HOW DO YOU LIKE OR DISLIKE THESE V-8 ENGINES, FORD 4.6-5.4, 5.0-5.8, CHEVY 5.0-5.7, 4.8-5.3-6.0,

chevytruck_fan

The General Motors 350 is the ultimate engine, and the best engine ever made. Cheap, efficient, powerful, easy to modify, easy to repair, cheap parts, one of the longest lasting engines of all times. And the base for the current 5.3L

amora

262, 305, 307, 400 is, were greatest engines of all time, ie witnessed drag races of
50's, 60's, street races, night races (In So. Calif). new 4.8, 5.3-6.0 are just as great BUT,
the more sturdy, robust are the 265-350 engines, able to take higher horsepower mods.

The Dodge 5.2 (318) are circa 1957 Plymouth Fury with 4-bbl carbs, the 5.9 are the old
Dodge ASPEN, Plymouth VOLARE cop car motors, with computer upgrade enhancements, they are still vintage, relics, but can hold their own until the new Hemi overhead cams come out to give GM & FORD nightmares. The 4.7 is a cute, OHC higher tech motor, great for
the cute Dodge Dakota mini truck. I have smoked these mudducks and the Dakota R/T with
my 3/4 ton booty spanker...Now the FORD OHC motors are great, chain driven cams, long life,
add blowers and they spank, no need to add blower to 6.0 Chevy SS if GM gets off their booty and makes it. The older Ford 260, 289, 302 (Boss), 351, 351 Cleveland were booty spankers,
remember the boss 302, 429Mustangs, Some Chevies got smoked and dusted, except maybe a
good running 302 Z28 or '70 SS Chevelle 454 El Camino. Don't forget the Shelby Stangs....

Don't forget the true magnum engines, ie 383, 440. and the wedge 426's and Hemi 426, dual ram induction 413's good for racing against 421 Pontiac Grand Prix's in 1962 or the bananacuda
AAR 340 6-pack, good for racing against other Baracuda 6-packs.

Don't forget the '49 Merc with the flathead V8's

Regards to all HOTRODDERS

se32

My 5.3L clatters and knocks. I agree with the 350 being a great engine. I grew up with that engine but these new ones aren't cutting the cheese. They've got good power but I'm questioning the quality. I'm about to make Chev replace my truck becasue they can't fix it.

Regards!

dodgeram10

Would you mind going into The truck bash attempt 2 & telling mod that the 5.7 is a much better engine then the 5.3.

dodgeram10

Would you mind going into THE BIG TRUCK BASH ATTEMPT 2 & telling mod that the 5.7 V-8 is a much better engine then the 5.3 V-8. Mod does not have clue about Chevy truck engines would you please take my side a explain about Chevy engines please. Mod stated that the 5.3 V-8 is a better engine then the 5.7 V-8 would you please enlighten him.

modvptnl

First off the old 5.7 shares NOTHING with the new LS1 based motors. So to say that the 4.8/5.3/new5.7 and 6.0 are based on the old 5.7 is silly.

Second, both the new GM motors and Ford's modular motors have deep skirt blocks with cross bolted main bearing caps that are able to withstand MUCH more HP than the "old" designs. The new LS1 5.7(which is in the 5.3 family) in the Z06 Corvette has 385 HP. No "old" 350 ever came close from the factory. The new LS1 heads are so superior to any previous GM casting it's not even funny. Of course they use Ford's symmetrical valve layout finally. LOL!!!

Both GM motors use "pushroads" (private joke) and I can't understand the argument of one being more complicated than the other. Arguing Ford's OHC is more complicated can be a valid point but only to those with no mechanical ability......Dodgeram?????

Ford's limited production 5.4 Cobra R motor is basically a Navigator motor with 4 valve Cobra heads that also pumps out 385 HP.

Ford's Lightning motor with very mild boost pumps out 360 HP and 440+ pounds of torque.

Stop living in the past people, the current motors kick the Cr^P out of the old stuff. They idle, get far better economy and are stronger!!

amorales

upgrade chips. Must re-program. Aftermarket people will address this. Also 4.2 DOHC Chain driven in-line 6 is
engine to watch closely.....Re pushrods vs Overhead cams,
OHC engines have fewer parts. Make sure you get chain drive, damn timing belt is nusance to replace. Love that
HOT ROD LINCOLN motor......I love Ford, Chevy and Dodge, am loyal to none. Have yet to own Dodge truck, maybe
the new DOHC Hemi will bring Dodge of Germany up to date.

