FE longevity

[TomP]

There was an article today in the local paper about this 75 F100 with a 360. 470,000 miles (in Nova Scotia no less!) and it's original owner.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/duncan-the-42-year-old-truck-1.3493903

[chris401]

That is an awesome tribute to a good engine. In confession I have seen one 99 7.3 with 470,000 but it was wearing a reman tag. Several Vortec era trucks over 300,000 with rotted aluminum crossovers. I've heard that the fuel is better in Europe. Anyone know if the factory FE's were set up any different than U.S. models? Pisrons, cam ect.


A local builder has a 390 with over 300,000.

[Falcon67]

I imagine a lot of that is maintenance.  Similar - Everybody seems to hate the 6.0 diesel - but after considerable study, it appears that the engine is just a bit fragile in places and if you aren't "religious" about maintenance it's going to bite you.

[Heo]

Chris, I don't know if we have any better fuel here in Europe
But cars are incredible expensive here compared to USA
So i think we take better care of them, oilchanges and
so on.
In the 80s-90s i tore down a lot of engines that was run
in USA and everyone was so full of grime so i suspect they
changed the oil every solareclipse
Liftervalleys so full of coxed oil so there was just holes for the
pushrods. You never se that on a engine that was run i Sweden
One 460 had kind of a rubber/plastic drain plug and six of them
in the pan. They had just pushed in the old one when they drained
the oil, so six oil changes at least

[fryedaddy]

my father put hundreds of thousands of miles on fe engines.me i have been driving FEs for 40 years but i run my stuff harder than my dad.he had a 63 1/2 with a 390.i remember it having 240000 on it.he had to put a timing chain on and replace those plastic gears.he gave it to me later and i put the 390 in my comet and drove it 8 more years before it let go.i have no way of knowing for sure but it had nearly 400000 on it

[KMcCullah]

Neat story ,Tom. After 26+ muffler replacements  you'd think the manager at the muffler shop would just bite the bullet and put on a quality unit. Sheesh! 

[fryedaddy]

if you counted miles on the car instead of miles on a engine i would be in the running.when i bought my comet in 83 it had 166000 miles on it.in the 36-37 years i owned it i have had 4 engines in it.the clutch pedal wore out about 30 years ago.been mashed so much the pad wore down and the bushings gave out.i drove it to work and back for many years,40 mile round trip.its been on many road trips back in the day too.im going to guess 500000 miles on it.it could be way more,no way of knowing

[Falcon67]

Chris, I don't know if we have any better fuel here in Europe
But cars are incredible expensive here compared to USA

We're talking $50,000 US or more diesel pickup trucks, typically 3/4 and 1 ton units including DRW- that people treat like any old junk out here.  Especially oil field and service industry.  The companies may do maintenance, but the hired help seems to drive them like rentals.  A used 6.7L diesel F-350 maybe 3~5 years old is $45,000 or better.

[C6AE]

My father bought a '67 Galaxy Convertible new from the dealer in Alexandria, Va. with a 2V 390 and drove it 350k and traded it in for another.
Before that one he had a '65 convertable w/2V 289, same deal 350k then trade it in. (I wish I had that car today! Special ordered new with non-metallic burgundy paint, a black top and interior)

[CaptCobrajet]

My dad bought a 66 F100 shortbed new in '66.  352-2V, three speed, 3.89 rear gear.  It was a demo at a local Ford dealer.  It was his work truck for 175,000 miles, and was still running pretty good in 1977 when we got an F350 CS to pull the race car a little better.  I still have the truck.  It probably had another 25K miles left in it, but it sat for years after we got the new truck.  When you figure it spent most of its life at 3000+ rpm, one has to wonder how long it would have run with the overdrives the new trucks have today.

[Katz427]

We loaded hay for a couple haulers running to farms in south Jersey. 1972 F700's as I remember with 391 engines. They were over 160k miles, and still making the run from upstate NY farms to south Jersey. They were carrying quite a load, and certainly were not babied. No overdrive. Kendall oil, and I remember the driver/ owner adding Marvel Mystery oil in the gas. We had to go to a farm near Cortland, NY to load the trucks one time. The farmer(Ross) wasn't feeling good , so he sent his older brother, who worked right along with us, ( in our mid 20's) I asked him his age. He said he was a bit older than Ross, just had his 88th birthday. Tough Ford's and tough farmers!