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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Trucks / July 2007New Engine or Sell Truck?
I have a 1996 F250 with 225,000 miles. Still runs smooth as silk, idles fine w/out problems. The only issue is power/gas consumption. I recently took it on a 400 mile trip, all hiway (hilly, though) and averaged only 10.5 mpg. It also seemed to not take the hills like it used to. I was running without a load. The engine is a 5.8 and has had no work done to it internally. Does not burn oil, leaks a little, but that's minor. The body is mint with NO rust at all which is common around here (New england). This truck was purchased new by me in '96 from my company and I was the sole driver for all 225k. Maint was regular , oil changes every 5k, etc. When the company folded, they sold me the truck for $1.00, so needless to say, its a free truck. My question is, should I keep driving it as it is and deal with the loss of power (compression?) or drop in a 5.8 long block for around 1300.00? Does anyone have any experience with long block replacements? I've done tons of motor swaps in older Mustangs, which have to be the most easy cars to do, but never in a newer 4X4 Ford truck...any thoughts or comments would be helpful! Thanks in advance! Jay >I have a 1996 F250 with 225,000 miles. Still runs smooth as silk, > idles fine w/out problems. The only issue is power/gas consumption. I [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > thoughts or comments would be helpful! Thanks in advance! > Jay Paid for free and clear truck with no rust in great shape except for tired engine. MMM replace egine for about $1,500 (incedentals like gaskets, new motor mounts, belts and hoses, oil, coolant etc) vs 3-6 years of truck payments. If you managed the mustangs, you will manage the truck. Its the same nut and bolt job. digi camera take lots of images taking it apart. Get lots of small paper bags, as you remove bolts put them in bag and label. Use masking tape to label wires are they are removed. Whitelightning >thoughts or comments would be helpful! Paid-for, rules the roost! 225K isn't a lot of miles, especially if it's been driven sanely and the maintenance has been good. 4x4's normally aren't good on gas-mileage anyway. Normal tune-up stuff may increase the mpg some....air filter/plugs/plug wires. I'd do a compression test or air-leak test to see if there actually is a problem. No oil burning is a good sign, but the test will tell the tale. You have been the sole-driver so has the mpg dropped significantly? Dave S(Texas) >Paid-for, rules the roost! 225K isn't a lot of miles, especially if >it's been driven sanely and the maintenance has been good. 4x4's [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >No oil burning is a good sign, but the test will tell the tale. You >have been the sole-driver so has the mpg dropped significantly? I agree, do a compression test before you consider anything else. Since oil consumption is good the worst case senario you are looking at is maybe a valve job. BTW, those engine where never know for good MPG and how you drive and size and type of tires on it plays a roll in MPG. Tire pressure is a factor too. Try running 50 PSI or more in tires. It will not help ride but it can help MPG. ALso when you look around for new rubber for it a smooth fairly solid tread is better for MPG than a aggressive one if MPG is important to you. ----------------- TheSnoMan.com On Jul 16, 5:38 pm, baja...@yahoo.com wrote: > I have a 1996 F250 with 225,000 miles. Still runs smooth as silk, > idles fine w/out problems. The only issue is power/gas consumption. I > recently took it on a 400 mile trip, all hiway (hilly, though) and > averaged only 10.5 mpg. It also seemed to not take the hills like it > used to. I was running without a load. The engine is a 5.8 and has had ... When have the catalytic converters been replaced? Oxygen sensors? Both have a limited life expectancy for optimum operation and could be contributors to your low fuel economy. Don't forget to freshen that up if you do the block as well. Or do the oxy sensors first and see if anything improves. The coverter is still original, the oxy sensor was replaced for the first time at around 200k. The check engine light came on, I had it scanned and it came up w/a bad sensor. I replaced it and that took care of the light. I have been the only driver of this truck and for most of its life its gotten a steady 15-16 mpg. By the way, I just rebuilt the front brake calipers as I thought they might be sticking. No change in power or mileage. Does anyone know if there is a test the check the converter for blockage? My thoughts are that