Regards to all

dodgeram10

Lets compare the Ford 4.0 V-6 OHV, to the Ford 4.0 V-6 SOHC engine which one these engines is more complicated. If you know so much about Ford engines tell me which one of these engines is more complex.

cspaulding

We have a 400 sb Chev that is putting out over 600 hp, it may be old, but it's built to last.

We have a 7.4L year 2000 that is a piece of c*#p.

We'll take the old over the new any day.

amorales

FOMOCO 4.0 began as old 2.9 V6 made by Ford of
Germany and used in old MERKUR Scorpio, there is a
DOHC version of this engine (220 hp) used in Germany.
4.0 OHV used in early Explorers, underrated by FORD,
it could smoke early 4.3 S10's (mid '88-'93), refer to
Sport Truck and Motor trend mags in those years. Lots of
speed equipment for 4.0 OHV. Re the 4.0 OHC motor....
Ahhh who cares anyway, returning to topic immediately.....

mcdill

The 350, 5.7 has got to be the best , and to the person that says "quit living in the past" , and " Old pushrods are crap " I have had several ( 8 ) trucks with 350's , and let me tell you that this motor will far out last and new " modular motor " , no tellin how many 4.6 fords I see burnin oil that are only 5 or six years old , i have a 92 suburban with a 350 sittin in my backyard with 275,000 original untouched miles uses a quart every 3000 miles , and I don't baby the throttle , I kick it in the balls alot ! , I have had other suburbans last past 300k miles on the same motor , so don't come tellin me my ancient 350 is a peice of crap , when my neighbor has 98 f150 with a 5.4 triAGAIN , and 85,000 miles on it and already has leaky valve guides .

amorales

Pop's '74 Chevy Cheyenne 350 went 477,000 before he
replaced engine with 350 from '77 Z28, which was recently
rebuilt and bored out .030. Still honkin!!! He is 81 and still
truckin....I hope mine goes the distance....

namfflow

I have used many 318's (5.2) over the years. A pushrod engine dfating back to 1967. One of the most reliable engines I have ever seen. They also respond well to minor changes in the intake and exhaust.

I have just ordered a new Dakota with the 4.7 I hope it ends up being reliable as my 5.2s have.

kit1404

I have a 1999 F-150 with the 5.4 and 4X4 off-road and pretty much everything else. This engine is very good. I can get 17+ mpg in good conditions -recently over 1,500 mile road trip and I set the cruise at 82 mph. It can drop just under 15 mpg in nasty conditions - I live in New Mexico and drive I-40 uphill into head winds of 40 mph and more - that is the only time it drops below 15 mpg, but I sure have all the power I ever need. So far - at nearly 30,000 miles - this engine is excellent. I also have a 1988 F-250 with 160,000 miles on a 460 cid - after my new truck, I hate the pushrod technology. Ford cleaned everything up so well with the new trucks. Don't get me wrong - my old truck purrs, still uses very little oil and runs well. Ford did everyone a favor with all the money they pumped into the new trucks - GM is getting there but the bean-counters still rule. I would never buy the old push-rod design in a new vehicle. It is outmoded.

mcdill

I guess thats why a freind of mine traded in his 99 f150 with a 4.6 ohc on a 2000 gmc 1500 with a 4.8 pushrod , the 4.6 gas mileage sucked and according to him it was low on power , he seems to prefer the 4.8 pushrods power and gas mileage is alot better , yep the pushrod is old , but givin the right technology like the vortec line, they can be just as or more powerfull than an ohc motor , Any Vortec motor will give any Triton motor a run for its money and then some , all Ive got to say is at least you can actually see the spark plugs on a vortec !

dodgeram10

That was well said. I would take the pushrod Chevy anyday. Over the sohc Ford engines, but you are right it not easy to get to the spark plugs on the Ford sohc engine. When Ford killed the 5.0 I had to go with a Doge to get the last of the good pushrod V-8's that you can see the spark plugs & work on easily.

greg116

Our 98 Durango has the 5.9 V-8, and I don't know why people say Dodge engines are junk. It idles fine, has a sweet-sounding stock exhaust, pulls great all the way to the redline very smoothly and the fuel mileage doesent suck when you consider the 360 Cubic inches youre feeding.

