so miles and also the trans fluid, as well as the fluid in the diffs and the transfer case.

If it doesn't have rust now, that sucker could do some serious mileage. 5 speed or auto?

 

[OVERKILL]

The 300 I6 will go forever as long as you don't overheat it and accidentally kill the timing gears..... (yes, it's gear driven, not chain). Ask me how I know

They were a tractor engine and are still widely used in gas-powered irrigation equipment.

 

[Panther]

Thanks for the replies so far.
For the first 50K I used all Castrol GTX, but after that I started using whatever 10W-30 brand name dino oil was on sale 4 qts and 2 qts of a brand-name syn to make my own blend – this on the advice of a tribologist who wrote on syn blending. He said mixing diff brands of oils of the same wt/grade was fine. That was 5 or more years ago, though, maybe today that advice is not good.
It amazes me that it might last over 200K. That’s great. It is a 5 speed, ext cab. I had some rust in one small area behind the driver’s running board, and had it fixed. No other rust on the truck. I have a few dents and dings, though. 
I change the antifreeze in 3 yrs with the regular stuff, or a little longer with the “extended life” stuff. I have changed the rear diff oil at ~ 100K, and the tranny and 4wd transfer case oil (ATF!) twice so far. I think I’m due for another change there soon.
Knocking wood, few problems over its life. Each 4wd hub has been replaced once. Clutch/press plate, TO bearings replaced twice because each time the slave cylinder (I think) was leaking though the clutch had lots of life left. That’s about it.
I appreciate any advice – as I said, I’d like a nice new truck – especially those really cool diesels, but just can’t afford one right now.
But, I’m still curious about my original question, what would be my options if the engine did die now?

 

[George7941]

As others have pointed out, that engine will not die.

I had a 1986 F250 with the Big Six. Only problem I had with the engine was that it stripped the fibre driven timing gear twice. After the second time, I put in an aluminium gear in spite of a machine shop telling me it would be noisy. It wasn't.

In case someone ruins the engine by running it dry or overheating it, you can get the engine rebuilt at a good machine shop.

 

[TooManyWheels]

This might give you a reference point

Rebuilt industrial 300 I6 s

 

[ARB1977]

I had a buddy who had the inline six mid 90's or something. He sold pallets for a living and ran nothing but Maxlife in the red bottle and last time i talked to him he had 300K...as long as the maintence is kept up i wouldnt worry about it.

 

[1sttruck]

I think UPS used the 300 I6 in most of their trucks at one time. My son has one in his 92 truck, coming up on 140k miles, and it seems like it might need a cup of oil every 5k miles.

 

[pbm]

I had a friend with that straight six Ford (4.9L I think) back in the mid 80's. He sold it to a friend of his with well over 100K. One day his friend told him it was "making noise". When my friend heard the noise he checked and found it was 4 or 5 (I can't remember) quarts low on oil. They added oil and the noise went away and the truck ran for years after that. That was one tough motor.
I had a similar experience with a 1972 Dodge 318 V8. I used to drive it on weekends delivering flowers in NYC when I was in high school. I often found it 2 or 3 quarts low and once had to add 4 quarts to bring it to full. The boss sold it with over 90K and it was still running great.

 

[AcuraTech]

Tough motors. Ford has made a few seriously solid engines in their history.

I6 300 4.9
3.0 Vulcan V6
351 Cleveland V8

These aren't the only ones, but I've personally witnessed the solidness of the above.

Apparently (as told by my uncle) my dad owned a Ford Torino with a 351C engine back in the late 70's, and due to not keeping up with payments, the car was about to be repossessed. So instead of politely giving it back, he purposely tried to destroy it. Put a brick on the throttle, poured sand down the carb, etc. This story isn't all that surprising because my dad was seriously off his rocker in his early-mid 20's. Anyway, the engine wouldn't die and he gave up.

 

[Chris142]

As long as you keep up on it's maintenance I don't see anything fatal happening to it. One thing that does happen to them is that the air injection tubes rust out and are a pain to replace.

The early ones shake the carb apart but you got FI on yours.

 

[artificialist]

My dad told me about his experience working with truck fleets.

Typically the engine would be rebuilt because some idiot would run it without oil, or rev the engine past the redline, and it would break.

The truck then went to an experienced machine shop that constantly does engine swaps, and a cheap rebuild went. It worked fine until another idiot ran it without oil, or revved it past the redline.

The AC and heat would quit working, the stereo wouldn't work, and the seats would be totally torn, but nobody cared, since only the higher-ups drove a nice truck.

I guess the F-150 is like everything else out there. Electrical items will all die, but the engine will keep turning, and the transmission will keep shifting.

I guess the only weakness on that engines is the EFI parts that cause a check engine light.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: artificialist

I guess the only weakness on that engines is the EFI parts that cause a check engine light.


And since 96 was the last year for the 300-6 the wierd OBDii parts are going to be odd and hard to find.

My 95 f150 4x4 5 speed is rusting out and it won't be long before it won't pass state inspection. I forsee either a yard plow truck conversion in its future or crushing for the metal.

If the salvage yard doesn't have a nice 300-6 in their warehouse they might pull mine before they crush the truck... but hey metal's worth something now.

Anything you could need to keep your truck running can probably be found on ebay from a more northern state where the tin worm got it. If you want to get fancy with new stuff, that's your perogative...

 

[andyd]

Just treat the truck 1/2 way decent, it will love you longtime yet. I-6s are great engines. IIRC, they have something called secondary balance that other engine configurations dont.

 

[gtx510]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_balance#More_than_two_cylinders
straight-6, flat-6, and V12 don't have the harmonic problems that other engines have
(use can find the Bosch Automotive Handbook on google books)

 

[Steve S]

I had a 79 p/u with a 300 /6 went over 300,000 miles and passed smog with flying colors and the oil pressure via a mechanical gauge was within specs for a new engine when I sold it.