with 225k on it, it might just be time to replace it anyway, even though the truck passed state emissions this years with no problems. Jay >Does anyone know if there is a test the >check the converter for blockage? My thoughts are that with 225k on >it, it might just be time to replace it anyway, even though the truck >passed state emissions this years with no problems. The "officail" test is to remove O2 ensor and install a pressure gauge in its plus and measure back pressure. A crude test is to hok up a vacum gauge and rev engine to about 3 to 4000 RPM and read vacum. If it is low or slowly drops at a constant speed/throttle setting, the CAT is plugged up ----------------- TheSnoMan.com >I have a 1996 F250 with 225,000 miles. Still runs smooth as silk, > idles fine w/out problems. The only issue is power/gas consumption. I [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > thoughts or comments would be helpful! Thanks in advance! > Jay All the replies you've had so far have been good, but I just wanted to toss out one more possibility. With that number of miles on a 5.8, I'll bet the timing chain and gears are pretty stretched/worn. I definitely think you're jumping the gun by considering engine replacement if you're not burning oil and you have decent oil pressure. What do you guys think? CJB > All the replies you've had so far have been good, but I just wanted to > toss out one more possibility. With that number of miles on a 5.8, I'll [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > CJB Completly forgot about that , good call CJB, fords are really bad about stretching chains and Ford used to recommend replacing them at 50,000 miles back in the 70's Dont know if they still do or not. I've seen chains with so much slack you could put a pencil in the loop that hung off the crank gear. Never understood why they didnt jump time. and with todays computerized systems, the computer will compensate for the errotic ignition timing, but not the late cam timing. Whitelightning I'll take it off your hands for twice what you paid. OK, 3X, but that's my final offer. >I have a 1996 F250 with 225,000 miles. Still runs smooth as silk, > idles fine w/out problems. The only issue is power/gas consumption. I [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > thoughts or comments would be helpful! Thanks in advance! > Jay > I have a 1996 F250 with 225,000 miles. Still runs smooth as silk, > idles fine w/out problems. The only issue is power/gas consumption. I [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > thoughts or comments would be helpful! Thanks in advance! > Jay You know the history of the current engine and it sounds good. Instead of replacing the one you know, pull it, strip it to a long block and send it to a good engine rebuilder. You will have to wait a few weeks, but that gives you time to get all the other parts cleaned and repainted. I did a simular job to my 77 Jeep Cherokee. Trouble was as I was cleaning things up, I found many warn parts. (just about everything in the engine compartment)So I had plenty to do while the engine was away. When it came back, I had everything back from the dip tank and painted, new hoses, belts and spark wires, rebuid just about everything else. Spend another week of spare hours putting it all back together. Spent 1800 on the engine, (got a few extra services done like balancing and a nicer cam) I think the whole engine compartment rebuilt came to about 2500. Was worth it. Good luck. >> I have a 1996 F250 with 225,000 miles. Still runs smooth as silk, >> idles fine w/out problems. The only issue is power/gas consumption. I [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >> thoughts or comments would be helpful! Thanks in advance! >> Jay I think everybody has given you good advice, but I'd just add that it's okay to consider the financial aspect of it. If you can seriously improve it, let's say it costs you $1000 and your empty, highway mileage improves from 10 mpg to 14 (entirely likely, I'd say). Then it all depends just how far you drive whether that's smart or not. The breakeven point, at $3 a gallon, looks like this: (X/10 - X/14)*$3 = $1000. or $3*X*(1/10-1/14) = $1000. I make the math to be 11,000 miles. See if you agree that you'd save $1000 on gas in that distance if you're getting 10 mpg vs. 14 mpg. Everyone has brought up a lot of good, sensible points. I think that where I'm at now I'm going to check the converter first, then the compression, oil pressure, etc. in that order. I'll be sure to post my findings here, and thanks again to everyone who helped with the ideas! You're a great group and super-helpful! Jay |
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