We've only had one problem with the engine: It didnt want to start for a little while. Turned out that the throttle body was clogged from my father repeatedly missing service intervals. Had to get it towed to the dealer out of the underground garage. I hope it taught him something about care and maintenance!

I am a devoted fan of inline-six engines. I love the Jeep 4.0L, ALL BMW I-6s (we have a '92 325i)
and I'm currently drooling all over the new GM 4.2L. Cant wait to get it into S-10s!

I also cannot wait for the new Dodge Pushrod Hemi 350 to come out, as well as the bigger version in a few more years. (Initial estimates were i think 6.1L, but it was said to be "too close" to the 5.7, so a bigger one is slated for later on.) Watch out Chevy/Fords!

I also think they made a huge mistake with the 3.9L V6. Why not just use the Jeep's 4.0L instead?

I had the opportunity to take a 2000 Explorer XLT on a one-way road trip, and was dissapointed by the OHC engine. It was buzzier than my mother's 1990 Chrysler 3.0L and didnt produce the kind of power of our Durango.

Finally, the 4.6L in my grandfather's 2000 Grand Marquis is a great motor, plenty of power, very smooth and good fuel economy. He's had the car for almost a year now and has had NO problems with it.

stew2001

I have a Dakota R/T and the guy who said he took them and the 4.7s out with his 3/4 ton truck is kidding himself. You're comparing a truck lucky to run the 16s in the quarter to two trucks that run high 14s in the quarter BONE STOCK! WIth NO SUPERCHARGER! Calling the 4.7 a cute engine is very funny. It is a very great engine and HIGHLY underrated, unlike Chevies new Motors that are way OVERrated. 170 RWHP from a 99 5.3 that is supposed to give 285 at the crank! The Dodge peaked at more HP and torque and outran the Ford AND CHevy in the comparo in the quarter, despite being the heaviest truck there (the article is on www.trucktrend.com) The 360 has been a GREAT motor! No problems period and I LOVE the way it responds to minor modifications! My friends 3.9 V6 has been great too in his 97 Dakota. I saw a 5 speed 4.7, BONE STOCK with 900 miles run the quarter in 15.1 in 80 degree heat @ 1400 feet! I like the vortech 350, but like the new 5.3 it has no real beef low in the RPM range. Actually, they both feel like 6 bangers after getting out of the R/T The 360 may be old trech, but it is a damn reliable and damn powerful engine!

Brian

2kaccordv6

I used to be a Chevy fan all the way till I bought a 99 c/k 1500 with the vortec 350, and it turned out to burn more oil than I'd allow on a non-smoking engine. That and 11mpg, and what seemed like 95 hp, I had to get rid of it at 13k miles. I have a friend that owned a 77 chevy 4x4 with the 350, and it lasted way past a quarter of a million miles before he rebuilt it, and he now owns a 91 4x4, and at 100k it smokes and needs a rebuild in a really bad way. I still love old chevy's-I own a 72 with a hot 327, but the new models don't count if you ask me. I now own a 2001 Dodge Ram 5.9, and it still hasn't lost any oil. ANd it does way better on fuel than that so called vortec 350. Oh, and Chevy's going downhill, mark my words. I mean they chose Isuzu over Cat on their new Diesel?! Isuzu can't even make a truck period! They might as well have gone with Toyota or Nissan, or better yet even honda whom doesn't even make a truck!

mcdill

I beleive you just got a bad truck , cause we've had many chevy tucks with 350's over the years , and the newer 350's are much better , , especially after 1988 , Have had several TBI 350's last past 300 K without any work , and now are running the Vortec 350 , the Highest mileage Vortec is 120,000 miles , and It is still clickin along fine, My 91 Chevy truck , with a 350 has 217,000 miles , and has never been internally touched , same way with the 92 suburban, with 276,000 miles , It uses a quart every 3000 miles, so don't go tellin me that the new ones are junk , when every one that Ive had has been top notch , since 1987 I can count 7 That have not had a major problem in under 200,000 miles.

amorales

Brian, you're 1000% right regarding published times for BONE STOCK trucks. Mine is not, repeat not BONE STOCK....slap on some MOPAR upgrades ie Supercharger, Headers,
chip to your low compression 5.9 vintage 70's cop car motorized Dodge Coty (short for Dakota) mini pick up and come to So. California and take on an ole Babyboomer Hotrodder and his souped up 3/4 ton Mopar spanker.

western6

check the i. this engine is not a 350!! This motor ( all of them ) are made in Mexico. I have a 97 suburban with a vortex. I Have put over $700.00 in minor engine work into it!!

silv

for my 2001 5.3l Chevy. After about 15k miles that 5.9l started pinging and never stopped. I took it back to the dealer 4 times to fix the ping and they never could fix it. Oh it wouldn't ping for about 2k miles but then it would start back up again. The only stuff that wouldn't ping in it was the highest octane gass. The bad gas mileage and high gas prices drove me to trading it in.

