6 cylinder truck rant

[urrlord]

the only v4 I have seen was in a little Saab sports coupe,a little bitty motor..
Originally Posted by Miller88
I have a flat 4, a straight 6 and a v8.

So, maybe v4, v6 and v8?

 

[CT8]

I had a 79 F150 with a 300 ci 6 cyl engine and it had 350,000 miles on it with normal compression and oil pressure when i sold it.!

 

[nwjones18]

I know my I-6 is still getting 16mpg running around town and can get better than that on the highway.. I really doubt an 83 with the 3.8 is going to do any better than that.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I had the 300 inline ford 6 cylinder in a 4x4 Ford truck. That thing was easy to work on and ran like a top.

 

[tomcat27]

We are I the process of rebuilding a 4.9. Just tore it Part last night. It's fun working on something uncommon.

 

[Oildudeny]

i miss my 1998 f-150, 4.2 bored .30 over with a hypertech computer tune and air box mod. ran like a raped ape.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted by JLTD
100% Agree it's annoying when people call EVERY 6 cylinder a "V6". Idiots.
...
Agree, although I haven't heard it. Do such people also call in-line fours V-4s?

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted by urrlord
For some odd reason I have a bit of interest in acquiring a mid 80's (84-86 IIRC)ford truck with a 3.8 v6.While looking around craigslist I have noticed a lot of people listing their ford truck as a v6.But when you call them and ask what size engine it has the reply is"4.9 /300 six cylinder" Uhh dude you know that is a straight six."huh?"The 300 is an inline six not a v6."I call all sixes a v6 whats the difference?"Nevermind ,have a good day .and hang up the phone.

If you can't figure out the difference between a v and an Inline engine design you don't deserve to own the truck.Stupid.

I also see this frequently on 87 thru late 90's fords that only had i-6 or v8's. :???

Have you considered a Chevy truck with the 5.7 litre straight-eight?

 

[urrlord]

Originally Posted by Number_35
Originally Posted by urrlord
For some odd reason I have a bit of interest in acquiring a mid 80's (84-86 IIRC)ford truck with a 3.8 v6.While looking around craigslist I have noticed a lot of people listing their ford truck as a v6.But when you call them and ask what size engine it has the reply is"4.9 /300 six cylinder" Uhh dude you know that is a straight six."huh?"The 300 is an inline six not a v6."I call all sixes a v6 whats the difference?"Nevermind ,have a good day .and hang up the phone.

If you can't figure out the difference between a v and an Inline engine design you don't deserve to own the truck.Stupid.

I also see this frequently on 87 thru late 90's fords that only had i-6 or v8's. :???

Have you considered a Chevy truck with the 5.7 litre straight-eight?

my brother had a few of those ,He was a Chevy guy til the Chevy dealer treated him rather shabbily about the bad paint on an s10.He went across the street to the Dodge dealer traded the s10 in on a 5.2l Dakota.Came back to the Chevy dealer and did a burnout in the dealer parking lot while communicating his displeasure thru hand signals.He's had nothing but Dodge trucks since then.

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted by jhellwig
I don't know but I don't think Ford used a v6 in trucks till the late 90s. I know the 300 was still in the 94 models.

What is the reason for wanting a v6? That old 300 i6 was a good motor.

Looks like from a quick search the v6 was only an option in 82 and 83.


Yes , the 300 was a truck engine , not a car engine . Same with the 296 ( I think ) Chevy / GMC truck straight 6 .

From what I remember , both were pretty good engines for what they were designed for .

 

[R18Civic]

I thought this was going to a genuine V6 truck rant. Like why did the manufacturer put a V6 in hoping to draw in the mileage crowd yet failed to consider all that extra weight will cause the V8 trim to get better mileage.

END RANT

 

[meep]

so the OP will turn down a potentially desirable vehicle because the owner isn't a knowledgeable gearhead? Seems like a missed opportunity.

 

[urrlord]

Originally Posted by meep
so the OP will turn down a potentially desirable vehicle because the owner isn't a knowledgeable gearhead? Seems like a missed opportunity.

Never said that
I am looking for a specific engine / truck combo.My rant was about wasting my time because of people's ignorance about something that should be obvious.To me it is as obvious as if you were looking for a red car and found one listed on craigslist and when you went and looked at it the car was orange.And the owner says well in the right light it looks reddish.You just had your time wasted by a moron.Or this was another good one. Guy was advertising an early 80's Dodge truck with a Hemi.Out of curiuosity I called.When I talked to him he said it had a 318 in it.I pointed out that was not a hemi.He said all Dodge engines were Hemi's.okaaay.Apparently he felt he could get more money by using hemi as a buzzword.

If I cannot find my target vehicle(Ford 3.8 v6 ,shortbed, manual tranny) I may have to settle for some thing else.(slant 6/straight 6,other v6,carb or efi ,short bed manual tranny)(Ford or Dodge)

 

[Oildudeny]

inline or v the post is 6 cylinder truck rant.