BTW, this motor is ten times better than that 5.9l. That motor always felt underpowered for the size. But not this 5.3l engine. And I get much better gas mileage as well.

I agree with Mod. Technology advances, and today's motors are much better than those designs from the 50's and 60's.

Silv

mopar67

Try three timing chains, plastic intake, and nodular iron instead of forged steel for the crank. Basic guts seem to be fine (see dodgeram.org for details on the 4.7) but I'd rather have the 318. Its got 30+ years behind it and had turned out to be a proven engine, easy to work on. I won't go near my 4.7. 3 plugs are accessable, the rest, well, get a case of beer and take some vacation time. I keep about $500 in cash in case something goes wrong. THe compacted iron bedplate sounds pretty good, but a forged steel crank would be MUCH better instead of the iron crank. At least it runs timing chains, not belts like Toyota's 4.7. And it likes to rev so stomping hard does not seem to hurt it at all. Hope it makes a reputation as good as the 318!

sdeleon

I've owned the GMC Vortec and it was dependable. Now I have the 5.4 Ford and so far, so good. Both have (had) plenty of power for what I used them for. The GMC was a little more quite during a hard acceleration, but other than that, the Ford is doing ok.

kit1404

Seems to me like 2kaccordv6 may be about right - isn't 1988 when the 350's started having the valve guide problems and at least the half-tons had a huge array of front-end problems. Seems like 1988 is about when we decided to not deal with GM trucks again, although I think it was as early as 1986. Fords have been fine for us, starting with the 1988 that we still have and continuing on from there.

mcdill

UMMM... Use to have an 88 suburban with a 350 its valve guides started leaking at 240 K miles, but we sold it at 291K Still had the leaky guides , they must have fixed it , cause after 89 LIke 90 and up , none of the other trucks did that, example : 92 suburban 2500 4X4 , 350, automatic, 275,000 miles, and it still has the original , unleaky valve guides , they don't leak a drop , and it uses a quart every 3300 miles , that badboy is tight !! .

blacksilver

I've been beating up a 5.3L Chev Silverado, both over the road and pulling grain wagons on the farm for 6 months now.

This engine is pure sweetness! Good mileage, pulls like an ox across the torque curve, and love the "tow/haul" tranny. No oil consumption, no ping/clatter/slap/thump, just steady power!

Hans

ryanbab

I agree with hans

My 5.3 is great

chevytruck_fan

My grandfather 99 Silverado (the old model) has the 350 V8 and has about 45k on it now with no oil consumption and not one problem with the engine (only problem with truck power window motor). Of course you drive a honda so you don't get to have a say in V8's (g)

I don't think either of the engines pre 88 or post 88 are better, you can find 300k 350's no problem from either time frame.

eater_33062

i have a 1996 yukon gt 350, & a 2000 gmc sierra 5.3 both are 4x4 Z71. THE 350 IS GREAT & WORKS WELL. BOTH HAVE HYPERTECH STATS, TUNEING K&N FILTER SYSTEMS, HPCAT BACK EXHAUST SYSTEMS. 350 HAS FLOMASTER 3IN ALUMINIZED &HYPERTECH PULLEYS. 5.3 HAS GIBSON 3IN.STAINLESS. THE 5.3 AS MUCH AS I HATE TO SAY IT HAS WAY MORE BALLS. DON'T KNOW IF IT WILL LAST AS LONG BUT IF 6 BOLT MAINS ARE ANY INDICATION IT SHOULD BE A GREAT ENGINE. 350TAKES 5LTRS OF OIL & THE 5.3 TAKES 6LTRS OIL ,ROLLER LIFTERS, ROLLER ROCKERS. DON'T LOOK LIKE YOUR GOING TO BLOW OUT A CRANK OR THE ENGINE. REGARDS L.H.