 

[dnastrau]

Originally Posted by urrlord
Originally Posted by meep
so the OP will turn down a potentially desirable vehicle because the owner isn't a knowledgeable gearhead? Seems like a missed opportunity.

Never said that
I am looking for a specific engine / truck combo.My rant was about wasting my time because of people's ignorance about something that should be obvious.To me it is as obvious as if you were looking for a red car and found one listed on craigslist and when you went and looked at it the car was orange.And the owner says well in the right light it looks reddish.You just had your time wasted by a moron.Or this was another good one. Guy was advertising an early 80's Dodge truck with a Hemi.Out of curiuosity I called.When I talked to him he said it had a 318 in it.I pointed out that was not a hemi.He said all Dodge engines were Hemi's.okaaay.Apparently he felt he could get more money by using hemi as a buzzword.

If I cannot find my target vehicle(Ford 3.8 v6 ,shortbed, manual tranny) I may have to settle for some thing else.(slant 6/straight 6,other v6,carb or efi ,short bed manual tranny)(Ford or Dodge)


My dad had the exact truck that you are looking for. In '91 he picked up a very clean '82 Ford F100 short bed with a 3 speed column shift manual transmission and the 3.8 V6 like they put in the small LTD from about '83-'86 and the aero-body Thunderbird, etc. The truck was reliable but the gearing was terrible (geared too high for the powerband at low speeds). First gear always felt like you were starting out in second as it was geared for fuel economy, not low end power. It was also a rougher running engine than the 4.9 inline 6. It reminded me of the old odd-fire Buick V6 from the '60s and '70s. The truck had manual steering but had overboosted power brakes. It was an oddball for sure. I worked in a small Ford dealership from '85 - '91 and I only ever saw one other with the 3.8 in it. I drove that truck a lot and it hung around in the family until about '03 or so. If I were looking for an '80 - '96 F-series, I would skip the 3.8 if you run across one unless it is in exceptional condition unless you want something very unusual. The 4.9, 5.0 or 5.8 engines were much better in those trucks IMHO.

Andrew S.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister
... Yes , the 300 was a truck engine , not a car engine . Same with the 296 ( I think ) Chevy / GMC truck straight 6 . ...
The 300 was a stroked version of the similar 240 originally used in both cars and trucks. We had the 240 in a F-100.
The GM 296 was probably similarly an expanded version of the 250, 230, and 194 cubic inch family of in-line sixes used in cars. There was also a 4-cylinder, which was essentially the 230 with two cylinders amputated (same bore and stroke).

 

[Colt45ws]

Agree with the recommendations to just stick with a 300-6.

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted by CR94
Originally Posted by WyrTwister
... Yes , the 300 was a truck engine , not a car engine . Same with the 296 ( I think ) Chevy / GMC truck straight 6 . ...
The 300 was a stroked version of the similar 240 originally used in both cars and trucks. We had the 240 in a F-100.
The GM 296 was probably similarly an expanded version of the 250, 230, and 194 cubic inch family of in-line sixes used in cars. There was also a 4-cylinder, which was essentially the 230 with two cylinders amputated (same bore and stroke).

I remember the 240 inline-6 in a '68 Ford Custom (bottom of the full-size Ford line, the equivalent of a Chevy Biscayne). I don't remember the Chevy 296, but they did have a 292 inline-6 truck engine.

 

[NYEngineer]

We had a fleet of E150s and E250s with the 300 inch six. We put 300,000 miles on a few of them. One of the last ones was a 1994 with EFI. That one was awesome. Oil changes and spark plugs for it's entire life.

 

[meep]

Originally Posted by urrlord
Originally Posted by meep
so the OP will turn down a potentially desirable vehicle because the owner isn't a knowledgeable gearhead? Seems like a missed opportunity.

Never said that
I am looking for a specific engine / truck combo.My rant was about wasting my time because of people's ignorance about something that should be obvious.To me it is as obvious as if you were looking for a red car and found one listed on craigslist and when you went and looked at it the car was orange.And the owner says well in the right light it looks reddish.You just had your time wasted by a moron.Or this was another good one. Guy was advertising an early 80's Dodge truck with a Hemi.Out of curiuosity I called.When I talked to him he said it had a 318 in it.I pointed out that was not a hemi.He said all Dodge engines were Hemi's.okaaay.Apparently he felt he could get more money by using hemi as a buzzword.

If I cannot find my target vehicle(Ford 3.8 v6 ,shortbed, manual tranny) I may have to settle for some thing else.(slant 6/straight 6,other v6,carb or efi ,short bed manual tranny)(Ford or Dodge)


My bad - I missed that you specifically wanted the V6.

Not everyone is a car person. People are messy. It's nice when even the ones who don't understand what happens under the hood at least take care of it.

-m